Dennis Potter
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Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television
dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his
BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''
The Singing Detective ''The Singing Detective'' is a BBC television serial drama, written by Dennis Potter, starring Michael Gambon and directed by Jon Amiel. Its six episodes are "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It". The ser ...
'' (1986), and the BBC television plays '' Blue Remembered Hills'' (1979) and '' Brimstone and Treacle'' (1976). His television dramas mixed
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
and
reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...
, the personal and the social, and often used themes and images from
popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
. Potter is widely regarded as one of the most influential and innovative dramatists to have worked in British television. Born in
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...
and graduating from
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, Potter initially worked in journalism. After standing for
parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
as a
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
candidate at the 1964 general election, his health was affected by the onset of
psoriatic arthropathy Psoriatic arthritis is a long-term inflammatory arthritis that occurs in people affected by the autoimmune disease psoriasis. The classic feature of psoriatic arthritis is swelling of entire fingers and toes with a sausage-like appearance. Thi ...
which necessitated Potter to change career and led to him becoming a television dramatist. He began with contributions to
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
's regular series ''
The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic adaptations of fiction ...
'' from 1965, and he continued to work in the medium for the rest of his life, including writing screenplay adaptations for Hollywood studios. Potter died of
pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...
in 1994.


Early life

Dennis Potter was born in Berry Hill,
Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...
, Gloucestershire. His father, Walter Edward Potter (1906–1975), was a
coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
in this rural mining area between Gloucester and Wales; his mother was Margaret Constance (née Wale; 1910–2001). Potter had a sister named June. In 1946, Potter passed the
eleven-plus The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academic ...
and attended Bell's Grammar School at Coleford. Most of his secondary education, however, was in London at St. Clement Danes Grammar School in
Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...
(since demolished). It was in a street near
Hammersmith Broadway Hammersmith Broadway is a major transport node and shopping centre in Hammersmith, London. History The shopping centre opened in 1994, on the site of many now-demolished buildings, including The Clarendon Hotel (a music venue) and Palmers De ...
that the ten-year-old Potter was sexually abused by his uncle, an experience he would later allude to many times in his writing. During his speech at the 1993 James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture, Potter referred to this event when explaining his decision to switch from newspaper journalism to screenwriting: "Different words had to be found, with different functions. But why? Why, why, why; the same desperately repeated question I asked myself without any sort of an answer, or any ability to tell my mother or my father, when at the age of ten, between V.E. Day and V.J. Day, I was trapped by an adult's sexual appetite and abused out of innocence." His family returned to the Forest of Dean in 1952, having first left it in 1945, but Potter remained in London. Between 1953 and 1955, his
national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...
was in the Intelligence Corps of the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and he learned Russian at the
Joint Services School for Linguists The Joint Services School for Linguists (JSSL) was founded in 1951 by the British armed services to provide language training, principally in Russian, and largely to selected conscripts undergoing National Service. The school closed with the en ...
."Dennis Potter obituary"
''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'', 8 June 1994
Having won a State Scholarship to
New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...
, he studied philosophy, politics and economics.


Early career

Potter's first non-fiction work, ''The Glittering Coffin'', was published by the Gollancz Press in 1960. The book was a rumination on the changing face of England in the prosperity following the end of the war years. It was followed by ''The Changing Forest: Life in the Forest of Dean Today'' (1962), which was based on the "Between Two Rivers" documentary. This book is a study of class and social mobility that demonstrates an early fascination with the effects of the mass media on British cultural life. He soon returned to television. '' Daily Herald'' journalist David Nathan persuaded Potter to collaborate with him on sketches for ''
That Was the Week That Was ''That Was the Week That Was'', informally ''TWTWTW'' or ''TW3'', is a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced, and directed by Ned Sherrin and Jack (aka John) Duncan, and pre ...
''. Their first piece was used in the edition of 5 January 1963. Potter stood as the Labour Party candidate for Hertfordshire East, a safe
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
seat, in the 1964 general election against the incumbent
Derek Walker-Smith Derek Colclough Walker-Smith, Baron Broxbourne, (13 April 1910 – 22 January 1992), known as Sir Derek Walker-Smith, Bt, from 1960 to 1983, was a British Conservative Party politician. The son of Sir Jonah Walker-Smith (1874–1964) and his ...
. By the end of the unsuccessful campaign, he claimed that he was so disillusioned with party politics he did not even vote for himself. Potter now embarked on work as a television playwright. He had begun to suffer in 1962 from a condition known as
psoriatic arthropathy Psoriatic arthritis is a long-term inflammatory arthritis that occurs in people affected by the autoimmune disease psoriasis. The classic feature of psoriatic arthritis is swelling of entire fingers and toes with a sausage-like appearance. Thi ...
causing
arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...
to develop in his joints as well as affecting his skin with
psoriasis Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by raised areas of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small, localized patches to complete ...
. It also made futile any attempt to follow a conventional career path.


