The best final episode of a tv show...

[Alex]

Warning! Contains spoilers for shows which ended ages ago! But still...!

I was rambling about the final episode of Six Feet Under in the "Today I Bought" thread a minute ago, and it made me start wondering what everyone's views on the best final episode of a tv show are.

The ones which immediately sprang to mind for me are:

Blake's 7 - okay, a bit of an obvious one, but well, that bleak, downbeat ending really confused me as a kid, surely tv wasn't supposed to be like this...

Twin Peaks - And then about eight years later another tv show really did my head in. I loved Twin Peaks to pieces, and after a huge cliffhanger the week before, I couldn't wait to see how it all ended...But argggh! The good Dale can't be trapped in the lodge! Nooooooooooooooooooooo! Even 15 odd years on, I'm still desperate for David Lynch to return to it, even though I know he won't.

Six Feet Under - As mentioned in the other thread, I found it be an incredibly powerful and emotive piece of television, and I honestly haven't been so affected by a show in my life before...

Quantum Leap - I've mixed feelings on this one, it was great to see the series doing something really different, with Sam basically meeting up with God, but there was always a part of me which wanted to see him return home for good. Though in some ways it's quite nice to think that Sam's still out there, changing lives for the better.

Blackadder Goes Forth - Perhaps another obvious one, but who would have thought that such a great, if tremendously silly, sitcom could go out in such an emotional way.

The Prisoner - A hugely insane crazy head ****! I love it! Though I'm not sure what the hell it's all about even now!

Angel - Buffy has a great ending, and it's very satisfying, but Angel just about edges it for me. It's the culmination of my favourite season of both series, has a huge amount of action, emotional endings for certain characters, and ends in a delightfully exciting way - Angel's comment "I've always wanted to fight a dragon" made me grin for ages. And I liked the way it suggested that they'd always carry on fighting the good fight, however bleak the odds of surviving.

Right, I think that's enough from me for the time being anyway. So what does everyone else think?

[Wayne]

I like the Blake's 7 finale. Quite controvertial for those days, in a way.
I was disappointed with the last ep of Angel, though. I thought Buffy finished way better!
Totally agree about Blackadder, though.

The best contender i can think of at the moment is ST:TNG: 'All Good Things'. Really cleverly written, i thought. Ties in loads of things for a really neat ending.

[stuartdg]

In terms of Soaps Prisoner:Cell Block H has a great final episode,it pays off a large ongoing storyline and ensures the show goes out on a high.

I would also nominate Sleeping In Light;the final Babylon 5 episode which can be summed up in one word-fantastic

[Andrew Curnow]

Some interesting choices - I agree with Alex about B7 (I can still remember the shock of it from Christmas 1981) and also Quantum Leap, which was just a very unexpected, but very sad, ending. And of course Blackadder Goes Forth, which ends (with hindsight) in a very obvious way (after all, series 1 & 2 both ended with main cast members dying) and yet at the time it was a real shocker.

I can never warm to the final episode of "The Prisoner" though - it may be full of meaning, but I can't shake the feeling that it's 'the Emperor's New Clothes' all over again. Plus, which is perhaps worse, I don't find it anyway near as entertaining as most of the other episodes in the series.

Similarly, I didn't like the final episode of "Buffy" very much, and felt that "Angel" just stopped, rather than ending. Not that I followed either series that closely.

At the moment, I would add to the list the final episode of "Life on Mars" as a very strong last episode, but whether that's because at the moment it's all still shiny & new I don't know.

And finally... the final episode of "Cheers" was a rather nice tying up of the show, providing 'closure' with respect to Diane, a happy ending for Rebecca, and a final scene of all the regulars just smoking cigars in the bar.

[Jonno]

For me, it's a toss up between B7 and Sapphire & Steel - I love the downbeat endings to both - the latter might just edge it for the simple fact that it seemed they were going to be OK, until the final shock reveal.

I agree that Blackadder 4 is a real highlight too - the lack of credits at the end, but the fade from a B&W picture to a colourful poppy field with simply the BBC logo is very powerful indeed, and no matter how many times I watch it it always gives me a little lump in my throat.

[Si Hunt]

"Sons & Daughters" has a good finale - it ends exactly the same way as the first episode started, with lone desperate young parents turning up at the same boarding house, plus a popular long-running character gets married and the main baddie of the show finally gets his just deserts in dramatic style. And (and!) an original character makes a sudden shocking re-appearance!

Si.

[Logo Polish]

If they hadn't brought Only Fools And Horses back in 2001, its last episode in 1996 might have been a contender.

[Dirk Gently]

For me, it's a toss up between B7 and Sapphire & Steel - I love the downbeat endings to both - the latter might just edge it for the simple fact that it seemed they were going to be OK, until the final shock reveal.

I agree that Blackadder 4 is a real highlight too - the lack of credits at the end, but the fade from a B&W picture to a colourful poppy field with simply the BBC logo is very powerful indeed, and no matter how many times I watch it it always gives me a little lump in my throat.

