The Best Episodes Written By Ian La Frenais

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
   

   10.0/10(1 votes)

   #1 - Just Desserts

   S2:E11/6/1991

   At the beginning of series 2, Lovejoy has just come out of prison after serving a sentence for theft. He believes he was set up and returns to Suffolk hoping to find the villain and get even.

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   Writer:Ian La Frenais

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2. 

   10.0/10(1 votes)

   #2 - The Judas Pair

   S1:E52/7/1986

   The wife and brother of a man killed with a fabulous pair of Regency duelling pistols engage Lovejoy to find them and thus bring about the downfall of the murderer. In the process, Lovejoy puts Jane's life at risk and challenges Dr La Grange to a duel.

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   Writer:Ian La Frenais

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3. 

   10.0/10(1 votes)

   #3 - Last Tango in Lavenham

   S6:E1012/4/1994

   In the last episode of Lovejoy, our hero gears himself up to marry Charlotte, and his old life begins to splinter. Jane Felsham returns with a splash, and without Alexander in tow - will Lovejoy have to choose between her and Charlotte?

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   Writer:Ian La Frenais

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4. 

   9.0/10(2 votes)

   #4 - Just Desserts

   S2:E110/24/1975

   There's an outbreak of petty pilfering from the inmates in Slade prison. Fletcher is disgusted - after all, stealing may be a job on the 'outside', but it's despicable when it happens 'inside'.

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   Writer:Ian La Frenais

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5. 

   9.0/10(1 votes)

   #5 - Pardon Me

   S3:E43/11/1977

   Old Blanco is doing time for the murder of his wife. He still swears he wasn't guilty. Now he's up before the Parole Board and it looks as if he's sure to be released. Blanco surprises everyone by turning down parole when it's offered to him. He explains that, if he accepts parole, he'll also be admitting that he was guilty of a crime for which he was wrongly convicted. He insists that he'll only leave prison if he's offered a full pardon. Fletcher comes up with a plan to help him.

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   Writer:Ian La Frenais

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6. 

   9.0/10(1 votes)

   #6 - A Test of Character

   S3:E53/18/1977

   Godber is working hard for an extra O-level. Fletcher tries to persuade him that cheating would be a good way of ensuring success in the examination. Godber isn't convinced.

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   Writer:Ian La Frenais

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7. 

   9.0/10(1 votes)

   #7 - Final Stretch

   S3:E63/25/1977

   Godber is due to appear before the parole board, but a fight with another inmate puts his parole in jeopardy. It's up to Fletcher to save the day.

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   Writer:Ian La Frenais

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8. 

   9.0/10(1 votes)

   #8 - The Sting

   S1:E31/20/1986

   Lovejoy sets out to help a young woman to trace a pair of Meissen figures which she sold to raise cash for a drug habit. When he comes across evidence of a double-cross by Charlie Gimbert, he decides to get even.

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   Writer:Ian La Frenais

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9. 

   9.0/10(1 votes)

   #9 - Death and Venice (1)

   S1:E93/7/1986

   Lovejoy travels to Venice to investigate the murder of a friend. The dead friend had bought a painting Lovejoy believed was a fake. In Venice, he is drawn into an ambitious art swindle, and identical twins Caterina and Lavinia are behind the scam.

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   Writer:Ian La Frenais

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10. 

    9.0/10(2 votes)

    #10 - The Prague Sun

    S3:E1412/26/1992

    Lovejoy is likely to be on his own for Christmas. However, a violent attack on an old Czech fighter pilot leads Lovejoy and Eric to Prague on a treasure hunt. Jane, who was on holiday with friends in Austria, joins Lovejoy in Prague to help solve a mystery of missing diamonds.Tinker is left to mind the shop and make preparations for Christmas.

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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11. 

    8.9/10(4 votes)

    #11 - A Night In

    S1:E39/19/1974

    Fletch explains to Godber that the best way to cope with his first night in prison, is to see it as just a "quiet night in". Trouble is, Godber's got another 698 to go.

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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12. 

    8.5/10(2 votes)

    #12 - Happy Release

    S2:E511/21/1975

    Fletcher is having a spell in the prison hospital with a broken ankle. He's sharing a ward with old Blanco, who tells him that another inmate has swindled him out of his belongings in a crooked card game. Fletcher hatches a plan to recover Blanco's belongings and to take revenge on the culprit.

