The BEST episodes written by John Hawkesworth

Whither Shall I Wander?
star
9.23
66 votes

#1 - Whither Shall I Wander?

Upstairs, Downstairs - Season 5 - Episode 16

(Audio commentary available on some DVDs). After nearly 30 years, the Bellamy saga ends with the sale of 165 Eaton Place and a fresh beginning for every member of the household.

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Facing Fearful Odds
star
8.81
64 votes

#2 - Facing Fearful Odds

Upstairs, Downstairs - Season 4 - Episode 12

Virginia Hamilton returns to Eaton Place, seeking Richard's advice for her son who is facing a court martial. Meanwhile, Edward is scheduled to go back to France, and James is wallowing in self-pity.

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Noblesse Oblige
star
8.79
63 votes

#3 - Noblesse Oblige

Upstairs, Downstairs - Season 5 - Episode 14

Better the devil you know than the one you don't is the lesson Mrs. Bridges and Ruby learn after a terrible row. Upstairs, Lord Stockbridge proposes to Georgina, but there's a catch.

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The Hound of the Baskervilles
star
8.53
146 votes

#4 - The Hound of the Baskervilles

Sherlock Holmes (1984) - Season 4 - Episode 6

Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on Dartmoor, with his face contorted in terror and the footprints of a huge dog near his body. On arrival in England, Sir Charles's American heir, now Sir Henry Baskerville, engages Holmes to come to Devon and get to the bottom of the age-old legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles - a phantom which kills.From the outset, Holmes is convinced there is a human murderer at work and he lays a deep plan to foil him.

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The Red-Headed League
star
8.28
154 votes

#5 - The Red-Headed League

Sherlock Holmes (1984) - Season 2 - Episode 5

A notice in a newspaper seeks red-headed men, inviting them to join a league which will pay them well - and Jabez Wilson, a pawnbroker who responds, finds he is hired and paid generously for spending four hours a day copying an encyclopedia in long hand. When the league is suddenly dissolved, Holmes is asked to find out what has been going on, and he quickly suspects crime. Indeed, behind this curious arrangement lurks Holmes's arch-enemy, Professor Moriarty.

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If You Were the Only Girl in the World
star
8.22
90 votes

#6 - If You Were the Only Girl in the World

Upstairs, Downstairs - Season 4 - Episode 7

Hazel has a little fling with Lt. Jack Dyson, whom she met at the tea party for wounded officers, and is seen by one of her lady acquaintances. James and Georgina meet in France and share a moment of passion.

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The Boscombe Valley Mystery
star
8.22
149 votes

#7 - The Boscombe Valley Mystery

Sherlock Holmes (1984) - Season 5 - Episode 4

Alice Turner sends for Holmes when her lifelong friend farmer William McCarthy is killed and police suspicion falls on his son, James. James McCarthy admits quarrelling with his father, but he will not explain what their argument was about.

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Wanted: A Good Home
star
8.18
87 votes

#8 - Wanted: A Good Home

Upstairs, Downstairs - Season 5 - Episode 5

Spring 1922: When William goes off to Prep School, Rose gets Alice a new puppy so she won't be lonely, but when Richard and Virginia go on holiday and leave Miss Treadwell in charge, the entire staff lines up against her when she tries to dispose of the "filthy creature".

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The Sign of Four
star
8.14
192 votes

#9 - The Sign of Four

Sherlock Holmes (1984) - Season 4 - Episode 1

For years after her father's disappearance, the beautiful Miss Mary Morstan receives anonymously every year one large and valuable pearl. When, finally, an invitation arrives to meet the mysterious pearl-giver, Mary Morstan seeks Holmes's advice, and he begins to unravel some remarkable clues, including a poison dart and a man with a wooden leg. What Holmes finds is an old soldier who is determined to punish those who betrayed him and his friends by stealing their oriental treasure.

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The Empty House
star
8.05
161 votes

#10 - The Empty House

Sherlock Holmes (1984) - Season 3 - Episode 1

Three years on from Holmes's fatal fall into the Reichenbach Falls, Watson wrestles with a murder case under his own steam. But who is the enigmatic stranger in the Coroner's court, listening intently to all the evidence?Holmes returns home and explains how he escaped death at Reichenbach, while Moriarty lost his life. Holmes and Watson must now bring a partner of Moriarty's to justice, by proving he is a murderer.

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The Bruce Partington Plans
star
8.03
126 votes

#11 - The Bruce Partington Plans

Sherlock Holmes (1984) - Season 4 - Episode 5

The body of one Cadogan West is found in an underground tunnel near Aldgate Station, with his skull smashed, and Holmes is puzzled by the interest his brother Mycroft is showing in the case. Mycroft explains that the top secret plans for a new submarine were in the dead man's pocket, but three of the ten pages were missing when the body was found. Mycroft, on behalf of the British Government, asks his brother to find the missing pages.

