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The Worst Episodes of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries

Every episode of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries!

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The Ruth Rendell mysteries is a British television series made by TVS and Meridian Television for ITV between 2 August 1987 and 11 October 2000.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 10 Episode 1 - The Double
    5.3/10(107 votes)

    S10:E1

    Lisa meets Zoe, who is as much like her as an identical twin, but entirely out of the common rut - and dramatic events ensue which change both their lives.

    Director:Mary McMurray
    Writer:Piers Haggard

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  2. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 11 Episode 3 - Going Wrong: Part Three
    5.8/10(50 votes)

    S11:E3

    Part three of three. After losing the fight with William, Guy decides to forget Leonora and make it up to Celeste, but a surprise invitation rekindles his old obsession and leads to tragedy.

    Director:Matthew Evans
    Writer:Julian Bond

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  3. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 11 Episode 2 - Going Wrong: Part Two
    5.9/10(53 votes)

    S11:E2

    Part two. While attending a party with Celeste, Guy argues with Leonora's brother. He then asks Danny to kill him - but when he learns of an impending marriage, Guy realises he has targeted the wrong man.

    Director:Matthew Evans
    Writer:Julian Bond

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  4. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 8 Episode 3 - Vanity Dies Hard: Part Three
    6.1/10(83 votes)

    S8:E3

    Part three. The spinster's suspicions grow when her best friend mysteriously disappears, and as illness takes control she realises her ally was murdered.

    Director:Alan Grint
    Writer:Julian Bond

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  5. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 8 Episode 2 - Vanity Dies Hard: Part Two
    6.3/10(83 votes)

    S8:E2

    Part two of a moody whodunit from the pen of Britain's queen of crime fiction, starring Eleanor David as bride-to-be Alice Whittaker, whose marriage plans are thrown into turmoil by the disappearance of a close friend opposed to her impending nuptials. Disregarding assurances that there is nothing to worry about, Alice sets out to investigate - and soon uncovers evidence of foul play lurking just beneath the surface of local life.

    Director:Alan Grint
    Writer:Julian Bond

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  6. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 11 Episode 1 - Going Wrong: Part One
    6.3/10(77 votes)

    S11:E1

    As a teenager, Guy Curran leads a street gang and for three years is the lover of Leonora, whose middle-class background is a world away from his own. Leonora's family disapprove of her boyfriend. As the years pass, they drift apart. Guy becomes a successful business man and Leonora goes to college and then gets her first job. When they meet again, Leonora says there is now someone else in her life, but Guy can't accept this. His obsession deepens and turns into a murderous madness...

    Director:Matthew Evans
    Writer:Julian Bond

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  7. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 8 Episode 1 - Vanity Dies Hard: Part One
    6.4/10(138 votes)

    S8:E1

    Andrew Fielding, a good-looking young teacher, marries Alice Whittaker, a rich woman in her late thirties, more than ten years older than he is. All seems well until Alice introduces Andrew to Nesta Drage, her best friend, who quickly vanishes without trace. Meanwhile, Alice more and more doubts whether Andrew loves her - and if he is just a gold-digger, might he have something to do with Nesta's disappearance? Alice begins a search for Nesta - but Andrew does his best to tie his wife to the house.

    Director:Alan Grint
    Writer:Julian Bond

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  8. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 10 Episode 7 - Front Seat
    6.4/10(85 votes)

    S10:E7

    Hugh and Cecily Branksome retire to the seaside town where they grew up. There they meet again Arnold Cottle, an old boyfriend of Cecily's. She goes to look for a public seat given to the town by her late father, who was a local alderman, and finds it was destroyed and later replaced by another seat given by a suspected murderer. With Arnold's help, she sets out to investigate the unsolved murder.

    Director:Sandy Johnson
    Writer:Roy MacGregor

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  9. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 7 Episode 3 - Master of the Moor: Part Three
    6.5/10(151 votes)

    S7:E3

    Conclusion. A secret hideaway from Stephen's childhood leads to him uncovering the identity of the Master of the Moor.

    Director:Marc Evans
    Writer:Trevor Preston

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  10. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 11 Episode 5 - Road Rage: Part Two
    6.6/10(58 votes)

    S11:E5

    A girl's badly decomposed body is found, and cabdriver Stanley Trotter is suspected of murder.

    Director:Bruce MacDonald
    Writer:George Baker

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  11. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 7 Episode 1 - Master of the Moor: Part One
    6.7/10(369 votes)

    S7:E1

    Stephen Whalby is a young man living on the edge of the Moor, where since childhood he has spent most of his time alone. A string of young women, all with fair hair, are killed on the Moor, and suddenly Stephen finds himself the principal police suspect.

    Director:Marc Evans
    Writer:Trevor Preston

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  12. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 11 Episode 4 - Road Rage: Part One
    6.7/10(119 votes)

    S11:E4

    A Kingsmarkham bypass is planned which will take congestion and air pollution out of the town but put tarmac and heavy traffic through a stretch of much-loved countryside. Feelings are running high on both sides. An attractive young German tourist has disappeared, and when her decomposing body is found it is not clear whether the crime is part of a conspiracy or sex-related. Wexford is about to become a grandfather and is struggling to cope with family life and to do his job at the same time. Meanwhile, Dora Wexford has joined the anti-bypass campaign. The murder case continues, and the anti-bypass campaign escalates. People begin to be kidnapped, and this is linked to a militant group of environmental extremists. Under pressure on all fronts, Wexford keeps his cool (even when his wife is kidnapped on the day his daughter gives birth) and pursues the law-breakers to the bitter end.

