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, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...
, 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 service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...
serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978) and '' The Singing Detective'' (1986) as well as the BBC television plays '' Blue Remembered Hills'' (1979) and '' Brimstone and Treacle'' (1976). His television dramas, often set or partly set in the
Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...
of his childhood, mixed
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
and
reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of everything in existence; everything that is not imagination, imaginary. Different Culture, cultures and Academic discipline, academic disciplines conceptualize it in various ways. Philosophical questions abo ...
, the personal and the social, and often used themes and images from
popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art
f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...
or mass art, sometimes contraste ...
. 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 Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
and graduating from
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
, 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 candidate at the 1964 general election, his health was affected by the onset of
psoriatic arthropathy Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by patches of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small localized patches to complete b ...
which necessitated Potter to change career and led to his becoming a television dramatist. He began with contributions to
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...
's regular series ''
The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of United Kingdom, British television plays which ran on BBC One, BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic ...
'' 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 ...
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 Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...
, Gloucestershire. His father, Walter Edward Potter (1906–1975), was a coal miner 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 standardised 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 academi ...
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. It ...
(since demolished). When he was ten years old, Potter was sexually abused, 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 a system of compulsory or 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 ...
was in the Intelligence Corps of the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
and he learned Russian at the Joint Services School for Linguists."Dennis Potter obituary"
''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', 8 June 1994
Having won a State Scholarship to
New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...
, he studied
philosophy, politics and economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...
.


Early career

Potter began his career as a journalist with the '' Daily Herald''. 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''. 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 seat, in the 1964 general election against the incumbent Derek Walker-Smith. 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 Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by patches of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small localized patches to complete b ...
causing
arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...
to develop in his joints as well as affecting his skin with
psoriasis Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by patches of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small localized patches to complete b ...
. 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 United Kingdom, British television plays which ran on BBC One, BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic ...
'', 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 teacher of courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. Born into ...
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 dramatic convention, 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. ...
) 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 Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
'' (also 1965), his next transmitted play, chronicled the relationship between Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, 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 becam ...
. 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. 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."


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'' 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 Pinewood Group, the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not ...
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, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
as an 'anti-musical' with Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters 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. It was 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 reprising his role of Mr. Bates from the original television production, while Sting and Joan Plowright, replaced Michael Kitchen and
Patricia Lawrence Patricia Lawrence (19 November 1925, Andover, Hampshire, Andover, Hampshire – 7 March 1993, Chelsea, London, Chelsea, London) was a British actress. Personal life In 1947 she married writer and arts administrator Greville Poke (1912–2000) i ...
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 his gaining an
Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...
from the
Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional 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 E ...
.


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., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
, writing the scripts for a widely praised but seldom-seen miniseries of F. Scott Fitzgerald's '' Tender Is the Night'' (1985) with Mary Steenburgen as Nicole Diver. '' The Singing Detective'' (1986), featuring
Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon (; 19 October 1940 – 27 September 2023) was an Irish-English actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career ...
, used the dramatist's own problems with the skin disease
psoriasis Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by patches of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small localized patches to complete b ...
, 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'' (1989) was a major disappointment in his career. A drama about a fashion model, 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 Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...
Potter claimed he intended to expose. The critical backlash against Potter following ''Blackeyes'' led to Potter being labelled 'Dirty Den' (after
Den Watts 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 from Albert ...
, the ''
EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television 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 East End of London, the ...
'' 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 an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
(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 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'', 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'' (1985), a film which shared themes with his script for the ''Alice'' (1965) television play. In her last film role, Coral Browne 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, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...
's ''
Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...
''. Potter adapted his television play ''Schmoedipus'' (1974) for the cinema. The ensuing film, '' Track 29'' (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 (film), Performance'' (1970), ''Walkabout (film), Walkabout'' (1971), ''Don't Look Now'' (1973) ...
, was Potter's last filmed American project. However, Potter did provide uncredited script work on '' James and the Giant Peach'' (released 1995)—his chief contribution providing dialogue for the sardonic caterpillar. Potter makes a sly reference to this in '' Karaoke'' when the character Daniel Feeld ( Albert Finney) 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 Mystery of Edwin Drood'', '' 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'' (1993), a
biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films ...
of the 19th century pseudo-scientist Franz Anton Mesmer. Potter's film, '' Secret Friends'' (1991), from his novel, ''Ticket to Ride'', starring
Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the Cinema of the United Kingdom#The 1960s, 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from ''Whistle Down the Wind (film), Whistle Down ...
, 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 (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
as the gala closing of the Museum of Television & Radio'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 and Brian Dennehy (who had appeared respectively in ''Lipstick on Your Collar'' and ''Gorky Park'') and was directed by Renny Rye. Unable to secure financing from the
Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...
, 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 (film), Truly, ...
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'' series, two months after a remake of his lost 1967 play ''Message for Posterity'' was transmitted. A film version of '' The Singing Detective'', based on Potter's own adapted screenplay, was released in 2003 by Icon Productions. Robert Downey, Jr. played the lead alongside Robin Wright Penn and
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...
. Gibson also acted as producer. Potter's screenplay of ''The White Hotel'' was adapted as a radio play and 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 channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
in their ''
Opinions An opinion is a judgement, Point of view (philosophy), viewpoint, or Proposition, statement that is not conclusive, as opposed to facts, which are truth, true statements. Definition A given opinion may deal with subjectivity, subjective matters ...
'' strand produced by Open Media. 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 "the sharp little oaf who edits the Sun" and Garry Bushell "that sub-literate
homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
, sniggering rictus of a lout". His talk was published in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' 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 - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...
owned) ''
Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday 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 N ...
'': ::"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

