Sort by Number of Votes - Most Rated Movies and TV Shows With Dennis Potter
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1. Dark City (1998)
R | 100 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt
Votes: 212,203 | Gross: $14.38M
2. James and the Giant Peach (1996)
PG | 79 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
An orphan who lives with his two cruel aunts befriends anthropomorphic bugs who live inside a giant peach, and they embark on a journey to New York City.
Director: Henry Selick | Stars: Paul Terry, Joanna Lumley, Pete Postlethwaite, Simon Callow
Votes: 73,983 | Gross: $28.93M
3. Gorky Park (1983)
R | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A Moscow police officer investigates a vicious triple homicide and stumbles upon a high-level international political conspiracy.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: William Hurt, Lee Marvin, Brian Dennehy, Ian Bannen
Votes: 15,818 | Gross: $15.90M
4. The Singing Detective (2003)
R | 109 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
From his hospital bed, a writer suffering from a skin disease hallucinates musical numbers and paranoid plots.
Director: Keith Gordon | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Robin Wright, Mel Gibson, Jeremy Northam
Votes: 8,940 | Gross: $0.34M
5. Pennies from Heaven (1981)
R | 108 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
During the Great Depression, a sheet-music salesman seeks to escape his dreary life through popular music and a love affair with an innocent schoolteacher.
Director: Herbert Ross | Stars: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Jessica Harper, Vernel Bagneris
Votes: 6,173 | Gross: $9.18M
6. The Singing Detective (1986)
70 min | Drama, Musical, Mystery
Tormented and bedridden by a debilitating disease, a mystery writer relives his detective stories through his imagination and hallucinations.
Stars: Michael Gambon, Patrick Malahide, Joanne Whalley, David Ryall
Votes: 4,806
7. Same Old Song (1997)
120 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
A musical story about how people find their love on the streets of beautiful Paris.
Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Pierre Arditi, Sabine Azéma, Jean-Pierre Bacri, André Dussollier
Votes: 4,467 | Gross: $0.03M
8. Track 29 (1988)
R | 90 min | Drama, Mystery
Linda is still tormented by giving up a baby for adoption at 15. She wants a baby, but her husband has enough in his model trains, mistress and being a doctor.
Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: Theresa Russell, Gary Oldman, Christopher Lloyd, Colleen Camp
Votes: 2,479 | Gross: $0.43M
9. Dreamchild (1985)
PG | 94 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Ian Holm is children's author Lewis Carroll in this poignant fantasy-drama set in 1930s New York and populated by the fabulous special effects creatures of Muppet master Jim Henson.
Director: Gavin Millar | Stars: Coral Browne, Ian Holm, Peter Gallagher, Caris Corfman
Votes: 1,748 | Gross: $1.22M
10. Brimstone & Treacle (1982)
R | 87 min | Drama, Thriller
A strange young man has a sinister effect on the family of a middle-aged writer.
Director: Richard Loncraine | Stars: Sting, Denholm Elliott, Joan Plowright, Suzanna Hamilton
Votes: 1,594
11. Lipstick on Your Collar (1993)
360 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
7 men work in a military intelligence office in 1956 London. Hopper is bored translating Russian and imagines rock'n'roll musicals set in the office. Francis dreams of Berry's wife.
Stars: Giles Thomas, Ewan McGregor, Louise Germaine, Douglas Henshall
Votes: 1,425
12. Pennies from Heaven (1978–1979)
450 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A travelling sheet music salesman with an uptight wife throws everything away for the love of an innocent school teacher in the romantic spirit of the music he loves, that bursts into his life in full song-and-dance numbers.
Stars: Cheryl Campbell, Bob Hoskins, Gemma Craven, Kenneth Colley
Votes: 1,208
13. Mesmer (1994)
Not Rated | 107 min | Biography, Drama
A biography of the 18-century Viennese physician Franz Anton Mesmer, who used unorthodox healing practices based on his theory of "animal magnetism."
Director: Roger Spottiswoode | Stars: Donal Donnelly, David Burke, Peter Dvorsky, Alan Rickman
Votes: 1,131
14. Cold Lazarus (1996)
300 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Writer Daniel Feeld, first seen in Dennis Potter's "Karaoke," returns three centuries later as a disembodied head.
