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The Best Episodes of The Duchess of Duke Street

Every episode of The Duchess of Duke Street ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Duchess of Duke Street!

Binge this in 1d 1h•Peaking at 9.4/10

The Duchess of Duke Street is a British television period drama created and written by John Hawkesworth, loosely based on the real-life career of Rosa Lewis, and produced by the BBC and Time-Life Television Productions

Airs on
BBC One
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Seasons2

All12

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 16 - Ain't We Got Fun
    9.4/10(31 votes)

    #1 - Ain't We Got Fun

    S2:E16

    Change is in the air at the hotel and in the lives of its many residents. An American writer, Sophie Applegate, would like to pen a book about Louisa's life, successes and failures. Louise isn't all that keen on the venture but eventually rises to the occasion and opens up about her past.

    Director:Bill Bain
    Writer:John Hawkesworth

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  2. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 10 - Shadows
    9.0/10(32 votes)

    #2 - Shadows

    S2:E10

    Charlie returns to London and the Bentinck when he's been wounded and puts on a cheerful and brave face, but his situation is far more serious, as Louisa and the Major suspected.

    Director:Bill Bain
    Writer:Jeremy Paul

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  3. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 12 - The Legion of the Living
    8.9/10(26 votes)

    #3 - The Legion of the Living

    S2:E12

    Ghosts of Visits to Yorkshire Past interfere with key decisions Louisa must make in the present, chiefly, deciding what will be best for her daughter, Lottie and her future.

    Director:Gerry Mill
    Writer:Maggie Wadey

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  4. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 11 - Where There's a Will
    8.8/10(32 votes)

    #4 - Where There's a Will

    S2:E11

    With the war at an end, Louisa is at the precipice of an emotional collapse and financial ruin.

    Director:Cyril Coke
    Writer:Julia Jones

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  5. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 7 - The Patriots
    8.7/10(28 votes)

    #5 - The Patriots

    S2:E7

    Louisa is concerned when a government official informs her that the Bentinck has become a spies nest and implicates a member of her staff.

    Director:Bill Bain
    Writer:Bill Craig

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  6. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 8 - The Reluctant Warrior
    8.7/10(27 votes)

    #6 - The Reluctant Warrior

    S2:E8

    When the hotel sustains damage after it's grazed by a bomb, Ethel takes a shine to a conscientious objector, assigned to ferret out a potential UXB. Though nobody was injured, Starr, sadly, loses his beloved pooch in the rubble.

    Director:Simon Langton
    Writer:Rosemary Anne Sisson

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Duchess of Duke Street

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  7. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 9 - Tea and a Wad
    8.6/10(32 votes)

    #7 - Tea and a Wad

    S2:E9

    Louisa brings a bit of England to France when the Major enlists her to fashion a tea and sandwich shop, military style and Charlie (Lord Haslemere) and an ecstatic Luisa agree to marry once the 'guns are silent.'

    Director:Cyril Coke
    Writer:John Hawkesworth

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  8. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 1 Episode 15 - A Test of Love
    8.5/10(43 votes)

    #8 - A Test of Love

    S1:E15

    With the death of His Majesty, King Edward VII, an era ends for Britain and for Louisa Trotter. Pressing forward, however, Charlie Tyrell (Lord Haslemere) has proposed to lovely Margaret Rosslyn and the newlyweds leave the Bentinck to live in a suitable house and start a family.

    Director:Bill Bain
    Writer:John Hawkesworth

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  9. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 6 - Your Country Needs You
    8.5/10(27 votes)

    #9 - Your Country Needs You

    S2:E6

    With the outbreak of the Great War, the staff are galvanized to help in the effort and keep the hotel running as usual. Louisa takes in a Belgian refugee, a master pastry chef. Charlie enlists and leaves a worried Louisa as he departs for France .

    Director:Simon Langton
    Writer:John Hawkesworth

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  10. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 15 - Poor Little Rich Girl
    8.5/10(24 votes)

    #10 - Poor Little Rich Girl

    S2:E15

    Louisa and Lottie are at loggerheads -- Louisa wants her daughter to be a proper lady, as befits the daughter of a Viscount. Lottie is confident that she has the talent and the looks to become a major musical star of the London stage.

    Director:Cyril Coke
    Writer:Julia Jones

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  11. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 1 Episode 1 - A Present Sovereign
    8.3/10(84 votes)

    #11 - A Present Sovereign

    S1:E1

    Wanting to become an excellent cook, outspoken and ambitious Louisa Leyton persuades Monsieur Alex, a French chef working in the London home of Lord Henry Norton, to take her on as an assistant. Resented by other kitchen staff, Louisa bonds with Mary–target of their frequent malice–forms a friendship with butler Gus Trotter, and fends off attentions of the aristocratic Charlie Tyrrell. When Lord Henry unexpectedly returns during Monsieur Alex's holiday, Louisa must cook for a group that includes the Prince of Wales.

    Director:Bill Bain
    Writer:John Hawkesworth

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  12. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 1 Episode 3 - A Nice Class of Premises
    8.3/10(63 votes)

    #12 - A Nice Class of Premises

    S1:E3

    All bets are off when HRH becomes His Majesty, King Edward VII and Louisa and Augustus must plan what lies ahead for them.

    Director:Bill Bain
    Writer:David Butler

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  13. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 1 Episode 4 - The Bargain
    8.3/10(58 votes)

    #13 - The Bargain

    S1:E4

    Heavily in debt, Louisa is on a juggernaut that lands in her in the hospital, after she collapses from exhaustion. But, that handsome devil and consoling angel, Charlie Tyrrell, devises a plan to save her hotel.

