Rent The Singing Detective (1986)
4.2 of 5 from 89 ratings
6h 32min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Many regard the Singing Detective as Dennis Potter's masterpiece, bringing together old and new themes in a murder mystery-musical-thriller-romance - the like of which has not been seen before or since on television. Recognised as a seminal TV series, it was voted number 20 in the BFI's all time top TV 100. Incapacitated both physically and emotionally and trapped in his hospital bed, detective novel writer Philip Marlowe escapes into his imagination, plotting out a murder tale in which he is both a big-band singer and a private eye. As fantasy and reality merge into one, his excruciating pain plays with the memories of a tormented childhood and sexual treachery in a tortuous session of self-analysis and personal discovery. - Actors:
- Michael Gambon, Patrick Malahide, Joanne Whalley, David Ryall, Gerard Horan, Leslie French, Ron Cook, George Rossi, Sharon D. Clarke, Lyndon Davies, Geff Francis, Janet Suzman, Alison Steadman, Jim Carter, Imelda Staunton, Janet Henfrey, Bill Paterson, William Speakman, Wally Thomas, Charles Simon
- Directors:
- Jon Amiel
- Studio:
- BBC
- Genres:
- British TV, TV Classics, TV Dramas
- Collections:
- From Small Screen to Silver Screen: Films Based on TV, Remembering Michael Gambon
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Reviews (1) of The Singing Detective
A truly great TV series - The Singing Detective review by CP Customer
Probably the best TV series of all for me, providing laugh-out-loud moments, such as Marlow trying to distract himself from being totally greased by the gorgeous nurse Joanna Whalley, and the fantasy dance of the medical staff to "Ezekiel cried 'dry bones'". It is also semi-biographical, with seminal scenes from Dennis Potter's childhood, deep in the Forest of Dean. As well as great music from the era of the Second World War, sexual passion and the wit of the crime novel is rife. Do not miss.
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