There's a mystery buried somewhere: Somewhere between an embittered, hospitalized writer, suffering from a debilitating skin disease, and the overconfident detective of the pulp novel he once wrote. There's mystery surrounding a betrayed father, a suicide, a son having to cope with the contradictions in his young existence, trying to break free. There's also a dame and a body, there always is in a noir scenario. And there are all those memories, fantasies and nightmares of a tortured soul. Unable to move from his bed, our writer becomes the focal point of the story, who sees, hears and struggles with things between reality, fiction and hallucinations, slowly connecting the dots along with us: Down at the docks a foghorn blares, though it sounds like a whistling train... Make sure to bring your imagination to help him solve the puzzle! Dennis Potter's masterpiece "The Singing Detective" is as good as it gets when it comes to creating intelligent television. Not only does he manage to successfully combine film noir, musical, comedy and drama, he also injects existential depth into it that makes one feel deeply for a cynic on the way to his redemption. Suspenseful and entertaining, the multi-layered spectacle draws the viewer in, a viewer, who might feel lost from the very beginning, but will see sympathy grow, despite or maybe because being thrown around between the hospital reality, a constantly changing book plot, flashbacks and escapist adventures of the mind. Potter's wizardry lies in gradually expanding the context, allowing themes to transcend their confines, bleed into threads of seeming parallel worlds, and resonate more and more with each episode. Actors play multiple parts, scenes are repeated in variations - and we are reminded to look for more than just a plot. Thus "The Singing Detective" continues to grow on the inclined watcher with every repeated viewing, for one because of Potter's ingenious screenplay, but also thanks to Jon Amiel's flawless direction and especially Michael Gambon's towering performance. "The Singing Detective" is nothing short of a landmark, controversial for all the wrong reasons at the time of its release, but well deserving to be rediscovered as the pinnacle of Potter's outstanding career.
Side note: There's are of course also mysteries buried somewhere between Dennis Potter and Philip E. Marlow (who seems to have misplaced an "e"), between a writer who suffered from psoriatic arthropathy like a certain character he created and his Chandleresque creation. There's mystery surrounding the outright denial that "The Singing Detective" is autobiographical and the dozens of biographical coincidences. Just one more layer to add to a legacy looking for a hobby detective. Feel free to sing along...
Side note: There's are of course also mysteries buried somewhere between Dennis Potter and Philip E. Marlow (who seems to have misplaced an "e"), between a writer who suffered from psoriatic arthropathy like a certain character he created and his Chandleresque creation. There's mystery surrounding the outright denial that "The Singing Detective" is autobiographical and the dozens of biographical coincidences. Just one more layer to add to a legacy looking for a hobby detective. Feel free to sing along...