Writing and public career


''The Wednesday Play''

Potter's career as a television playwright began with '' The Confidence Course'' (''
The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic adaptations of fiction ...
'', 1965) which Potter had begun as a novel. An exposé of the
Dale Carnegie Dale Carnegie (; spelled Carnagey until c. 1922; November 24, 1888 – November 1, 1955) was an American writer and lecturer, and the developer of courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal ...
Institute, it drew threats of litigation from that organisation. Although Potter effectively disowned the play, excluding it from his ''Who's Who'' entry, it used non-naturalistic dramatic devices (in this case breaking the
fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
) which would become hallmarks of Potter's subsequent work. ''The Confidence Course'' script was liked by ''Wednesday Play'' script editor Roger Smith who then commissioned Potter to write what became the second Nigel Barton play for the new anthology series. '' Alice'' (also 1965), his next transmitted play, chronicled the relationship between
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...
, better known by his ''nom de plume'', Lewis Carroll, and his muse
Alice Liddell Alice Pleasance Hargreaves (''née'' Liddell, ; 4 May 1852 – 16 November 1934), was an English woman who, in her childhood, was an acquaintance and photography subject of Lewis Carroll. One of the stories he told her during a boating trip beca ...
. The play drew complaints from the descendants of Dodgson, and of Macmillan, the publisher, who objected to the way the relationship was depicted. George Baker played Dodgson. Potter's most highly regarded works from this period were the semi-autobiographical plays '' Stand Up, Nigel Barton!'' and '' Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton'', which featured
Keith Barron Keith Barron (8 August 1934 – 15 November 2017) was an English actor and television presenter who appeared in films and on television from 1961 until 2017. His television roles included the police drama ''The Odd Man'', the sitcom ''Duty Free ...
. The former recounts the experience of a miner's son attending Oxford University where he finds himself torn between two worlds, culminating in Barton's participation in a television documentary. This mirrored Potter's participation in ''Does Class Matter'' (1958), a television documentary made while Potter was an Oxford undergraduate. The second play features the same character standing as a Labour candidate—his disillusionment with the compromises of electoral politics is based on Potter's own experience.Sergio Angelin
"Vote, Vote, Vote, for Nigel Barton (1965)"
BFI xcreenonline
Both plays received praise from critics but aroused considerable tension at the BBC for their potentially incendiary critique of party politics. In his James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture in 1993, Potter recalled how he was asked by "several respected men at the corporation why I wanted to shit on the Queen."


Television plays and serials (1969–80)

