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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has soft covers. Clean from markings. In good all round condition. . Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has soft covers. Clean from markings. In good all round condition. . Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item See less

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The Singing Detective (BFI TV Classics) Paperback – March 13, 2007

by Glen Creeber (Author)

4.8 21 ratings

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The Singing Detective (BBC, 1986) has been described by novelist Steven King as "the Citizen Kane of the mini-series." Voted number 5 in the BFI's greatest television drama series/serial of all time, its innovative techniques and multi-layered narrative structure makes it a truly remarkable piece of story-telling that has become internationally influential. Written by Dennis Potter and directed by Jon Amiel, it is a landmark piece of television drama that will forever set the benchmark upon which other programmes are now judged. Controversial, challenging, innovative and consistently moving, it is television at its very finest and most memorable. Essentially a psychological whodunit, The Singing Detective has found praise for the way in which it was able to dramatise and deconstruct the dreams, fantasies, hallucinations and paranoid delusions of its central protagonist, Philip Marlow (Michael Gambon). Combining genres such as the Hollywood Musical, hospital drama, sit-com and film-noir, it creates an intoxicating array of forms, themes and stylistic techniques and turns them into a vivid and entertaining discovery of the self. In this unique and comprehensive study, Glen Creeber (author of Dennis Potter: Between Two Worlds, Macmillan, 1998) dissects the serial's sometimes bewildering array of themes and techniques. It will draw on new and previous research, bringing together a wide range of debates and issues in a lively and entertaining manner. In particular, Creeber explains the densely religious structure of the serial; its exploration into the power of language, story-telling and authorship; its investigation of the ambiguous power of popular culture; its complex psychological construction of illness and sexuality and its implicit deconstruction of realist forms and techniques. This is an essential book for anyone interested in this landmark television drama or in the artistic potential of television as a whole.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Singing Detective (BBC, 1986) has been described by novelist Steven King as 'the "Citizen Kane" of the mini-series'. Voted number 5 in the BFI's greatest television drama series/serial of all time, its innovative techniques and multi-layered narrative structure makes it a truly remarkable piece of story-telling that has become internationally influential. Written by Dennis Potter ("Pennies from Heaven", "Brimstone and Treacle", "Blue Remembered Hills") and directed by Jon Amiel ("Sommersby", "Copycat", "Entrapment"), it is a landmark piece of television drama that will forever set the benchmark upon which other programmes are now judged. Controversial, challenging, innovative and consistently moving, it is television at its very finest and most memorable. Essentially a psychological whodunit, "The Singing Detective" has found praise for the way in which it was able to dramatise and deconstruct the dreams, fantasies, hallucinations and paranoid delusions of its central protagonist, Philip Marlow (Michael Gambon). Combining genres such as the Hollywood Musical, hospital drama, sit-com and film-noir, it creates an intoxicating array of forms, themes and stylistic techniques and turns them into a vivid and entertaining discovery of the self. In this unique and comprehensive study, Glen Creeber (author of "Dennis Potter: Between Two Worlds", Macmillan, 1998) dissects the serial's sometimes bewildering array of themes and techniques. It will draw on new and previous research, bringing together a wide range of debates and issues in a lively and entertaining manner. In particular, Creeber explains the densely religious structure of the serial; its exploration into the power of language, story-telling and authorship; its investigation of the ambiguous power of popular culture; its complex psychological construction of illness and sexuality and its implicit deconstruction of realist forms and techniques. This is an essential book for anyone interested in this landmark television drama or in the artistic potential of television as a whole.

About the Author

Glen Creeber is Senior Lecturer in Television Studies at Aberystwyth University, UK. He is the editor of Tele-Visions: An Introduction to Studying Television (2006) and co-editor of Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media (2009), among other titles.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ British Film Institute (March 13, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 184457198X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1844571987
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.76 x 0.44 x 7.18 inches

Customer Reviews:
4.8 21 ratings

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4.8 out of 5

21 global ratings

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Annie Lanzillotto author of L is for Lion

Catharsis. Profound Healing. Surrealismo.

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2014

Masterpiece of one man's ravings while in pain...
childhood trauma, flights of fancy and imagination,
a writer's book, for anyone with a passion for how the surreal
can save us from horrible painful experiences.

Watch the film! My Mom I both laughed cathartically.

forever,
Annie

Annie Lanzillotto
author of "L is for Lion: an italian bronx butch freedom memoir" SUNY Press
and "Schistsong" BORDIGHERA Press

www.annielanzillotto.com

L Is for Lion: An Italian Bronx Butch Freedom Memoir (SUNY series in Italian/American Culture)
Schistsong (Via Folios)
Blue Pill
Carry My Coffee (Live)
Eleven Recitations

2 people found this helpful

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S. Paretsky

BRILLIANT!

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2011

What we have here is not a novel or a "novelization" but rather, the screenplay for the brilliant BBC Television presentation of "The Singing Detective." If you have never read a screenplay, this may not be the place to begin, for even viewing this work as a multi-part series is challenging (in a good way) to the audience. However, if you are familiar with screenplays or you've seen this magnificent production starring Michael Gambon then you are in for a real treat.

Dennis Potter's story is about an author in a London hospital ward, nearly paralyzed by arthritis and psoriasis. Like Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel , Marlow drifts between the present and the past, reality and fantasy. Marlow weaves the elements of his own life with that of the cheap, dime-store detective in his pulp fiction novels. The result is truly extraordinary.

Although currently out of print, copies are available at surprisingly good prices.

One person found this helpful

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Mary Duck

The Screenplay

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2000

The Singing Detective may be the best screenplay ever written. I have the video and the original text (including cast) which I obtained thru interlibrary loan and copied. Its richness derives, not only from its excellent production, directing and cast, but also from its similarities to Dennis Potter's own life. Am now looking for the soundtrack: The Other Side of the Singing Detective, BBC CD 708 or ZCN 708 (cassette). email address: hbduck@koyote.com

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Manchester Mike

Excellent play in excellent condition

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 9, 2012

Verified Purchase

I was inspired to buy this play by Dennis Potter after the fantastic television series was transmitted again recently. I remember it vividly from its first broadcast in the 1980s and was astonished that Murdoch, whom Potter despised, was in the news again with the phone hacking scandal. He would have been delighted at the publisher's comeuppance! The book, despite its age, was in excellent condition and delivered swiftly.

One person found this helpful

Peter S

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2015

Verified Purchase

As stated, would use again.

john

Great play

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 28, 2018

Verified Purchase

Really enjoyed the tv show from way back which I’ve seen a good few times. It’s better to have seen this before you read the book or I think the reader will struggle to keep up with the book jumping about to different time periods.
It’s a good read all the same. Read it very quickly.

2 people found this helpful

phil ashman

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2014

Verified Purchase

great

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