Pennies from Heaven (TV series)

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''Pennies from Heaven'' is a 1978

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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musical

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

serial written by

Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...

. The title is taken from the song " Pennies from Heaven" written by Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston. It was one of several Potter serials (another being ''

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 ...

'') to mix the reality of the drama with a dark fantasy content, and the earliest of his works where the characters burst into extended performances of popular songs.

Overview

Hoskins became an established actor in the United Kingdom following his role in this serial. The serial was directed by

Piers Haggard Piers Inigo Haggard, OBE (born 18 March 1939), is a British theatre, film and television director, although he has worked mostly in the latter. Haggard was born in London but grew up on a small farm in Clackmannanshire. He is the great-great- ...

and produced by Potter collaborator Kenith Trodd. The series also featured

Nigel Havers Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielberg war dram ...

as Conrad Baker (the suave salesman),

Jenny Logan Jenny Logan (born 1942) is an English actress, trained dancer and singer. Though she played WPC Sally Reed in the television series ''Dixon of Dock Green'' between 1968 and 1969, she is most familiar from her appearances in the TV commercial fo ...

as Irene (Joan's friend),

Freddie Jones Frederick Charles Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (12 September 1927 – 9 July 2019) was an English actor who had an extensive career in television, theatre and cinema productions for a ...

as Mr. Warner (Eileen's headmaster), Michael Bilton as Eileen's dad, Will Stamp as the Barman, Tudor Davies as the cafe customer (Davies was also choreographer for the series), and

Peter Bowles Peter Bowles (16 October 1936 – 17 March 2022) was an English television and stage actor. He gained prominence for television dramas such as '' Callan: A Magnum for Schneider'' and ''I, Claudius''. He is however, best remembered for his roles ...

as the Prosecuting Counsel. ''Pennies'' was the last of Potter's television dramas to be filmed in the 'hybrid' format of studio

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocasse ...

and location

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...

film. The production involved six weeks of filming on location, most of it in Oxfordshire, with selected shooting in the

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 ...

(in Potter's home county of Gloucestershire, between the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

and the River Wye). The school where Eileen teaches is the Forest school Potter attended in Berry Hill and the children who populate the school scenes were local children cast as extras. In temporary remission from his chronic condition 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 ...

, a rare skin and joints disease that first afflicted him at the age of 24, Potter and his wife Margaret were able to visit the location shoot in Dean. ''Pennies...'' was transmitted in six episodes of approximately 75 minutes each from 7 March to 11 April 1978, 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, ...

and first repeated later that year. In spring of the following year, ''Pennies'' won the British Academy Television Award for Most Original Programme (Hoskins & Campbell were also nominated for BAFTA acting awards). In a 2000 poll of industry professionals conducted by 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 (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

to find the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century, ''Pennies from Heaven'' was placed at number 21.

Legacy

The original television version was released on DVD by BBC Worldwide in 2004. The first and sixth episodes have an

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

from Haggard and Trodd. Potter's memorial service in November 1994 at St James's Church in Piccadilly began with those in attendance singing "Roll Along Prairie Moon" to the accompaniment of a jazz quintet. Cheryl Campbell and Freddie Jones read their scene in the schoolroom from ''Pennies'': "As Jones stifled his tears, Campbell said: 'Nobody ever ever stops yearning' . . . In a comic interlude

Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 (1 ...

, chief executive of Channel 4,

Alan Yentob Alan Yentob (born 11 March 1947) is a BBC presenter and retired British television executive. He stepped down as Creative Director in December 2015, and was chairman of the board of trustees of the charity Kids Company from 2003 until its colla ...

, controller of BBC1, and Kenith Trodd, Potter's producer, read a scene from ''Pennies''. nd Troddtold of their last meeting before the playwright's death from cancer: 'Dennis slugging

Courvoisier Courvoisier () is a brand of cognac, with production based in the town of Jarnac in the Charente region of France. It is the youngest and smallest of the "big four" cognac houses (the others are Hennessy, Rémy Martin, and Martell). Courvo ...

, fortified by liquid heroin and

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 pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...

. . . after an hour he seemed to crumple and he said, 'I do have one very real fear of death. It is that you might get asked to speak at my memorial service'."

Episodes

Film adaptation

In 1981, the series was adapted as a film, starring

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 ...

. Potter adapted his own screenplay, and

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 ...

directed. Potter was nominated for the 1981

Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, music ...

– according to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'',

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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 ...

had him rewrite the script thirteen times. By most accounts, the movie was a resounding flop, despite the contributions of

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 ...

(as Eileen), Christopher Walken (as Tom) and

Vernel Bagneris Vernel Martin Bagneris (born July 31, 1949) is an American playwright, actor, director, singer, and dancer. Early life Bagneris was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. He is the third child of Gloria Diaz Bagneris and Lawrence Bagneris, Sr. ...

(as 'the accordion man'). The MGM deal with Potter had multiple ramifications. Dennis Potter, in a private conversation with Cheryl Campbell, told her that she would be able to play the part of Eileen in the film because her character could absorb an unknown actress when the series was made into an American film. Cheryl declined this offer because it wouldn't be fair to Bob and Gemma and all the others that had contributed so much to the series. The fact that the series would never be seen again due to the rights being sold to MGM was the most upsetting detail of the entire enterprise. MGM also required Potter to buy back his copyright from the BBC (according to the same 1990 ''Times'' article, Potter paid the BBC "something over $100,000" for the script). In addition, MGM prohibited broadcast of the BBC's own production of ''Pennies'' for approximately ten years. In 1989 or thereabouts, at the prompting of

, the controller of BBC2, Trodd was able to buy back the rights from MGM at "a very inconsiderable sum." The BBC promptly rebroadcast ''Pennies'' in February 1990.

References

External links

* *
Entry
on British Film Institute's Top 100 television programs

British Film Institute Screen Online

"Deep in Dennis Potter's Forest"
''

The American Prospect ''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The American Prospect'' says it "is devoted t ...

'' magazine {{DennisPotter 1978 British television series debuts 1978 British television series endings 1970s British drama television series BBC television dramas BBC television musicals 1970s British television miniseries Jukebox musicals British musical television series Television shows written by Dennis Potter English-language television shows Television series set in the 1930s