Podcasts about Dennis Potter

Nick and Angela welcome a highly anticipated guest to Dish HQ. Keeley Hawes was born and raised in Central London. She won a scholarship to the Sylvia Young Theatre School and landed her first big job opposite Richard E. Grant in Dennis Potter's Karaoke in 1996. Today, Keeley Hawes is one of British television's finest actors, with leading roles in the biggest shows of the last decade. Her performances in Line of Duty, Bodyguard and It's a Sin received critical acclaim and kept audiences on the edge of their seats. In 2024 she starred in the Netflix drama Scoop alongside Gillian Anderson, Billie Piper and Rufus Sewell, and right now you can watch her in the BBC adaptation of Gill Hornby's bestselling novel Miss Austen on BBC iPlayer. Keeley's husband, Matthew Macfadyen, talked about his wife's favourite homemade sandwich on his episode of Dish in November 2024; curious, Angela makes one to share.  For main, Angela prepares a delicious slow-cooked beef rib ragù with fresh pasta, and the experts at Waitrose pair this with a pazzia primitivo di manduria. Nick and Angela are honoured to host Keeley Hawes on her first ever podcast! Our trio discuss Keeley's preference for snacking over cooking, the legacy of Jane Austen and what it's like to be one of the most recognisable faces in the UK. You can now watch full episodes of Dish on YouTube  All recipes from this podcast can be found at waitrose.com/dishrecipes A transcript for this episode can be found at waitrose.com/dish We can't all have a Michelin star chef in the kitchen, but you can ask Angela for help. Send your dilemmas to dish@waitrose.co.uk and she'll try to answer them in a future episode. Dish is a S:E Creative Studio production for Waitrose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a brief hiatus, Andy and Martin resume the second season of A to Z with the letter V. Admittedly cheating a little, their choice was 'Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton', the second of two autobiographical Dennis Potter plays from 1965 in The Wednesday Play strand. They also cover the first play, 'Stand Up, Nigel Barton'. Both feature Keith Barron as the title character who we follow from childhood, to university, to a reluctant attempt to stand as a Labour candidate in the General Election. Both plays stand up incredibly well and the subject matter is no less relevant today some 55 years later! As well as Barron himself, who is astounding, there are great roles for Janet Henfrey, Jack Woolgar and John Bailey too, more familiar to most of us for their Doctor Who roles. Vintage stuff. Next Time: Who Pays the Ferryman?

A sheet-music salesman's life spirals out of control during the Great Depression, but that doesn't stop him from daydreaming about a better life through song. A film noir plot dressed up as a big, Busby Berkeley-style musical comedy, this remake of a British tv series was a massive box-office bomb, but has become a cult favorite. Starring Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Jessica Harper, and Christopher Walken. Written by Dennis Potter. Directed by Herbert Ross.

"The Old Rugged Cross" has been a country gospel favorite ever since it became the title song of Ernest Tubb's 1952 gospel album; it has been performed by some of the twentieth century's most important recording artists, including Al Green, Andy Griffith, Anne Murray, Brad Paisley, Chet Atkins, Chris Barber, John Berry, Floyd Cramer, George Jones, Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash and June Carter, Kevin Max, Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, Jo Stafford, Gordon MacRae, Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Ray Price, Ricky Van Shelton, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans,[9] The Oak Ridge Boys, The Statler Brothers, Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, Alan Jackson, George Beverly Shea, James Morrison on the 1990 album "Snappy Doo", and John Prine on the 2007 album "Standard Songs for Average People" with Mac Wiseman. British television dramatist Dennis Potter used the gospel song prominently in several of his plays, most notably Pennies from Heaven (1978); and the song also played a major part in "Gridlock" (2007), an episode of the long-running sci-fi drama series Doctor Who. In early 2009, the song was covered by Ronnie Milsap on his gospel album Then Sings My Soul.

SERIES 2 EPISODE 41: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump has gotten up in Iowa and announced if he again seizes power he will invoke the Alien Enemies Act and declare America has been INVADED and quote “immediately” detain and deport non-citizens of his choice who are older than 14 Not undocumented immigrants. Non-citizens. People who are here legally. People who are working TOWARDS becoming citizens. DACA's and Dreamers and Refugees and Immigrants. At his sole discretion: The Alien Enemies Act gives the president the authority to detain ANYONE – but on the pretext that he is “removing all known or suspected gang members… drug dealers, cartel members from the United States…” Suspected. Suspected by him. So, anybody who isn't a citizen. Anybody. Anybody. Anybody out of 22,000,000 non-citizens. The president immediately gains this power for himself, when he quote “makes public proclamation” that a quote “invasion or predatory incursion is perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States by any foreign nation”and THAT is why you hear the Boeberts and Greenes and Stephen Millers talk endlessly of “invasion” and Trump's rivals climb all over each other to threaten war-by-other-names against Mexico. Oh but Trump didn't do it last time! History is littered with the bones – literally – of those who thought that because a madman did not do the most mad thing he said he would do… THAT time that he'd never do it. It is its own form of madness to think Trump's first actual policy statement in nearly three years that wasn't about the 2020 election is just for show. It is its own form of madness to forget Trump's promise of retribution, and his own burning, seething, sadistic, animating sense of vengeance. And where do these detained non-citizens go? These places would in fact be camps, of some kind, and the living arrangements would necessarily be cramped, crowded, congested, confined — oh, what IS the word I'm looking for? Concentrated! That's it! The camps would be concentrated. Camps. With Concentration. B-Block (27:12) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Rupert Murdoch retires to become Chairman Emeritus of Fox and News Corp. This is a man so evil that a dying television playwright with three months to live literally said he named his cancer "Rupert" after Murdoch so he had something to fight, and that if he hadn't wanted to spend his last months creating a new series, he would've murdered Murdoch on behalf of mankind. This was 29 years ago. This man is Osama Bin-Journalist. Stop rationalizing that he deserves some kind of praise because he dominated his field. So has Trump. So did Hitler. The story of writer Dennis Potter and Rupert - and how Rupert fired me personally, after I followed his rules. And may he burn in hell and the sooner the better. C-Block (55:20) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: His delightful story of every great dog you had to - and willingly made - excuses for: "The Dog That Bit People."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Britain's first writer for radio was Phyllis M Twigg. An unusual name, and yet... she seemed to pretty much vanish after her debut broadcast play, 'The Truth About Father Christmas' on 24th December 1922. So much so, that the official record - in history books, on various BBC sites, in broadcasting legend - wrongly credits Richard Hughes' A Comedy of Danger in 1924 as the first original radioplay. So is it because Twigg was writing for children? Or because her script didn't survive? Or because she's female? All and more? On episode 72, our timeline brings us to 23rd April 1923 - Shakespeare's birthday - so as good a time as any to glance back, and forwards, to set the record straight about this forgotten female pioneer.  Her pen name unlocks a whole new side to her, proving that far from vanish into the ether, she gave broadcast more children's stories, a bizarre paranormal experiment, and somehow also became the world's first TV cook! Plus there are cookbooks for children, porcelain cats and novelty lampshades. Wow. Somehow Phyllis Twigg/Moira Meighn is therefore the ancestor of Dennis Potter, Jamie Oliver, Angelica Bell and Derren Brown. She's one of a kind - in fact she's about four of a kind. Her tale's not fully been told till now, and we've gathered pretty much everyone who knows it onto this podcast. Hear from Professor Tim Crook, Emeritus Professor of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London - he's gathered biographical information, sheet music, cookbooks and wonderful insights into this double pioneer. Peter Grimaldi, Phyllis Twigg's grandson, brings tales from the archive that he's only recently discovered. (Watch the full video of Peter's interview with us here on Youtube: https://youtu.be/WpkGH88IHfc) Dr Andrea Smith of the University of Suffolk joins us too to anchor us back in our April 1923 timeline, with scenes from Shakespeare on-air for the bard's birthday. Thanks to the Twigg family for sharing her story with us, and especially to Prof Tim Crook for sharing his research and linking us with Peter Grimaldi. Thanks too to Robert Seatter and John Escolme of the BBC History and Heritage Department, for being so open and hospitable to hearing Twigg's tale... ...Now you can hear it too! It's quite a story - and perhaps for the first time on this podcast, we're discovering something new about something old. While the script of The Truth About Father Christmas remains lost, we do now have the short story that Twigg adapted it into... Anyone for a retro-adaptation back into a radioplay again? I think this tale needs telling further. But let's start with this podcast...   SHOWNOTES: Tim's comprehensive blog post about Twigg/Meighn is a treasure trove of info about her career. The Truth About Father Christmas - the short story from the 1925 anthology The 'Normous Sunday Story Book (copyright remains with Twigg's family) The photo of the BBC's Mass Telepathy Experiment, 12 Nov 1925, inc. Phyllis Twigg. The 1941 Ministry of Information film featuring Moira Meighn is Bampton Shows the Way - thanks Tim for finding it! TIm's new book is Writing Audio Drama, published by Routledge. We're nothing to do with the BBC. We're talking about the old BBCompany, and not made by the present-day BBCorporation. Music by Will Farmer Support us on Patreon.com/paulkerensa Rate/review us where you found this podcast? Paul's tour on old radio: Paulkerensa.com/tour  Paul's novel Auntie and Uncles - out soon: Paulkerensa.com/book Thanks for listening. Share this episode by all means. Online, offline, over a garden fence, on the phone to an old pal, whomever. NEXT EPISODE: We've had drama, time for some comedy! April 1923 on the BBC: Comedians, at Harrods. Stay subscribed: podfollow.com/bbcentury or wherever you get podcasts Pip pip pip pip pip piiiiiiiiiip

