best episodes of DCI Banks poster

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.

5 Seasons
30 Episodes
Ended
Crime Drama
Cast & Characters
episode image Cold is the Grave: Part 2
7.9/10 (368 votes)

#1 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.

episode image Undertow: Part 2
7.9/10 (285 votes)

#2 Undertow: Part 2

S5:E6

Banks' mission to solve Annie's murder is made all the harder by the fact he has been taken off the case and sent on gardening leave - but that won't stop him.

episode image Friend of the Devil: Part 2
7.8/10 (391 votes)

#3 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.

episode image Cold is the Grave: Part 1
7.8/10 (389 votes)

#4 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.

episode image Ghosts: Part 2
7.8/10 (286 votes)

#5 Ghosts: Part 2

S4:E6

episode image Friend of the Devil: Part 1
7.7/10 (409 votes)

#6 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.

episode image Strange Affair: Part 1
7.7/10 (389 votes)

#7 Strange Affair: Part 1

S2:E1

A mysterious phone message leads Banks to Harrogate to search for his estranged younger brother, while the team investigate the murder of a young woman.

episode image Strange Affair: Part 2
7.7/10 (361 votes)

#8 Strange Affair: Part 2

S2:E2

When a body found at Halton quarry turns out to be his missing brother, Banks must return to his childhood home to inform his parents of the terrible news.

episode image Wednesday's Child: Part 2
7.7/10 (304 votes)

#9 Wednesday's Child: Part 2

S3:E2

An 11-year old's body is found and Banks wonders if there is a connection between his death and Kyle's disappearance.

episode image To Burn in Every Drop of Blood: Part 2
7.7/10 (272 votes)

#10 To Burn in Every Drop of Blood: Part 2

S5:E2

The apparent suicide of a young girl drags Banks deeper into the dark world of 'untouchable' criminal Steve Richards.

episode image A Little Bit of Heart: Part 2
7.7/10 (259 votes)

#11 A Little Bit of Heart: Part 2

S5:E4

Following the murder of a recently rescued hostage, Banks and his team must untangle secrets and lies from the closed world of the Chinese community.

episode image Dry Bones That Dream: Part 1
7.6/10 (348 votes)

#12 Dry Bones That Dream: Part 1

S2:E3

When a hitman bursts into the luxury home of Keith Rothwell and shoots him dead in cold blood, Banks is struck by the strange reactions of his family.

episode image Dry Bones That Dream: Part 2
7.6/10 (326 votes)

#13 Dry Bones That Dream: Part 2

S2:E4

With Pamela Jeffries in a coma, Banks is even more determined to find Rothwell's killer. And against orders he decides to question MP Martin Fleming.

episode image Innocent Graves: Part 1
7.6/10 (334 votes)

#14 Innocent Graves: Part 1

S2:E5

Banks and his team investigate the murder of the daughter of an internet entrepreneur. The prime suspect is quickly identified, but Morton is not so sure.

episode image Innocent Graves: Part 2
7.6/10 (328 votes)

#15 Innocent Graves: Part 2

S2:E6

In spite of the trial of Owen Pierce collapsing, Banks still believes that he is the murderer. But Morton tries to persuade him to keep an open mind.

episode image Wednesday's Child: Part 1
7.6/10 (349 votes)

#16 Wednesday's Child: Part 1

S3:E1

When two bogus social workers come to Katy Heath's house and take her son away, Banks is drawn into a massive search for the boy - but is Katy telling the truth?

episode image Bad Boy: Part 2
7.6/10 (311 votes)

#17 Bad Boy: Part 2

S3:E6

While Helen's career hangs in the balance, Banks risks everything to rescue his daughter who has been taken hostage by Jaff Kitson.

episode image What Will Survive: Part 2
7.6/10 (294 votes)

#18 What Will Survive: Part 2

S4:E2

The team are dismayed to discover that an arson attack at the Osgood's house has injured Michael and killed his autistic son Robbie.

episode image Buried: Part 2
7.6/10 (292 votes)

#19 Buried: Part 2

S4:E4

Geoff has become a marked man and Banks decides to put both him and his daughter Evie under watch at an anonymous hotel whilst he increases the search for Mullen.

episode image Ghosts: Part 1
7.6/10 (295 votes)