Potter contributed '' Moonlight on the Highway'' to
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
's ''Saturday Night Theatre'' series which was broadcast on 12 April 1969. The play centred on a young man (
Ian Holm Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert (12 September 1931 – 19 June 2020) was an English actor who was knighted in 1998 for his contributions to theatre and film. Beginning his career on the British stage as a standout member of the Royal Shakespeare Company ...
) who attempts to blot out memories of the sexual abuse he had suffered as child in his obsession with the music of
Al Bowlly Albert Allick Bowlly (7 January 1898 – 17 April 1941) was a Mozambican-born South African– British vocalist and jazz guitarist, who was popular during the 1930s in Britain. He recorded more than 1,000 songs. His most popular songs includ ...
. As well as being an intensely personal play for Potter, it was his first foray in the use of popular music to heighten the dramatic tension in his work. Four days later, Potter's '' Son of Man'', in which the dramatist gives an alternative view of Christ's last days, was transmitted as a ''Wednesday Play'' on BBC1 with Northern Irish actor
Colin Blakely Colin George Blakely (23 September 1930 – 7 May 1987) was a Northern Irish actor. He had roles in the films '' A Man for All Seasons'' (1966), '' The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' (1970), '' Murder on the Orient Express'' (1974), and '' ...
as
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
. It led to Potter being accused of
blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...
, and the first of his many clashes with Christian morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse. ''
Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...
'', Potter's first television serial, was broadcast on
BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
in 1971. Inspired by Willard R. Trask's 1966 translation of
Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...
's memoirs (''
Histoire de ma vie ''Histoire de ma vie'' (''History of My Life'') is both the memoir and autobiography of Giacomo Casanova, a famous 18th-century Italian adventurer. A previous, bowdlerized version was originally known in English as ''The Memoirs of Jacques ...
''), Potter recast the Venetian libertine as a man haunted by his dependency on women. The serial was told using a
non-linear In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system is a system in which the change of the output is not proportional to the change of the input. Nonlinear problems are of interest to engineers, biologists, physicists, mathematicians, and many other ...
narrative structure and, as the critic Graham Fuller observed in ''Potter on Potter'', "as chamber-piece and identity quest, ''Casanova'' strongly anticipates ater works such as''
The Singing Detective ''The Singing Detective'' is a BBC television serial drama, written by Dennis Potter, starring Michael Gambon and directed by Jon Amiel. Its six episodes are "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It". The ser ...
''." It did, however, prove controversial for its frank depiction of nudity and was criticised for its sexual content. Controversy also dogged another play, '' Brimstone and Treacle'' (''
Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...
'', 1976), the original version of which was not screened by the BBC for over a decade owing to the depiction of the rape of a disabled woman by a man who is implied to be the devil incarnate. It was eventually broadcast on
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
in 1987, although a 1982 film version had been made, with Sting in the leading role (see below) and a stage production had opened at the
Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's m ...
, Sheffield. Potter continued to win high praise with '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), a 1930s-set drama serial featuring
Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), ''Who ...
as a sheet music salesman (Hoskins' first performance to receive wide attention). It demonstrated the dramatic possibilities of actors miming to old recordings of popular songs. '' Blue Remembered Hills'', directed by Brian Gibson and first shown by the BBC on 30 January 1979, uses the dramatic device of adult actors playing children, including
Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...
,
Janine Duvitski Janine Duvitski (born Christine Janine Drzewicki; 28 June 1952) is a British actress, known for her roles in the BBC television sitcom series '' Waiting for God'', ''One Foot in the Grave'' and ''Benidorm''. Duvitski first came to national atte ...
,
Michael Elphick Michael John Elphick (19 September 1946 – 7 September 2002) was an English film and television actor. He played the eponymous private investigator in the ITV series ''Boon'' and Harry Slater in BBC's ''EastEnders''. He was nominated for ...
,
Colin Jeavons Colin Abel Jeavons (born 20 October 1929) is a retired British television actor. Career Jeavons' earliest television role was as Jules Neraud in an episode of the 1956 anthology series of teleplays ''Nom-de-Plume''. Broadcast live, it is unkno ...
,
Colin Welland Colin Welland (born Colin Edward Williams; 4 July 1934 – 2 November 2015) was an English actor and screenwriter. He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Mr Farthing in '' Kes'' (1969) and the Academy Aw ...
, John Bird, and
Robin Ellis Anthony Robin Ellis (born 8 January 1942) is a British actor and cookbook writer best known for his role as Captain Ross Poldark in 29 episodes of the BBC classic series ''Poldark'', adapted from a series of books by the British author Winsto ...
. Potter had used this device before, for example in ''Stand Up, Nigel Barton''. A lucrative deal with
London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...
(LWT), and semi-independence, followed an aborted project to adapt
Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell ( ; 21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work ''A Dance to the Music of Time'', published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English. Powell' ...
's ''
A Dance to the Music of Time ''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is a 12-volume ''roman-fleuve'' by English writer Anthony Powell, published between 1951 and 1975 to critical acclaim. The story is an often comic examination of movements and manners, power and passivity in Eng ...
'' for the BBC. A series of six single plays by Potter for ITV, with a further three written by Jim Allen, was planned. Budget overspends meant only three of the Potter plays were produced: the BAFTA-winning ''
Blade on the Feather ''Blade on the Feather'' is a television drama by Dennis Potter, broadcast by ITV on 19 October 1980 as the first in a loosely connected trilogy of plays exploring language and betrayal. A pastiche of the John Le Carré spy thriller and trans ...
'', ''
Rain on the Roof ''Rain on the Roof'' is a television drama by Dennis Potter, broadcast by ITV on 26 October 1980. It is the second in a loosely connected trilogy of plays exploring language and betrayal, produced for London Weekend Television by the independe ...
'' and ''
Cream in My Coffee ''Cream in My Coffee'' is a television drama by Dennis Potter, broadcast on ITV on 2 November 1980 as the last in a loosely connected trilogy of plays exploring language and betrayal. A juxtaposition between youth and old age, the play combines ...
'', which won Grand Prize at the
Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international Television, Radio-broadcasting and Web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with the ...
.


First film screenplays

In 1978,
Herbert Ross Herbert David Ross (May 13, 1927 – October 9, 2001) was an American actor, choreographer, director and producer who worked predominantly in theater and film. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and a Tony Award. He is known for directing ...
was shooting ''
Nijinsky Vaslav (or Vatslav) Nijinsky (; rus, Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, p=ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj; pl, Wacław Niżyński, ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreog ...
'' at
Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused w ...
and invited Potter to write the screenplay for his next project ''Unexpected Valleys''. But after watching ''Pennies from Heaven'' on television one evening, Ross contacted Potter about the prospect of adapting that series for the cinema. The film version of '' Pennies from Heaven'' was launched at
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
as an 'anti-musical' with
Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...
and
Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters ( ''née'' Lazzara; born February 28, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo co ...
in the lead roles. According to Potter, the studio demanded continual rewrites of the script and made significant cuts to the film after initial test screenings. The film was released in 1981 to mixed critical reaction and was a box-office failure. Potter, however, was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar that year. Having already adapted ''Brimstone and Treacle'' for the stage after the television production was banned by the BBC, Potter set about writing a film version. Directed by
Richard Loncraine Richard Loncraine (born 20 October 1946) is a British film and television director. Loncraine was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Loncraine received early training in the features department of the BBC, including a season directing i ...
, who also directed Potter's ''Blade on the Feather'' at LWT, with
Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in ''Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981 ...
reprising his role of Mr. Bates from the original television production, while Sting and
Joan Plowright Joan Ann Olivier, Baroness Olivier, (née Plowright; born 28 October 1929), professionally known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English retired actress whose career has spanned over seven decades. She has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony ...
, replaced Michael Kitchen and
Patricia Lawrence Patricia Lawrence (19 November 1925, Andover, Hampshire – 7 March 1993, Chelsea, London) was a British actress. Personal life In 1947 she married writer and arts administrator Greville Poke (1912–2000) in the City of Westminster. Lawrence ...
in the roles of Martin Taylor and Mrs Bates respectively. Although a British film made by Potter's own production company (Pennies Productions), the casting of Sting piqued the interest of American investors. As a result, references to Mr Bates' membership of the National Front and a scene discussing racial segregation were omitted—as were many of the non-naturalistic flourishes present in the television production—although the film was much more graphic in its depiction of sexual abuse and rape. The film was not a success at the box office. Potter's screenplay for '' Gorky Park'' (1983) led to him gaining an
Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...
from the
Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...
, although it emerged as a shadow of
Martin Cruz Smith Martin Cruz Smith (born November 3, 1942) is an American mystery novelist. He is best known for his nine-novel series (to date) on Russian investigator Arkady Renko, who was first introduced in 1981 with '' Gorky Park''. Early life and educ ...
's original novel.


