Comedy1990–1994BBC One

The Best Episodes of Waiting for God

Every episode of Waiting for God ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Waiting for God!

Best episode
S3E9 Sleeping Pills
8.455 votes
Worst episode
S2E5 Tell the Truth
7.459 votes
Top season
Season 3
8.0avg
Binge time
22h 30m
45 episodes
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons5

All12345

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Waiting for God Season 3 Episode 9 - Sleeping Pills
    8.4/10(55 votes)

    S3:E9

    Diana collapses and is rushed to hospital where Baines tries, unsuccessfully, to cop off with the lady doctor. Diana, wrongly, gets it into her head that she is dying of cancer and asks Tom to get her some sleeping pills so that she can end it all quickly. For Tom, however, there are limits as to what he will do - even for his best friend.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  2. Waiting for God Season 3 Episode 6 - Scandal
    8.3/10(52 votes)

    S3:E6

    Resident Dave Cartwright has died and at the wake the drink flows freely amongst the inhabitants of Bayview. Tom and Diana wake up the next morning in bed together. Jane is shocked but Tom suddenly becomes very popular with the ladies in the home's bowling team.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  3. Waiting for God Season 5 Episode 8 - A Double Wedding?
    8.3/10(48 votes)

    S5:E8

    After confiding her doubts about marriage to Sarah, Diana has a raucous hen night with male strippers whilst Tom's stag night is a very staid affair. The befuddled Dennis Sparrow is to conduct the two wedding ceremonies separately but due to a double booking involving a funeral, a double wedding is on the cards after all - despite Marion's efforts to sabotage Tom's marrying Diana.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  4. Waiting for God Season 2 Episode 3 - Daisy Takes Charge
    8.2/10(59 votes)

    S2:E3

    Baines threatens Diana with expulsion unless she removes the partition but they both have more pressing matters to consider as Daisy becomes completely domineering, taking over the home with her ideas and threatening to get current staff sacked. Finally, Tom organises a revolt against her, causing her to leave... and Diana to remove the partition.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  5. Waiting for God Season 3 Episode 10 - Great Aunt Diana
    8.2/10(56 votes)

    S3:E10

    The residents are getting wet waiting for a bus but when it arrives the driver claims that they cannot get on for free for another four minutes as they are too early, so Diana hauls him off the bus and Tom hijacks it on behalf of the residents. This proves essential later when a heavily pregnant Sarah arrives, seeking Diana's reluctant help to deliver her baby.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  6. Waiting for God Season 3 Episode 4 - Harvey's Fiancée
    8.2/10(55 votes)

    S3:E4

    Baines meets a girlfriend, Lucy Maitland, at the hunt ball. His mother is coming to visit so Tom and Diana ham it up mercilessly pretending to be Baines' parents talking to Lucy.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  7. Waiting for God Season 3 Episode 5 - The Estate Agent
    8.2/10(52 votes)

    S3:E5

    After being accused of selfishness, Diana volunteers at a charity for elderly people and takes up the cause of an old lady about to be evicted by unscrupulous estate agent Janet Follett, who Diana learns is Baines' new girlfriend and has plans for Bayview which will not go down well with the residents. With help from Tom and her media contacts, Diana sets out to expose Ms. Follett.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  8. Waiting for God Season 1 Episode 1 - Welcome to Bayview
    8.1/10(92 votes)

    S1:E1

    Tom Ballard is put in Bayview Retirement Home by drunken daughter-in-law Marion and her weak husband Geoffrey. Many of the residents are very passive but not retired journalist Diana Trent, whose mission in life is to annoy 'the idiot Baines' - Harvey Baines, the home's manager. Initially she thinks Tom is rather dotty but when he tries to organise the residents into action against the home's poor food she knows she has found an ally.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  9. Waiting for God Season 4 Episode 10 - The Conference
    8.1/10(42 votes)

    S4:E10

    There is to be a conference on the needs of the elderly held, and Diana is asked to be the local representative. At the same time Tom is awaiting tests to see if he has prostate cancer, and so Diana researches the subject for the conference. Although the results are as yet undisclosed, Tom declares his love for Diana.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  10. Waiting for God Season 3 Episode 2 - Two Nasty Children
    8.0/10(57 votes)

    S3:E2

    Blaming Tom for introducing Marion to Dennis Sparrow, Geoffrey asks him to babysit his two children Skye and Tarquin, but they are little monsters who run rings around him. Fortunately, Diana is on hand to put them in their place. Baines decides to try computer dating to find his wife but Jane decides to put her oar in.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  11. Waiting for God Season 2 Episode 4 - The Thief
    8.0/10(56 votes)

    S2:E4

    Resident Betty claims that her sewing basket has gone missing and Tom and Diana decide to investigate. Not fully believing Betty's story they follow her and Tom intervenes when they see her apparently shop-lifting. Tom is arrested and conducts his own court case. Will he be taken seriously, what's destined for Betty, and where is her basket?