Samira Ahmed speaks to John Cook, Professor of Media at Glasgow Caledonian University about his discovery of a previously unknown early version of the seminal screenplay The Singing Detective by Dennis Potter. Samira is also joined in the studio by Ken Trodd, who co-produced The Singing Detective for television. Music writer Cathi Unsworth discusses her new book, Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth, which explores the enduring influence of Goth counterculture. And the artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien reflects on his major retrospective, What Freedom is to Me, at Tate Britain. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner

EPISODE 183: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANNA-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: "My main cancer," the dying writer told the TV interviewer in 1994, "I call it Rupert." The prophetic words of the auteur of 'The Singing Detective' and 'Pennies from Heaven,' Dennis Potter, were said 29 years ago at this time of the year. He ruminated that he was living out the cliched plot of every writer: you're given three months to live - who do you kill? "That man Murdoch is the one who, if I had the time...I would shoot the bugger if I could." 1994. Meanwhile your tax dollars in action: Murdoch and Fox may be able to deduct the entirety of the $787,500,000 payment to Dominion as an ordinary cost of business. It will translate to us as taxpayers underwriting $213,000,000. We pay part of Rupert's price to lie. And he's right back at it: a spokesman insists about the upcoming Smartmatic case that there's nothing more newsworthy than the claims of fraud by "the President of the United States and his lawyers." And if Rupert settles that case on similar terms to Dominion, you and I will pay another $364,000,000 for Rupert. B-Block (15:43) IN SPORTS: The original Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City in 1955. They flirted with moves to Louisville, Milwaukee and Seattle before moving to Oakland in 1968. THEN they flirted almost annually with a move to Denver. And the first Las Vegas rumor floated in 1996. And now they appear set on a move to Nevada in 2027. This presents a couple of problems. One is: the threat to the water supply of Vegas. The second is: who's going to see a lame duck baseball team? One of them drew so poorly they stopped playing home games. Plus the Max Scherzer suspension, and the dumping of World Series hero Madison Bumgarner. (21:34) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Mike Lindell said he'd give $5,000,000 to anybody who proved his evidence of Chinese election interference was nonsense. An arbitration board just ruled: somebody proved it. Dick Durbin went ahead with his meaningless "invitation" to Chief Justice Roberts to a meaningless SCOTUS hearing because Dianne Feinstein isn't there to vote for a subpoena. And Elon Musk blows up Twitter and SpaceX on the same day. C-Block (28:40) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Back to Rupert Murdoch. I always hated him (though not as much as Dennis Potter). But I hated him FAR more after he fired me, for following his rules and the instructions of his lackeys on how to handle a sports story involving him. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on February 26th 2023 This week we welcome back our old friend SANDY McGREGOR to look at another series of the more serious and dramatic telly that he tends to be rather fond of joining us for a chat about. For this week's show, SANDY has been watching PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, DENNIS POTTER'S acclaimed, BAFTA award winning six-part musical drama serial from 1978, directed by the late PIERS HAGGARD, and which was one of several collaborations POTTER had with Producer KENITH TRODD. Acting-wise, the serial stars BOB HOSKINS, CHERYL CAMPBELL, and GEMMA CRAVEN, alongside an astonishingly vivid turn from KENNETH COLLEY as the Accordion Man, and a whole host of amazing and very familiar acting talent. It's a complex story of longing for another life, love and death, and the inevitability of fate, all accompanied by an extraordinary soundtrack of the popular tunes from the 1920s and 1930s, and represents the first – but not the last – time DENNIS POTTER would require his actors to mime and dance along to the tunes in often breathtaking sequences that attempt to show the inner lives, hopes and dreams of his characters in stark contrast to the mundane disappointments in their humdrum everyday existences. This is the story of sheet music salesman ARTHUR PARKER (played by Bob Hoskins in a career-making role) who is unhappily and frustratingly married to Gemma Craven's JOAN. As the serial begins, they are living in an art deco suburban hell, but, because ARTHUR lives the “on the road” life of a commercial traveller, he has a fateful encounter with EILEEN EVERSON, a Gloucestershire schoolmistress with hidden depths, played by CHERYL CAMPBELL, which has the effect of changing both of their lives in surprising and sometimes very dark ways. As both of their destinies become intertwined in a tale of scandal, deceit, and murder, the narrative finds new and intriguing ways to pick at the various scabs of society, including politics, education, and the legal system, before going inevitably to a very dark conclusion that, perhaps surprisingly, then pulls one or two extraordinary narrative twists from out of the bag. About a decade later, POTTER's other masterpiece THE SINGING DETECTIVE would, in some ways, cover very similar ground in parts, and so PENNIES FROM HEAVEN is often considered a prototype, or a trial run, for that later work, even though its story actually goes off in a very different direction. And PENNIES FROM HEAVEN is an astonishing piece in its own right, although, perhaps because it was unavailable on British TV screens for a long time for legal reasons, sometimes it doesn't get quite as much love as it deserves. Sadly, since we recorded this conversation, the director of the series, the prolific and multi-talented PIERS HAGGARD, who also directed the final QUATERMASS serial for EUSTON FILMS in 1979, has passed on from this realm, but, rather strangely, and regrettably, SANDY and I failed to talk about his contribution in the enthusiastic and frantic hour that follows, so I hope that by at least acknowledging him now, you'll forgive our ridiculous lapse of judgment. PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.

Access this entire 87 minute episode (and additional monthly bonus episodes) by becoming a Junk Filter patron! https://www.patreon.com/posts/120-singing-with-77990062 The American writer and filmmaker Ted Mills, now living in Wellington New Zealand, joins the program for a discussion of the television playwright Dennis Potter's greatest achievement, his 1986 series for the BBC, The Singing Detective. One of the earliest examples of what we would now call “Prestige TV”, The Singing Detective was acclaimed for the breakout lead performance from Michael Gambon and for how it told a difficult story in a complex manner taking place over several planes of time, reality and fantasy. In 6 epsiodes, an unpleasant pulp novelist hospitalized with a ghastly and paralyzing case of psoriasis begins to put the pieces of his life together with the help of the hospital's psychiatrist, starting to comprehend that his horrible mental and physical condition may be related to unresolved traumas from his childhood. We talk about Dennis Potter as a tv playwright, critic and advocate for public television's power to both entertain and emancipate the viewer, the controversies in the UK when the program first aired, the show's positive portrayal of psychotherapy, the self-conscious blurring of autobiography and fiction in Potter's work, and how the experimental structure of The Singing Detective influenced modern prestige TV like The Sopranos and Twin Peaks. We also (briefly) discuss the (bad) American remake from the early 2000s with Robert Downey Jr. The Singing Detective is currently available to view at the Internet Archive and on YouTube. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Ted Mills on Twitter and Instagram and visit his website.