Works for the BBC in the 1980s

Potter's career in the early 1980s was spent as a screenwriter for the cinema. He returned to the BBC for a co-production with
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
, writing the scripts for a widely praised but seldom-seen miniseries of
F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...
's ''
Tender Is the Night ''Tender Is the Night'' is the fourth and final novel completed by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in French Riviera during the twilight of the Jazz Age, the 1934 novel chronicles the rise and fall of Dick Diver, a promising young p ...
'' (1985) with Mary Steenburgen as Nicole Diver. ''
The Singing Detective ''The Singing Detective'' is a BBC television serial drama, written by Dennis Potter, starring Michael Gambon and directed by Jon Amiel. Its six episodes are "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It". The ser ...
'' (1986), featuring Michael Gambon, used the dramatist's own problems with the skin disease
psoriasis Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by raised areas of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small, localized patches to complete ...
, for Potter an often debilitating condition leading to hospital admission, as a means to merge the lead character's imagination with his perception of reality. Following '' Christabel'' (1988), Potter's adaptation of the memoirs of Christabel Bielenberg, his next TV serial, ''
Blackeyes ''Blackeyes'' is a multi-layered novel by British writer Dennis Potter, published in 1987 by Faber and Faber. It concerns the relationship between sexuality, exploitation, power and money. These are explored through the career of a desirable mod ...
'' (1989) was a major disappointment in his career. A drama about a
fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...
, it was reviewed as self-indulgent by some critics, and accused of contributing to the
misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
Potter claimed he intended to expose. The critical backlash against Potter following ''Blackeyes'' led to Potter being labelled 'Dirty Den' (after
Den Watts Dennis "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den". Den was the original landlord of The Queen Victoria public house ...
, the ''
EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...
'' character) by the British tabloid press, and resulted in a period of reclusion from television. The serial was adapted into a
novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
(see below), In 1990, referring to a scene in ''The Singing Detective'', Mary Whitehouse claimed on BBC Radio that Potter had been influenced by witnessing his mother engaging in adulterous sex. Potter's mother won substantial damages from the BBC and '' The Listener''. Potter had at least at times actually been an admirer of Mrs Whitehouse: the journalist
Stanley Reynolds Stanley Ambrose Harrington Reynolds (1934–2016) was an American journalist, author, and critic who spent most of his life in the UK. Reynolds was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts on 27 November 1934, to Ambrose Harrington Reynolds, a sales manager ...
found in 1973 that he "loves the idea of Mrs Whitehouse. He sees her as standing up for all the people with ducks on their walls who have been laughed at and treated like rubbish by the sophisticated metropolitan minority". In 1979 in an interview for ''
The South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...
'', he rejected "the chorus of abuse" suffered by Whitehouse because she accepted the "central moral importance of – to use the grandest word – art".


