Heat

Dennis Potter continues with his pulpish dialogue. Mark Binney consults the singing detective Philip Marlow over the body of a dead prostitute fished out of the river.

Binney is flash with his cash. He is no innocent and arrogant with it. He suspected that the Russian prostitute Sonia was up to something, then there were those two men hanging outside his flat.

This could all be in Marlow's mind. He has been in hospital now for about 11 weeks. He gets to see the hospital psychiatrist, Dr Gibbon who has read one of his books.

Gibbons suspects that Marlow does not like women. That comes to light when Marlow's estranged wife comes to the hospital to visit him at long last.

Another layered episode. This one introduces more about Marlow's past and about his parents home life. His mother had a horrible time living with his in laws. The father in law always coughing as he ruined his chest down the mine pit. His dad was regarded as weak, unable to stand up for his wife.

Both were musical and took part in variety shows. There are hints of tragedy regarding Marlow's past.

This is not as strong as the opening episode. It lacked a show stopping musical number of the first episode.

It introduced more characters and once again you suspect that Philip Marlow's mind is all over the place due to the new drugs he has been given.

Still Dr Gibbon has managed to get under Marlow's skin.

The Ward Doctor is not impressed with the progress of Marlow, after almost three months he shows no signs of improvement, he's encouraged to see a psychiatrist, Doctor Gibbon, who takes him on a trip down memory lane.

I never fail to be astounded by the depth and richness of this series. The first episode established the here and now, Marlow's present condition, and the immediate state he's in. This second part goes a lot deeper, examining his past, developing his character, The Singing Detective.

Music clearly played a big part in the young life of Marlow, with both of his parents musically talented, clearly an influence on his Singing Detective, I thought Carter anf Steadman were excellent.

Best scenes had to be those between Marlow and Doctor Gibbon, Patterson was fantastic.

What a fantastic watch this was, it has to be said, they just don't make them like they used to.

9/10.