Dennis Potter

Phoenix LazarusPhoenix Lazarus Posts: 17,305
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Anyone else a fan of Dennis Potter and his works?
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  • degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
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    First one I remember watching was Lipstick On Your Collar.

    Some famous faces (or to be) in that.
  • BellaRosaBellaRosa Posts: 36,512
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    Is that Harry's brother ?
  • swingalegswingaleg Posts: 102,981
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    The first time I was aware of him was with Pennies From Heaven.............which got me into 1930s music.........:o

    Blue Remembered Hills was good

    I did watch The Singing Detective but wasn't as keen on that. nor on Lipstick On Your Collar

    I think he peaked in the late 1970s and Pennies From Heaven was his masterpiece.............
  • mike65mike65 Posts: 11,386
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    I really enjoyed The Singing Detective on BBC4.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 12,830
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    Cold Lazarus was quite good, as was Double Dare; but he started out being ahead of his time, did not progress much, then ended up being behind the times, producing the same sort of stuff, without moving on.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 261
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    petertard wrote: »
    Cold Lazarus was quite good, as was Double Dare; but he started out being ahead of his time, did not progress much, then ended up being behind the times, producing the same sort of stuff, without moving on.

    Well, that's what I call a biography!!
  • Phoenix LazarusPhoenix Lazarus Posts: 17,305
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    Does anyone else remember Follow the Yellow Brick Road, a TV play from the early '70s, by Potter?
  • SaturnVSaturnV Posts: 11,519
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    Pennies from Heaven was a groundbreaking revolution in tv and I think The Singing Detective is his masterpiece. Pennies is challenging with the ambiguity of whether Arthur is innocent or a villain. The Singing Detective is very complex with multiple threads interweaving.
    Lipstick is very entertaining with a good story and masterful characterisation, the acting and direction are impeccable.

    Potter was a genius and his style is referenced regularly, just spotted a scene in Breaking Bad which could have been written by him.
  • BirdsworthBirdsworth Posts: 1,223
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    The Singing Detective was an amazing piece of television - I could watch it over, and over again an still see new things in it.

    Absolutely loved most of his other stuff too, but I would agree with the analysis that he started off way ahead of his time & never really progressed. It was by copying/emulating his influences that many others in tv drama caught up and left him a bit behind. The same could be said (much more so) of Ken Russell in cinema.
  • holly berryholly berry Posts: 14,287
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    The tv interview he gave to Melvyn Bragg whilst dying from cancer was as good as anything he wrote in terms of capturing the human spirit and the things that can crush / inspire it.
  • snoweyowlsnoweyowl Posts: 1,922
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    Hugely overrated. His ideas were novel but they weren't very good.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 5,832
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    I saw the Singing Detective when it was on BBC4 last year and didn't like it as much as I thought I would (being a fan of old film noir and pulp crime novels). Most of the characters were interesting, but it seemed to take an age to go anywhere and spent too much time repeating stuff we'd already seen. The writing was good, but the pacing turned me off.
  • Utopian GirlUtopian Girl Posts: 8,275
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    I found 'Blue remembered hills' astounding.
  • SaturnVSaturnV Posts: 11,519
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    snoweyowl wrote: »
    Hugely overrated. His ideas were novel but they weren't very good.

    Who overrates him? Me?
  • Ben_Fisher1Ben_Fisher1 Posts: 2,973
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    SaturnV wrote: »
    Pennies from Heaven was a groundbreaking revolution in tv and I think The Singing Detective is his masterpiece. Pennies is challenging with the ambiguity of whether Arthur is innocent or a villain. The Singing Detective is very complex with multiple threads interweaving.
    Lipstick is very entertaining with a good story and masterful characterisation, the acting and direction are impeccable.

    Potter was a genius and his style is referenced regularly, just spotted a scene in Breaking Bad which could have been written by him.

