The Singing Detective

Tormented and bedridden by a debilitating disease, a mystery writer relives his detective stories through his imagination and hallucinations.

The Singing Detective (1986) is a British miniseries created by Dennis Potter for BBC One, a six-episode prestige drama that fuses hard-boiled mystery with bedside realism. Michael Gambon plays Philip Marlow, a mystery novelist tormented by a debilitating disease who is confined to a hospital ward. Joanne Whalley plays Nurse Mills, who attends him, while David Ryall appears as Mr Hall, a figure within his ward life. As Marlow suffers, he imagines a 1940s film noir detective story in which he himself becomes the hard-boiled investigator, and the hallucinations keep bleeding into the hospital reality around him. Each episode of about seventy minutes moves between the bed, the memories of his childhood and the stylized crime story he is writing, so the viewer must track which layer is real. Potter's writing is rich with lip-synced popular songs, dreamlike shifts and bitter irony, producing a melancholic, surreal and emotionally raw tone. Fans of Twin Peaks, Chinatown and Cabaret will find resonance in its blend of noir mystery, musical fantasy and inner turmoil. Its unfolding remains a single continuous story across the whole run.

• Twin Peakssurreal hallucinatory detective storytelling, noir mystery fused with illness drama
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1990)fractured hospital-bound psychological drama with inner fantasy intercut with reality
• Cabaretmusical numbers used to externalize inner life in a British prestige drama
• Chinatownhard-boiled noir mystery with a damaged writer-detective protagonist

Created by

Dennis Potter

Release Date

1986-11-16

Episode runtime

70 min

Rating

8.6 / 10 (46)

What is The Singing Detective about?

A bedridden mystery writer, wracked by a debilitating skin disease, escapes into the noir detective story he is writing in his hallucinations.

What is The Singing Detective like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Singing Detective as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as labyrinthine.

Is The Singing Detective violent?

No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in The Singing Detective.

Which shows are like The Singing Detective?

Shows with a similar feel include Twin Peaks, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1990), Cabaret, and Chinatown.

How long is The Singing Detective?

The Singing Detective: 1 season, 6 episodes.

Is The Singing Detective still running?

No, The Singing Detective has ended.