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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 general ward with a group of other men being treated for a variety of ailments. Marlow's psoriasis covers him from head to toe and even the slightest movement proves extremely painful.The doctors have tried numerous treatments and medication, but to no avail. His only relief, ever so slight, is to gave his body greased from head to toe even though he is embarrassed at his reaction when the pretty Nurse Mills tends to him. Unable to use his hands, he nonetheless keeps working on a novel by imagining the events. In wartime London, Mark Binney goes to a sleazy nightclub where he leaves with two of the girls working there. One of them is later fished out of the Thames, nude.

Joanne Whalley in The Singing Detective (1986)

There was great fun to be had in 1986 when the intelligentsia in the media claimed they knew what The Singing Detective was all about. The controller of BBC1 Michael Grade raved about Dennis Potter&#39;s latest drama epic in advance of its showing. I really thought this was a crime series about a detective who sang a bit on the side. Boy was I wrong. This was a multilayered drama in multiple timelines. A blurring of reality and fantasy. With the BBC showing Edge of Darkness in 1985. The Monocled Mutineer and The Singing Detective following in 1986. Drama had changed forever. From the format to the way it was shot and produced. American television was stuck with expensively produced celebrity epics such as The Winds of War. Bland. The first episode, edgy, harrowing, provocative and with a marvellous musical number. Actor Michael Gambon had been around for years, a great actor that only people in the business knew of. Here was his chance to be a star and he seized it with his psoriasis afflicted hands. Gambon plays crime novelist Philip Marlow who is in hospital because of a severe outbreak of psoriasis. He is in great pain, talked down to by hospital staff. Mocked for his condition by other patients, Even sexually assaulted one night by another patient. With the medication he is on Marlow seems to be hallucinating. Maybe it is the plot from one of his stories seeping into real life or he is just haunted by his past. So what was it all about? The best one I read at the time was that The Singing Detective was about the state of Britain under Mrs Thatcher&#39;s Tory government. Marlow&#39;s severe skin affliction was a metaphor for decay. Good job Dennis Potter is not around to see the current Tory government post 2019. He would had written a sequel!

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Skin

I watched this ages ago and it still sticks i the mind! One subplot was Marlow&#39;s growing relationship with a patient played by Ali (Badi Uzzaman) which ended in a bittersweet way.

Writer Philip Marlow is hospitalised when his psoriasis flares up to unimaginable levels, placed on a General men&#39;s ward, he uses his time to plot his next mystery, his Detective Mark Binney is on hand when a girl is pulled out of the Thames. The Singing Detective is hailed by many as of of The BBC&#39;s finest ever dramas, and after watching episode one once again (it&#39;s been many years,) it&#39;s easy to see why. The hour flew by, that&#39;s the sign of a Great drama. Michael Gambon&#39;s performance is nothing short of incredible, considering the makeup he&#39;s plastered in, and his ability to move, it really is a master class from him. I loved Imelda Staunton&#39;s strict and bossy nurse too. The makeup team did an incredible job with Gambon, his psoriasis looks totally authentic. This is a remarkably good first episode, it deserves a perfect score. 10/10.

User reviews

Skin

The Singing Detective

Skin

Guest starring Badi Uzzaman as Ali

A great start to this wonderful series.

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