The BEST episodes of Waking the Dead

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

Led by Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd (Trevor Eve) the Cold Case Squad investigates serious crimes which have gone unsolved. Armed with the latest technological advances and old fashioned hard work, Psychological Profiler Grace Foley (Sue Johnston), Forensic Pathologist Frankie Wharton (Holly Aird), Detective Constable Mel Silver (Claire Goose) and Detective Sergeant Spencer Jordan (Wil Johnson) wake the dead for clues and answers.

Last Updated: 1/5/2024Network: BBC OneStatus: Ended
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Waterloo (2)
star
8.05
83 votes

#1 - Waterloo (2)

Season 9 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/11/2011

Time is running out for Boyd as he fights for justice against a powerful adversary.

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Solidarity (2)
star
8.05
108 votes

#2 - Solidarity (2)

Season 9 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/28/2011

As the case continues, the squad investigate Murray using Grace as bait. However, when one member is shot and one member is arrested, the case could go in to turmoil, only for a connection to be revealed.

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Waterloo (1)
star
7.97
137 votes

#3 - Waterloo (1)

Season 9 - Episode 9 - Aired 4/10/2011

Boyd investigates the disappearance of 16 homeless boys from Waterloo Bridge in the 1980s.

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Care (1)
star
7.95
142 votes

#4 - Care (1)

Season 9 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/20/2011

After a woman is discovered stabbed in the eyes and incinerated in her car she is identified as Claire Somers, a neglected child who was taken into care, then later kidnapped in 1986 at the age of seven. Robert Fenchurch had his eyes stabbed out on the night Claire was kidnapped as her abductor fled the scene. The team soon find out that Claire had snatched 15-year-old Abigail Harding, who was found locked in a hotel room.

Directors: Edward Bennett
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Care (2)
star
7.93
112 votes

#5 - Care (2)

Season 9 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/21/2011

The investigation into Claire Somers' death has seemingly unleashed a predator straight from the darkest childhood nightmare. But are they looking for a monstrous child-stealer, or misguided saviours?

Directors: Edward Bennett
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Yahrzeit (1)
star
7.68
110 votes

#6 - Yahrzeit (1)

Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired 2/18/2007

Boyd receives an anonymous package in the post – a Nazi ceremonial dagger. Attached to it is a Cold Case number, linking it to the unsolved murder of a young girl in May 1945. It seems that Mel had been working on the case before her death, what does this mean for the Cold Case Team?

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Solidarity (1)
star
7.66
136 votes

#7 - Solidarity (1)

Season 9 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/27/2011

When the squad look in to the case of an army activist discovered in London's sewer system they discover that the case may have more police connections than they originaly thought.

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Mask of Sanity (2)
star
7.65
111 votes

#8 - Mask of Sanity (2)

Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/29/2007

The plot thickens as Rivelli and then Harris confess to the three cold case murders. Boyd remains suspicious though - who was the real murderer and what has Jensen got to do with it all?

Directors: David Thacker
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Fugue States (1)
star
7.63
116 votes

#9 - Fugue States (1)

Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 7/25/2004

In 1990 - Jason and Cindy, two 5 year-old twins disappear from their home, and even after a nationwide search is launched, they are still not found. Thirteen years later, Jason is found in a hospital suffering from injuries he sustained in a car accident. But where's Cindy? Boyd and the team set out to find her. Mel Silver is trying to find her biological mother

Writer: Ed Whitmore
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Yahrzeit (2)
star
7.62
86 votes

#10 - Yahrzeit (2)

Season 6 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/19/2007

As Ben goes missing, Boyd and his team try to force the truth out of a confused David. Boyd grows increasingly close to Sarah, and Stella travels to Poland to investigate the true story.

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Mask of Sanity (1)
star
7.60
111 votes

#11 - Mask of Sanity (1)

Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/28/2007

Two days after James Jenson is released from a psychiatric unit, the wallets of his victims are sent to a relative. Does this mean more murders could follow? And is James really responsible for the three coldcase murders, or did he take the blame for somebody else?

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Wren Boys (2)
star
7.58
107 votes

#12 - Wren Boys (2)

Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/8/2007

Continuing the investigation of the death of a teenager whose body was found in concrete on a building site years ago. The injured Joe McDonagh finally wakes from his coma - but how much light can he throw now on a boxing bout which went badly wrong long ago?Meanwhile, there are surprises in store for Boyd and Jordan.

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Harbinger (2)
star
7.53
90 votes

#13 - Harbinger (2)

Season 9 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/14/2011

Boyd is convinced that the missing Donald is not a murderer, and pushes his team to try to make sense of all the vague connections in the case and eventually confront the unfathomable evil lurking within the heart of this sad, unfortunate family.

