Health Boards
Thu-02-02-2012, 21:18 PM
The Original Singing Detective is starting a Rerun tonight on BBC4 22:00 GMT.
![[Image: Singing_Detective_Poster.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e4/Singing_Detective_Poster.jpg)
The Singing Detective is a BBC television miniseries written by Dennis Potter, which stars Michael Gambon, and was directed by Jon Amiel. The six episodes were "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It".
The serial was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 in 1986 on Sunday nights at 8pm from 16 November to 21 December with later PBS and cable television showings in the United States. PBS at that time considered it too risqué to be shown in prime time, delaying its programming until 11pm.
Plot:
Mystery writer Philip E. Marlow is suffering writer's block and is hospitalised because of his psoriatic arthritis, and is at a chronic stage forming lesions and sores over his entire body, and partially cripples his hands and feet. As a result of constant pain, a fever caused by the condition, and his refusal to take medication, Marlow falls into a fantasy world involving his Chandleresque novel, The Singing Detective, an escapist adventure about a detective (also named "Philip Marlow") who sings at a dance hall and takes the jobs "the guys who don't sing" won't take. As well as its dark themes, the series is notable for its use of 1940s-era music, often incorporated into surreal musical numbers.
Dennis Potter suffered from psoriatic arthritis himself, and he wrote with a pen tied to his fist much in the same fashion Marlow does in the last episode.
The Singing Detective is a BBC television miniseries written by Dennis Potter, which stars Michael Gambon, and was directed by Jon Amiel. The six episodes were "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It".
The serial was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 in 1986 on Sunday nights at 8pm from 16 November to 21 December with later PBS and cable television showings in the United States. PBS at that time considered it too risqué to be shown in prime time, delaying its programming until 11pm.
Plot:
Mystery writer Philip E. Marlow is suffering writer's block and is hospitalised because of his psoriatic arthritis, and is at a chronic stage forming lesions and sores over his entire body, and partially cripples his hands and feet. As a result of constant pain, a fever caused by the condition, and his refusal to take medication, Marlow falls into a fantasy world involving his Chandleresque novel, The Singing Detective, an escapist adventure about a detective (also named "Philip Marlow") who sings at a dance hall and takes the jobs "the guys who don't sing" won't take. As well as its dark themes, the series is notable for its use of 1940s-era music, often incorporated into surreal musical numbers.
Dennis Potter suffered from psoriatic arthritis himself, and he wrote with a pen tied to his fist much in the same fashion Marlow does in the last episode.
![[Image: b0074qy8.jpg?nodefault=true]](https://static.bbc.co.uk/programmeimages/272x153/episode/b0074qy8.jpg?nodefault=true)