    Director:Cyril Coke
    Writer:Jack Rosenthal

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  14. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 2 - Poor Catullus
    8.3/10(32 votes)

    #14 - Poor Catullus

    S2:E2

    When two high spirited Oxford students play a prank on Louisa, she goes along with the fun and finds a Professor of Classics pitching the woo to her. Meanwhile, Lord and Lady Haslemere come down from Yorkshire to shop for their London home.

    Director:Cyril Coke
    Writer:Jeremy Paul

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  15. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 3 - A Lesson in Manners
    8.3/10(33 votes)

    #15 - A Lesson in Manners

    S2:E3

    Louisa takes a callow chauffeur in tow and tries to turn him into a 'proper gentleman,' when his kind, elderly and wealthy employer dies suddenly and leaves him the bulk of her estate.

    Director:Cyril Coke
    Writer:Rosemary Anne Sisson

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  16. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 13 - Lottie
    8.3/10(22 votes)

    #16 - Lottie

    S2:E13

    While a few of the staff know of Lottie's origins, others have set their tongues wagging about just why this young girls seems to be staying at the Bentinck. Louisa wont put up with it and sets out to end the gossip. Mary meanwhile takes an interest in her and invites her to tea with her friend Brian, the violin player. He immediately takes an interest in Lottie and grates at the constant stream of orders from Mary.

    Director:Bill Bain
    Writer:Jeremy Paul

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  17. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 1 Episode 5 - A Bed of Roses
    8.2/10(56 votes)

    #17 - A Bed of Roses

    S1:E5

    With Charlie Tyrell now in residence as the first guest, the hotel is now officially open to the public. Louisa has set a high standard for herself and is relying on word of mouth among the right kind of people to bring in the clientèle. Charlie invites an attractive, but married, woman for dinner in his rooms only to have her leave when she realizes she is the only guest. He invites Louisa to join him and unexpectedly, they soon are lovers. When Charlie must leave for America, Louisa is heartbroken but she also is pregnant. At the appropriate time, she leaves the hotel with Mary in charge to go and give birth. Soon Charlie is back and completely unaware of what has been going on, tracks her down. He also has a proposition on how to care for their child

    Director:Bill Bain
    Writer:John Hawkesworth

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  18. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 1 Episode 9 - The Outsiders
    8.2/10(53 votes)

    #18 - The Outsiders

    S1:E9

    When a kindly, but modest man asks for a room at the Bentinck Hotel, he is given the short shrift. However when Louisa and Charlie find out the reason for his visit, he is treated like a visiting dignitary.

    Director:Simon Langton
    Writer:Rosemary Anne Sisson

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  19. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 4 - Winter Lament
    8.2/10(38 votes)

    #19 - Winter Lament

    S2:E4

    Louisa visits Lord and Lady Haslemere in Yorkshire and finds a bleak and desperately unhappy household.

    Director:Simon Langton
    Writer:Maggie Wadey

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  20. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 5 - The Passing Show
    8.2/10(29 votes)

    #20 - The Passing Show

    S2:E5

    Louisa urges Charlie to get on with his life and a smooth and very suave actor beds Violet, who promptly gets the sack.

    Director:Bill Bain
    Writer:John Hawkesworth

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  21. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 1 Episode 2 - Honour and Obey
    8.1/10(66 votes)

    #21 - Honour and Obey

    S1:E2

    Hardly flattered and severely compromised, Louisa has caught the eye of the Prince of Wales and is pressed into marrying Augustus Trotter.

    Director:Cyril Coke
    Writer:Jeremy Paul

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  22. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 1 Episode 12 - A Matter of Honour
    8.1/10(41 votes)

    #22 - A Matter of Honour

    S1:E12

    Charlie is shocked to learn that one of his closest friends, Lord Elleston, arranged for his horse to lose at Ascot.

    Director:Bill Bain
    Writer:Julian Bond

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  23. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 2 Episode 14 - Blossom Time
    8.1/10(23 votes)

    #23 - Blossom Time

    S2:E14

    Lottie returns to the Bentinck from finishing school in Switzerland for a bit of a holiday and has her art teacher, Miss Olive Bradford, in tow. Lottie has become quite the young lady, having learned the rules of high society and losing her Yorkshire accent. The Major takes quite an interest in Miss Bradford but Louisa warns him that she is an old maid who may be out to get her hooks into him. Lottie also finds a beau, hotel guest Howard Blenkiron who takes an interest in her from their first meeting.

    Director:Gerry Mill
    Writer:Jeremy Paul

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  24. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 1 Episode 11 - No Letters, No Lawyers
    8.0/10(47 votes)

    #24 - No Letters, No Lawyers

    S1:E11

    A wily journalist poses as a temporary porter and gathers information on Louisa that could destroy her personal and professional life.

    Director:Simon Langton
    Writer:Bill Craig

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  25. The Duchess of Duke Street Season 1 Episode 13 - One Night's Grace
    7.8/10(39 votes)

    #25 - One Night's Grace

    S1:E13

    All are intrigued when an attractive young lady asks to see Lord Haslemere -- who is she, what does she want, and more to the point, what is she after?

    Director:Cyril Coke
    Writer:Ken Taylor

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Best Episodes Summary

"Ain't We Got Fun" is the best rated episode of "The Duchess of Duke Street". It scored 9.4/10 based on 31 votes. Directed by Bill Bain and written by John Hawkesworth, it aired on 12/24/1977. This episode scored 0.4 points higher than the second highest rated, "Shadows".