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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13. 

    8.5/10(4 votes)

    #13 - Men Without Women

    S1:E610/10/1974

    Fletch fancies himself as a bit of an agony aunt and is called upon by his fellow inmates to help out with affairs of the heart.

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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14. 

    8.3/10(4 votes)

    #14 - Ways and Means

    S1:E510/3/1974

    Who would want to spend eight hours a day sewing fishing nets? Not Fletch, who is hell-bent on a cushy job in the library.

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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15. 

    8.1/10(4 votes)

    #15 - New Faces, Old Hands

    S1:E19/5/1974

    “Twenty-three and you want to go straight? What kind of talk is that? You've got your whole life in front of you!” It's Godber's first time in prison, and Fletch is going to teach him the ways.

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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16. 

    8.0/10(2 votes)

    #16 - The Harder They Fall

    S2:E611/28/1975

    Godber takes up boxing and wins a place in the prison championship, so Fletcher sees a chance for a bit of a flutter. Then Harry Grout takes an interest and insists that the fight is 'fixed'. When one of Grout's rivals takes a similar interest in Godber's opponent, it looks as if nobody can win. Fletcher, however, has other ideas.

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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17. 

    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #17 - Prisoner and Escort - Pilot

    S0:E14/1/1973

    Norman Stanley Fletcher, a career criminal and his escorts - soft-hearted Mr Barraclough (Brian Wilde) and authoritarian Mr Mackay (Fulton Mackay) going up to prison.

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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18. 

    8.0/10(2 votes)

    #18 - No Peace For the Wicked

    S2:E411/14/1975

    It's Saturday afternoon and Fletcher looks forward to a quiet read. Everyone else seems to have other ideas about how Fletcher should be spending his time.

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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19. 

    8.0/10(2 votes)

    #19 - A Storm in a Teacup

    S3:E12/18/1977

    When a bottle of pills goes missing from the Doctor's surgery, Harry Grout is worried that investigation of the theft by the prison authorities will jeopardise some of his activities. Grout insists that Fletcher must find the pills and return them before the warders can take action.

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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20. 

    8.0/10(3 votes)

    #20 - Poetic Justice

    S3:E22/25/1977

    Fletcher's new cellmate turns out to be the judge who sentenced him to five years in Slade Prison.

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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21. 

    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #21 - Rough Justice

    S3:E33/4/1977

    Fletcher is worried that Judge Rawley might rob him of his main source of income - writing letters for illiterate inmates.

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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22. 

    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #22 - Highland Fling (2)

    S3:E134/5/1992

    Some old sketches put Lovejoy and Jane on a trail which takes them up to Scotland, where they uncover a plot by another antiques dealer to con one of Jane's friends. At home, Eric is involved with a young woman with some unsavory relations, but she also has an antique mirror to sell. Lovejoy and Jane are moving closer to romance... but who is the girl Lovejoy keeps seeing in the woods?

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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23. 

    7.9/10(4 votes)

    #23 - The Hustler

    S1:E29/12/1974

    Ives is such a loser that if Elizabeth Taylor had triplets, he'd have been the one in the middle. But there's no way he's going to be left out of Fletch's gambling enterprise.

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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24. 

    7.8/10(4 votes)

    #24 - The Firefly Cage

    S1:E11/10/1986

    Having hired Eric Catchpole as an apprentice, Lovejoy sets out to unravel the meaning of a Japanese firefly cage.As Lovejoy and Eric are in hot pursuit (on Eric's motorbike) of a lovely lady with something they want, they hit a pool of water in the road and give a drenching to Jane (Lady Felsham), who is busy unveiling a plaque. When, later, Lovejoy rings the doorbell at Felsham Hall, complex chemistry begins, and Jane is soon showing Lovejoy around her attic...

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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25. 

    7.7/10(3 votes)

    #25 - A Day Out

    S1:E49/26/1974

    The rest of the working party are thrilled to have a day out, but Fletch is masking indifference - what's so exciting about digging a ditch anyway?

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    Writer:Ian La Frenais

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