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The Best Episodes of Playhouse Presents

Every episode of Playhouse Presents ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Playhouse Presents!

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Playhouse Presents is a series of self-contained TV plays, made by British broadcaster Sky Arts. The series started airing on 12 April 2012, on Sky Arts 1. Each episode is written by a different writer

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Playhouse Presents Season 2 Episode 3 - The Call Out
    8.9/10(130 votes)

    #1 - The Call Out

    S2:E3

    A disturbance at Union Square leads to some strange encounters for two policemen in this funny and poignant portrait of loneliness in the city.

    Director:Carlo Gabriel Nero
    Writer:Carlo Gabriel Nero

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  2. Playhouse Presents Season 2 Episode 9 - Gifted
    8.6/10(41 votes)

    #2 - Gifted

    S2:E9

    Chris has a unique gift,the ability to heal the sick by touching them. He is also a germophobe,which makes him shy away from human contact and live a lonely,secluded life. His sister Eleanor is scornful of his inability to connect with the rest of his family but then he meets Mona,a new colleague and single mother and - in all likelihood - his very first date. But at the same time his mother May is admitted to hospital with cancer. Can his new-found confidence after meeting Mona enable him to save his mother's life?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Playhouse Presents Season 1 Episode 9 - The Man
    8.0/10(45 votes)

    #3 - The Man

    S1:E9

    Hidden in an exclusive hotel, a cabal of powerful individuals debates international politics, economics and war. A chilling look at how an unelected few control the fate of the masses.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Playhouse Presents Season 1 Episode 11 - Psychobitches
    7.8/10(63 votes)

    #4 - Psychobitches

    S1:E11

    This comedy puts history’s most famous women into the psychiatrist’s chair. Starring Rebecca Front as the therapist, and featuring Catherine Tate as Eva Braun and Édith Piaf, Sharon Horgan as Jane Austen and Frieda Kahlo, Katy Brand as Joan of Arc and George Eliot, Sheila Reid as Mother Theresa, Sam Spiro as Mary Whitehouse and Judy Garland, Selina Griffiths as Beatrix Potter and Andy Nyman as Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Playhouse Presents Season 2 Episode 2 - Snodgrass
    7.7/10(61 votes)

    #5 - Snodgrass

    S2:E2

    A 50 year old John Lennon sits in a dingy kitchen, smoking a roll up, unemployed and on his uppers. This John Lennon walked out on the Beatles in 1962 before the hits -- before they changed music for ever.

    Director:David Blair
    Writer:David Quantick

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  6. Playhouse Presents Season 3 Episode 7 - Damned
    7.7/10(27 votes)

    #6 - Damned

    S3:E7

    Two stressed social workers struggle to keep control of their private lives and chaotic office.

    Director:Natalie Bailey
    Writers:Morwenna Banks, Jo Brand

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Playhouse Presents

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  7. Playhouse Presents Season 3 Episode 2 - Nosferatu in Love
    7.5/10(71 votes)

    #7 - Nosferatu in Love

    S3:E2

    While on location in the Czech Republic for a remake of the vampire classic, our tormented lead flees the set in full Dracula costume. Teaming up with petty crook Fonso, his revenge against his director and his wife will involve his best acting talents - and twelve thousand rats.

    Director:Peter Straughan
    Writer:Peter Straughan

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  8. Playhouse Presents Season 2 Episode 7 - Cargese
    7.4/10(40 votes)

    #8 - Cargese

    S2:E7

    Matt Smith makes his directorial debut with a tense and stylish drama about two teenagers stuck on a council estate. Written by Simon Stephens, it stars Craig Roberts.

    Director:Matt Smith
    Writer:Simon Stephens

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  9. Playhouse Presents Season 2 Episode 8 - Ragged
    7.4/10(22 votes)

    #9 - Ragged

    S2:E8

    Based on Ricky Tomlinson's true experiences campaigning to overturn a verdict which sent him to jail for 2 years in the early 1970s. While in prison and on hunger strike, Ricky is encouraged by a prison governor to read Robert Tressell's book The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists -- which changed his life forever.

    Director:Johnny Vegas
    Writers:Andrew Lynch, Johnny Vegas

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  10. Playhouse Presents Season 3 Episode 8 - Timeless
    7.4/10(43 votes)

    #10 - Timeless

    S3:E8

    Drama about the burgeoning relationship between a World War II widow and her great-granddaughter.

