The Singing Detective (1986)

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
	Michael Gambon	...	Philip Marlow (6 episodes, 1986)
	Patrick Malahide	...	Mark Binney (6 episodes, 1986)
	Joanne Whalley	...	Nurse Mills (6 episodes, 1986)
	David Ryall	...	Mr. Hall (6 episodes, 1986)
	Gerard Horan	...	Reginald (6 episodes, 1986)
	Leslie French	...	Mr. Tomkey (6 episodes, 1986)
	Ron Cook	...	First Mysterious Man (6 episodes, 1986)
	George Rossi	...	Second Mysterious Man (6 episodes, 1986)
	Sharon D. Clarke	...	Night Nurse (6 episodes, 1986)
	Lyndon Davies	...	Philip (aged 10) (6 episodes, 1986)
	Geff Francis	...	Porter (6 episodes, 1986)
	Janet Suzman	...	Nicola (5 episodes, 1986)
	Alison Steadman	...	Mrs. Marlow (5 episodes, 1986)
	Jim Carter	...	Mr. Marlow (5 episodes, 1986)
	Imelda Staunton	...	Staff Nurse White (5 episodes, 1986)
	Janet Henfrey	...	Schoolteacher (5 episodes, 1986)
	Bill Paterson	...	Dr. Gibbon (4 episodes, 1986)
	William Speakman	...	Mark Binney (aged 10) (4 episodes, 1986)
	Wally Thomas	...	Grandad Baxter (3 episodes, 1986)
	Charles Simon	...	George Adams (3 episodes, 1986)
	Kate McKenzie	...	Sonia (3 episodes, 1986)
	Trevor Cooper	...	Barman (3 episodes, 1986)
	Charon Bourke	...	Amanda (2 episodes, 1986)
	Simon Chandler	...	Dr. Finlay (2 episodes, 1986)
	Mary MacLeod	...	Sister Malone (2 episodes, 1986)
	Thomas Wheatley	...	Registrar (2 episodes, 1986)
	Ken Stott	...	Uncle John (2 episodes, 1986)
	Jo Cameron Brown	...	Aunt Emily (2 episodes, 1986)
	Niven Boyd	...	First Soldier (2 episodes, 1986)
	Angela Curran	...	Mary (2 episodes, 1986)
	David Thewlis	...	Second Soldier (2 episodes, 1986)

Storyline

Reworking material from his first novel, "Hide and Seek" (1973), and folding this into a prismatic blend of autobiographical details, popular music and 1940s film noir, Dennis Potter delivered a drama now regarded as a 20th-century masterwork. Detective novelist Philip Marlow (Michael Gambon) suffers from the crippling disease of psoriatic arthropathy. Confined to a hospital bed, Marlow mentally rewrites his early Chandleresque thriller, "The Singing Detective," with himself in the title role, drifting into a surreal 1945 fantasy of spies and criminals, along with vivid memories of a childhood in the Forest of Dean. As past events and 1940s songs surface in his subconscious, Marlow's voyage of self-discovery provides a key to conquering his illness, while his noir-styled hallucinations evoke the Philip Marlowe of Chandler's "Murder, My Sweet" (1944)... Written by Bhob Stewart <bhob2@aol.com>  

Details

Company Credits

Technical Specs

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