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The Worst Episodes of When the Boat Comes In

Every episode of When the Boat Comes In ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of When the Boat Comes In!

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When the Boat Comes In is a British television period drama produced by the BBC between 8 January 1976 and 21 April 1981. Taking place between 1919 to 1937, Jack Ford is a First World

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    When the Boat Comes In Season 4 Episode 6 - Friends, Romans, Countrymen
    6.6/10(12 votes)

    #1 - Friends, Romans, Countrymen

    S4:E6

    Jack has been in London for three years with Imogen, but, despite still having feelings for him, she leaves to avoid scandal as her aunt is a standing Labour member for Gallowshield. The Tyneside hunger marchers arrive in town as Jack, tipped off that there is North Sea oil, buys cheap land to sell to the interested company. At a toga party given by Mrs Laurence for the hunger marchers, Jack encounters Jessie, still married to Ashton and with three children, but seeing upper-class socialist Robin Cunningham. She opposes his land deal but Jack buys her silence by threatening to tell Ashton about Robin. Sarah visits, pleased to be part of the deal.

    Director:David Reynolds
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  2. When the Boat Comes In Season 4 Episode 7 - The Bright Young Things
    6.9/10(10 votes)

    #2 - The Bright Young Things

    S4:E7

    Having made a huge sum from his deal with the oil company, Jack is mixing in London high society. He is sought by his land agent Frank to help broker the sale of an expensive emerald necklace to Morty, Jack's old American colleague, on behalf of wealthy Philip Martin, with a commission for them both. Martin's sister Jane takes a shine to Jack but proves to be unhinged and willing to kill for the necklace. The sale goes ahead and when Jack learns that Morty paid off the mobsters who were threatening him, he waives his half.

    Director:Jonathan Alwyn
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  3. When the Boat Comes In Season 4 Episode 5 - Oh, My Charming Billy Boy
    7.0/10(12 votes)

    #3 - Oh, My Charming Billy Boy

    S4:E5

    Jack is visited by former schoolmate, teacher Sid Meek, who is in touch with Bill Pierce, Matt's nephew, now a brilliant law student at Oxford and in financial straits. Sid, secretly in love with Bill, asks Jack to investigate which takes him to Oxford where he meets Bill at a charity ball hosted by Labour philanthropist Violet Laurence, who occasionally pays Bill for 'favours'. Bill, heavily in debt, considers dropping out of his course to take manual work with his girlfriend's father but Jack loans him the money, attracting the attention of Mrs Laurence's niece Imogen Lorrimer, visiting from London.

    Director:David Askey
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  4. When the Boat Comes In Season 4 Episode 1 - Back To Dear Old Blighty
    7.2/10(18 votes)

    #4 - Back To Dear Old Blighty

    S4:E1

    No description available

    Director:David Askey
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  5. When the Boat Comes In Season 1 Episode 9 - Angel on Horseback
    7.3/10(17 votes)

    #5 - Angel on Horseback

    S1:E9

    Nurse Rosie Trotter returns to Gallowshields and is mutually attracted to Tom, though, out of respect for Mary, they agree to postpone their nuptials for a year. Meanwhile, Bella's uncle Mick dies in hospital, having first placed a bet on a horse in Bella's name. To compensate for his funeral, Bella does cleaning work and is pleased to feel independent, which Bill resents. Mick's funeral is well-attended and the horse he backed won but unfortunately, the bet was never formally placed as the bookie was operating illegally.

    Director:Bill Hays
    Writer:Sid Chaplin

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  6. When the Boat Comes In Season 3 Episode 10 - Letters From Afar
    7.3/10(15 votes)

    #6 - Letters From Afar

    S3:E10

    No description available

    Director:Terence Williams
    Writer:Colin Morris

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  7. When the Boat Comes In Season 3 Episode 13 - A Marriage & A Massacre
    7.5/10(14 votes)

    #7 - A Marriage & A Massacre

    S3:E13

    No description available

    Director:Gilchrist Calder
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  8. When the Boat Comes In Season 4 Episode 4 - Flies & Spiders
    7.5/10(12 votes)

    #8 - Flies & Spiders

    S4:E4

    Smuggler Doughty introduces Jack to his supplier, German Captain Bauer, who offers Jack work guarding an air-strip in South America against local tribes. However, on learning that Bauer wants the locals killed for the oil on their land, Jack refuses. Nonetheless, he buys a warehouse full of fire-damaged, bankrupt goods from Bauer, which he and Sarah sell in Gallowshield market. Jack's able to repay Matt's debt and retain a handsome profit, though he's less fortunate in love when Margaret, for whom he has fallen, returns to London to get married.