Thank you for downloading the Trap One Podcast.   On this episode Conrad (@HairoftheHound_), Pete (@Prof_Quiteamess) Mark (@QuarkMcMalus) & Jason (@drwhonovels) discuss the BBC Centenary Special and Thirteenth Doctor swansong The Power of the Doctor.   You can read the story behind Dennis Potter's 'Blossomest blossom' quote here:   https://medium.com/the-junction/the-blossomest-blossom-7c0958ea6b15

How do we accept that change takes time? Can small systems changes have any impact? What does mass digitisation mean for society?   In this week's 5 Big Questions interview we talk to author, strategist and social entrepreneur NEIL GIBB.   Known for: Author - The Participation Revolution Co-founder - Where to from here Founder - Participation Nation Founder - The South Lanes Project Founder - 21st Century Leadership Project   The Big 5 Questions: How do you measure the impact of what you do? How should people/businesses be preparing for the future? How do we build the workforce we need for that future? How do you use creativity to solve problems? How do you collaborate?   Key quotes: “The problem with words is, they've all been in someone else's mouth.” — Dennis Potter. “A lot of people have become disillusioned with the consequences of technology. It's difficult to remember that once upon a time Google's slogan was ‘do no evil' and everyone thought they were wonderful and now it's like, oh my god are they the new Big Brother? That's the challenge.” “Sometimes we feel like we have to be almost like Jesus Christ to make a difference, whereas actually if everybody mobilised and did something small and impactful where they are, that would have a huge roll up. You feel empowered.”  “Organisations deep down are there to deliver on their business model. So it's always a productivity conversation.” “A lot of people are dealing with important but secondary issues, when they're looking at engagement, around employee wellbeing, things like meditation, all stuff like that, really important things, but they are secondary. Engagement really is about how you engage people in the business of the business.” "What digital technology has done is connect everyone up, and what it's also done is create a distance between people.” “One of my concerns about the word ‘culture' is how it's been co-opted by the high arts. In Bradford a lot of the culture is about rugby league and South Asian cuisine, it isn't about theatre.” “The root of the word ‘home' isn't ‘house', it's ‘village'. It was in the old English word ‘ham', and when there wasn't a big society, the village was the place you felt safe. We need to have communities that we feel held in. And that's at odds with individualism.”   Useful links: Neil Gibb on LinkedIn Neil Gibb - The Participation Revolution (Hive link) / (Amazon link) Neil Gibb bio at Shape-Education Neil Gibb at publisher Eye Books Dennis Potter (Wikipedia) Bradford City Of Culture 2025 Carlos Tevez (Wikipedia) Dan Pink The Beatles: Get Back (Wikipedia) / (Disney+) Sapiens International Corporation (Wikipedia) Agile At Scale (via Harvard Business Review) Fillets Fish and Chips   This episode was recorded in September 2022 Interviewer: Richard Freeman for always possible Editor: CJ Thorpe-Tracey for Lo Fi Arts  

Creator and Independent Producer of numerous award winning movies and long form drama series including: The Man In The High Castle a 40 hour long Amazon series which has become the cornerstone of the streaming network's line-up, winner of two Primetime Emmy's and many other awards. Quartet Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut and Golden Globe nominee, starring Maggie Smith, The Invisible Woman Oscar nominated, starring and directed by Ralph Fiennes, the Emmy Award winning Peter and Wendy starring Stanley Tucci. The Miners winner of the Grierson Award, This Little Life BAFTA nominated and winner of the Dennis Potter, BANFF and RTS awards and Saboteurs the Prix Italia winning series. Stewart studied at the Edinburgh College of Art and Royal College of Art in London and after graduating regularly contributed illustrations for The Times, Sunday Times, Oz, Nova, Time Out, , Spare Rib, Ambit and Management Today amongst many others. He also produced the artwork for the British TV movie The War Game and designs for the Royal Shakespeare Company. His work was featured in the Radical Illustrators magazine published by the Association of Illustrators in which co-editor George Snow singled out Mackinnon as “perhaps the greatest single influence on today's Radical Illustrators.” After being awarded a DAAD scholarship for his film Border Crossing he spent a year in Berlin before returning to the UK where he founded Trade Films which produced films and television such as The Miners' Campaign, Woodbine Place and Grierson Award winner, When the Dog Bites. He was closely involved in devising the Workshop Declaration in partnership with Channel 4. The Workshops worked with their local communities, women's organisations and ethnic minority communities. So began a decade of experiment with progressive and aesthetically avant-garde documentaries and dramas screened on British television, which continued until 1990. Stewart set up the Northern Film and Television Archive in the late 1990s and some years later co-founded the Northern Screen Commission with Sir Peter Carr, and Media Training Centre which provided courses for deaf students which was the first of its kind in the world. In 2005 he founded Headline Pictures with the Head of BBC drama Mark Shivas and after delivering the fourth and final season of Man in the High Castle in 2020 founded Circle Pictures with US based Jere Sulivan with the aim of producing world class drama which explores the pressing issues of our times.

To celebrate 100 episodes, here is the first instalment of a new sub-series: Film's Filmvourite Films. Finn introduces Uther to the decadent, despairing directorial work of acid-camp maestro Herbert Ross. First up is 'The Last of Sheila' (1973), Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkin's poison pen murder-mystery-of-manners to Hollywood. And then on to: 'Pennies from Heaven' (1981), Dennis Potter's brutal musical portrait of toxic masculinity. As portrayed by Steve Martin. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Creator and Independent Producer of numerous award winning movies and long form drama series including: The Man In The High Castle a 40 hour long Amazon series which has become the cornerstone of the streaming network's line-up, winner of two Primetime Emmy's and many other awards. Quartet Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut and Golden Globe nominee, starring Maggie Smith, The Invisible Woman Oscar nominated, starring and directed by Ralph Fiennes, the Emmy Award winning Peter and Wendy starring Stanley Tucci. The Miners winner of the Grierson Award, This Little Life BAFTA nominated and winner of the Dennis Potter, BANFF and RTS awards and Saboteurs the Prix Italia winning series. Stewart studied at the Edinburgh College of Art and Royal College of Art in London and after graduating regularly contributed illustrations for The Times, Sunday Times, Oz, Nova, Time Out, , Spare Rib, Ambit and Management Today amongst many others. He also produced the artwork for the British TV movie The War Game and designs for the Royal Shakespeare Company. His work was featured in the Radical Illustrators magazine published by the Association of Illustrators in which co-editor George Snow singled out Mackinnon as “perhaps the greatest single influence on today's Radical Illustrators.” After being awarded a DAAD scholarship for his film Border Crossing he spent a year in Berlin before returning to the UK where he founded Trade Films which produced films and television such as The Miners' Campaign, Woodbine Place and Grierson Award winner, When the Dog Bites. He was closely involved in devising the Workshop Declaration in partnership with Channel 4. The Workshops worked with their local communities, women's organisations and ethnic minority communities. So began a decade of experiment with progressive and aesthetically avant-garde documentaries and dramas screened on British television, which continued until 1990. Stewart set up the Northern Film and Television Archive in the late 1990s and some years later co-founded the Northern Screen Commission with Sir Peter Carr, and Media Training Centre which provided courses for deaf students which was the first of its kind in the world. In 2005 he founded Headline Pictures with the Head of BBC drama Mark Shivas and after delivering the fourth and final season of Man in the High Castle in 2020 founded Circle Pictures with US based Jere Sulivan with the aim of producing world class drama which explores the pressing issues of our times.

A short extract from the Melvyn Bragg interview with playwright Dennis Potter a few months before he died. recorded on 15th March 1994. "it is the whitest, frothiest, blossomest blossom that there ever could be, and I can see it. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/johnb/message

Simon O'Neill makes his return to discuss writer Dennis Potter's masterpiece, 'The Singing Detective' (1986). Follow Simon O'Neill on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sim_ONeill Simon O'Neill's Official Site: https://www.simononeill.org/ Follow James Hancock on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WrongReel Wrong Reel Merchandise: https://teespring.com/stores/wrong-reel

Before Peak TV, what was considered the television medium's G.O.A.T.? One prominent candidate among TV critics for many years was another British import, this 1986 mini-series from the famed playwright/novelist/screenwriter Dennis Potter. On this episode, joined by Ted Heycraft, we discuss:- Why this TV mini-series works as a deep, literary genre-hybrid;- how that hybrid incorporates with Potter's distinct, self-proclaimed genre of the lipsync-musical (with examples likes Pennies from Heaven);- its relation to the American Singing Detective feature, directed by Keith Gordon.Also:- The three-level fever-dream aspect of blending detective fiction, hospital disease-feature, and autobiographical skin-disease time;- how long — and cinematically — it takes to reveal the biographical details;- why this show, previously a critical favorite, has been forgotten;- and why it ends with such a deceptively happy ending, and whether it deserves it?The Singing Detective TV series is not streaming anywhere, not even at the BBC. It is available on DVD.