#20 Ghosts: Part 1

S4:E5

When the body of an undergraduate is found dumped in a ravine, the investigation into his stabbing reveals he was far from being a model student.

episode image To Burn in Every Drop of Blood: Part 1
7.6/10 (297 votes)

#21 To Burn in Every Drop of Blood: Part 1

S5:E1

When a young man is found brutally murdered, Banks' instinct drags his team into a world of organised crime.

episode image A Little Bit of Heart: Part 1
7.6/10 (263 votes)

#22 A Little Bit of Heart: Part 1

S5:E3

When a devoted husband and father goes missing, a ransom demand takes Banks and his team on a journey into the Chinese community.

episode image Undertow: Part 1
7.6/10 (267 votes)

#23 Undertow: Part 1

S5:E5

Banks and the team begin the painful job of finding out exactly who was responsible for Annie's death, an incident that has affected all their lives.

episode image Piece of My Heart: Part 1
7.5/10 (316 votes)

#24 Piece of My Heart: Part 1

S3:E3

When a journalist is found dead in a remote village, Banks notices a connection between the case and a mysterious death in the 1980s.

episode image Piece of My Heart: Part 2
7.5/10 (306 votes)

#25 Piece of My Heart: Part 2

S3:E4

Banks races to locate a mysterious recording that appears to connect Jack Barber and the members of The Crystal Kiss together.

episode image Bad Boy: Part 1
7.5/10 (307 votes)

#26 Bad Boy: Part 1

S3:E5

The discovery of a gun in the bedroom of a neighbour sees Banks involved in an internal investigation which could break up the team.

episode image What Will Survive: Part 1
7.5/10 (319 votes)

#27 What Will Survive: Part 1

S4:E1

A young Estonian woman is found dead on a piece of waste-ground, suspected of being buried alive. As the team piece together her movements, they uncover a world of prostitution and drugs hidden behind a respectable veneer.

episode image Buried: Part 1
7.5/10 (298 votes)

#28 Buried: Part 1

S4:E3

A husband and daughter struggle to come to terms with their grief when the body of wife and mother Anaan Kamel is found washed up by an underground river.

episode image Playing with Fire: Part 1
7.3/10 (444 votes)

#29 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.

episode image Playing with Fire: Part 2
7.3/10 (409 votes)

#30 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.

Cast & Chracters

character image Alan Banks

Alan Banks

Actor: Stephen Tompkinson
character image Annie Cabbot

Annie Cabbot

Actor: Andrea Lowe
character image Helen Morton

Helen Morton

Actor: Caroline Catz
character image Ken Blackstone

Ken Blackstone

Actor: Jack Deam
character image Vince Grady

Vince Grady

Actor: Samuel Anderson

The highest rated episode of DCI Banks is "Cold is the Grave: Part 2" (S1E6) with a rating of 7.90.

This episode received 368 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "Playing with Fire: Part 1" (S1E1) with a rating of 7.30.

This episode received 444 votes.

The highest rated episode is "Cold is the Grave: Part 2" (S1E6) with a rating of 7.90.

This episode received 368 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "Playing with Fire: Part 1" (S1E1) with a rating of 7.30.

This episode received 444 votes.

The highest rated episode is "Strange Affair: Part 1" (S2E1) with a rating of 7.70.

This episode received 389 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "Dry Bones That Dream: Part 1" (S2E3) with a rating of 7.60.

This episode received 348 votes.

The highest rated episode is "Wednesday's Child: Part 2" (S3E2) with a rating of 7.70.

This episode received 304 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "Piece of My Heart: Part 1" (S3E3) with a rating of 7.50.

This episode received 316 votes.

The highest rated episode is "Ghosts: Part 2" (S4E6) with a rating of 7.80.

This episode received 286 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "What Will Survive: Part 1" (S4E1) with a rating of 7.50.

This episode received 319 votes.

The highest rated episode is "Undertow: Part 2" (S5E6) with a rating of 7.90.

This episode received 285 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "To Burn in Every Drop of Blood: Part 1" (S5E1) with a rating of 7.60.

This episode received 297 votes.

Name Department Job
Andy Harries Production Executive Producer
Anne-Louise Russell Production Producer
Radford Neville Production Co-Executive Producer
Peter Robinson Writing Novel

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