Stars: Albert Finney, Ciarán Hinds, Frances de la Tour, Grant Masters
Votes: 771
15. Karaoke (1996)
63 min | Drama
Daniel Feeld is a screenwriter with pains in his gut and a new screenplay called "Karaoke", about a girl named Sandra who works in a seedy Karaoke bar and is murdered by a lowlife named ... See full summary »
Stars: Albert Finney, Roy Hudd, Richard E. Grant, Keeley Hawes
Votes: 620
16. Panorama (I) (1953– )
40 min | Documentary, News
Long-running factual programme reporting on all aspects of life in Britain.
Stars: Fred Emery, David Dimbleby, Richard Lindley, Richard Dimbleby
Votes: 598
17. Question Time (1979– )
60 min | News, Talk-Show
Politicians, public office-holders and celebrities face questions on topical issues from a studio audience.
Stars: David Dimbleby, Robin Day, Peter Sissons, Fiona Bruce
Votes: 413
18. Play for Today (1970–1984)
75 min | Comedy, Drama
A British television anthology drama series that aired on BBC1 between 1970 and 1984.
Stars: Alison Steadman, Nigel Hawthorne, Tony Caunter, David Daker
Votes: 392
19. The Mayor of Casterbridge (1978)
TV-14 | 350 min | Drama
In a drunken and disheartened state, Michael Henchard sells his wife at a fair. When he becomes sober again, he realizes what he has done, and though unable to find his wife and child, ... See full summary »
Stars: Alan Bates, Janet Maw, Jack Galloway, Anna Massey
Votes: 345
20. Arena (1975– )
60 min | Documentary
Wide-ranging arts program.
Stars: Gavin Millar, Kenneth Tynan, John Walters, Jonathan Miller
Votes: 319
21. Wogan (1982–1992)
35 min | Talk-Show
Terry Wogan hosts his own long-running chat show, where he interviews a variety of guests, from public life to celebrities. Also featured are regular musical guests performing their latest songs.
Stars: Terry Wogan, Sue Lawley, Joanna Lumley, Gloria Hunniford
Votes: 313
22. Brimstone and Treacle (1976 TV Movie)
85 min | Drama
The Bates sadly care for their severely disabled daughter Pattie. Martin arrives at their door claiming to be her college friend. He charms them into accepting him as a lodger and carer for Pattie. But Martin is not all he seems.
Director: Barry Davis | Stars: Denholm Elliott, Michael Kitchen, Patricia Lawrence, Michelle Newell
Votes: 312
23.
Play for Today (1970–1984)
Episode:
Blue Remembered Hills
(1979)
72 min | Comedy, Drama
"When we dream of childhood," said Dennis Potter, "we take our present selves with us. It is not the adult world writ small; childhood is the adult world writ large." Since Potter viewed ... See full summary »
Director: Brian Gibson | Stars: Colin Welland, Michael Elphick, Robin Ellis, John Bird
Votes: 302
24. Screen Two (1985–1998)
TV-14 | 120 min | Drama
In 1984 Kenith Trodd joined BBC team responding to Channel 4 releases, leading to transition from BBC studio plays to Screen One/Two anthology series. Trodd oversaw first group of titles in these series in 1985.
Stars: Jude North, Roger Brierley, Geoffrey Chater, Norman Jones
Votes: 244
25. Blade on the Feather (1980 TV Movie)
82 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A reclusive, elderly author is visited by a young admirer...but both men are more than they claim to be.
Director: Richard Loncraine | Stars: Kika Markham, Phoebe Nicholls, Donald Pleasence, Tom Conti
Votes: 244
26. The South Bank Show (1978– )
53 min | Documentary
ITV's long-running arts series presented by Melvyn Bragg.