Tiago Lima é o grande leitor e parte de David Foster Wallace para falar da espécie de negócio que é ter concentração para a densidade das grandes obras. De Proust a António Lobo Antunes, passando pela droga dura que é "A Minha Luta", de Knausgaard, e algumas leituras estivais. Tiago Lima convidou para a conversa o poeta dramaturgo e tradutor Daniel Jonas e os dois falam de como se pode ler teatro, escrever para teatro. Estamos também no mundo da censura ou da auto-censura, nas várias maneiras de encarar o entretenimento na literatura e a entrada em cena de Sherlock Holmes.Com livros como - lista longa - "A Piada Infinita", "O Rei Pálido" e "Uma Coisa Supostamente Divertida Que Nunca Mais Vamos Fazer", de David Foster Wallace, "Do Lado de Swan", de Proust, "Memória de Elefante" e "Não Entres Tão Depressa Nessa Noite Escura", de António Lobo Antunes, "O Paraíso Perdido", de John Milton, "O Leilão do Lote 49" e "O Arco-Íris da Gravidade", de Thomas Pynchon, "Cães de Chuva", de Daniel Jonas, "Azul Longe nas Colinas", de Dennis Potter, "Cem anos de Solidão", de García Marquez, "O Litoral", de Wajdi Mouawad, "A Espera de Godot", de Samuel Beckett, "Homenagem à Catalunha, de Orwell", "Os Contos da Cantuária", de Geoffrey Chaucer, "Corre, Coelho", de John Updike, "Intervenções", de Michelle Houellebecq e "Ilusões Perdidas", de Balzac.Os podcasts do PÚBLICO dão-lhe 10% de desconto numa nova assinatura do seu jornal. Introduza o código POD10 em publico.pt/assinaturas e usufrua das vantagens de ter o PÚBLICO no ouvido.

Today we celebrate a woman who became a renowned floral artist late in life. We'll also learn about an English poet and politician who loved nature. We’ll recognize some of the final sentiments about the wonder of nature from a television dramatist, screenwriter, and journalist. We hear an adorable excerpt about growing a mitten tree. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about a botanist who loved the gardens, landscapes, and ecology of the Southern Coastal Plain. And then, we’ll wrap things up with the story of the scientist who helped with the first color photograph.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to “Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast.” And she will. It's just that easy.   The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring: A personal update from me Garden-related items for your calendar The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week Gardener gift ideas Garden-inspired recipes Exclusive updates regarding the show Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf.   Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org   Curated News How Constance Spry radicalized the art of floristry | House & Garden | Fiona McKenzie Johnston    Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there’s no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you’d search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Important Events May 17, 1700 Today is the birthday of the botanical tissue paper decoupage artist Mary Delany. Mary Delaney led an extraordinary life. When she was 17, her family had forced her to marry a sixty-year-old man. Mary soon discovered he was an alcoholic. To make matters worse, when he died, Mary’s husband forgot to include her in his will. Despite her lack of inheritance, Mary quickly realized that, as a widow, she had much more freedom than she had had as a young single woman. Fate brought fortune for Mary, met and fell in love with an Irish doctor and pastor named Patrick Delany. They married in June 1743. Although her family wasn't thrilled with the idea of a second marriage, Mary did it anyway. She and Patrick moved away to his home in Dublin. Patrick’s garden was a thing of beauty, and Mary wrote to her sister: "[The] fields are planted in a wild way, forest trees and … bushes that look so natural... you would not imagine it a work of art ... [There is] a very good kitchen garden and two fruit gardens which ... will afford us a sufficient quantity of everything we can want. There are several prettinesses I can't explain to you — little wild walks, private seats, and lovely prospects. One seat I am particularly fond of [is] in a nut grove, and [there is] a seat in a rock … [that] is placed at the end of a cunning wild path. The brook ... entertains you with a purling rill."  After twenty-five years of wedded bliss, Patrick died. Mary was widowed again, this time at the age of 68. But Mary's life was not over. In another stroke of luck, Mary hit it off with the wealthy Margaret Bentinck, the Duchess of Portland, and together they pursued botanical activities. The two women loved to go out into the fields and collect specimens. Through the Duchess that Mary got to know Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander. When Mary was in her early 70s, she took up decoupage - which was all the rage at the time - and she created marvelous depictions of flowers. Today, historians believe Mary probably dissected plants to create her art. Botanists from all over Europe would send her specimens. King George III and Queen Charlotte were her patrons. They ordered any curious or beautiful plant to be sent to Mary when in blossom to use them to create her art. Her paper mosaics, as Mary called them, were made out of tissue paper. Mary created almost 1000 pieces of art between the ages of 71 and 88. If you ever see any of her most spectacular decoupage pieces, you'll be blown away at the thought of them being made from tiny pieces of tissue paper by Mary Delany in the twilight of her life in the late 1700s.   May 17, 1824 On this day, the diaries of the English Romantic poet, satirist, and politician, Lord Byron, are burned by six of his friends. The act intended to protect his privacy has also been described as “the greatest crime in literary history.” The loss likely impacted botanical literature as Lord Byron also wrote about gardens and nature. Lord Byron famously wrote: There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more.   May 17, 1935 Today is the birthday of the English television dramatist, screenwriter, and journalist Dennis Potter. Best known for his two hit movies, Pennies from Heaven (1978) and The Singing Detective (1986),  Dennis sat down for an interview with Melvyn Bragg, and it was titled Seeing the Blossom.  At the time. Dennis was at the end of his life. He was dying from pancreatic cancer. And in a brave and incredibly candid move, he spoke about what his life was like, knowing that the end of his life was near and how it gave him a heightened appreciation for what was going on around him.   He said, “. . . Now at this season, the blossom is out in full now, there in the west early is a plum tree, it looks like an apple blossom but it's white. And looking at it, instead of saying "Oh that's nice blossom" ...Now, last week looking at it through the window when I'm writing, I see it is the whitest, frothiest, blossomest blossom that there ever could be, and I can see it. Things are both more trivial than they ever were, and more important than they ever were — and the difference between the trivial and the important doesn't seem to matter. But the nowness of everything is absolutely wondrous.”   Unearthed Words Finding missing mittens is hard work. It would be easier to grow new ones! Let’s try planting the other mitten right here in the garden. Next spring, when the snow melts, a little mitten tree might sprout. Miss Seltzer and I would take good care of it all summer long. In the fall, we’d pick the ripe mittens. Then I’d give mittens on Christmas. And mittens on birthdays. And mittens on Valentine’s Day! ― Steven Castle Kellogg, American author, and illustrator of over 90 children's books, The Missing Mitten Mystery   Grow That Garden Library On Harper's Trail by Elizabeth Findley Shores This book came out in 2008, and the subtitle is Roland McMillan Harper, Pioneering Botanist of the Southern Coastal Plain. In this book, Elizabeth shares the first full-length biography of the accomplished botanist, documentary photographer, and southern coastal plain explorer Roland McMillan Harper who was born in 1878. The celebrated plant scientist of the New York Botanical Garden, Bassett Maguire, said that Roland had "the greatest store of field experience of any living botanist of the Southeast.” And yet, the years obscured Roland’s scientific contributions, including his unique insights on wetlands and fire. Along with his brother Francis, Roland traced William Bartram's route through Alabama and the Florida panhandle. And in his work describing plant species and writing papers, Roland corresponded with the leading botanists of his time, including Nathaniel Britton, Hugo de Vries, and Charles Davenport. This book is 296 pages of the life story of a maverick botanist from the north who fell in love with the gardens, landscapes, and ecology of the Southern Coastal Plain. You can get a copy of On Harper's Trail by Elizabeth Findley Shores and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $25   Today’s Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart May 17, 1861  On this day, the first color photograph was taken. The picture was of a tartan ribbon displayed by Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell to the Royal Institution in London. Maxwell is remembered for his formulation of the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation. In 1922, when Albert Einstein visited the University of Cambridge, his host announced that he had done great things because he stood on Isaac Newton's shoulders. Einstein corrected him when he replied, "No, I don't. I stand on the shoulders of Maxwell." In 1879 James Clerk Maxwell wrote a letter to his friend William Thompson. It's a letter gardeners can delight in, and it was titled Peacocks as Gardeners. We got our original stock from Mrs McCunn, Ardhallow. At that time (1860), the garden there was the finest on the coast and the peacocks sat on the parapets & banks near the house. Mr. McCunn was very fond of his garden and very particular about it, but he also cared for his peacocks... Whenever he went out, he had bits of bread and such for them. Mrs. Maxwell (my wife) always gets the peacocks to choose the gardener and they have chosen one who has now been seven years with us. At seed time (in the garden) they are confined in a [little house] where they have some Indian corn and water. When the hen is sitting, she is not [confined], for she keeps to her nest and nobody is supposed to know where that is, but she comes once a day to the house and calls for her dinner and eats it and goes back to her nest at once. The peacocks will eat the young cabbages, but the gardener tells them to go... They find it pleasanter to be about the house and to sit on either side of the front door.”   A professor and researcher, James, once likened the work of academia to the life of bees, writing, “In a University we are especially bound to recognise not only the unity of science itself, but the communion of the workers in science. We are too apt to suppose that we are congregated here merely to be within reach of certain appliances of study, such as museums and laboratories, libraries and lecturers, so that each of us may study what he prefers. I suppose that when the bees crowd round the flowers it is for the sake of the honey that they do so, never thinking that it is the dust which they are carrying from flower to flower which is to render possible a more splendid array of flowers, and a busier crowd of bees, in the years to come. We cannot, therefore, do better than improve the shining hour in helping forward the cross-fertilization of the sciences.” Isn’t that a grand way to look at the legacy of your work? This past week, I’ve been putting together my roster of student gardeners for 2021. As we work together during the summer, we end every session with 10 minutes of photography. The kids capture incredible color images with their phones. James Clerk Maxwell would be delighted. I am delighted at how easy it is for them to share their images of my garden with my iPhone using the airdrop feature. But in terms of legacy, think for a moment of the typical teenager’s camera roll on their phone. It’s loaded with memes, selfies, pets, and friends. Maybe a sibling or two. But after a summer of working in my garden, these kids will have hundreds of images of flowers, landscapes, leaves, stones, water, raindrops, insects, and Sonny. How do we get kids interested in horticulture? We have to change what they see every day. We have to get flowers on their phones.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Tom and Jenny talk about the 1982 film adaptation of Dennis Potter’s bizarre, demonic teleplay, starring Sting, Denholm Elliott, and Joan Plowright. Find this movie and more at the 13 O’Clock Amazon Storefront! Audio version: Video version: Please support us on Patreon! Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. … Continue reading Matinee LIVE: Brimstone and Treacle (1982)

