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.
