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The Best Episodes of The Onedin Line

Every episode of The Onedin Line ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Onedin Line!

The Best Episodes of The Onedin Line

The Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series which ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set...

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  1. 8.9/10(20 votes)

    #1 - Uncharted Island

    S4:E6

    No description available

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    Director:N/A
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  2. 8.7/10(31 votes)

    #2 - Race for Power

    S2:E14

    No description available

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  3. 8.6/10(18 votes)

    #3 - The Passenger

    S3:E13

    No description available

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    Director:N/A
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  4. 8.6/10(18 votes)

    #4 - A Close Run Thing

    S5:E10

    James and Letty are to be married on board ship by Captain Baines but this nearly does not happen when a group of shanghaied sailors attempt to overwhelm them, the plan being foiled by elderly Captain Jack and the marriage does go ahead. Daniel Fogarty has returned from Australia a rich man. He has begun a charity, the Albert Fund, and is knighted for his services. He marries Elizabeth at last but James's experience has prevented him from being their best man.

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  5. 8.5/10(14 votes)

    #5 - The Fortune Hunters

    S6:E10

    Newly elected to Parliament Daniel joins with Elizabeth to prevent William from selling the Frazer Line to an apparent consortium, actually a front for Beaumont. To take his mind off his son's death James sails to Africa with Captain Baines to find diamonds but they end up adrift in an open boat for three months. Letty never doubts that he will come back and, on his return, he gives half of the Onedin Line to Samuel, who has married Charlotte just in time for the birth of her son.

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  6. 8.5/10(13 votes)

    #6 - Homeward Bound

    S7:E10

    The Doyles return to Liverpool and Samuel declares his love for Helen but Charlotte refuses to divorce him - whilst Sarah and Fergus spend time together. Elizabeth learns that Daniel is the new ambassador to Turkey, an appointment engineered by Marston's father so that she will be obliged to leave Liverpool and join her husband . Helped by Tom, for whom he has arranged a master's apprenticeship, James tracks down Burgess, who has stolen back the ship the 'Black Pearl'. However he lets him keep the ship and returns to Liverpool, finding his house full of children following a fire at Letty's orphanage.

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Onedin Line

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  8. 8.4/10(25 votes)

    #7 - Pound and Pint

    S2:E2

    No description available

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    Director:Ben Rea
  9. 8.4/10(14 votes)

    #8 - The Trade Winds

    S5:E4

    Having exposed Macauley's insurance scam James proposes to Letty, who accepts. Daniel also returns to Liverpool, now a very wealthy man. Robert considers opening a department store and travels with Captain Baines and Samuel to New York, where he is robbed and very nearly press-ganged. James takes on a voyage to import some sheep but it causes him to postpone the wedding and Letty, as a consequence, declares the engagement and wedding off.

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  10. 8.3/10(29 votes)

    #9 - 'Frisco Bound

    S2:E8

    No description available

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  11. 8.3/10(29 votes)

    #10 - Beyond the Upper Sea

    S2:E9

    No description available

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    Director:Cyril Coke
  12. 8.3/10(27 votes)

    #11 - Goodbye, Goodbye

    S2:E11

    No description available

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    Writer:David Weir
  13. 8.3/10(16 votes)

    #12 - Law of the Fist

    S3:E7

    No description available

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  14. 8.3/10(15 votes)

    #13 - Coffin Ships

    S5:E3

    Five ships, all carrying iron plate, have foundered - people betting on the losses, including Mr. Dunwoody, Elizabeth's clerk, who buys the company house where Robert and Sarah live, forcing them to return to live over the shop. James accepts a cargo of iron plate and discovers the ship is being sabotaged by Kirk, a sailor in the pay of Macauley, who also sunk the other five. Whilst Elizabeth's son, William is only interested in commerce, Robert's boy, Samuel, is keen to go to sea. James returns to Liverpool and finds that Letty, tired of waiting for a marriage proposal, has gone.

