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 TV serials Pennies from Heaven (1978), The Singing Detective (1986), and the television plays Blue Remembered Hills (1979) and Brimstone and Treacle (1976). His television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social, and often used themes and images from popular culture. Potter is widely regarded as one of the most influential and innovative dramatists to have worked in British television.
Born in Gloucestershire and graduating from Oxford University, Potter initially worked in journalism. After standing for parliament as a Labour candidate at the 1964 general election, his health was affected by the onset of psoriatic arthropathy which necessitated Potter changing careers and led to him becoming a television dramatist. His new career began with contributions to the BBC's Wednesday Play anthology series in 1965, and he continued to work in the medium for the rest of his life. He also wrote screenplay adaptations for the Hollywood studios. He died of pancreatic cancer in 1994.
Photos
Films (42)
Drama Out of a Crisis: A Celebration of Play for Today
2020 · Self – Writer (archive footage, 1973 & 1977)
The Singing Detective
2003 · Screenplay
The Bittersweet
2000 · Theatre Play, Writer
Midnight Movie
1994 · Writer, Producer
An Interview with Dennis Potter
1994 · Himself
Message for Posterity
1994 · Writer
Mesmer
1994 · Writer
Visions of Heaven and Hell
1994 · Self
Secret Friends
1991 · Director, Novel, Screenplay
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
1991 · Writer
Track 29
1988 · Writer
Visitors
1987 · Writer
Dreamchild
1985 · Writer, Executive Producer
Gorky Park
1983 · Screenplay
Brimstone & Treacle
1982 · Screenplay, Original Story
Pennies from Heaven
1981 · Writer
Cream in My Coffee
1980 · Writer
Rain on the Roof
1980 · Writer
Blade on the Feather
1980 · Writer
Blue Remembered Hills
1979 · Narrator (voice, uncredited), Writer
Where Adam Stood
1976 · Writer
Brimstone and Treacle
1976 · Writer
Double Dare
1976 · Writer
Schmoedipus
1974 · Writer
Joe's Ark
1974 · Writer
Only Make Believe
1973 · Writer
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
1972 · Writer
Traitor
1971 · Writer
Paper Roses
1971 · Writer
Angels Are So Few
1970 · Writer
Lay Down Your Arms
1970 · Writer
Son of Man
1969 · Writer
Moonlight on the Highway
1969 · Writer
A Beast with Two Backs
1968 · Writer
Shaggy Dog
1968 · Writer
The Bone Grinder
1968 · Writer
Where the Buffalo Roam
1966 · Writer
Emergency Ward 9
1966 · Writer
VOTE, VOTE, VOTE for Nigel Barton
1965 · Writer
Stand Up, Nigel Barton
1965 · Writer
Alice
1965 · Screenplay
Between Two Rivers
1960 · Narrator, Director, Writer
Séries (25)
Cold Lazarus
1996 · Writer, Creator
Karaoke
1996 · Writer, Creator
Lipstick on Your Collar
1993 · Writer, Executive Producer, Creator
Performance
1991 · Writer
Blackeyes
1989 · Narrator (voice, uncredited), Novel, Director, Writer, Creator
Christabel
1988 · Writer, Creator
The Singing Detective
1986 · Writer, Creator
Tender Is the Night
1985 · Writer, Creator
Television
1985
Screen Two
1985 · Writer
Pennies from Heaven
1978 · Writer, Creator
The Mayor of Casterbridge
1978 · Writer, Screenplay, Creator
The South Bank Show
1978
Late Call
1975 · Writer, Creator
Wessex Tales
1973 · Writer
The Sextet
1972 · Writer
Casanova
1971 · Writer, Creator
Play for Today
1970 · Writer
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969 · Writer
The Company of Five
1968 · Writer
ITV Playhouse
1967 · Writer
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965 · Writer
Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life
1964 · Writer
The Wednesday Play
1964 · Writer
That Was the Week That Was
1962 · Writer