Screening: Dennis Potter, 'A Beast with Two Backs' (1968)

Taking place as part of the public programmes for Hilary Lloyd Very High Frequency, this screening programme surveys key and rarely seen works by Dennis Potter.

The programme primarily focuses on Potter’s work for the BBC’s groundbreaking anthology drama series The Wednesday Play (1964–1970) and its successor Play for Today (1970–1984). Reflecting then-contemporary social and political contexts, these single-play formats became platforms for provocative storytelling that encompassed realism, satire and experimental drama. The series, which included Potter’s early semi-autobiographical works such as Stand Up, Nigel Barton (1965), helped launch his career, alongside directors such as Ken Loach and, later, Alan Clarke and Stephen Frears.

Two special marathon screenings showcase Dennis Potter’s most significant television serials. Pennies From Heaven (1978) marked Potter’s first major popular success and is recognised for transforming the possibilities of television drama. The Singing Detective (1986), widely regarded as his masterpiece, combines the themes and experimental structures of his earlier work to explore noir fantasy, childhood memory and musical interludes in a brilliant, hallucinatory narrative.

Potter’s readiness to engage with complex themes, including politics, class, illness, sexuality and religion, is a significant reminder of a time when a limited number of television channels vied for public attention and challenging content was broadcast to a mass audience.

A Beast with Two Backs (1968) 

Wednesday 8 October 2025, 7–8.15 pm

Set and filmed in Potter’s hometown of Berry Hill, Forest of Dean, the drama is a fictionalisation of a real incident. In the 1890s, four Frenchmen travelled to the area with dancing bears, who were subsequently killed by local miners in retaliation for a local tragedy. In Potter's drama, Patrick Barr plays Joe, an Italian man who arrives in the Forest of Dean with his bear, Gina. The pair are later accused of the murder of a local woman, aided by a misinterpreted sermon from the local preacher. 

First aired on BBC1’s The Wednesday Play, the work tackles xenophobia, guilt and the brutality of groupthink in a rural community. A sensational story for press at the time, Potter's drama received some criticism from locals, prompting Potter to respond that rather than a retelling, "It is, for me, a story about suspicion, fear, poisonous rumour, deep hostility to the stranger and, in an odd sort of way, a parable about crime and punishments”.

Writer: Dennis Potter; Director: Lionel Harris; Producer: Graeme MacDonald.

Runtime: 71 mins

Content warning

This work contains material that some visitors may find distressing. It includes references to sex and sexuality, nudity, strong language and gestures, offensive portrayals of disability and minority groups, disturbing imagery and sound, scenes of violence, depictions of alcohol and smoking, and other potentially challenging content. Age guidance: 15+

Image credit

Dennis Potter, The Singing Detective, 1986. Film still. Copyright BBC Archive.