Later film work

Potter wrote the screenplay for ''
Dreamchild ''Dreamchild'' is a 1985 British drama film written by Dennis Potter, directed by Gavin Millar, and produced by Rick McCallum and Kenith Trodd. The film, starring Coral Browne, Ian Holm, Peter Gallagher, Nicola Cowper and Amelia Shankley, is ...
'' (1985), a film which shared themes with his script for the ''Alice'' (1965) television play. In her last film role,
Coral Browne Coral Edith Browne (23 July 1913 – 29 May 1991) was an Australian-American stage and screen actress. Her extensive theatre credits included Broadway productions of '' Macbeth'' (1956), '' The Rehearsal'' (1963) and '' The Right Honourable Gent ...
portrayed the elderly Alice Hargreaves who recalls in flashbacks her childhood when she was the inspiration for
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...
's '' Alice in Wonderland''. Potter adapted his television play ''Schmoedipus'' (1974) for the cinema. The ensuing film, ''
Track 29 ''Track 29'' is a 1988 psychological drama film directed by Nicolas Roeg and starring Theresa Russell, Gary Oldman, Colleen Camp, Sandra Bernhard, Seymour Cassel, and Christopher Lloyd. It was produced by George Harrison's HandMade Films with Ri ...
'' (1988), directed by
Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Jack Roeg (; 15 August 1928 – 23 November 2018) was an English film director and cinematographer, best known for directing ''Performance'' (1970), '' Walkabout'' (1971), ''Don't Look Now'' (1973), '' The Man Who Fell to Earth'' (1976 ...
, was Potter's last filmed American project. However, Potter did provide uncredited script work on ''
James and the Giant Peach ''James and the Giant Peach'' is a popular children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The first edition, published by Alfred Knopf, featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. There have been re-illustrated versions of ...
'' (released 1995)—his chief contribution providing dialogue for the sardonic caterpillar. Potter makes a sly reference to this in ''
Karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...
'' when the character Daniel Feeld (
Albert Finney Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining prominence on screen in the early 1960s, debuting with '' The Entertainer'' (1960) ...
) is invited to provide dialogue for an "arthritic goat" in a children's film. Potter's reputation within the American film industry following the box office disappointments of ''Pennies from Heaven'' and ''Gorky Park'' ultimately led to difficulty receiving backing for his projects. Potter is known to have written adaptations of ''
The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pierr ...
'', ''
The Mystery of Edwin Drood ''The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' is the final novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in 1870. Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, it focuses more on Drood's uncle, John Jasper, a precentor, choirmaster and opium ...
'', '' The White Hotel'' and his earlier television play '' Double Dare'' (1976): all these reached the preproduction stage before work was suspended. More fortunate was ''
Mesmer Franz Anton Mesmer (; ; 23 May 1734 – 5 March 1815) was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorised the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects; this he called "anim ...
'' (1993), a
biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...
of the 19th century pseudo-scientist
Franz Anton Mesmer Franz Anton Mesmer (; ; 23 May 1734 – 5 March 1815) was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorised the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects; this he called " ani ...
. Potter's film, ''
Secret Friends ''Secret Friends'' is a 1991 British film written and directed by Dennis Potter and starring Alan Bates, Gina Bellman and Ian McNeice. It was based on Potter's novel ''Ticket to Ride (novel), Ticket to Ride''. The screenplay concerns a man whose ...
'' (1991), from his novel, ''Ticket to Ride'', starring Alan Bates. ''Secret Friends'' premiered in New York at the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
as the gala closing of the
Museum of Television & Radio The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, dedicated to ...
's week-long Potter retrospective. The last film Potter actively worked on was ''Midnight Movie'' (1994), an adaptation of Rosalind Ashe's novel ''Moths''. The film starred
Louise Germaine Tina Louise Germaine (born 1971) is an English actress and model best known for her appearance as usherette Sylvia Berry in the 1993 Dennis Potter serial ''Lipstick on Your Collar (TV series), Lipstick on Your Collar''. She played chambermaid Ka ...
and
Brian Dennehy Brian Manion Dennehy (; July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He won two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe, and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Dennehy had roles in ...
(who had appeared respectively in ''Lipstick on Your Collar'' and ''Gorky Park'') and was directed by
Renny Rye Renny Rye Renny Rye is a British television director known for his work in television drama. He was born on 2 December 1947. Life and career Rye was born in Cambridge. He was a producer for ''Blue Peter'' and directed ''The Box of Delights'' from ...
. Unable to secure financing from the Arts Council, Potter invested £500,000 in the production;
BBC Films BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including '' Truly, Madly, Deeply'', '' Alan Pa ...
provided the rest of the capital. The film was not given a cinema release owing to a lack of interest from distributors and remained unseen until after Potter's death. It was finally broadcast on BBC2 in December 1994 in the ''
Screen Two ''Screen Two'' was a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1985 to 1998 (not to be confused with a run of films shown on BBC2 under the billing ''Screen 2'' between April 1977 and March ...
'' series, two months after a remake of his
lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
1967 play ''Message for Posterity'' was transmitted. A film version of ''
The Singing Detective ''The Singing Detective'' is a BBC television serial drama, written by Dennis Potter, starring Michael Gambon and directed by Jon Amiel. Its six episodes are "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It". The ser ...
'', based on Potter's own adapted screenplay, was released in 2003 by
Icon Productions Icon Productions is a production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey, which, unlike most other independent production companies, funds most of its development and production cos ...
.
Robert Downey, Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of ...
played the lead alongside
Robin Wright Penn Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress. She has won a Golden Globe Award and a Satellite Award, and has received eleven Emmy Award nominations for her work in television. Wright first gained attention for her role in ...
and
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocaly ...
. Gibson also acted as producer. Potter's screenplay of ''The White Hotel'', adapted as a radio play, was broadcast in September 2018.