This week, we are joined by Jon Amiel; the director of Matthew's favorite film of all time...The Singing Detective (1986). This utter masterpiece penned by the brilliant Dennis Potter, only aired in the US, once! Jon took some time to discuss with us his relationship to the project and Dennis Potter, all the ins-and-outs of creating such a sprawling work of art, and all those special little details that went into the casting and production of a film that too many people still need to see. Note: When you ultimately go to look up information on this film, make sure you are not looking at the 2003 re-make starring Robert Downey Jr. Make sure you are looking at the film from 1986, starring Michael Gambon.

Theatre First Episode 282Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly).Coral Browne : This F**king Lady - Brunswick Ballroom, Melbourne Australia A new play about the front lines of normal life. Grande dame, adventuress, beauty, wit... the flamboyant Coral Browne travelled a world away from her humble Australian beginnings to become the toast of the London stage in the 1940s. Sexually adventurous, with a deliciously bawdy wit, Coral was as well known for her glamorous lifestyle as she was for her memorable stage and screen performances (Auntie Mame, The Killing of Sister George, Dennis Potter's Dreamchild and Alan Bennett's An Englishman Abroad). She had a string of famous lovers, including Paul Robeson and Maurice Chevalier, and enjoyed a late-life marriage to the king of schlock horror, Vincent Price. In the Australian premiere of this critically-acclaimed one-woman play, the wonderful Amanda Muggleton (The Book Club, Hollyoaks, Prisoner Cell Block H) brings Coral Browne to sparkling life and puts this Grande Dame back in the spotlight where she belongs. Coral Browne is proof that while good girls go toheaven, naughty girls go everywhere! For more information visit: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2021/shows/this-f-cking-lady Theatre First RSS feed: https://rss.acast.com/theatre-first  Subscribe, rate and review Theatre First at all good podcatcher apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, CastBox.FM, Podbean, ACast etc. If you're enjoying Theatre First podcast, please share and tell your friends. Your support would be appreciated...thank you.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week Robin and Josie are joined by the multi-award winning, and Booker Prize long-listed, Irish novelist and short stories writer Kevin Barry. They chat about his latest collection of short stories, That Old Country Music, the grumpiness of Dennis Potter, a hatred of the first draft and the appeal of living by a swamp. To hear an extended edition of this episode subscribe to Patreon on patreon.com/bookshambles

Dennis Potter's seminal TV 1978 drama was choc full of great music and songs from the 1930s, largely from British dance bands and orchestras. Bob Hoskins, Cheryl Campbell and Gemma Craven starred and did a great job of lip syncing to the likes of Al Bowlly, Roy Fox , Lew Stone, Bert Ambrose, Arthur Tracey, Maurice Winnick, Jack Paine, Jack Hylton, Billy Cotton and Henry Hall. They all feature in this episode, as does George Hall, with Roll along Prairie Moon  and Flannigan and Allen with Shine on harvest moon. Other songs are Goodnight Vienna, We'll all go riding on a rainbow, Wednesday night hop, Stage coach, Man of my dreams, Home of the range, The waltz you saved for me, In the valley of the moon, Night and day, Life is empty without love, My Wild Oat, Its only a paper moon, Moon over Miami and You rascal you.  

It was great to re-connect with Dave at his home in south-east London, UK. After a long British summer, Dave found himself not only in the second lockdown but to boot it was raining - I wonder if it was sunny would he have spoken to me in his garden with a great British beer in-hand! Our chat was insightful and great fun. Amongst many achievements Dave has been the featured bassist on 7 double platinum-selling albums - so we could have spoken for hours! Below is a shortened - extract of Dave's extensive professional experience - which I encourage you to read and visit his website and social media channels.  Since joining Jools Holland and His Rhythm and Blues Orchestra in 1991, Dave Swift has established himself as one of the UK's finest, high-profile bass players. In his 30+ year career makes for an impressive portfolio, playing with renowned artists such as George Benson, Chaka Khan, Eric Clapton and Paul Simon. This list of famous names continues on and on... Dave has performed at many prestigious events including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Dubai International Jazz Festival, Blue Note Tokyo, Amnesty International, the Montreux Jazz Festival, Glastonbury Music Festival, and a G8 Conference for world leaders, which included former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and President Bill Clinton. Additional performances include the Millennium Night celebration at the Millennium Dome for Her Majesty the Queen and a sell-out concert at the Sydney Opera House during their 2008 tour of Australia and New Zealand. Dave Swift has been the in-house bassist for Chris Evans's primetime Saturday night TV show, Don't Forget Your Toothbrush, and Name That Tune on Channel 5. Since their inception, Dave Swift has performed on both the BBC TV show, Later…with Jools Holland, and the Jools Holland Show on BBC Radio 2. Where there is music, there is Dave Swift; he's recorded on many British movie soundtracks, which include: Secret Friends (Dennis Potter), MILK (Dawn French), Kevin and Perry Go Large (Harry Enfield & Cathy Burke), and Hunting Venus (Martin Clunes). More recently he recorded the soundtrack for the period drama Me & Orson Welles, starring Zac Efron, Christian McKay and Claire Danes. Dave Swift continues to tour both in the UK and around the world. To read a full bio, click here.     A Big thanks to our friends at #AudioGeer and the team @shure for their awesome support! #Shure #MV7 #podcast mic! Please check out our Music Matters podcast on @spotifypodcasts Hey, also check out the New Music Matters Podcast Website- and Music Matters SWAG And a Big Shout and thanks for the support of the following: Rodney Hall FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama Shure microphones Affliction clothing  and Nigel J. my co-producer and voice over talent, all while running - Music Tribes Unite Media for our Podcast - Productions - Please, support, LIKE and helps us grow - check out our Social Media pages:             

Mark Gatiss referred to Nigel Kneale as “the man who invented popular television”.  It can be a curse of a writer tagged as ‘genre’ that they may never been seen alongside the very best. As Mark said when Kneale died, “He is amongst the greats – he is absolutely as important as Dennis Potter, as David Mercer, as Alan Bleasdale, as Alan Bennett, but I think because of a strange snobbery about fantasy or sci-fi, it’s never been quite that way.” In this episode, we chat with Mark about his love for Nigel Kneale’s work, his influence and his legacy. Mark recalls the one time he met the man himself and how he tried to get greater industry recognition for Kneale. He also talks about following in the Nigel’s footsteps by adapting Wells’s The First Men in the Moon, and the experience of making The Quatermass Experiment in 2005.

Show 30! Gadzooks - who woulda thunk it? Well even if you didn't, we've done it now and it's in keeping with the spirit of Midnight Video that we offer up to you precious listeners, three very enticing slices of overlooked gems from the ocean of cult cinema.Before he developed a penchant for Pabst Blue Ribbon and winding up Sicilians, Dennis Hopper played a wide-eyed sailor in search of love on shore leave who falls under the spell of young lady who may or may not be a mermaid, in the dream-like Night Tide.Post Burton, Elizabeth Taylor starred in an Italian produced adaptation of Muriel Spark's Booker nominated The Driver's Seat. Taylor's existential angst, wardrobe and choice of companions are something to behold in this little seen film that is essential viewing if you listen to this show.And wrapping up proceedings, the final film in our British Rock Stars in the Movies sees The Police's Sting come toe-to-toe with cinematic stalwarts Denholm Elliott and Joan Plowright in Dennis Potter's Brimstone And Treacle.

