The Worst Episodes of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Worst Episode
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   5.2/10(104 votes)

   #1 - The Double

   S10:E11/3/1997

   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:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown
2. 

   5.8/10(50 votes)

   #2 - Going Wrong: Part Two

   S11:E26/9/1998

   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:Unknown

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   Director:Matthew Evans

   Writer:Unknown
3. 

   5.8/10(48 votes)

   #3 - Going Wrong: Part Three

   S11:E36/16/1998

   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:Unknown

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   Director:Matthew Evans

   Writer:Unknown
4. 

   6.1/10(82 votes)

   #4 - Vanity Dies Hard: Part Three

   S8:E34/7/1995

   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:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown
5. 

   6.3/10(82 votes)

   #5 - Vanity Dies Hard: Part Two

   S8:E23/31/1995

   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:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown
6. 

   6.3/10(74 votes)

   #6 - Going Wrong: Part One

   S11:E16/2/1998

   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:Unknown

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   Director:Matthew Evans

   Writer:Unknown
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The 20 BEST Episodes of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
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7. 

   6.4/10(145 votes)

   #7 - Master of the Moor: Part Three

   S7:E39/16/1994

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

   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown
8. 

   6.4/10(134 votes)

   #8 - Vanity Dies Hard: Part One

   S8:E13/24/1995

   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:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Unknown
9. 

   6.4/10(82 votes)

   #9 - Front Seat

   S10:E72/21/1997

   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:Unknown

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   Director:Sandy Johnson

   Writer:Unknown
10. 

    6.6/10(56 votes)

    #10 - Road Rage: Part Two

    S11:E511/9/1998

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

    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown
11. 

    6.7/10(360 votes)

    #11 - Master of the Moor: Part One

    S7:E19/2/1994

    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:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown
12. 

    6.7/10(148 votes)

    #12 - Master of the Moor: Part Two

    S7:E29/9/1994

    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:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown
13. 

    6.7/10(117 votes)

    #13 - Road Rage: Part One

    S11:E411/8/1998

    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:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown
14. 

    6.8/10(21 votes)

    #14 - Simisola: Part One

    S9:E21/26/1996

    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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    Director:Jim Goddard

    Writer:Alan Plater
15. 

    6.9/10(20 votes)

    #15 - The Mouse in the Corner: Part Two

    S6:E510/25/1992

    No description available

    Director:Rob Walker

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Rob Walker

    Writer:Unknown
16. 

    6.9/10(120 votes)

    #16 - The Secret House of Death: Part Two

    S9:E63/15/1996

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

    Director:Jim Goddard

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Jim Goddard

    Writer:Unknown
17. 

    6.9/10(91 votes)

    #17 - The Lake of Darkness

    S11:E85/3/1999

    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:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown
18. 

    7.0/10(45 votes)

    #18 - Wolf to the Slaughter: Part Three

    S1:E38/16/1987

    No description available

    Director:John Howard Davies

    Writer:Clive Exton

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    Director:John Howard Davies

    Writer:Clive Exton
19. 

    7.0/10(35 votes)

    #19 - The Strawberry Tree: Part One

    S8:E44/21/1995

    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:Unknown

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    Director:Herbert Wise

    Writer:Unknown
20. 

    7.0/10(109 votes)

    #20 - A Case Of Coincidence: Part Two

    S9:E83/29/1996

    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:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown
21. 

    7.1/10(70 votes)

    #21 - Wolf to the Slaughter: Part One

    S1:E18/2/1987

    One evening, someone messes up a love-nest on a side street in a small country town. The carpet is soaked with human blood, but there is no body to be found. Meanwhile, a beautiful, promiscuous woman goes missing - as does the bundle of cash she was carrying. But Wexford and Burden have different theories about the disappearance of the eccentric Anita Margolis.

    Director:John Howard Davies

    Writer:Clive Exton

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    Director:John Howard Davies

    Writer:Clive Exton
22. 

    7.1/10(43 votes)

    #22 - Wolf to the Slaughter: Part Two

    S1:E29/9/1987

    No description available

    Director:John Howard Davies

    Writer:Clive Exton

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    Director:John Howard Davies

    Writer:Clive Exton
23. 

    7.1/10(43 votes)

    #23 - Wolf to the Slaughter: Part Four

    S1:E48/23/1987

    No description available

    Director:John Howard Davies

    Writer:Clive Exton

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    Director:John Howard Davies

    Writer:Clive Exton
24. 

    7.1/10(62 votes)

    #24 - A Sleeping Life: Part One

    S3:E411/12/1989

    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:Unknown

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    Director:Bill Hays

    Writer:Unknown
25. 

    7.1/10(30 votes)

    #25 - Some Lie and Some Die: Part Three

    S4:E310/14/1990

    No description available

    Director:Sandy Johnson

    Writer:Matthew Jacobs

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    Director:Sandy Johnson

    Writer:Matthew Jacobs