The BEST episodes of The Tripods

Every episode of The Tripods ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Tripods!

Set in the year 2089, huge machines known as Tripods have taken over the Earth. Controlling humans with a 'cap' (a mind control device attached to the head at the age of fourteen) which erases imagination, curiosity and independent thought, mankind now lives without technology in a rural/medieval existence. Cousins Will and Henry Parker, only a year away from being 'capped', hear of a place where free (un-capped) men live and fight the Tripods. Their travels take them from their home in England to France where they meet Jean-Paul 'Beanpole' Deliet who joins them on their journey to the white mountains of the Alps, home of the free men.

Last Updated: 12/29/2023Network: BBC OneStatus: Ended
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France - September, 2089 A.D. (1)
star
7.69
45 votes

#1 - France - September, 2089 A.D. (1)

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/10/1984

The Tripods strategy is revealed when a homing bug is found in Will. The device is removed, but it´s a bloody accomplishment and he is left very weak. Now they are trapped in a tunnel.

Writer: Alick Rowe
France - October, 2089 A.D. (2)
star
7.63
19 votes

#2 - France - October, 2089 A.D. (2)

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/1/1984

The boys are caught and put on trial for stealing bread, and Will again faces the possibility of capping. Again they escape, but get lost and end up in Tripod country.

Writer: Alick Rowe
Will is Made a Slave
star
7.60
20 votes

#3 - Will is Made a Slave

Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/12/1985

Fritz is made a slave somewhere beneath the city, and Will is placed in the service of Master 468, an alien who belongs to the race that created the Tripods.

Directors: Bob Blagden
Chateau Ricordeau, France - July 2089 A.D. (2)
star
7.42
71 votes

#4 - Chateau Ricordeau, France - July 2089 A.D. (2)

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/20/1984

Will and Eloise´s relationship blossoms into love. This becomes a problem, as he must choose between her and continuing on to the White Mountains.

Writer: Alick Rowe
City of Gold
star
7.35
20 votes

#5 - City of Gold

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/5/1985

The games are over. The Tripods take Will and Fritz to the City of Gold, leaving Beanpole behind. The city seems to be escape-proof.

Directors: Bob Blagden
Watch Now:Amazon
Hunt for Eloise
star
7.32
47 votes

#6 - Hunt for Eloise

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/19/1985

Will wants to find Eloise again, and Fritz is promoted from his slave life into the Power Elite, where he makes a new friend, Pierre.

Directors: Bob Blagden
Chateau Ricordeau, France - August 2089 A.D. (1)
star
7.31
97 votes

#7 - Chateau Ricordeau, France - August 2089 A.D. (1)

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/27/1984

Will stays behind as Henry and Beanpole leave to continue the quest. Will discovered that Eloise has been capped.

Writer: Alick Rowe
Will is Arrested
star
7.29
17 votes

#8 - Will is Arrested

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/21/1985

Will is arrested after a fight while drunk, Beanpole is missing, and Fritz may head for the games without them. Will and Beanpole end up on the run from Goetz.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Forest of Death
star
7.24
42 votes

#9 - The Forest of Death

Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/23/1985

Will and Beanpole pretend to be clowns in Ali Pasha´s circus. Their goal now is to get back to the White Mountains and tell the free men about what the Masters are going to do to Earth. They are doublecrossed by Ali, though, who intends to give them all to the Tripods to finally receive their capping.

Watch Now:Amazon
Blessings of the Cognosc
star
7.24
72 votes

#10 - Blessings of the Cognosc

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/2/1985

Having read Will´s mind, the Cognosc knows why the boys have trained to infiltrate the City.

Directors: Bob Blagden
The White Mountains - 2090 A.D.
star
7.22
45 votes

#11 - The White Mountains - 2090 A.D.

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/7/1985

The season opens with the boys in the White Mountains, training with the free men to enter the Tripod´s games. Only the best will be selected by Julius.

Directors: Bob Blagden
Watch Now:Amazon
The City of Gold
star
7.22
73 votes

#12 - The City of Gold

Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/26/1985

As Will and Fritz become more aware of what the Masters have planned for the Earth, they are brought to the Pool of Fire, where they meet one of the most powerful creatures in the City, a Cognosc.