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  15. 8.3/10(13 votes)

    #14 - Highly Explosive

    S6:E7

    Letty tells James that she is pregnant and Charlotte gives William the same news. He is stunned and, as he does not love her, refuses to marry her - although she has confided in Samuel that she believes they will wed. Samuel takes the news badly and, when he and James, sailing to Ireland, come across a deserted steamer full of high explosives, feels sufficiently reckless to help James put the cargo overboard, though they are successful and claim the salvage rights. William turns twenty-one and inherits his mother's share of the Frazer yard, which he intends to sell.

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  16. 8.3/10(14 votes)

    #15 - Liverpool Bound

    S7:E1

    Newly elected to Parliament Daniel joins with Elizabeth to prevent William from selling the Frazer Line to an apparent consortium, actually a front for Beaumont. To take his mind off his son's death James sails to Africa with Captain Baines to find diamonds but they end up adrift in an open boat for three months. Letty never doubts that he will come back and, on his return, he gives half of the Onedin Line to Samuel, who has married Charlotte just in time for the birth of her son.

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    Director:N/A
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  17. 8.3/10(14 votes)

    #16 - A Royal Return

    S8:E1

    Letty has died from diphtheria caught from one of her orphans and Elizabeth has returned from Turkey to ensure the orphanage remains open. Sarah is on a Cook's tour of the world, Samuel has his own ships, bought from selling the shares William left his son Robert, as well as becoming the youngest chairman of the chamber of commerce. He divorces Charlotte and is awarded custody of the children but agrees to repay the shares in the little boy's account.

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  18. 8.2/10(27 votes)

    #17 - Shadow of Doubt

    S1:E13

    No description available

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    Director:Ben Rea
  19. 8.2/10(27 votes)

    #18 - An Inch of Candle

    S2:E10

    Anne is Pregnant and is asked to buy a new house. James discovers an abandoned ship.

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    Director:Gerald Blake
  20. 8.2/10(18 votes)

    #19 - Danger Level

    S3:E5

    No description available

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    Director:N/A
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  21. 8.2/10(17 votes)

    #20 - The Silver Caddy

    S3:E11

    No description available

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  22. 8.2/10(17 votes)

    #21 - Not Wanted on Voyage

    S4:E3

    No description available

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  23. 8.2/10(17 votes)

    #22 - A Clear Conscience

    S4:E7

    No description available

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  24. 8.2/10(12 votes)

    #23 - A Sea of Troubles

    S6:E8

    James learns of Charlotte's situation but refuses permission for her to marry William, whom he regards as worthless, and sends her out of Liverpool to have her child. He also encourages Daniel to stand against the greedy Beaumont as a councillor to thwart the banker's aim to take more land for himself if elected though Elizabeth is still unhappy about her husband's support for the ship canal. Captain Baines brings home a ship from South America, whose dying captain is an old enemy of his. Baines falls for the man's wife and considers buying the ship when her husband dies but James beats him to it.

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  25. 8.2/10(12 votes)

    #24 - The Homecoming

    S7:E2

    Leaving Letty feeling adrift in their new, large country house James sails to Belfast, persuading cash-strapped Captain Seth Burgess to cut him into his steamship line. William returns from two years abroad and instantly detects the cool atmosphere between his parents. Samuel and Charlotte make it clear to him that they want nothing to do with him but feel remorseful after William dies, saving a group of children from being trampled by a runaway horse and cart. His death also goes some way to reconciling his parents.

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  26. 8.2/10(14 votes)

    #25 - Blood Ties

    S8:E3

    An ancient cannon Captain Baines believes to have belonged to Henry Morgan and spirited Margarita, daughter of South American president Juarez, join James' latest cargo but on arrival in Margarita's home country James finds that her father is about to be overthrown in a revolution by his brother-in-law. When the rebels attack James and Tom help the Juarezes to escape but the president is shot by a sniper and, as the surviving trio row back to the ship under fire, the cannon comes in very handy. Elizabeth counts the financial cost of putting up ransom money for her brother.

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Best Episodes Summary

"Uncharted Island" is the best rated episode of "The Onedin Line". It scored 8.9/10 based on 20 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 5/30/1976. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "Race for Power".