The media and Rupert Murdoch

In 1993, Potter was given a half-hour slot in prime time by
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
in their ''
Opinions An opinion is a judgment, viewpoint, or statement that is not conclusive, rather than facts, which are true statements. Definition A given opinion may deal with subjective matters in which there is no conclusive finding, or it may deal with ...
'' strand produced by
Open Media Open Media is a British television production company, best known for the discussion series '' After Dark'', described in the national press as "the most original programme on television". The company was founded in 1987 and has produced more t ...
. Potter's chosen topic was what he perceived to be a contamination of news media and its effect on declining standards in British television "particularly journalists who criticised his Channel 4 series ''Lipstick on Your Collar''",
Kelvin MacKenzie Kelvin Calder MacKenzie (born 22 October 1946) is an English media executive and a former newspaper editor. He became editor of '' The Sun'' in 1981, by which time the publication was established as Britain's largest circulation newspaper. Aft ...
"the sharp little oaf who edits the Sun" and
Garry Bushell Garry Bushell (born 13 May 1955) is an English newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author, musician and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Cockney Oi! bands GBX and the Gonads. He managed the New York C ...
"that sub-literate
homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...
, sniggering rictus of a lout". His talk was published in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' in abbreviated form as ''"Murdoch's Desolate View of Human Life"'' Craig Brown described the programme in the (
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
owned) ''
Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'': ::"Potter announced at the beginning: 'I'm going to get down there in the gutter where so many journalists crawl... what I'm about to do is to make a provenly vindictive and extremely powerful enemy... the enemy in question is that drivel-merchant, global huckster and so-to-speak media psychopath, Rupert Murdoch... Hannibal the Cannibal.'... ::As a performance, it had a lot going for it. I have never seen a talking head on television so immediate or so unabated in its anger. In many ways, it felt like being collared by a madman on the Tube. Filmed disturbingly close to camera, seemingly ad-libbing the entire half-hour, now mumbling, now rasping, Potter somehow managed to cut through the vacuum that on television usually separates viewer from viewee. This made the performance extraordinary."


Final works, last interview and death

The last serial broadcast during Potter's lifetime was the romantic comedy '' Lipstick on Your Collar'' (1993). Set during the
Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
of 1956 like the much earlier ''Lay Down Your Arms'' (1970), elements of which it recycled, this six-parter did not become a popular success and in it Potter returned to use of lip-synched musical numbers in the manner of ''Pennies from Heaven''. It did help to launch the career of actor
Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...
. On 14 February 1994, Potter learned that he had
terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output dev ...
pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...
which had
metastasis Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then, ...
ed to his
liver The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...
. It was thought that this was a side effect of the medication he was taking to control his
psoriasis Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by raised areas of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small, localized patches to complete ...
. On 15 March 1994, three months before his death, Potter gave an interview to
Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documenta ...
, later broadcast on 5 April 1994 by
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
(he had broken most of his ties with the BBC as a result of his disenchantment with Directors-General
Michael Checkland Sir Michael Checkland (born 13 March 1936) was Director-General of the BBC from 1987 to 1992, being appointed after the forced resignation of Alasdair Milne. Early life Michael Checkland was educated at the state grammar school King Edward ...
and especially John Birt, whom he had referred to as a "croak-voiced
Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by writer Terry Nation and first appeared in the 1963 ''Doctor Who'' ...
"). Using a
morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...
and
champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...
cocktail as pain relief, and
chain smoking Chain smoking is the practice of smoking several cigarettes in succession, sometimes using the ember of a finished cigarette to light the next. The term chain smoker often also refers to a person who smokes relatively constantly, though not nece ...
, he revealed that he had named his cancer "Rupert", after
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
, who he said represented so much of what he found despicable about the mass media in Britain. He described his work and his determination to continue writing until his death. Telling Bragg that he had two works he intended to finish ("My only regret is if I die four pages too soon"), he proposed that these works, ''
Karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...
'' and ''
Cold Lazarus ''Cold Lazarus'' is a four-part British television drama written by Dennis Potter with the knowledge that he was dying of pancreatic cancer. It forms the second half of a pair with the television serial ''Karaoke''. The two serials were filmed ...
'', should be made with the rival BBC and Channel 4 working in collaboration, a suggestion which was accepted. These two related stories, eventually broadcast in 1996, one set in the present and the other in the far future, both feature
Albert Finney Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining prominence on screen in the early 1960s, debuting with '' The Entertainer'' (1960) ...
as the same principal character. Both series were released on DVD on 6 September 2010. Months before Potter was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer his wife, Margaret, was diagnosed with
breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...
. Despite his own deteriorating condition and punishing work schedule, Potter continued to care for his wife until she died on 29 May 1994. He died nine days later, in
Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye ( Welsh: ''Rhosan ar Wy'') is a market town in England, near the border with Wales. It had a population of 10,582 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 11,309 in 2019. It lies in south-eastern Herefordshire, on the River Wye ...
,
Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
, England, aged 59.


Other works


Novels

''Hide and Seek'' (1973) was a
meta-fiction Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and stor ...
al novel exploring the relationship between reader and author and contains a protagonist, Daniel Miller, who is convinced he is the plaything of an omniscient author. This concept forms the core of Potter's next two novels, and portions of ''Hide and Seek'' would reappear in several of his television plays, especially '' Follow the Yellow Brick Road'' (1972) and ''The Singing Detective''. ''Ticket to Ride'' (1986) was written between drafts of ''The Singing Detective'' and concerns a herbithologist who is unable to make love to his wife unless he imagines her as a prostitute. This was followed in 1987 by ''Blackeyes'': a study of a model whose abusive uncle, a writer, has stolen details of his niece's experiences in the glamour industry as the basis for his latest
potboiler A potboiler or pot-boiler is a novel, play, opera, film, or other creative work of dubious literary or artistic merit, whose main purpose was to pay for the creator's daily expenses—thus the imagery of "boil the pot", which means "to provide one ...
. To tie-in with the release of the
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
production of ''Pennies from Heaven'' in 1981, Potter wrote a novelisation of the screenplay. Potter turned down the option of writing a novelisation for the film version of ''Brimstone and Treacle'', allowing his daughter
Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...
to write it instead.