Totally agree with Jonno there, some truly stupendous endings. I'd also say that the ending in 1989 of Doctor Who was actually a very good one considering no one knew it was the end.

[Alex]

And finally... the final episode of "Cheers" was a rather nice tying up of the show, providing 'closure' with respect to Diane, a happy ending for Rebecca, and a final scene of all the regulars just smoking cigars in the bar.

Ooh, yeah, definitely, I absolutely love the final episode of Cheers, I had it on tape for ages and always loved watching it, the final moments are just so...gentle...and lovely...and it's a great way to finish things.

Frasier for me had a pretty good ending, it was nice to see the good Doctor finally take a risk and leave Seattle for someone he loved, but it wasn't quite as satisfying as Cheers' ending was.

I agree with Wayne about the final ep of ST: TNG, and I also love the ending to Voyager. However patchy the series might've been as a whole, the final episode with the time travel plot and the destruction of the Borg was superb, and it was nice that they did finally get home too.

[Ralph]

Planet of the Spiders counts in my book

A fitting farewell

Most TV shows I like though tend to fizzle out in the end - very few end at their height of popularity after all it's not a great idea from a commercial standpoint. I know plenty that have gone long past their sell by.

[Wayne]

Planet of the Spiders counts in my book

& a friendly

[Ralph]

To be honest I haven't found an ending to a series that impacts me they way that one does

[Wayne]

Fair enough. It's special to me as well, but i soon grew to love

[Ralph]

Well now I really love "Robot" and Tom was definitely a class act in the role but I just can't get emotionally about his closing episode - he had gone well past the sell by.

[Wayne]

Agreed. But neither are really 'final' episodes. I suppose if anything, that would be 'Survival'. Though some would debate even that.

[Ralph]

Agreed. But neither are really 'final' episodes.

Oh ok then if you say so

[Matthew T]

In terms of Soaps Prisoner:Cell Block H has a great final episode,it pays off a large ongoing storyline and ensures the show goes out on a high.

Cell Block H gets my vote too. I can't say what happens so it's not spoiled for Si/Simon/Wayne, but it's so exciting, and the final line of the show "...I'm gonna be the oldest biker in the world!" is a real shivers down the spine moment.

[Andrew Curnow]

I'd completely forgotten about Sapphire & Steel, until Jonno mentioned it above. Crikey, yes, that was such a stark and unexpected ending. I haven't seen that since it first went out in... well, whenever, but it certainly is a contender for best last episode.

[Jonno]

You may be frightened to learn that the final story was 25 years ago this summer... It frightens me anyway!

[Andrew Curnow]

Good grief, was it really. Blimey!

[MacNimon]

'Sleeping In Light', the Babylon 5 finale, is one of my favourites. Although there are no shocks there, basically you knew what was going to happen for the two seasons preceding it, but it worked well all the same.

Blake(B7) and All Good Things (Star Trek;TNG) are my other two favourites.

[Larry]

If they hadn't brought Only Fools And Horses back in 2001, its last episode in 1996 might have been a contender.

i'd certainly agree with you on that one.

but Blackadder Gose Fourth - has to be the real stand out ending for me simply because of the sheare power that it conveys some thing so unusal for a comedy.

[Andrew Curnow]

The last episode of Dad's Army is a rather nice send-off. I don't know exactly whether it was definitively written to end the show, or whether the writers just suspected it would be given the age & health of their cast, but in marrying Jones to Mrs Fox, and then having them called away from the reception to go on duty, it neatly summed up the show. The final sequence of them all toasting the Home Guard is simple but effective.

And arguably even better is the final episode of "It Ain't Arf 'Ot Mum" which I remember being quite taken aback by when it first aired in... I would guess 1981, but I suspect Jonno will know!! They showed a few snippets of it on a recent Comedy Connections show, and it's still quite an affecting piece. It's still funny, but in focussing on the Sgt Major, and how he's suddenly, with the advent of peace & civvy street, an almost pathetic figure, it really moves you. Windsor Davies is superb in it.

[Jonno]

I suspect Jonno will know!!

I'm afraid I was never into "Mum" - I remember it being on but it was never a favourite. However, as you asked, I've "done a Wiki" (I believe the term is) and apparently the final episode aired on 3rd Sept 81 - which, whether by accident or design, was the 42nd anniversary of the start of WWII!

I agree with you about Dad's Army - though I don't know for sure, I'd imagine the final episode was known to be the final one, given the wedding plus the nod to the viewers at home by the cast at the end. Incidentally, that was transmitted on Armistice Day!

[Perry Vale]

The best contender i can think of at the moment is ST:TNG: 'All Good Things'. Really cleverly written, i thought. Ties in loads of things for a really neat ending.

That'd get my vote too, a perfect & fitting end, imo.

Runners up : Sapphire & Steel, Cheers, Blakes 7.