Dennis Potter's Karaoke was the first of two linked dramas written as he was dying and produced posthumously after his death. Starring Albert Finney as dying writer Daniel Feeld, the series is a kind of Dennis Potter's greatest hits with references aplenty to his previous works and a self-aware storyline that reflects on the blurring of lines between reality and fiction when people starting behaving like Feeld's characters and speaking the lines he has written. A stellar guest cast includes Hywel Bennett, Richard E. Grant, Alison Steadman, Roy Hudd, Liz Smith, Saffron Burrows and Keeley Hawes. Martin also watched and reflects upon its sequel Cold Lazarus and its links with Karaoke. Is this Dennis Potter at its finest or simply one of his last works? Join Andy and Martin as they go back to examine a TV series that had been long-awaited when it debuted in 1996. Next Time: London's Burning (the Jack Rosenthal pilot not the more run-of-the-mill TV series that followed it!)

In our first episode of season 2 of Level Up, Aiden and Dave talk about the Indiana Jones franchise and individually rank the films from best to worst. We also officially try out our new section in which we actually try and level up Indiana Jones... Later in the podcast, Dave discusses the Dennis Potter shows 'Lipstick on Your Collar' and 'Karaoke' which he's been watching in the last week, whereas Aiden brings up the new Netflix show 'The Order'. Join us as we chat shit!

This week, Glen & I enjoy a sit down with Dennis Potter.  Dennis is an accomplished fly tier and casting instructor.  Along the way, he has also had some fun guiding adventures.  We'll cover all of that and more in this week's episode.

The Forest of Dean is an area in and around Gloucestershire brimming with local heritage and communal history. We talk about the Forest's mining culture, as well as some of its historical quirks, before hosting the world's first (and only) Forest dialect quiz! We then explore the controversy of the decline of mining culture and its impact on communities, the dilemmas of wild boar and finally solve the age-old mystery of who killed the bears. Finally we finish up with some ghost stories, folklore and ponder whether the Beast of Dean is a load of old bollocks. We'd love to chat more about history, heritage and culture on these podcasts so let us know if you know any spooky stories or interesting places… - The story of who killed the bears can be found, as well as many other of the tales we mention can be found http://deanweb.info/history5.html - Some dialect poetry about sheep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aifa-MPt-80&feature=emb_title - Here is some info on freemining: http://www.wyedeantourism.co.uk/freeminers http://www.minersadvice.co.uk/index.htm - A documentary on Freemining: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKIHH3BD4ik - Some stuff on Dennis Potter: https://intranet.yorksj.ac.uk/potter/ - The world's strangest place: https://littledeanjail.com/ _ Edited by Connor. Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)

Roy Hudd was a comedian, actor and music-hall veteran whose career spanned seven decades. He sadly passed away in March. Starting out as a redcoat at Butlins in the 1950s, Roy became one the UK's best-loved entertainers. His show The News Huddlines ran for 26 years on Radio 2. When Samira spoke to Roy in 2015, he was approaching his 80th birthday, and was about to play Dame for the first time in panto, in Dick Whittington at Wilton's Music Hall. He discussed a lifetime of entertaining audiences, his close relationship with Dennis Potter, who left Hudd a role in his will, and his grandmother, who raised him, and to whom he owed his passion for variety and music hall. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser

Bodmin was alive with Russians at the height of the Cold War when the town became home to a school for spies! Hundreds of Britain's brightest young men came to learn Russian in order to translate Soviet radio transmissions for GCHQ. Playwrights Alan Bennett, Michael Frayn and Dennis Potter were among those who passed through as part of their National Service. Flamboyant Russian lecturers staged avant garde plays in the local church and one even married a local girl.   

Author Kerry Hudson joins Robin this week, along with guest co-host Bec Hill, to talk about her new book Lowborn which is out very soon. They talk about classism, poverty, Dennis Potter and the healing power of libraries. To find out more about the charities mentioned in this episode, go to cosmicshambles.com/bookshambles/kerryhudson Support the podcast and everything we do at the CSN by pledging at patreon.com/bookshambles and get extended editions of each and every episode. 

Toby Hadoke finds another new interviewee to talk about their time on TV Doctor Who, all as part of his challenge to speak to someone involved in every Doctor Who story in the show's first 53 years!

Following the sad death of Keith Barron at the end of 2017 we thought this was an ideal time to re-examine the Dennis Potter plays, Stand up, Nigel Barton and Vote, Vote, Vote For Nigel Barton.  First broadcast in 1965, these still speak to very live discussions about class, social mobility and the role both play in our lives. The second play in particular looks at the role of class in electoral politics.  There are no easy answers in Potter's plays. The fact is we're still asking all these questions today. But these were a fascinating - and highly autobiographical - look at the system that has stymied too many British lives for far too long, and the inability and unwillingness to change that from all classes.

We're back! Christian Cawley and Gareth Kavanagh reconvene to discuss the halcyon days of BBC Television Centre, recalling Gareth's trips to the famous "concrete doughnut". There's also an opportunity to discuss one of Gareth's ongoing productions, Room 5064, where writers Alan Bennett and Dennis Potter regularly locked horns... Shownotes: Television Centre Room 5064 play Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/events/1746926272274046/

Ein Klassiker des BBC, die Mini-Serie von Dennis Potter über einen singenden Detektiv - und über sich selbst. 1986 gedreht, gilt die Serie nun als Klassiker. Wir haben zufällig die Serie entdeckt und sie sofort ins Herz geschlossen, die filmisch gelungene Erzählweise hat uns in den Bann geschlagen. Wir sprechen über Kunst, Leben und Wahrheit, und über Erzählen an sich. Wir fanden, eine unserer anspruchsvolleren Folgen :-) Falls Ihr die Serie noch nicht kennt, bei Youtube kann man reinschnuppern: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI10_bFyqig Sonst ist die DVD als UK-IMport über Amazon bestellbar. Das haben wir auch getan und sind zufrieden! :-)

WHAT WHAT, MY POP ROCKS! Gary Lactus hosts an epic mash up lash up* starring hard boiled gritty pre-Giuliani New York cop just two weeks away from retirement, Johnathan Dick and a hypnotic robotic Spare 5 who returns like the monster from an ever diminishing horror franchise! Better than that though is the explosive entrance of crime fighting duo The Beast Must Die and Mini-Beast, ready to deliver a 200+ megaton purple nurple right on the left boob of the London Underworld! Wanna know what we talk about? There was loads and load and plenty of it not comics. Here’s a list of words! 2000AD Titan Editions, akira, Animal Man, Beneath, Blair Witch, Cry of the Werewolf, Curse Words, Dennis Potter, Doom Patrol, Found Footage, Found Footage Films, Gabriel Hardman, Gi Joe Vs Transformers: The Movie, Hitman, horror, Invisible Republic, Johnathan Dick, Judge Dredd Deviation, Junji Ito, Justice League Trailer, Kong: Skull Island, Larry Cohen, Larry Fessenden, Lone Wolf and Cub, Manga no Manben, Mini Beast, Naoki Urasawa, Nemesis, Not Quite Hollywood, Roger Corman, Romaction, Romance of a different name, Sandman: Overture, Scratched Live!, Silence! Because the Film’s Started, Slaine Choose Your Own Adventure Comics, Stray Bullets, TBMD, The Beast Must Die, The Belfry, The Origin of Spare 5, walking dead FEAR THE NIGHT! *made you look! @silencepod @frasergeesin @thebeastmustdie @bobsymindless @theQuietusFilm @kellykanayama silencepodcast@gmail.com You can support us using Patreon if you like.

Samira Ahmed talks to the comedian, actor and music hall veteran Roy Hudd, whose career spans seven decades.Starting out as a redcoat at Butlins in the 1950s, Roy became one the UK's best-loved entertainers. His show The News Huddlines ran for 26 years on Radio 2.As he approaches his 80th birthday, Hudd is playing a Dame for the first time in Panto, in Dick Whittington at Wilton's Music Hall.He talks about his close relationship with Dennis Potter, who left Hudd a role in his will, and his grandmother, who raised him, and to whom he owes his passion for variety and music hall.Producer: Timothy Prosser.