    Director:Tony Smith
    Writer:Tim Firth

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  11. Playhouse Presents Season 1 Episode 8 - Walking the Dogs
    7.3/10(51 votes)

    #11 - Walking the Dogs

    S1:E8

    An intruder breaks into the Queen’s bedroom at dawn. They discuss love, family and personal freedom before the police arrive to take him away.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Playhouse Presents Season 1 Episode 3 - Nixon's the One
    7.2/10(23 votes)

    #12 - Nixon's the One

    S1:E3

    Comedy-drama starring Harry Shearer (This is Spinal Tap, The Simpsons) as Nixon. This is a verbatim account of Nixon’s time in the Oval office, based on more than 198 hours of recordings made between February 1971 and 1973. This brilliant film is a fascinating account of his controversial and often farcical time in office.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Playhouse Presents Season 1 Episode 7 - The Snipist
    7.2/10(62 votes)

    #13 - The Snipist

    S1:E7

    Set in a post-apocalyptic Britain, a lone sniper (Henshall) must fend off plague carriers and rescue stranded communities in order to survive. But is this landscape of a destroyed civilisation all that it seems?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Matthew Holness

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  14. Playhouse Presents Season 1 Episode 10 - The Other Woman
    7.2/10(24 votes)

    #14 - The Other Woman

    S1:E10

    Life imitates art as a successful TV writer and his actress wife’s failing marriage is mirrored in the show he writes and she stars in. But can they work out their problems on screen or is their relationship doomed to fail?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Playhouse Presents Season 1 Episode 4 - King of the Teds
    7.1/10(50 votes)

    #15 - King of the Teds

    S1:E4

    Tina works part time as a cleaner. Ron’s been made redundant by the bottle factory. The lives of this long-term married couple are turned upside-down with the surprise visit of their best friend from the fifties and deep feelings are rekindled.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Playhouse Presents Season 1 Episode 5 - City Hall
    7.1/10(30 votes)

    #16 - City Hall

    S1:E5

    Riding a wave of popular opinion after footage of her defiant stance against London rioters becomes an internet hit, an ordinary woman finds herself as the capital’s first female Mayor.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Playhouse Presents Season 3 Episode 6 - Space Age
    7.0/10(28 votes)

    #17 - Space Age

    S3:E6

    Dudley and John are two old men who gain a new lease of life thanks to a voluntary space mission.

    Director:Lawrence Gough
    Writers:Ralf Little, Nick Moran

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  18. Playhouse Presents Season 3 Episode 4 - The Nightshift
    6.9/10(21 votes)

    #18 - The Nightshift

    S3:E4

    Two contrasting police officers tries to get through a long nightshift in South-East London.

    Director:Bruce Goodison
    Writer:Jimmy Gardner

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  19. Playhouse Presents Season 2 Episode 5 - Mr. Understood
    6.7/10(32 votes)

    #19 - Mr. Understood

    S2:E5

    In a funny and thought-provoking tale co-created by artist Grayson Perry, a transvestite battling with issues of self-doubt tries to overcome his fears.

    Director:Kate Hardie
    Writer:Kate Hardie

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  20. Playhouse Presents Season 2 Episode 4 - Pavement Psychologist
    6.6/10(39 votes)

    #20 - Pavement Psychologist

    S2:E4

    Idris Elba writes and directs this taut drama in which accountant Anna Friel strikes up a unique relationship with homeless man Nonso Anozie.

    Director:Idris Elba
    Writer:Idris Elba

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  21. Playhouse Presents Season 3 Episode 3 - The Cruise
    6.6/10(27 votes)

    #21 - The Cruise

    S3:E3

    Mobile Hairdresser Jacky is one week from her silver anniversary dream cruise. But is husband Andy's hesitation just simple concern - or are darker forces at play?

    Director:Stewart Sugg
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Playhouse Presents Season 3 Episode 9 - King For a Term
    6.6/10(27 votes)

    #22 - King For a Term

    S3:E9

    In 1980s Hackney nine-year old Akuna's proud father sees him as the next Eddy Grant, but Akuna is asthmatic, which means he must attend a special school for children with disabilities and before long he has fallen foul of sadistic teacher Mr Grimme, who labels him Asthma Boy. Akuna however, with the help of a cheeky Scots fellow student, soon leads the rest of the class into humiliating Mr Grimme, making Akuna King for a Term

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Playhouse Presents Season 2 Episode 1 - Hey Diddly Dee
    6.5/10(32 votes)

    #23 - Hey Diddly Dee

    S2:E1

    For every star that is born...one has to die. When the star of the show suffers a tragic accident who is to blame? The understudy? A faulty trap door? Or the theatre's lucky cat? A dark comedy-drama about drama.

    Director:Marc Warren
    Writer:Marc Warren

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  24. Playhouse Presents Season 3 Episode 1 - The Dog Thrower
    6.5/10(62 votes)

    #24 - The Dog Thrower

    S3:E1

    Lonely man Jonah begins throwing his dog in the air and catching him after witnessing a charismatic man doing the same in a local park.

    Director:Jon Ronson
    Writer:Jon Ronson

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  25. Playhouse Presents Season 1 Episode 1 - The Minor Character
    6.3/10(58 votes)

    #25 - The Minor Character

    S1:E1

    Drama written by Will Self and starring David Tennant as Will, the artist, who observes life in minute detail, providing a witty and acerbic critique of his life. When a tragedy occurs, Will is forced to reconsider the trust he has in the urban-suburban, middle-class landscape of his middle-aged friends.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"The Call Out" is the best rated episode of "Playhouse Presents". It scored 8.9/10 based on 130 votes. Directed by Carlo Gabriel Nero and written by Carlo Gabriel Nero, it aired on 5/2/2013. This episode scored 0.3 points higher than the second highest rated, "Gifted".