Drama1974–1983BBC Two

The Best Episodes of Playhouse

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

Best episode
S7E6 My Dear Palestrina
9.711 votes
Worst episode
S4E6 The Mind Beyond: The Man with the Power
5.517 votes
Top season
Season 7
8.2avg
Binge time
17h 37m
117 episodes
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons8

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Playhouse Season 7 Episode 6 - My Dear Palestrina
    9.7/10(11 votes)

    S7:E6

    No description available

    Director:Diarmuid Lawrence
    Writer:Bernard MacLaverty

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  2. Playhouse Season 7 Episode 25 - You're All Right, How Am I?
    9.0/10(16 votes)

    S7:E25

    No description available

    Director:Paul Ciappessoni
    Writer:William Douglas-Home

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  3. Playhouse Season 6 Episode 2 - Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
    8.5/10(39 votes)

    S6:E2

    A dissident, Alexander, has been pronounced insane by the authorities (although he isn't), and finds himself sharing a cell with a genuine mental patient, Ivanov.

    Directors:Roger Bamford, Trevor Nunn
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Playhouse Season 6 Episode 7 - Speed King
    8.7/10(15 votes)

    S6:E7

    In 1935, Sir Malcolm Campbell's obsession is to win the World's Land Speed Record in his car Bluebird. Speed King is about the man, the car, and the ruthless, but irresistible, public ambition of a world hero.

    Director:Ferdinand Fairfax
    Writer:Roger Milner

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  5. Playhouse Season 7 Episode 14 - Days at the Beach
    8.8/10(9 votes)

    S7:E14

    In 1920, a trio of British soldiers have to guard an unexploded mine that has washed up on a beach.

    Director:Malcolm Mowbray
    Writer:Malcolm Mowbray

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  6. Playhouse Season 7 Episode 28 - Going Gently
    8.0/10(74 votes)

    S7:E28

    Two men sharing a hospital room after their diagnoses of terminal cancer struggle with fear, physical pain, the difficulties of being in hospital, family members unable to cope, loneliness, and their unusual friendship.

    Director:Stephen Frears
    Writer:Thomas Ellice

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Playhouse

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  7. Playhouse Season 6 Episode 1 - School Play
    8.2/10(22 votes)

    S6:E1

    A play about the horrors of life at an English public school - with all the schoolboys played by adults.

    Director:James Cellan Jones
    Writer:Frederic Raphael

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  8. Playhouse Season 6 Episode 3 - The Brylcreem Boys
    8.2/10(18 votes)

    S6:E3

    Cpl. George Hunn's sentry post is knocked over and he wakes to find he is suffering from frost bite of the face. Sent to hospital he is put on a ward with aircrew who have mental issues. He is trapped reenacting their missions at night.

    Director:Roger Bamford
    Writer:Peter Durrant

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  9. Playhouse Season 7 Episode 19 - Unity
    8.2/10(14 votes)

    S7:E19

    The true story of Unity Mitford who, in the 1930s, moves to Germany, where she befriends Adolf Hitler.

    Director:James Cellan Jones
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Playhouse Season 7 Episode 9 - Fothergill
    8.3/10(10 votes)

    S7:E9

    John Fothergill, aesthete and scholar, becomes the proprietor of the Spread Eagle, in Thame, Oxfordshire, with the intent of turning it into the most celebrated Inn in England, catering to the brightest lights in London's literati.

    Director:Claude Whatham
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Playhouse Season 7 Episode 1 - Caught on a Train
    7.8/10(442 votes)

    S7:E1

    Peter boards a train to attend an important business meeting across Europe. His trip is complicated by two women also assigned to his compartment. One is an independent American whom Peter finds attractive. The other is Frau Messner, an extremely particular and demanding older European woman. Between the two of them, they try different aspects of Peter's patience...

    Director:Peter Duffell
    Writer:Stephen Poliakoff

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  12. Playhouse Season 7 Episode 13 - Journal of Bridget Hitler
    8.0/10(12 votes)

    S7:E13

    An Irishwoman married to a German in pre-WWI Liverpool prepares to meet her brother-in-law, a young man named Adolf Hitler.

    Director:Philip Saville
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Playhouse Season 8 Episode 23 - Lunch
    8.0/10(12 votes)

    S8:E23

    Two women meet for lunch every two weeks to swap news. But this week is different.