Paul Holdengraber talks with Neil Gaiman about life, death, and Dennis Potter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Berkeley's guest is the actor Kika Markham, widow of Corin Redgrave. 'Actors by their nature are curious, fickle, insecure people: flirts. They should not live together.' So says Kika Markham; but she didn't follow her own advice; instead she fell in love with the actor Corin Redgrave - they were together for 33 years until his death in 2010. Kika's own career began in the 1960s; she made her name in a series of television films, directed by Ken Loach, Dennis Potter, and then, for the cinema, by Francois Truffaut. Now in her early seventies, Kika Markham is still on television, playing the mother of Mr Selfridge in the successful ITV period drama. In 'Private Passions' she talks to Michael Berkeley about the central role of music in her life. She remembers working with Francois Truffaut, and falling in love with him - against all advice. She chooses music by the French composer who wrote soundtracks for many of Truffaut's films, Georges Delerue. But it's her marriage to Corin Redgrave that forms the heart of the programme. She talks movingly about living with Corin during the final years of his life, after he suffered a brain injury and lost a great deal of memory. There were huge challenges for them both. And one of the losses, at first, was music - he could not bear to listen. But there came a moment when Kika sat at the piano, and Corin responded to her playing. Her choices include Beethoven's 'Spring' Violin Sonata, in which she used to accompany her father, the actor David Markham; a song from 'Guys and Dolls'; and the love duet from Handel's 'Rodelinda'. Producer: Elizabeth Burke A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3. To hear previous episodes of Private Passions, please visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/r3pp/all.

"Strange and beautiful, a heart shaped place between two rivers" is how television playwright and author, Dennis Potter described the Forest of Dean, where he grew up. On the 20th anniversary of his death, Felicity Evans explores the landscape that shaped much of his work. The Forest has a rich industrial heritage which Forester and Freeminer, Rich Daniels explains at the former site of the New Fancy coal mine. The old spoil heap now provides spectacular views across the Forest. In the distance, you can see Cannop Ponds and the pit where Dennis' father was a miner. Then it's to Berry Hill, the place where Potter grew up and visited frequently with his own family. Firstly to "Spion Kop", the Potter family home where artist John Belcher now lives and then onto some of the locations used in Potter's work. Felicity meets historian and verderer, Ian Standing who talks about his role in upholding Forest law and culture and shows us the oak trees that Lord Nelson planted. Finally from the ancient forest to the very modern as we visit a nearby café in Coleford to talk to teenagers from the Forest Youth Forum about what it's like to live in the Forest of Dean today. How does the landscape affect them? Dennis Potter was concerned that the "New Foresters" would have no sense of community and not realise how special and unique it is. Were his fears unfounded?

30st August 2014   nting down to Whooverville 6! 30 August 2014 at QUAD, Derby. 0 4 3 Days 2 3 Hours 3 5 Minutes   Guests More guests will be added as they are confirmed. Sponsored guests appear courtesy of Tenth Planet Events, who will charge for their autographs. Guests Dominic Glynn Dominic is a prolific composer of film and television music, best known to us for the incidental music for The Trial of a Time Lord segments The Mysterious Planet and The Ultimate Foe, Dragonfire, The Happiness Patrol ans Survival. As well as for the Season 23 (Trial of a Time Lord) arrangement of the Doctor Who theme tune. His music has also featured in episodes of The Simpsons, Red Dwarf and Eerie Indiana, and the feature films Holy Man and Kevin & Perry Go Large. Many thanks to Dominic for agreeing to come along. Derrick Sherwin Derrick Sherwin is the last surviving producer of 60s Doctor Who and one of only two surviving producers from the classic series as a whole. Derrick joined Doctor Who as script editor in which capacity he worked on five consecutive stories between The Web of Fear and The Mind Robber. He then wrote The Invasion, acted as de facto assistant producer on two further stories before resuming script editor duties on The Space Pirates, then succeeding Peter Bryant as producer for The War Games and Spearhead From Space. Derrick's influence on Doctor Who has been profound and persists until today – he cast Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor, invented UNIT and developed the Brigadier, invented the Time Lords and came up with the idea of exiling the Doctor to Earth. Peter Davison Peter Davison is best known for his roles as the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who and Tristan Farnon in James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small. Davison was born Peter Moffett in Streatham, London. The family then moved to Knaphill in Surrey at which time he became a member of an amateur theatre company called the Byfleet Players Davison studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. His first job was as an actor and assistant stage manager at the Nottingham Playhouse. He chose the stage name Peter Davison to avoid confusion with the actor and director Peter Moffatt, with whom Davison later worked. His first television work was in a 1975 episode of the children's science fiction television programme The Tomorrow People In 1978, Davison's performance as the youthfully mischievous Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small made him a household name. Davison has said that he was mainly cast in the role because he looked as if he could be Robert Hardy's younger brother. Davison subsequently appeared alongside Dickinson as the Dish of the Day in the television version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981), whose producers considered it humorous for an actor known for playing a veterinary surgeon to appear as a cow. In 1981, Davison signed a contract to play the Doctor for three years, succeeding Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor) and, at age 29, was at the time the youngest actor to have played the lead role. Deborah Watling Deborah Watling, the daughter of actors Jack Watling and Patricia Hicks, began work as a child actress with a regular role as the niece of Peter Brady in The Invisible Man television series. She was later cast for the lead role in Alice, Dennis Potter's version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, for the BBC's The Wednesday Play. Watling played Victoria in Doctor Who from 1967 to 1968, though her only remaining complete serials are The Tomb of the Cybermen and the recently recovered The Enemy of the World. She also appeared in Dimensions in Time, Downtime and the audio drama Three's a Crow. In November 2013 she appeared in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot. Terry Molloy Follow :   Site :  Terry Molloy has been a member of the cast of BBC Radio 4′s The Archers, playing Mike Tucker, since 1973 and has won awards for his work as an actor on radio. On television, Molloy is perhaps best known for hiplaying Davros, the creator of the Daleks, in the stories Resurrection of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks. He also appeared in the Doctor Who story Attack of the Cybermen as an undercover policeman named Russell. In recent years, Molloy has reprised the role of Davros in the Big Finish Productions audio dramas Davros, The Juggernauts, Terror Firma, Masters of War, The Davros Mission and the four-part miniseries I, Davros. He also played Davros in a 2005 stage production, The Trial of Davros. Michael Troughton Follow :   Site :  Michael Troughton is an English actor, writer and teacher. He is the son of actor Patrick Troughton and the younger brother of David Troughton. He has appeared in many film, television and theatre roles, most notably as Melish, in Minder and Sir Piers Fletcher-Dervish in The New Statesman from 1987 to 1992. His biography of his late father, Patrick Troughton, published by Hirst Publishing, was launched in November 2011. He has also completed a number of audio dramatisations for Big Finish. David Troughton David Troughton was born in Hampstead, London. He comes from a theatrical family: he is the son of actor Patrick Troughton, elder brother of Michael Troughton, and father of both Sam Troughton and Warwickshire cricketer Jim Troughton. His roles have included guest appearances in Doctor Who, first as an extra in The Enemy of the World (1967–1968), then as a soldier in The War Games (1969) and in a considerably larger role as King Peladon in The Curse of Peladon (1972). He appeared in the 2008 series of Doctor Who as Professor Hobbes, in the episode “Midnight”. He has also performed in a Big Finish Doctor Who audio production titled Cuddlesome where he plays the Tinghus. He also played the Black Guardian in two audios: The Destroyer of Delights and The Chaos Pool. He also returned as King Peladon in The Prisoner of Peladon audio. In 2011 he took on his father's role as the Second Doctor in two audio plays, also featuring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and in November 2013, Troughton appeared in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot. Sponsored Guests Sinead Michael Sinead Michael portrayed Sky Smith in series 5 The Sarah Jane Adventures. Michael has two distinctions: she is the first actor cast in an ongoing role in a Doctor Who-related series to be born after the broadcast of the 1996 TV movie and she is the youngest actor to date to appear on screen in such a capacity. Sinead appears at Whoovervile courtesy of Tenth Planet events. As Sinead is a sponsored guest, Tenth Planet will charge for her autograph, but we do expect her to take part in on-stage panels and photo sessions.   Tickets Tickets on sale now from  priced between £10 and £40. Visit the for more details and to order your tickets.   About Whooverville Whooverville is the East Midlands' biggest annual get-together to fans of the BBC TV series ‘Doctor Who'. Organised by Derby's local Doctor Who group, the , one of the most popular fan groups in the UK, Whooverville is a day of fun for all ages. Whooverville event is a chance to have your photo taken with the TARDIS, catch up on gossip from the latest series, purchase new and classic merchandise, take part in a Doctor Who pod-cast, add to the autograph album and meet some of the people from in front of and behind the camera. The event is held at .