Directors: Marc Jobst
Writer: Ed Whitmore
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Sins (1)
star
7.53
85 votes

#14 - Sins (1)

Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/21/2008

The Cold Case team investigate the mystery surrounding human remains found in an urban canal with links to the murder of a prison governor.

Directors: Daniel Percival
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Double Bind (1)
star
7.52
108 votes

#15 - Double Bind (1)

Season 6 - Episode 9 - Aired 2/4/2007

A psychiatric patient, imprisoned for the murder of his parents as a teenager escapes and reveals the location of an unknown corpse.

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Wren Boys (1)
star
7.51
112 votes

#16 - Wren Boys (1)

Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/7/2007

The team re-investigates the death of a teenage boy who was found on a building site some years ago, drowned in concrete. Part of a human ear is found in his stomach, linking him to the dumping of another seriously injured teenager in a hospital at around the same time. The ground on which the dead teenager was found belongs to a Catholic abbey which is soon to be dissolved, and the abbey owns a shrine which might contain evidence and has to be dismantled - a task which falls to the unwilling Stella Goodman.Meanwhile, new forensic scientist Dr Eve Lockhart makes her mark on the case.

Directors: Tim Fywell
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Conviction (1)
star
7.47
141 votes

#17 - Conviction (1)

Season 9 - Episode 7 - Aired 4/3/2011

Boyd suspects a cover-up when a missing student's DNA matches with an unidentified corpse.

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Cold Fusion (1)
star
7.47
85 votes

#18 - Cold Fusion (1)

Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired 10/23/2005

As DNA evidence from an old case of Spencer's (while he was working for the Atomic Energy Constabulary) is re-examined it appears that the wrong man was sent to jail. Someone tries to coverup the new evidence, causing all eyes to turn to Spencer.

Writer: Ed Whitmore
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The Fall (2)
star
7.46
109 votes

#19 - The Fall (2)

Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/22/2007

As tension builds between Grace and Boyd the truth about Lisa is revealed. Meanwhile, the team have a new lead following on from Declan's death and it's a race to find the murderer before Lisa does.

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Harbinger (1)
star
7.46
144 votes

#20 - Harbinger (1)

Season 9 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/13/2011

Boyd has to break in a new team member of equal rank, Detective Superintendent Sarah Cavendish, a high-flyer recently grounded by a hushed-up failed operation.After the empty and abandoned car of banker Donald Rees is discovered threee years after he went missing, Boyd decides to take on the case in an effort help the man's family find some closure with their lives.

Directors: Marc Jobst
Writer: Ed Whitmore
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The Fall (1)
star
7.46
115 votes

#21 - The Fall (1)

Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/21/2007

Two sexually conjoined mummies mysteriously fall through the the ceiling of an old City bank, resulting in the Cold Case team being called in to investigate.

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Burn Out (1)
star
7.45
154 votes

#22 - Burn Out (1)

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/18/2001

A young woman, Marina sets fire to an abandoned car in a street and takes photographs of it as it burns. Boyd walks by and tackles her to the ground, attempting to shield her from the possible explosion. He later learns that Marina's father died in a car accident a few years earlier in that spot, and Marina refuses to accept that his death was an accident. Although not officially a cold case, Boyd is intrigued and reluctantly agrees to investigate. Frankie runs forensic tests on Marina's father's car and proves that he was still alive after the crash and could have escaped. The answers they uncover may mean that the danger to Marina is much greater than any of them had suspected.

Directors: Edward Bennett
Writer: Peter Jukes
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Cold Fusion (2)
star
7.40
82 votes

#23 - Cold Fusion (2)

Season 5 - Episode 12 - Aired 10/24/2005

Writer: Ed Whitmore
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Fugue States (2)
star
7.36
107 votes

#24 - Fugue States (2)

Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 7/26/2004

The team try track Jason as they work out how the twins were taken and why. They link the twins disapperance to a Dr Roper, who knocked Jason down. They unravel his past and find out some dark secrets. The squad work out who Cindy is now and try find her before its too late

Writer: Ed Whitmore
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False Flag (2)
star
7.36
89 votes

#25 - False Flag (2)

Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 7/19/2004

The Squad begin to feel like they are being watched, and their fears are realised when they find unauthorised surveillance equipment. It is revealed their victim may have not have been as guilty as they once thought and when a person Boyd questioned as a part of the investigation commits suicide, they realise a missing link between her and a assassination. Boyd gets 36 hours to get to the bottom of things before the security services take over.

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