    Director:Bruce MacDonald
    Writer:George Baker

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  13. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 6 Episode 5 - The Mouse in the Corner: Part Two
    6.8/10(22 votes)

    S6:E5

    No description available

    Director:Rob Walker
    Writer:George Baker

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  14. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 7 Episode 2 - Master of the Moor: Part Two
    6.8/10(155 votes)

    S7:E2

    Part two of three. Stephen's passion for the moor fuels the detective's suspicions, as his neglected wife is driven into the arms of danger.

    Director:Marc Evans
    Writer:Trevor Preston

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  15. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 9 Episode 2 - Simisola: Part One
    6.8/10(23 votes)

    S9:E2

    At first, this mystery seems to be a missing person case: Wexford's doctor asks for help in finding his daughter, Melanie Akande, a recent college graduate who disappeared after going to her local unemployment office to find a job. The Akandes are an immigrant family from Nigeria, living in a rural area where only a handful of black people live. The woman who handled Melanie's case at the unemployment office, also young and black, is found murdered a few days later. Could the disappearance and the murder be connected? Wexford begins to face up to subtly racist attitudes.

    Director:Jim Goddard
    Writer:Alan Plater

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  16. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 8 Episode 4 - The Strawberry Tree: Part One
    6.9/10(41 votes)

    S8:E4

    Petra Summers is an attractive middle-aged woman with a past - and her past life is beginning to come back to haunt her. When Petra Sunderton's elder brother Piers falls in love with their Spanish cousin Rosario, the consequences are far-reaching.

    Director:Herbert Wise
    Writer:George Baker

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  17. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 9 Episode 6 - The Secret House of Death: Part Two
    6.9/10(122 votes)

    S9:E6

    Part two of two. Susan Townsend finds herself in danger as details of the double killing begin to emerge.

    Director:Jim Goddard
    Writer:John Harvey

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  18. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 11 Episode 8 - The Lake of Darkness
    6.9/10(93 votes)

    S11:E8

    Quiet accountant Martin wins the lottery, but things take a turn for the worse when he meets Francesca, who is not what she seems.

    Director:Bruce MacDonald
    Writer:Peter Hammond

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  19. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 1 Episode 3 - Wolf to the Slaughter: Part Three
    7.0/10(45 votes)

    S1:E3

    No description available

    Director:John Howard Davies
    Writer:Clive Exton

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  20. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 9 Episode 8 - A Case Of Coincidence: Part Two
    7.0/10(116 votes)

    S9:E8

    Part two of two. Eddie Brannel's protests of innocence urge Masters to go against orders, and as a consequence he learns the true identity of the killer.

    Director:Gavin Millar
    Writer:Geoffrey Case

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  21. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 1 Episode 4 - Wolf to the Slaughter: Part Four
    7.1/10(43 votes)

    S1:E4

    No description available

    Director:John Howard Davies
    Writer:Clive Exton

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  22. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 3 Episode 4 - A Sleeping Life: Part One
    7.1/10(62 votes)

    S3:E4

    Wexford investigates when the dead body of a middle aged woman is found in a hedge - but there are no clues to the woman's identity, let alone any clues that might lead to her killer.

    Director:Bill Hays
    Writer:John Davies

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  23. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 4 Episode 3 - Some Lie and Some Die: Part Three
    7.1/10(30 votes)

    S4:E3

    No description available

    Director:Sandy Johnson
    Writer:Matthew Jacobs

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  24. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 6 Episode 4 - The Mouse in the Corner: Part One
    7.1/10(47 votes)

    S6:E4

    Tom Peterlee, a member of a large family who live in three adjoining cottages, is murdered. Eva, his mother is quite cavalier in reaction to his death in Wexford's opinion and other family members are no more helpful. Heather, his widow, seems dumb with grief and his brother and meek sister-in-law are similarly evasive. Family friend Carol is more forthcoming, providing Heather with an alibi, but Wexford is sure one of the Peterlees is a killer. Burden has problems of his own when his daughter starts dating a married man and a series of ramraids in Kingsmarkham add to Wexford's problems.

    Director:Rob Walker
    Writer:George Baker

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  25. The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Season 12 Episode 1 - Harm Done
    7.1/10(137 votes)

    S12:E1

    Wexford copes with two abductions of teen-aged girls, the disappearance of a 3 year old from her bedroom, and the return of a paroled pedophile to the town.

    Director:Bruce MacDonald
    Writer:Christopher Russell

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Worst Episodes Summary

"The Double" is the worst rated episode of "The Ruth Rendell Mysteries". It scored 5.3/10 based on 107 votes. Directed by Mary McMurray and written by Piers Haggard, it aired on 1/3/1997. This episode scored 0.5 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Going Wrong: Part Three".