    He practically invented modern TV drama. He stretched it as far as it could go at the time. His non-naturalist approach gave his plays a surreal fable-like quality. He will never be replaced imo. Pennies From Heaven is great, and it is all about life. It encapsulates all our desires, fears joys, longings and frustrations.
  • Jon RossJon Ross Posts: 3,322
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    afx237vi wrote: »
    I saw the Singing Detective when it was on BBC4 last year and didn't like it as much as I thought I would (being a fan of old film noir and pulp crime novels). Most of the characters were interesting, but it seemed to take an age to go anywhere and spent too much time repeating stuff we'd already seen. The writing was good, but the pacing turned me off.

    Isn't most TV from those days a lot slower than today?
  • Jon RossJon Ross Posts: 3,322
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    petertard wrote: »
    Cold Lazarus was quite good, as was Double Dare; but he started out being ahead of his time, did not progress much, then ended up being behind the times, producing the same sort of stuff, without moving on.

    Wasn't Cold Lazarus influenced by Blake's 7, which had been on about 20 years earlier? Perhaps that was a sign that he was falling behind. :D
  • Ben_Fisher1Ben_Fisher1 Posts: 2,973
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    snoweyowl wrote: »
    Hugely overrated. His ideas were novel but they weren't very good.

    I'm sorry, but his ideas were, mostly, very innovative.
  • Ben_Fisher1Ben_Fisher1 Posts: 2,973
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    Jon Ross wrote: »
    Wasn't Cold Lazarus influenced by Blake's 7, which had been on about 20 years earlier? Perhaps that was a sign that he was falling behind. :D

    Although I don't like it much, and he was regurgitating the same semi-autobiographical elements, Cold Lazarus was ahead of it's time in terms of predicting the way we are going, and how we are slowly being controlled.
  • Jon RossJon Ross Posts: 3,322
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    Although I don't like it much, and he was regurgitating the same semi-autobiographical elements, Cold Lazarus was ahead of it's time in terms of predicting the way we are going, and how we are slowly being controlled.

    It's interesting that he did a sci-fi serial. Apparently he submitted an idea to Doctor Who back in the '60s but it was rejected because it was considered too strange! :D
  • Ben_Fisher1Ben_Fisher1 Posts: 2,973
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    Jon Ross wrote: »
    It's interesting that he did a sci-fi serial. Apparently he submitted an idea to Doctor Who back in the '60s but it was rejected because it was considered too strange! :D

    That would have been the best Dr Who episode EVER! 'Strange' ie interesting and unconventional. A lot of folks do not like unconventional, and he was also very confrontational in his drama, they don't like that much either, especially if it reveals themselves a bit more:D
  • Ben_Fisher1Ben_Fisher1 Posts: 2,973
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    Jon Ross wrote: »
    Isn't most TV from those days a lot slower than today?

    There not really slow at all, it's just that our attention levels have been severely reduced, thanks to endless stream of brain rotting trash we now get.
  • Jon RossJon Ross Posts: 3,322
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    That would have been the best Dr Who episode EVER! 'Strange' ie interesting and unconventional. A lot of folks do not like unconventional, and he was also very confrontational in his drama, they don't like that much either, especially if it reveals themselves a bit more:D

    Back in the '60s Doctor Who was considered strictly for kids, so a Potter script would probably have been considered inappropriate. Nowadays they'd probably try and commission someone like Potter if he was still alive, but then it's also on later in the evening.
  • Jon RossJon Ross Posts: 3,322
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    There not really slow at all, it's just that our attention levels have been severely reduced, thanks to endless stream of brain rotting trash we now get.

    Drama did move at a slower pace then, there was more dialogue, longer scenes and fewer camera cuts.
  • Ben_Fisher1Ben_Fisher1 Posts: 2,973
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    Jon Ross wrote: »
    Back in the '60s Doctor Who was considered strictly for kids, so a Potter script would probably have been considered inappropriate. Nowadays they'd probably try and commission someone like Potter if he was still alive, but then it's also on later in the evening.

    To be honest I think it's still a kids show really, and still quite a cheesy one. Says it all that it is now considered almost a flagship drama for the BBC. How times change. I notice that there is very little drama about people, and what makes us tick, these days. Thoughtful, and profound drama seems to be considered too high-brow now, and mass appeal is all important, of course feed the masses shallow junk, they'll always accept that. It also serves to keep us a bit more docile.
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