Stars: Melvyn Bragg, Ian McKellen, David Hockney, Victoria Wood
Votes: 216
27. Blackeyes (1989)
196 min | Drama
Blackeyes is an attempt to explore "what does go on between men and women in their heads, to show the possibilities of the ways that they see each other." Complex and multi-layered, the ... See full summary »
Stars: Michael Gough, Carol Royle, Nigel Planer, Gina Bellman
Votes: 204
28. Christabel (1988– )
149 min | Biography, Drama
An English girl marries a German lawyer in the 1930s and they try to live as normal a life as they can in Hitler's Germany. When Allied bombs start falling on German cities, Christabel ... See full summary »
Stars: Elizabeth Hurley, Stephen Dillane, Nigel Le Vaillant, Geoffrey Palmer
Votes: 202
29. Tender Is the Night (1985)
180 min | Drama
F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel about how the rich languoring on the Riviera in the 1920's are slowly drawn into the coming depression is once again filmed with Peter Strauss, Mary Steenburgen,... See full summary »
Stars: Peter Strauss, Mary Steenburgen, Sean Young, John Heard
Votes: 190
30. Cream in My Coffee (1980 TV Movie)
91 min | Drama, Musical
Past and present intertwine: An elderly couple returns to the hotel where they became close when they were young and flashbacks to the earlier visit reveal the origins of both their ... See full summary »
Director: Gavin Millar | Stars: Peggy Ashcroft, Lionel Jeffries, Shelagh McLeod, Peter Chelsom
Votes: 183
31.
The Singing Detective (1986)
Episode:
Skin
(1986)
68 min | Drama, Musical, Mystery
Writer Philip Marlow is in hospital being treated for a severe skin affliction, something he has suffered from for 25 years but is now worse than it has ever been. He finds himself in a ... See full summary »
Director: Jon Amiel | Stars: Michael Gambon, Patrick Malahide, Joanne Whalley, David Ryall
Votes: 156
32. Secret Friends (1991)
97 min | Drama, Fantasy
During a train ride, an anxiety attack leads middle-aged illustrator John (Sir Alan Bates) into an identity crisis. As his marital problems merge and blur into his fantasy life with ... See full summary »
Director: Dennis Potter | Stars: Alan Bates, Gina Bellman, Frances Barber, Tony Doyle
Votes: 144
33. The Wednesday Play (1964–1970)
75 min | Drama
Series of one-off plays made by BBC television, which gave breaks to a wide range of writers and directors in the late 1960s, such as Dennis Potter, Ken Loach, David Mercer, and John ... See full summary »
Stars: Edwin Brown, Neville Smith, Tony Selby, Ken Jones
Votes: 131
34. Casanova (1971)
50 min | Drama, History, Romance
While he is in prison, Giacomo Casanova recalls many of his past romances and adventures.
Stars: Frank Finlay, Norman Rossington, Zienia Merton, Christine Noonan
Votes: 125
35.
The Singing Detective (1986)
Episode:
Heat
(1986)
69 min | Drama, Musical, Mystery
After 10 or 11 weeks in the hospital, Marlow has a session with a psychiatrist, Dr. Gibbon, that does not go well. Gibbon believes that the root of Marlow's skin disorder is psychological ... See full summary »
Director: Jon Amiel | Stars: Michael Gambon, Janet Suzman, Patrick Malahide, Alison Steadman
Votes: 121
36. That Was the Week That Was (1962–1963)
50 min | Comedy
Satirical sketch show. The first such show in the UK. It ran for two seasons before being pulled just before the 1964 general election.
Stars: David Frost, Millicent Martin, William Rushton, Roy Kinnear
Votes: 107
37.
The Singing Detective (1986)
Episode:
Lovely Days
(1986)
63 min | Drama, Musical, Mystery
Marlow recalls the last days of World War II and a train journey with his mother when they visited her family. He again recalls his mother going into the woods and having sex with a man ... See full summary »
Director: Jon Amiel | Stars: Michael Gambon, Janet Suzman, Patrick Malahide, Alison Steadman
Votes: 105
38. An Interview with Dennis Potter (1994 TV Movie)
70 min | Documentary
Director: Tom Poole | Stars: Dennis Potter, Melvyn Bragg, Judy Daish
Votes: 103
39. ITV Saturday Night Theatre (1969–1974)
78 min | Drama
Anthology series of dramatic works.
