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The Best Episodes of DCI Banks Season 1

Every episode of DCI Banks Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of DCI Banks Season 1!

Binge this in 4h 30m•Peaking at 7.9/10

A thrilling drama based on the novels by Peter Robinson. Stephen Tompkinson and Andrea Lowe star as the tenacious and stubborn Chief Inspector Alan Banks and the feisty and headstrong Detective Sergeant Annie Cabbot.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    DCI Banks Season 1 Episode 1 - Playing with Fire: Part 1
    7.5/10(623 votes)

    #1 - Playing with Fire: Part 1

    S1:E1

    In the first episode, DCI Alan Banks is taken to a canal where there has been a fatal fire. The crime is far from straightforward, and as another body is discovered the motive, as well as the intended victim, become increasingly unclear. However, the discovery of what appears to be a Turner landscape suggests that at least one of the victims was involved in an art forgery scam.

    Director:Paul Whittington
    Writer:Robert Murphy

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  2. DCI Banks Season 1 Episode 2 - Playing with Fire: Part 2
    7.5/10(525 votes)

    #2 - Playing with Fire: Part 2

    S1:E2

    After Tom McMahon becomes the third victim following some suspicious fires, Alan realises that he is now attempting to catch a serial killer. His superiors warn him to keep his distance from the Aspern family who are trying to lodge an official complaint against him. Banks is determined to locate the ringleader of the art forgery scam which links two of the victims. Annie continues to see Mark Keane, despite Banks’ warnings. After Banks finally discovers the true identity of ‘Morrison’, he quickly realises that Annie could be in real danger.

    Director:Paul Whittington
    Writer:Robert Murphy

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  3. DCI Banks Season 1 Episode 3 - Friend of the Devil: Part 1
    7.3/10(467 votes)

    #3 - Friend of the Devil: Part 1

    S1:E3

    DCI Banks assigns DS Cabbot as SIO when the mutilated body of a woman is found on the Yorkshire Moors, while he investigates the murder of a teenaged girl whose body has been found in a storage room. Annie discovers that her victim was Lucy Payne.

    Director:Bill Anderson
    Writer:Laurence Davey

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  4. DCI Banks Season 1 Episode 4 - Friend of the Devil: Part 2
    7.4/10(431 votes)

    #4 - Friend of the Devil: Part 2

    S1:E4

    DC Templeton's body is discovered, and Annie becomes convinced that the murder is connected to that of Lucy Payne. The suspect in the Daniels murder case is cleared, so DCI Banks must establish how the real murderer was able to avoid detection.

    Director:Bill Anderson
    Writer:Laurence Davey

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  5. DCI Banks Season 1 Episode 5 - Cold is the Grave: Part 1
    7.7/10(431 votes)

    #5 - Cold is the Grave: Part 1

    S1:E5

    An armed robbery ends up taking a much darker twist after the culprit is brutally murdered in his own home. Before DCI Banks can start to unravel the case, Chief Superintendent Gerry Rydell, makes a personal plea for Banks to look for his missing teenage daughter. Some naked photographs found on the Internet by Rydell’s wife, Rosalind, makes it look like that she could be in London. Banks reluctantly agrees to help and manages to track Emily down to the home of a drug dealer. Emily refuses to come back home with him but changes her mind. Annie, who has been leading the investigation into the robber’s murder whilst Banks has been away, thinks that the robbery could have been staged, but the victim’s accomplice refuses to talk. After Emily contacts Banks and suggests that she has seen one of Clough’s associates in Leeds, Banks wants her to tell him everything she knows about Clough. Emily refuses to tell Banks anything though. After a battered body is found in an Eastvale nightclub, Banks is shocked to discover that the victim has been identified as Ruth Walker, somebody Emily knew whilst in London. After the true identity of the victim is revealed though, both Banks and Annie find themselves involved in a conspiracy which has changed both investigations hugely.

    Director:Marek Losey
    Writer:Robert Murphy

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  6. DCI Banks Season 1 Episode 6 - Cold is the Grave: Part 2
    7.9/10(413 votes)

    #6 - Cold is the Grave: Part 2

    S1:E6

    Emily Rydell has apparently been brutally beaten to death and DCI Banks quickly ends up being in the middle of a murder investigation with many suspects. After a surveillance operation establishes a link between the murder of Charles McKay and Brian Clough, Banks and Annie soon work out that the two cases have to be connected.

    Director:Marek Losey
    Writer:Robert Murphy

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    The 20 BEST Episodes of DCI Banks

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Season 1 Ratings Summary

"Playing with Fire: Part 1" is the best rated episode of "DCI Banks" season 1. It scored 7.5/10 based on 623 votes. Directed by Paul Whittington and written by Robert Murphy, it aired on 9/16/2011. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "Playing with Fire: Part 2".