    Director:Sue Bysh
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  12. Waiting for God Season 1 Episode 2 - A Trip to Brighton
    7.9/10(81 votes)

    S1:E2

    Diana rows with chief carer Jane for calling her a senior citizen and Tom does his best to ignore Marion and Geoffrey. Diana's niece Sarah has left her Porsche at the home so Diana drives Tom to Brighton in it. Harvey Baines reports it missing and the couple are stopped by the police but explain that Diana has her niece's permission to use it and Harvey is threatened with arrest for wasting police time.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  13. Waiting for God Season 1 Episode 6 - The Psychiatrist
    7.9/10(59 votes)

    S1:E6

    Baines decides that if Diana and Tom are seen to be mentally incompetent it will give him power of attorney over them and end all his troubles, particularly as the home is in financial difficulties. So he refers them to psychiatrist Dr. Darrow, for whom they act out a well-rehearsed pantomime of odd behaviour, leading the doctor to conclude that they are not mad, just a touch eccentric, with unexpected help coming from Sarah.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  14. Waiting for God Season 3 Episode 8 - Politics
    7.9/10(46 votes)

    S3:E8

    Diana decides to enter politics and stands as an independent candidate for the Residents' Party. Baines has been asked to stand for the Tories so Tom decides to join in the race too. Care worker Jenny has been sacked but Diana promises to support Baines if reinstated. But she intends to end Baines' political career before it starts.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  15. Waiting for God Season 4 Episode 5 - The Seance
    7.9/10(44 votes)

    S4:E5

    Tom is introduced to Jane's spiritualist, Marjorie Evans, who claims to have heard from Tom's dead wife. A seance is duly organised, but Marion has bribed the medium to give a fake message, saying that Tom's wife disapproves of his relationship with Diana. But Diana smells a rat.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  16. Waiting for God Season 4 Episode 9 - Waterworks
    7.9/10(40 votes)

    S4:E9

    After drinking a lot at a reunion, Tom has trouble passing water and becomes very sensitive about it. He tries to keep it from Diana but his secretive behaviour initially leads her to believe that he is seeing another woman. Ultimately, he goes to hospital and Diana feels guilty, wishing he had told her the truth.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  17. Waiting for God Season 5 Episode 1 - After The Operation
    7.9/10(40 votes)

    S5:E1

    Diana visits Tom in hospital. His operation to clear his prostrate cancer has been a success and he returns to Bayview with her. Unfortunately Geoffrey, who has had yet another falling-out with Marion, decides he wants to move in with them again. Baines is rejected by an exclusive golf club because he is unmarried.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  18. Waiting for God Season 1 Episode 5 - Fraulein Mueller
    7.8/10(64 votes)

    S1:E5

    Jane wants to become a nun so Baines sacks her and brings in stern German matron Greta Mueller, who is a tyrant and tells Sarah where Diana hid the Porsche. Tom cons Baines into making him the head of the Residents' Association and organises a petition, which Baines thinks is to get rid of Diana, so he signs it. Actually it's to get rid of Greta, so he is forced to fire her and reinstate Jane.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  19. Waiting for God Season 2 Episode 6 - The Hip Operation
    7.8/10(63 votes)

    S2:E6

    Diana falls and breaks her hip whilst throwing a brick at the home's incompetent South American gardener. She is taken to hospital where she rows with the Welsh doctor over a hip replacement operation and Sarah, about to marry Sam, comes to visit. Sarah knows that Diana dislikes Sam and wonders if she will try to stop the wedding... or even attend. In the end Diana turns up for her niece's big day using a Zimmer frame. Marion, meanwhile, is not making a success of the beauty salon and Tom suggests Sam take back the franchise.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  20. Waiting for God Season 2 Episode 7 - Glamorous Grannies
    7.8/10(59 votes)

    S2:E7

    Tom has a bet with Diana that she can't be nice to people for a week. Such untypical actions only lead to confusion. Baines wants to organise a glamorous grandmother contest for the old ladies in the home, the prize being a cruise for two. Since Basil wants to marry Betty, Tom approaches his son Geoffrey, whose firm is sponsoring the contest, to let Betty win, but when Betty gets cold feet and refuses to enter, Diana, having made sure a journalist friend is present to expose any 'fixing' of the contest, replaces her last minute.

    Director:Sue Bysh
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  21. Waiting for God Season 3 Episode 3 - Looking for Work
    7.8/10(53 votes)

    S3:E3

    It's April, yet still very cold so the residents do not appreciate it when Baines turns off the central heating and suggests the residents go jogging to keep warm. To get out of the icy-cold home, Tom and Diana get jobs; Tom working with Geoffrey, but he is such a pain that in order to get rid of him, Geoffrey pays Baines to put the heating back on.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  22. Waiting for God Season 3 Episode 7 - Sabotage
    7.8/10(51 votes)

    S3:E7

    Whilst Baines is ecstatic about his new car, Tom and Diana plan a little holiday and try to make a few quid. Tom remembers he has a few shares but Geoffrey has invested the money in the new intensive care unit Baines is having built. So Tom and Basil get creative with a conveniently left bulldozer.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  23. Waiting for God Season 4 Episode 1 - Financial Difficulties
    7.8/10(46 votes)

    S4:E1

    Diana is horrified to find that she is in the red as all her investments have gone into receivership. Tom's room has severe rising damp and has the solution for them both. They will live together in one large room. Diana accepts but draws the line at being carried over the threshold.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  24. Waiting for God Season 4 Episode 2 - Living Together
    7.8/10(46 votes)

    S4:E2

    Tom and Diana struggle to adapt to each other's habits and routines, and battle over whose furniture should remain. Diana realises new resident Mrs. Kent is attempting to starve herself. They play happy families but only succeed when she sees what they are really like.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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  25. Waiting for God Season 4 Episode 4 - Shelves
    7.8/10(46 votes)

    S4:E4

    Geoffrey is getting on Tom's nerves with his obsession with shelves, which he keeps putting up. Tom is not the only resident missing Diana as she is seen as a source of advice. Diana herself, a thoroughly incompetent nanny, is missing Bayview and after ruining a fashion show goes home to Tom.

    Director:Gareth Gwenlan
    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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Best Episodes Summary

"Sleeping Pills" is the best rated episode of Waiting for God. It scored 8.4/10 from 55 votes. Directed by Gareth Gwenlan and written by Michael Aitkens, it aired on November 5, 1992. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Scandal".

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