Stage plays

Although Potter only produced one play exclusively for theatrical performance (''Sufficient Carbohydrate'', 1983 – later filmed for television as ''Visitors'' in 1987), he adapted several of his television scripts for the stage. ''Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton'', which featured material from its sister-play ''Stand Up, Nigel Barton'', was premiered in 1966, while ''Only Make Believe'' (1973), which incorporated scenes from '' Angels Are So Few'' (1970), made the transition to the stage in 1974. ''Son of Man'' appeared in 1969 with
Frank Finlay Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English stage, film and television actor, Oscar-nominated for a supporting role as Iago in Laurence Olivier's 1965 film adaptation of ''Othello''. In 1983, Finlay was directed by Ital ...
in the title role (Finlay would also play Casanova in Potter's 1971 serial) and was restaged by Northern Stage in 2006. ''Brimstone and Treacle'' was adapted for the stage in 1977 after the BBC refused to screen the original television version. The play text for ''Blue Remembered Hills'' was first published in the collection ''Waiting for the Boat'' (with '' Joe's Ark'' and ''Blade on the Feather'') in 1984 and has since enjoyed several successful stage performances. Potter proposed to write an "intermedia" stage play for producers Geisler-Roberdeau based on
William Hazlitt William Hazlitt (10 April 177818 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English lan ...
's ''Liber Amoris, or The New Pygmalion'', but he died before it could be commenced.


Style and themes

Potter's work is known for its use of non-naturalistic devices. These include the extensive use of flashback and
nonlinear In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system is a system in which the change of the output is not proportional to the change of the input. Nonlinear problems are of interest to engineers, biologists, physicists, mathematicians, and many othe ...
plot structure (''Casanova''; ''Late Call''), direct to camera address (''Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton'') and works where "the child is father to the man", in which he used adult actors to play children (''Stand Up, Nigel Barton''; ''Blue Remembered Hills''). The '
lip-sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...
' technique he developed for his "serials with songs" (''Pennies from Heaven''; ''The Singing Detective'' and ''Lipstick on Your Collar'') is perhaps the best known of the Potter trademarks. They are frequently used in works where the line between fantasy and reality becomes blurred, often as a result of the influence of popular culture (Willie, the
Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
obsessive played by
Hywel Bennett Hywel Thomas Bennett (8 April 1944 – 24 July 2017) was a Welsh film and television actor. He had a lead role in ''The Family Way'' (1966) and played the titular "thinking man's layabout" James Shelley in the television sitcom '' Shelley'' (1 ...
in ''Where the Buffalo Roam'') or from a character's apparent awareness of their status as a pawn in the hands of an omniscient author (the actor Jack Black (Denholm Elliott) in '' Follow the Yellow Brick Road'' first broadcast in 1972). Potter's pioneering method of using music in his work emerged when developing ''Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), one of his biggest successes. He asked actors to mime along to period songs. "Potter tried out the concept himself by lip-syncing to old songs while looking into a mirror. Potter himself once revealed that, working on harnessing songs in his plays, he was most productive 'at night, with old
Al Bowlly Albert Allick Bowlly (7 January 1898 – 17 April 1941) was a Mozambican-born South African– British vocalist and jazz guitarist, who was popular during the 1930s in Britain. He recorded more than 1,000 songs. His most popular songs includ ...
records playing in the background'". Potter had previously experimented with Bowlly's voice in '' Moonlight on the Highway'' (1969). Potter's characters are frequently "doubled up"; either by
Doppelgänger A doppelgänger (), a compound noun formed by combining the two nouns (double) and (walker or goer) (), doppelgaenger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person. In fiction and mythology, a doppelg ...
, using the same actor to play two roles, (
Kika Markham Erika S.L. "Kika" Markham (born 1940)''birth registered 4th quarter (Oct, Nov, Dec) 1940'' is an English actress. Early life Markham is a daughter of actor David Markham and writer Olive Dehn (1914–2007). She has three sisters: Petra, Sonia ...
as the actress and the escort in '' Double Dare'';
Norman Rossington Norman Rossington (24 December 1928 – 21 May 1999) was an English actor best remembered for his roles in ''The Army Game'', the ''Carry On'' films and the Beatles' film '' A Hard Day's Night''. Early life Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, ...
as Lorenzo the gaoler and the English traveller in ''Casanova'') or two actors whose characters' destinies and personalities appear linked (Bob Hoskins and
Kenneth Colley Kenneth Colley (born 7 December 1937) is an English film and television actor whose career spans over 60 years. He came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in the '' Star Wars'' films ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and '' ...
as Arthur and the accordion man in ''Pennies from Heaven''; Rufus (
Christian Rodska Christian Rodska (born Christian Rodskjaer; 5 September 1945) is an English actor who has appeared in many television and radio series and narrated a number of audiobooks, including Sir Winston Churchill's Nobel Prize winning ''The Second World W ...
) and Gina the bear in '' A Beast With Two Backs''). A motif in Potter's writing is the concept of betrayal and this takes many forms in his plays. Sometimes it is personal (''Stand Up, Nigel Barton''), political (''Traitor''; ''
Cold Lazarus ''Cold Lazarus'' is a four-part British television drama written by Dennis Potter with the knowledge that he was dying of pancreatic cancer. It forms the second half of a pair with the television serial ''Karaoke''. The two serials were filmed ...
'') and other times it is sexual (''A Beast With Two Backs''; '' Brimstone and Treacle''). In ''Potter on Potter'', published as part of
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
's series on
auteur An auteur (; , 'author') is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded but personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, which thus manifests the director's unique ...
s, Potter told editor Graham Fuller that all forms of betrayal presented in literature are essentially religious and based on "the old, old story"; this is evoked in a number of works, from the use of popular songs in ''Pennies from Heaven'' to Potter's
gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
retelling of
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
' final days in ''Son of Man''. The device of a disruptive outsider entering a claustrophobic environment is another theme. In plays where this occurs, the outsider will commit some apparently liberating act of evil (rape in ''Brimstone and Treacle'') or violence (murder in '' Shaggy Dog'') that gives physical expression to the un-sublimated desires of the characters in that setting. While these more malevolent visitors are often supernatural beings (''Angels Are So Few''), intelligence agents (''
Blade on the Feather ''Blade on the Feather'' is a television drama by Dennis Potter, broadcast by ITV on 19 October 1980 as the first in a loosely connected trilogy of plays exploring language and betrayal. A pastiche of the John Le Carré spy thriller and trans ...
'') or even figments of their host's imagination (''Schmoedipus''), there are also—rare—instances of benign visitors whose presence resolves personal conflicts rather than exploits them (''Joe's Ark''; ''
Where Adam Stood ''Where Adam Stood'' is a television play by Dennis Potter, first broadcast on BBC 2 in 1976. It is a free adaptation, wholly shot on film, of Edmund Gosse's autobiographical book ''Father and Son'' (1907). Synopsis Philip Gosse, naturalist ...
'').