    Director:Vere Lorrimer
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  9. When the Boat Comes In Season 3 Episode 12 - Diamond Cut Diamond
    7.6/10(13 votes)

    #9 - Diamond Cut Diamond

    S3:E12

    No description available

    Director:Terence Williams
    Writer:Colin Morris

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  10. When the Boat Comes In Season 1 Episode 2 - Say Hello... Say Tirra
    7.8/10(24 votes)

    #10 - Say Hello... Say Tirra

    S1:E2

    Billy, Tom and old army buddy Matt try to involve Jack in the Labour movement but he seems disinterested. Bella takes in Harry, a young orphan. Father Keenley, the local priest, tells Bella that she could adopt but this would put a strain on resources and it might be better if she allows the boy to be sent on an emigration scheme to Australia.

    Director:Gilchrist Calder
    Writer:Tom Hadaway

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  11. When the Boat Comes In Season 1 Episode 12 - Heads You Win, Tails I Lose
    7.8/10(16 votes)

    #11 - Heads You Win, Tails I Lose

    S1:E12

    To the annoyance of her husband, Jessie has been nominated for the Labour Party executive and Jack antagonizes Dolly – who senses an ulterior motive in backing her. Jessie's nomination is successful. She has a bright pupil, Robert Armstrong, for whom she is seeking a scholarship and romance seems to be in the air between Matt and Robert's mother Lizzie. However, Lizzie is independent and rejects Matt after securing a well-paid cleaning job. Meanwhile, Tom is on the run, wanted for theft and illegal gambling, and Jack, having patched things up with Dolly, plans to help him escape to London.

    Director:Leonard Lewis
    Writer:Sid Chaplin

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  12. When the Boat Comes In Season 3 Episode 11 - The Father Of Lies
    7.8/10(14 votes)

    #12 - The Father Of Lies

    S3:E11

    No description available

    Director:Michael Hayes
    Writer:Colin Morris

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  13. When the Boat Comes In Season 4 Episode 3 - A Medal For The Argentine
    7.8/10(12 votes)

    #13 - A Medal For The Argentine

    S4:E3

    No description available

    Director:David Askey
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  14. When the Boat Comes In Season 1 Episode 3 - Fish in Woolly Jumpers
    7.9/10(26 votes)

    #14 - Fish in Woolly Jumpers

    S1:E3

    Times are hard as the miners strike over a pay claim and Tom, now married with a son to keep as well as Mary, who has tuberculosis, borrows money from the seemingly flush Jack. Jack meets Matt's sister Dolly Mather, a war widow with whom he has an affair. Aware that Jack is involved in some sort of scam, Tom threatens to expose them unless Jack counts him in so Jack and Matt take Tom on their nocturnal 'fishing trip', in reality stealing sheep. They have a narrow escape after a run-in with a policeman but Jessie, against Jack's expectations, condones his activities.

    Director:Paul Ciappessoni
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  15. When the Boat Comes In Season 3 Episode 14 - High Life & Hunger
    7.9/10(15 votes)

    #15 - High Life & Hunger

    S3:E14

    No description available

    Director:Michael Hayes
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  16. When the Boat Comes In Season 4 Episode 9 - Comrades in Arms
    7.9/10(13 votes)

    #16 - Comrades in Arms

    S4:E9

    Jack is dating Tania, whose mother, the communist Lady Leamington, has a party to raise funds for the victims of Franco in the Spanish Civil War. At his London practise, Billy treats Bob Randall, son of Jack's old army sergeant Fred, wounded fighting for the Spanish Republicans. Aware that Jack considers himself in debt to Fred, who once saved his life, Jessie and Billy use Fred as go-between in persuading Jack to smuggle guns past Franco's blockade to help the Republicans. With Tania, Jessie – who has left Ashton – Billy and left-wing journalist Nigel Scott-Palliser, Jack sets sail under the guise of a pleasure cruise.