    Director:Jon Amiel
    Writer:Elaine Feinstein

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  14. Playhouse Season 7 Episode 5 - Grown-Ups
    7.7/10(618 votes)

    S7:E5

    Young working class couple Dick and Mandy move into a council house in Canterbury, and find Mr. Butcher, one of their former teachers, living next door. Mandy's unmarried sister, Gloria, is constantly dropping in, and will not take any hints that the couple would prefer to be left alone, until her presence finally goads them to action.

    Director:Mike Leigh
    Writer:Mike Leigh

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  15. Playhouse Season 8 Episode 31 - Come Into the Garden, Maud
    7.7/10(92 votes)

    S8:E31

    A henpecked American visiting Europe is able to throw off his ghastly wife and find love.

    Director:Cedric Messina
    Writer:Noël Coward

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  16. Playhouse Season 4 Episode 3 - The Mind Beyond: The Love of a Good Woman
    7.4/10(13 votes)

    S4:E3

    A pair of childhood sweethearts have their peaceful life interrupted when a vulgar woman from her dreams show up in reality.

    Director:John Gorrie
    Writer:William Trevor

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  17. Playhouse Season 4 Episode 1 - The Mind Beyond: Meriel, the Ghost Girl
    7.4/10(30 votes)

    S4:E1

    Psychic investigator George Livingston is asked to attend a séance. Can it be that he has finally discovered a genuine supernatural phenomena!?

    Director:Philip Saville
    Writer:David Halliwell

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  18. Playhouse Season 4 Episode 4 - The Mind Beyond: The Daedalus Equations
    7.4/10(42 votes)

    S4:E4

    During a séance, a medium transcribes complex equations that seem to be the final work of a recently deceased physicist revealing the secret of cold fusion, to the consternation of a rationalistic scientist.

    Director:David Reid
    Writer:Bruce Stewart

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  19. Playhouse Season 6 Episode 21 - The Unborn
    7.1/10(12 votes)

    S6:E21

    A physicist has visions of his unborn baby – it turns out that the child will grow up to become a Hitler-like dictator responsible for World War III.

    Director:Michael Custance
    Writer:Philip Martin

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  20. Playhouse Season 1 Episode 3 - The Cafeteria
    7.0/10(9 votes)

    S1:E3

    An eccentric Jewish writer is drawn into the world of an apparently delusional young woman and her invalid father.

    Director:Silvio Narizzano
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Playhouse Season 2 Episode 3 - Diane
    7.2/10(95 votes)

    S2:E3

    Teenager Diane Weaver lives with her abusive single father. A religious local boy only who wants to be her friend, but she doesn't like him as much as he does her. What no one realizes is how far the abuse goes.

    Director:Alan Clarke
    Writer:Anthony Read

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  22. Playhouse Season 7 Episode 8 - Standing in for Henry
    6.9/10(16 votes)

    S7:E8

    At a Nottingham advertising agency, young graphic designer Graham is recruited as a temporary replacement for the iconic Henry. The agency are desperate to be part of the Swinging Sixties but not without Henry. Can Graham replace him?

    Director:Michael Heffernan
    Writer:Malcolm Bradbury

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  23. Playhouse Season 4 Episode 2 - The Mind Beyond: Double Echo
    6.8/10(17 votes)

    S4:E2

    Alison has suffered Autism since childhood. Now 17, her parents take her to Dr. Mallam for psychotherapy. Alison is tested with Zener cards, leading him to suspect she is telepathic.

    Director:Alan Bridges
    Writer:Brian Hayles

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  24. Playhouse Season 2 Episode 2 - Mrs. Acland's Ghosts
    6.9/10(33 votes)

    S2:E2

    An isolated woman is haunted by the ghosts of her dead siblings.

    Director:Mike Newell
    Writer:William Trevor

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  25. Playhouse Season 8 Episode 9 - A Silly Little Habit
    6.0/10(9 votes)

    S8:E9

    An apparently happy and privileged woman begins shoplifting.

    Director:Sarah Pia Anderson
    Writer:Carol Bunyan

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Best Episodes Summary

"My Dear Palestrina" is the best rated episode of Playhouse. It scored 9.7/10 from 11 votes. Directed by Diarmuid Lawrence and written by Bernard MacLaverty, it aired on December 5, 1980. This episode scored 0.7 points higher than the second highest rated, "You're All Right, How Am I?".

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