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, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...
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 helped to launch the career of actor Ewan McGregor. On 15 March 1994, three months before his death while his health was deteriorating, Potter gave an interview to
Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg (born 6 October 1939) is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is the editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010, 2012–2023), and the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 documentary series ...
, later broadcast on 5 April 1994 by
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
. He had broken most of his ties with the BBC as a result of his disenchantment with Directors-General Michael Checkland and John Birt. Using a
morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...
and
champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...
cocktail as pain relief, and chain smoking, he revealed that he had named his cancer "Rupert", after
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...
, who Potter 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, he proposed that these works, '' Karaoke'' and '' Cold Lazarus'', should be made with the rival BBC and Channel 4 working in collaboration, a suggestion which was accepted. The Bragg TV interview had revealed the "real" Dennis Potter as gentle and thoughtful and the immediate response was intense. ''The Guardian'' printed a full transcript the next day while Bragg reported: "Thousands of people reacted with phone calls and letters."
Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth (born 8 March 1943) is an English Media proprietor, television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive ...
, Channel 4’s chief executive, said: "I've never known a reaction to a programme like that, achieving such intimacy with an audience. Nothing stacks up against it in terms of impact." Potter's final commission came from ''The Daily Telegraph Arts & Books'' section, prompted by the TV interview in March, to which he replied on 16 May, after honouring his television commitments: "I am pleased to tell you that I have completed ''Karaoke'' and ''Cold Lazarus'' – which I regard as essentially one eight-part piece. Now all that effort is of course evaporating into an overwhelming sense of loss, I itch to scribble ''something''." Immediately he was prompted to consider "the prospect of confronting imminent death" and on 25 May he submitted "my first and last short story" titled "Last Pearls", which was published on 4 June, days before he died. The two related stories, ''Karaoke'' and ''Cold Lazarus'', were eventually broadcast in 1996. One set in the present and the other in the far future, both feature Albert Finney as the same principal character. Both series were released on DVD on 6 September 2010.


Other works


Novels

''Hide and Seek'' (1973) is a meta-fictional 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 (theatre), play, opera, film, or other creative work of dubious literary or artistic merit whose main purpose is to pay for the creator's daily expenses—thus the imagery of "boil the pot", which means " ...
. To tie in with the release of the
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
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 Potter 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 actor. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Iago in ''Othello'' (1965). His first leading television role came in 1971 in '' Casanova''.
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 criticism, literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history ...
'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 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' 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 obsessive played by Hywel Bennett 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 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 ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...
, using the same actor to play two roles ( Kika Markham as the actress and the escort in '' Double Dare''; Norman Rossington 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 as Arthur and the accordion man in ''Pennies from Heaven''; Rufus ( Christian Rodska) 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'') 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, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply 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, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...
's series on
auteur An (; , ) is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded and personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, thus manifesting the director's unique style or thematic ...
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 Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...
retelling of
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
' 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'') 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'').


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, Steven Bochco, Andrew Davies, Alain Resnais and
Peter Bowker Peter Bowker (born 5 January 1959) is a British playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for the television serials ''Blackpool (TV series), Blackpool'' (2004), a musical drama about a shady casino owner in the Northern England, north of En ...
. Alan Bennett 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 service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, 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 in Gloucestershire.


Personal life

Potter married Margaret Amy Morgan (14 August 1933 – 29 May 1994) on 10 January 1959, at the Christ Church parish church in Berry Hill. They lived at
Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye is a market town and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, near the border with Wales. It had a population estimated at 10,978 in 2021. It lies in the south-east of the county, on the River Wye and on the northern edge of the Fore ...
,
Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...
, and had three children.


Illness and death

In 1961, while covering a meeting of the Young Conservatives, Potter was suddenly unable to rise from the press table and his knee felt hot. He was taken to a hospital, where his other major joints became inflamed and swollen, also, and his skin scalded off his body overnight. Potter was diagnosed with
psoriatic arthropathy Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by patches of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small localized patches to complete b ...
. On 14 February 1994, Potter experienced more than his usual daily pain. He was told he was suffering from incurable pancreas and liver cancer. Months before Potter was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, his wife, Margaret, was diagnosed with
breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
. Despite his own deteriorating condition and punishing work schedule, Potter continued to care for his wife until she died on 29 May 1994. Nine days later, on 7 June 1994, 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 ...
in
Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye is a market town and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, near the border with Wales. It had a population estimated at 10,978 in 2021. It lies in the south-east of the county, on the River Wye and on the northern edge of the Fore ...
,
Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...
, England, at age 59.


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

*

at the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's Screenonline * {{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 pancreatic cancer in England Edgar Award winners English male dramatists and playwrights English male screenwriters English television writers British television show creators 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