For the Greater Good

151991•1h 0m

CrimeDrama

For the Greater Good is a three-part 1991 BBC Two television drama serial written by G.F. Newman and directed by Danny Boyle. It centres on three politicians attempting to reform the British prison system. However, their efforts are undermined when the tabloid press exposes their private lives.

Open in PickFlick

Production

BBC

Language

Status

Ended

First Aired

March 20, 1991

Last Aired

April 3, 1991

Networks

BBC Two

Created By

G.F. Newman

Trailers & Videos

Where to Watch

Region US · Lang EN

No providers available for this region.

Seasons & Episodes

Select a season to view episodes. Reddit links may contain spoilers.

Season

Member

Air date: 1991-03-20

Campaigning Tory backbencher Dr Peter Balliol MP finds himself in a crisis of choice between ambition, conscience and a questionable private life.

Mandarin

Air date: 1991-03-27

When a high-flying civil servant discovers a dangerous conspiracy at the Home Office, she must choose between loyalty to her leader and leaking to the press.

Minister

Air date: 1991-04-03

Home Secretary Charles Truman has to weigh up the dictates of conscience against the survival of his career.

Cast

Martin Shaw

Peter Balliol MP

Roy Dotrice

Charles Truman MP

Nicholas Jones

Julian Brind

Nicholas Woodeson

Michael Parke-Walsh MP

Similar TV Shows

The Crimson Field

7.5

2014

TV Show

In a tented field hospital on the coast of France, a team of doctors, nurses and women volunteers work together to heal the bodies and souls of men wounded in the trenches.

The Crimson Field

2014

7.5

Jamaica Inn

6.5

2014

TV Show

Set in 1820 against the forbidding backdrop of windswept Cornish moors, the story follows the journey of young and spirited Mary who is forced to live with her Aunt Patience after the death of her mother. Mary arrives at the isolated Jamaica Inn to discover her Aunt is a shell of the carefree woman she remembers from her childhood, and instead finds a drudge who is firmly under the spell of her domineering husband Joss. The Inn has no guests - the rooms are locked and kept for storage - but it soon becomes clear that it’s a cover, as Joss is the leader of a smuggling ring, and Jamaica Inn the hub of his ‘free’ trade.

Jamaica Inn

2014

6.5

Secret State

7.1

2012

TV Show

Secret State explores the relationship between a democratically elected government, big business and the banks.

Secret State

2012

7.1

Our World War

7.6

2014

TV Show

Our World War is a gripping factual drama series offering viewers first-hand experience of the extraordinary bravery of young soldiers fighting 100 years ago. Drawing on real stories of World War One soldiers it uses the visual techniques and imagery familiar from modern warfare – POV helmet camera footage, surveillance images and night vision – to immerse the BBC Three audience in life on the Western Front. Each episode is closely based on first-hand testimony, interviews and memoirs that reveal often hidden and sometimes disturbing aspects of the combat experience.

Our World War

2014

7.6

Three Days of Christmas

6.8

2019

TV Show

Four sisters celebrate Christmas in their family home at 3 different times in their lives: teen-hood, adulthood and elderly age.

Three Days of Christmas

2019

6.8

A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story

6.3

2025

TV Show

A 1950s true crime drama about Ruth Ellis, the last woman in Britain to be hanged. This startling story reveals hidden truths about Ruth's murder of her lover, the legal case surrounding it and those who were also complicit.

A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story

2025

6.3

Chasing Shadows

7.2

2014

TV Show

A socially awkward detective who deals better with data than people is assigned to work on a missing persons unit searching for lost souls.

Chasing Shadows

2014

7.2

Unite 9

5.9

2012

TV Show

Marie Lamontagne, a widowed mother of two in her forties, confesses to a murder she didn't commit to protect her daughter. Thrust into brutally unfamiliar and hostile surroundings, she first learns survival, then confronts the biggest challenge of her life: bonding with her fellow inmates and helping them take back control of their lives.

Unite 9

2012

5.9

A Very British Coup

7.8

1988

TV Show

A Very British Coup is a British political thriller series based on the novel by Chris Mullin. It stars Ray McAnally as the newly elected left-wing prime minister Harry Perkins, who soon finds himself up to his neck in conspiracy.

A Very British Coup

1988

7.8

Kane & Abel

7.6

1985

TV Show

Kane & Abel is a television miniseries, based on the novel of the same name written by Jeffrey Archer, that aired on CBS in 1985. It stars Peter Strauss as Rosnovski and Sam Neill as Kane.

Kane & Abel

1985

7.6

Glue

6.1

2014

TV Show

Overton is a small, countryside village where farming is its bread and butter and race horses are its beating heart. When the body of a local resident is found under a tractor, destructive forces are unleashed and the entire community is forced to watch their secrets exposed... chilling secrets that will change their particular way of life forever.

Glue

2014

6.1

The Driver

7.2

2014

TV Show

The Driver is a three-part British crime drama serial aired on BBC One between 23 September and 7 October 2014. Written by Danny Brocklehurst and directed by Jamie Payne, it stars David Morrissey as despondent cab driver Vince McKee, whose life is turned upside down when he agrees to be the driver for a criminal gang.

The Driver

2014

7.2