Stars: Michael Balfour, Madoline Thomas, Diane Cilento, Jim Dale
Votes: 98
40. Rain on the Roof (1980 TV Movie)
75 min | Drama
Another of Dennis Potter's "visitation dramas": Adultery by John disturbs Janet, so she flirts with the simple, mistreated Billy during the middle of giving him a reading lesson. ... See full summary »
Director: Alan Bridges | Stars: Cheryl Campbell, Malcolm Stoddard, Michael Culver, Madeleine Hinde
Votes: 98
41.
The Singing Detective (1986)
Episode:
Who Done It
(1986)
76 min | Drama, Musical, Mystery
In the final episode of the series, memories of Marlow's childhood, his dreams and the events in his re-imagined novel collide with present day reality. Marlow continues his sessions with ... See full summary »
Director: Jon Amiel | Stars: Michael Gambon, Janet Suzman, Patrick Malahide, Alison Steadman
Votes: 96
42.
The Singing Detective (1986)
Episode:
Clues
(1986)
67 min | Drama, Musical, Mystery
In his novel, Marlow has contacted the police and they have taken the dead woman away. He suspects that Mark Binney, who admitted that his visit to the nightclub wasn't entirely by chance. ... See full summary »
Director: Jon Amiel | Stars: Michael Gambon, Janet Suzman, Patrick Malahide, Alison Steadman
Votes: 95
43.
The Singing Detective (1986)
Episode:
Pitter Patter
(1986)
58 min | Drama, Musical, Mystery
In the hospital, Marlow's ex-wife pays him another visit clearly intent on getting him to sign a contract to option his book The Singing Detective, the screenplay for which her friend Mark ... See full summary »
Director: Jon Amiel | Stars: Michael Gambon, Janet Suzman, Patrick Malahide, Alison Steadman
Votes: 94
44. Performance (1991–1998)
180 min | Drama
An anthology series of various plays and dramatic performances.
Stars: Ian Holm, Elizabeth McGovern, Ronald Pickup, Jane Horrocks
Votes: 92
45. ITV Playhouse (1967–1982)
Comedy, Drama
Anthology series of dramatic works.
Stars: Michael Bryant, William Simons, Katherine Barker, Geoffrey Palmer
Votes: 87
46.
The Wednesday Play (1964–1970)
Episode:
VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, for Nigel Barton
(1965)
80 min | Drama
Candidate Nigel Barton goes from idealism to cynicism as he becomes disillusioned and suspicious of hollow campaign promises.
Director: Gareth Davies | Stars: Keith Barron, Valerie Gearon, John Bailey, Cyril Luckham
Votes: 80
47.
The Wednesday Play (1964–1970)
Episode:
Stand Up, Nigel Barton
(1965)
75 min | Drama
Semi-autobiographical TV play by Dennis Potter, from the BBC's 'Wednesday Play' series. It deals with the experiences of Nigel Barton, a young man from a poor mining community who wins a ... See full summary »
Director: Gareth Davies | Stars: Keith Barron, Jack Woolgar, Katherine Parr, Vickery Turner
Votes: 75
48.
The Wednesday Play (1964–1970)
Episode:
Son of Man
(1969)
90 min | Drama
Dennis Potter's controversial reading of the life of Christ, with Jesus portrayed as a hearty, fiery, well-meaning carpenter who believes that people should try to love their enemies rather... See full summary »
Director: Gareth Davies | Stars: Colin Blakely, Robert Hardy, Bernard Hepton, Brian Blessed
Votes: 73
49.
Screen Two (1985–1998)
Episode:
Midnight Movie
(1994)
TV-14 | 96 min | Drama
American producer James Boyce and his airhead wife Amber rent an English country mansion where the British horror flick "Smoke Rings" was filmed twenty years previous. Amber's mother was ... See full summary »
Director: Renny Rye | Stars: Jim Carter, Louise Germaine, Brian Dennehy, Colin Salmon
Votes: 71
50.
Play for Today (1970–1984)
Episode:
Schmoedipus
(1974)
67 min | Comedy, Drama
When a stranger, Glen, appears at the door of middle-aged Elizabeth Carter, he claims to be the illegitimate son she gave away at birth, and she accepts his story.
Director: Barry Davis | Stars: Anna Cropper, John Carson, Tim Curry, John Horsley
Votes: 67