    Director:Jonathan Alwyn
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  17. When the Boat Comes In Season 3 Episode 4 - A Ticket To Care For The Wounded
    8.0/10(13 votes)

    #17 - A Ticket To Care For The Wounded

    S3:E4

    No description available

    Director:Gilchrist Calder
    Writer:Jeremy Burnham

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  18. When the Boat Comes In Season 3 Episode 7 - Debts Owed, Debts Paid
    8.0/10(13 votes)

    #18 - Debts Owed, Debts Paid

    S3:E7

    No description available

    Director:Terence Williams
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  19. When the Boat Comes In Season 1 Episode 5 - Coal Comfort
    8.1/10(21 votes)

    #19 - Coal Comfort

    S1:E5

    As the strike continues, Bill approaches an old friend, regarding the location of a mine shut down fifty years earlier. Tom pursues two children who have stolen leeks from his allotment but, on discovering that their mother is a war widow with no pension, makes a gift of leeks to them. Billy decides to quit his studies and, while Bill initially offers no opposition, he belittles the lad in the hopes that he will change his mind. The three Seaton men work on the shallow pit that Bill begins to dig under the floorboards — and eventually, Tom holds up a lump of coal in triumph.

    Director:Ronald Wilson
    Writer:Alex Glasgow

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  20. When the Boat Comes In Season 1 Episode 11 - Happy New Year, Some Say
    8.1/10(18 votes)

    #20 - Happy New Year, Some Say

    S1:E11

    It is New Year's Eve and Glaswegian socialist lecturer Sandy Lewis joins Jack, whom he tells that the Labour party is in the ascendancy, at the George Hotel, where Billy is bartending and Tom avoids capture, having stolen from the cloak-room. They join Bill and Bella at a party given by Jessie and Ashton, to whom she is now married. The next day, the Seatons are summoned for allowing their shop to remain open in the evening. Bill suspects they were grassed up by rival shopkeeper Davidson.

    Director:Bill Hays
    Writer:Alex Glasgow

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  21. When the Boat Comes In Season 1 Episode 13 - Kind-Hearted Rat with a Lifebelt
    8.1/10(15 votes)

    #21 - Kind-Hearted Rat with a Lifebelt

    S1:E13

    Tom is caught and remanded. Jack becomes the deputy branch secretary of the Union, getting the miners on side to dissuade them from strike action. The widow Downey – who actually informed on Tom – faces eviction as she is unable pay the rent and is locked out by the landlord. When Jack and Tom appear in court, Tom is sentenced to three months' incarceration and Jack to one, but Jack is released to a hero's welcome.

    Director:Paul Ciappessoni
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  22. When the Boat Comes In Season 2 Episode 1 - Ask for Tuppence, Take a Penny
    8.1/10(14 votes)

    #22 - Ask for Tuppence, Take a Penny

    S2:E1

    No description available

    Director:Terence Williams
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  23. When the Boat Comes In Season 2 Episode 2 - Tram Ride to the Bluebell
    8.1/10(15 votes)

    #23 - Tram Ride to the Bluebell

    S2:E2

    No description available

    Director:Bill Hays
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  24. When the Boat Comes In Season 3 Episode 15 - Please Say Goodbye Before You Go
    8.1/10(19 votes)

    #24 - Please Say Goodbye Before You Go

    S3:E15

    No description available

    Director:Terence Williams
    Writer:James Mitchell

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  25. When the Boat Comes In Season 1 Episode 7 - A First Time for Everything
    8.2/10(19 votes)

    #25 - A First Time for Everything

    S1:E7

    Encouraged by French onion seller Pierre, Bella turns the front of the house into a shop, using some of Bill's compensation. Bill, still bound to a wheelchair, is initially hostile but sees the need for income. Jessie is impressed by the intelligence of 14-year-old pupil Ronnie and tries to dissuade him from working in the mine but his mother is a widow and he wants to earn 'man's money'. He goes to work in the pit and is killed, causing Tom, who was looking after him, to quit. Jessie gets engaged to Ashton whilst Jack weds Dolly at the registry office.

    Director:Gilchrist Calder
    Writer:Alex Glasgow

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Friends, Romans, Countrymen" is the worst rated episode of "When the Boat Comes In". It scored 6.6/10 based on 12 votes. Directed by David Reynolds and written by James Mitchell, it aired on 3/24/1981. This episode scored 0.3 points lower than the second lowest rated, "The Bright Young Things".