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The Sudden Storm
star
7.99
89 votes

#12 - The Sudden Storm

Upstairs, Downstairs - Season 3 - Episode 13

On the verge of war, Mrs Bridges receives a marriage proposal but the gentleman quickly loses favor in her eyes. Edward and Daisy declare their love, as do Georgina and Billy, while James and Hazel's relationship hangs on by a thread. When Britain declares war on Germany, James is recalled to the military.

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News from the Front
star
7.97
88 votes

#13 - News from the Front

Upstairs, Downstairs - Season 4 - Episode 2

After James talks about an appalling lack of ammunition, Geoffrey Dillon leaks it to the press for political gain. Pleased with the results, a grateful Dillon pulls strings to get James a promotion and a cushy job, but James doesn't want it. Hoping he'll intervene, James goes to his CO who shows him the story and, citing his discovery that James is the leak, refuses to help, turning the desk job into a punishment of sorts. Meanwhile, Edward and Daisy become engaged.

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The Fruits of Love
star
7.94
35 votes

#14 - The Fruits of Love

Upstairs, Downstairs - Season 2 - Episode 11

The Bellamys are in shock when they learn that Eaton Place, which is part of the Southwold estate, must be sold in order to satisfy the terms of the deceased Lord Southwold's will. Adding to their worries is news of Elizabeth's involvement with Julius Karekin, a man they strongly disapprove of, but in the end, the relationship proves very beneficial.

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The Second Stain
star
7.94
151 votes

#15 - The Second Stain

Sherlock Holmes (1984) - Season 3 - Episode 3

The British Prime Minister himself calls at Baker Street to seek Holmes's help with a political crisis. A highly confidential letter from a foreign power has been stolen from the Secretary of State for European Affairs, threatening the world with war. Minutes after the Prime Minister's departure, Holmes receives another visit, from a veiled lady.In his investigation, a bloodstain is clearly an important clue, but whose is the blood? Holmes sees through the deceptions of great and small alike.

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The Final Problem
star
7.93
183 votes

#16 - The Final Problem

Sherlock Holmes (1984) - Season 2 - Episode 6

The French government sends for Holmes when the Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre. Holmes swiftly decides he is dealing with a mastermind - and none other than his old enemy Professor Moriarty himself.Holmes foils Moriarty's plans to sell Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece and trails him to Switzerland, where they meet and fight to the death above the famous waterfall at Reichenbach.

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Silver Blaze
star
7.91
162 votes

#17 - Silver Blaze

Sherlock Holmes (1984) - Season 4 - Episode 3

In a remote area of Dartmoor, The Silver Blaze, England's most famous and valuable racehorse, goes missing, the dead body of the horse's trainer is found, and sheep are savaged. The Police seem bewildered, but then they charge Fitzroy Stephen, a famous figure in the racing world, with the murder. Holmes is called in to trace the missing horse and finds he has to separate fact from fiction.

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The Key of the Door
star
7.91
64 votes

#18 - The Key of the Door

Upstairs, Downstairs - Season 1 - Episode 12

Winter 1908: Elizabeth befriends a bunch of Bohemian-types, but is drawn to two in particular: Evelyn Larkin, a radical Socialist extremist, and her lover, Lawrence Kirbridge, a handsome, free-spirited poet. On the eve of her 21st birthday, with her parents out of town, Lizzy invites the entire group to Eaton Place, and is humiliated when the Bellamys return home unexpectedly and throw everyone out. Anxious to prove she's nothing like her parents, Lizzy is compelled to do something extreme, leading to a falling out with her parents and a harsh discovery about Evelyn.

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The Bolter
star
7.55
63 votes

#19 - The Bolter

Upstairs, Downstairs - Season 3 - Episode 8

Hazel feels out of her element when she accompanies James on a hunting weekend and spends the evening watching Diana throw herself at him. When James refuses to allow her to participate in the hunt, Hazel defies him with the urging of Diana, who then proceeds to play a cruel stunt by putting Hazel on an untamed horse she's unable to handle. James is embarrassed and angry over Hazel's defiance and lack of horsemanship, causing an argument. Later, when Cochy implies James is sleeping with Diana, Hazel, who's already nursing a wounded ego, packs it in and heads back to London. Meanwhile, a flirtatious maid asks Edward to come to her room later that night, and on his way there, Edward is shocked to see one of the gentlemen entering the room of one of the married ladies.

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An Old Flame
star
7.03
88 votes

#20 - An Old Flame

Upstairs, Downstairs - Season 5 - Episode 6

James and Lady Diana Newbury behave foolishly, with little regard of how it impacts others. Edward is in trouble with Daisy when he's caught in a lie.

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Magic Casements
star
6.88
96 votes

#21 - Magic Casements

Upstairs, Downstairs - Season 1 - Episode 7

Summer 1906: Captain Hammond, a handsome young friend of James', graciously agrees to escort Lady Marjorie to the opera. Feeling a strong mutual attraction, they quickly realize how compatible they are, despite the age difference, Abuzz with gossip, the servants seem to be the only ones aware of what's going on.

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