Legacy

Although Potter won few awards, he was and remains held in high regard by many within the television and film industry and was an influence on such creators as
Mark Frost Mark Frost (born November 25, 1953) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film-and-television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and was a writer and executive story ...
,
Steven Bochco Steven Ronald Bochco Masterson (December 16, 1943 – April 1, 2018) was an American television writer and producer. He developed a number of television series, including ''Hill Street Blues'', ''L.A. Law'', ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''Cop Rock'' ...
, Andrew Davies,
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and
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.
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was critical, referring in his 1998 diaries to a television programme "that took Potter at his own self-evaluation (always high), when there was a good deal of indifferent stuff which was skated over", and believed that Potter's health was a factor in his fame, saying "he visibly conformed to what the public thinks artists ought to be—poor or promiscuous, suffering or starved".
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
marked the tenth anniversary of Potter's death in December 2004 with documentaries about his life and work, accompanied by showings of ''Pennies from Heaven'' and ''The Singing Detective'', as well as several of his single plays—many of which had not been shown since their initial broadcast. Potter's papers, including unproduced plays and unpublished fiction, are being catalogued and preserved at the
Dean Heritage Centre The Dean Heritage Centre is located in the valley of Soudley, Gloucestershire, England in the Forest of Dean and exists to record and preserve the social and industrial history of the area and its people. The centre comprises the museum itself, ...
in Gloucestershire.


Personal life

On 10 January 1959, at the Christ Church parish church in Berry Hill, he married Margaret Amy Morgan (14 August 1933 – 29 May 1994), a local woman he met at a dance. They lived a "surprisingly quiet private life" at
Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye ( Welsh: ''Rhosan ar Wy'') is a market town in England, near the border with Wales. It had a population of 10,582 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 11,309 in 2019. It lies in south-eastern Herefordshire, on the River Wye ...
,
Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
, and had three children, Robert, Jane, and
Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...
. The latter achieved prominence in the 1980s as an international
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er.


See also

* Dennis Potter bibliography


References


Further reading

* * W. Stephen Gilbert ''Fight & kick & bite: the life and work of Dennis Potter'', 1996, a.k.a. ''The Life and Work of Dennis Potter'', Woodstock & New York: Overlook Press, 1998 * Dennis Potter ''Seeing the blossom'', 1994 * Humphrey Carpenter ''Dennis Potter'', 1998 * John R. Cook ''Dennis Potter: A Life on Screen'', 1998 * Eckart Voigts-Virchow
Männerphantasien. Introspektion und gebrochene Wirklichkeitsillusion im Drama von Dennis Potter
' (in German) 1995


External links


Dennis Potter official site

''The Singing Detective'' – Exploring Dennis Potter's Thematic Preoccupations
British Film Resource
1986 and 1991 interviews with Dennis Potter
BBC4 (Audio) *

at the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's
Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lot ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Dennis 1935 births 1994 deaths 20th-century British Army personnel 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers Alumni of New College, Oxford British male television writers Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from pancreatic cancer Edgar Award winners English male dramatists and playwrights English male screenwriters English television writers Intelligence Corps soldiers Military personnel from Gloucestershire Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People educated at Bells Grammar School People educated at St. Clement Danes School People from Forest of Dean District