Directors: Bob Blagden
Watch Now:Amazon
A Village in England - July, 2089 A.D.
star
7.20
203 votes

#13 - A Village in England - July, 2089 A.D.

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/15/1984

The story begins with the capping of Jack, one of Will Parker's friends. Will's community looks to be living in the 1800s as there are no machines or electrical devices, although Tripods are commonplace. In preparing for the capping of Jack, Will and Henry deliver food to vagrants which are people whose capping didn't go well. Living among them is Ozymandias who reveals to Will the secret of the White Mountains where men live free. Jack is capped, and returns to the village as a controlled mind. Will and Henry start their voyage to the White Mountains.

Directors: Graham Theakston
Writer: Alick Rowe
Help from Friends
star
7.19
69 votes

#14 - Help from Friends

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/29/1985

With some help from Zerlina and Papagena, Will and Beanpole escape from Goetz, and make their way to the stadium just in time for the games.

Watch Now:Amazon
The White Mountains - November, 2089 A.D.
star
7.18
73 votes

#15 - The White Mountains - November, 2089 A.D.

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/8/1984

A Tripod is destroyed. Racing towards the White Mountains, the black guards capture the boys and an interrogation begins.

Writer: Alick Rowe
The Cognosc Departs
star
7.15
72 votes

#16 - The Cognosc Departs

Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/9/1985

Will kills his master when he tries to check out Will´s cap. He tries to leave the City via an underground channel.

Chateau Ricordeau, France - August 2089 A.D. (2)
star
7.12
42 votes

#17 - Chateau Ricordeau, France - August 2089 A.D. (2)

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/3/1984

Eloise is taken away to serve the Tripods will in a tournament. Will gives up on her and leaves to catch up with Henry and Beanpole, but is captured again by Tripods. The Tripods set him free to find his friends, but why?

Writer: Alick Rowe
France - July, 2089 A.D.
star
7.10
51 votes

#18 - France - July, 2089 A.D.

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/6/1984

After escaping from prison with a new friend named Beanpole, Will and Henry travel to Paris, which is a ruined city inhabited by dangerous people.

Writer: Alick Rowe
Escape from the City of Gold
star
7.09
44 votes

#19 - Escape from the City of Gold

Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/16/1985

Fritz chooses to stay in the City, and Beanpole saves Will from drowning during his escape. They make it to a nearby town, and hide from the black guards in a circus.

Watch Now:Amazon
France - October, 2089 A.D. (1)
star
7.07
68 votes

#20 - France - October, 2089 A.D. (1)

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/24/1984

Having left the Vichot family, the trio struggles to reach the White Mountains. They try to steal some food, but end up being chased into a forest by black guards.

Writer: Alick Rowe
Travel
star
7.05
43 votes

#21 - Travel

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/14/1985

All the boys have been chosen to participate in the games. Now comes a trip to Germany, to reach the games stadium.

Watch Now:Amazon
Chateau Ricordeau, France - July 2089 A.D. (1)
star
7.04
47 votes

#22 - Chateau Ricordeau, France - July 2089 A.D. (1)

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/13/1984

Will becomes ill, and the three companions go into hiding at the Chateau Ricordeau. Will ends up in a romantic triangle with the daughter of a count named Eloise and the Duc de Sarlat.

Directors: Graham Theakston
Writer: Alick Rowe
France - September, 2089 A.D. (2)
star
7.04
71 votes

#23 - France - September, 2089 A.D. (2)

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/17/1984

Winter is coming, and Will wants to find the White Mountains soon, but Henry and Beanpole want to stay at with the Vichot family. However, Jeannie Vichot´s fiance is a black guard, and he´s checking the boys out.

Writer: Alick Rowe
England - July, 2089 A.D.
star
6.60
136 votes

#24 - England - July, 2089 A.D.

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/22/1984

Two cousins, Will and Henry Parker, resist the capping process. Under the guidance of a man named Ozymandias, they flee their homes in search of other free humans who are hiding in the White Mountains.

Writer: Alick Rowe
The English Channel - July, 2089 A.D.
star
6.52
108 votes

#25 - The English Channel - July, 2089 A.D.

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/29/1984

Will and Henry cross over to France, but they are captured upon their arrival and held for the Tripods to complete their capping.

Writer: Alick Rowe