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Wracked by a terrible skin disease, the once prolific author
Phillip Marlow looks cynically back on life from his bed in
a busy National Health hospital, fantasising himself into
one of his own pulp thrillers as a crooning '40's detective
enmeshed in a baffling murder case. But memories of his wartime
childhood keep intruding. Unwillingly, Marlow agrees to talk
to a psychotherapist - and, slowly, the clues begin to add
up. But to what?...
From
one of the great experimentalists of TV drama comes a compellingly
original tour-de-force that mingles fantasy and reality with
haunting popular songs of the 1940's. The award-winning The
Singing Detective, critically acclaimed as Dennis Potter's
masterpiece, is a dazzlingly entertaining and multi-layered
mystery thriller with a distinguished cast.
I
must be the only person alive over 30 who hasn't seen this
before. This, rather odd, confession has been met by disbelief
whenever I tell anyone. It's almost as if I'd said that I'd
never seen Star Wars, or been to a football match in
my life.
There
are hints of racism in the early episodes and sexism, but
then the views of Marlow are not supposed to be agreed with
by the audience. He is a rude and arrogant man in the early
episodes and this nasty side is designed to stop him letting
people into his world.
As
the clues mount up the viewer is drawn into Marlow's world.
We live his paranoid fantasies and his childhood nightmares,
until eventually we can separate fact from fiction.
There
are plenty of familiar faces too, including Alison Steadman
and two actors that later went on to play parts in James Bond
movies. Patrick Malahide played the banker, Lachaise, in The
World is Not Enough, and Thomas Wheatley played Bond's
colleague, Saunders, in The Living Daylights.
Extras
include audio commentary with director Jon Amiel and producer
Kenneth Trodd; Close Up: Dennis Potter; Arena: Dennis
Potter; Filmographies; Photo gallery; and Points of
View.
These
extras are well worth watching - especially the Arena
and Close Up: Dennis Potter features. These go into
all the sordid details of Potter's obsession with his female
cast, as well as examining how his films often portrayed his
sexual fantasies. The Points of View clips are worth
watching for a tongue-in-cheek reminder of how funny the late
Barry Took (who helped create classic radio comedy Round
the Horne) really was.
A
classic. Am I right? Or am I right?
Nick
Smithson
 
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