10 Overlooked TV Shows You Should Watch
3. The Singing Detective
Dennis Potter is criminally underwetched these days and this Michael Gambon helmed drama is his masterpiece. According to the BFI, in a list constructing from the votes of over 200 industry professional, The Singing Detective is the 20th Greatest British Television programme of all time, so you don't just have to take my word for it.
Mystery novelist Philip E. Marlow (Michael Gambon) is confined to hospital with sever psoriatic arthopathy, and a case of writer's block to boot. With a worsening condition and his refusal to take medication, Marlow's world begins to fuse with his fantasy life; his hospitalisation, his writing of a noir detective story about the eponymous singing detective in his head, and his childhood in the Forest of Dean all blend into one. With 1940s dance numbers, an ambiguous noir plot, and the stark reality of Marlow's condition all interspersed throughout its six episodes, Potter's series is an ambitious and wholly successful piece of television.
Frankly, Dennis Potter's oeuvre as a whole is under-viewed and under-appreciated these days, though if you pick only one of his shows to watch, make it The Singing Detective; it is a true high water mark for television drama.