The playwright Dennis Potter died twenty years ago. Matthew Sweet reassesses the legacy of the author of 'The Singing Detective' and 'Pennies from Heaven' and hears from his friends and colleagues, including Michael Grade, Alan Yentob, Melvyn Bragg, Janet Suzman, Kika Markham, Kenith Trodd, Jon Amiel and Tony Garnett.

John talks with philosophy professor Dennis Potter, Megan and Lindsay about Plato's socratic dialogue, “Euthyphro” and how it relates to Mormonism. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mormonexpression/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mormonexpression/support

Dennis Potter presents his paper, “Providing Contraries: an Examination of Mormon “Paradoxism” on August 1st, 2013. [powerpress]

Dennis Potter presents his paper, “Providing Contraries: an Examination of Mormon “Paradoxism” on August 1st, 2013. [powerpress]

Mormonism has a distinctive view of God that differs quite a bit from traditional theism. And though we as Latter-day Saints recognize and most often celebrate the differences, in our Sunday and typical discourse about God and God’s power and influence, we very often sound as if there is little distinctiveness. One way into a discussion of things like this is through the term "worship." The Bible and LDS scriptures all speak of "worshiping" God, yet the term has pretty distinct meanings in wider theism that perhaps don’t match up with the kinds of attitudes toward God that Mormon claims might suggest. (For instance, in the LDS view, would God even be interested in being "worshiped"?) This concept of worship, then, becomes a good diving off point into the wider discussions about LDS versus traditional theism, concepts like omnipotence, and whether the LDS God could really even be considered a God with a "capital G" (God) or if better described with a "lower-case g" (god). In these episodes, Dennis Potter poses such questions about Mormon views and language about God, calling for greater clarity. Jim McLachlan and Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon respond with reasons for their preferences for the LDS view of God and why terms like God and omnipotence and worship should be allowed breathing room and a chance to evolve in ways that avoid charges of dodging certain issues or equivocating on terms in order to still have a coherent and compelling view.

Mormonism has a distinctive view of God that differs quite a bit from traditional theism. And though we as Latter-day Saints recognize and most often celebrate the differences, in our Sunday and typical discourse about God and God’s power and influence, we very often sound as if there is little distinctiveness. One way into a discussion of things like this is through the term "worship." The Bible and LDS scriptures all speak of "worshiping" God, yet the term has pretty distinct meanings in wider theism that perhaps don’t match up with the kinds of attitudes toward God that Mormon claims might suggest. (For instance, in the LDS view, would God even be interested in being "worshiped"?) This concept of worship, then, becomes a good diving off point into the wider discussions about LDS versus traditional theism, concepts like omnipotence, and whether the LDS God could really even be considered a God with a "capital G" (God) or if better described with a "lower-case g" (god). In these episodes, Dennis Potter poses such questions about Mormon views and language about God, calling for greater clarity. Jim McLachlan and Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon respond with reasons for their preferences for the LDS view of God and why terms like God and omnipotence and worship should be allowed breathing room and a chance to evolve in ways that avoid charges of dodging certain issues or equivocating on terms in order to still have a coherent and compelling view.

With Mark Lawson. Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West star as the ultimate celebrity couple, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, in a new BBC Drama written by William Ivory. Focusing on the period when they appeared together on Broadway in Noel Coward's Private Lives, Burton and Taylor imagines the complex relationship between the ex-husband and wife. Linda Grant reviews. Writer Denise Mina has received the Theakstons Old Peculier crime novel award, for the second year running. Her winning novel, For Gods and Beasts, weaves together three stories of Glasgow's criminal underworld. She explains why she had to re-write it over a weekend and reveals the flaws in her books. Director Noah Baumbach discusses Frances Ha, his acclaimed black and white drama about the misadventures of a twentysomething dancer, played by co-writer Greta Gerwig. He also reveals what his parents thought of his break-through film, The Squid And The Whale, which was inspired by the fall-out from their divorce For Cultural Exchange, dramatis Mark Ravenhill chooses Casanova, the first television series from Dennis Potter, starring Frank Finley as Casanova. Producer Nicki Paxman.

Mark Ravenhill chooses Casanova, Dennis Potter's first TV serial. Plus archive BBC interviews with and about Dennis Potter. Go to Front Row's Cultural Exchange website for full details.

With Mark Lawson. Charlize Theron plays a writer of teen literature who returns to her small hometown to reclaim her happily married high school sweetheart, in her new film Young Adult. But things don't go according to plan. The film is directed by Jason Reitman, who also brought us Juno and Up in the Air. Ryan Gilbey reviews. The Orange Prize-winning novelist Kate Grenville discusses her novel Sarah Thornhill in which she returns to early Australia and the story of the Thornhill family, whose story she told in her novel The Secret River. The Singing Detective, the TV drama series written by Dennis Potter and starring Michael Gambon, returns to our screens 26 years after it was first shown. Chris Dunkley and Rebecca Nicholson re-assess this TV classic. And writer Joanne Harris visits a new exhibition in Sheffield with a focus on the family, with artists ranging from William Hogarth to Rachel Whiteread. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

We Mormons have heard it countless times: "I know the Church is true?" But what does this mean? Heck, even more basic, what does "true" mean? In this podcast, host Dan Wotherspoon and panelists Joanna Brooks, Dennis Potter, and Rhett Tenney take a deep dive into these questions. Explorations include overviews of major philosophical approaches, especially those most relevant to thinking about religious beliefs and practices, the shifts in thinking that have revolutionized thought about the nature of truth in the past century, including strong recognition of the way we all inhabit discourses that shape our views of truth and the world, and theories from sociology about how social rewards and group cohesion rituals work to make our choices about what we believe and hold to be true anything but purely rational, or involving our simply "following the evidence." The participants also all reflect on the way they view Mormonism and their own spiritual journeys (for one of them, out of the church) understanding what they do about the many factors that feed into this what-used-to-seem-so-simple matter of "truth."

Broadway: Braham in The Philanthropist opposite Matthew Broderick, Iachimo in Cymbeline directed by Mark Lamos, Jason in Deborah Warner’s Tony nominated Medea (also London’s West End and BAM). New York includes: Four Benches by Ethan Coen, Parlour Song by Jez Butterworth. London includes: Silva Vaccaro in the RNT’s Baby Doll (Best Actor at the Barclays Theatre Awards), the title role in Coriolanus at Shakespeare’s Globe, productions at the Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Co. Regional: Doubt at Pasadena Playhouse. UK TV includes: Ricky Gervais’ Emmy-winning “Extras;” the BAFTA winning programs “A Dance to the Music of Time” and Peter Kosminsky’s “The Government Inspector; the title role in “Mosley;” Dennis Potter’s “Old Lizard;” and Eddie Izzard’s “Cows.” US TV includes: ABC’s “Six Degrees” and “Empire,” NBC’s “Inconceivable,” Showtime’s “Out of the Ashes.” Films include: First Knight, True Blue, Honest, The One and Only, and Miramax’s Brideshead Revisited

Time for another talk from Vajradarshini. More poetry, more Rumi, more listening joy. Actually, we just liked the title so much we had to go for it this month – but, in fact, it’s another splendid journey around the idea of Enlightenment, using the languages of surrender and discipline from the Sufi context. It’s as heady as a sumptuous wine, but also sobering and down to earth, whether we’re “following a railing in the dark” or walking lost “inside the red world”. Drink up! Talk given at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2005 Contents 01 Starting with a poem by Rumi – not a ‘sensible’ talk 02 ‘Enlightenment’; following a railing in the dark; wine in Rumi’s poetry; the Dharma as studying the self; surrender and discipline 03 The Tavern – pushing off for Truth; ‘managing’ samsara and settling down 04 Fermentation; being cooked – slowly 05 How we are cups; two ways we limit ourselves – i. literalism; a quote from Aloka – abandoning ideas of what the ‘path’ is 06 Sangharakshita on literalism and craving; effective Going for Refuge and giving up limited ideas; the antidote to beauty 07 ii. Utilitarianism; Sangharakshita’s idea of the Greater Mandala of Uselessness; literal takes on aesthetics; breaking the cups 08 Pushing off into truth; kinds of connection with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; Reality and form and emptiness; visualistaion practice and life – things arising and disolving 09 ‘Fana’ and ‘baka’ in Rumi’s poetry – two streamings across the doorsill; Shams-e-Tabrizi – Rumi’s teacher 10 The importance of reflecting on form and emptiness; the eight-point mind training – taking all obstacles with you on the path; the Bodhisattva Ideal from the perspective of emptiness; spiritual practice in a world neither real nor illusory 11 Pema Chodron on how to avoid burn-out; shunyata and unrealistic ideals; a quote by Dennis Potter near to death; the trivial and the important; birdsong 12 Hsuan-Tsang’s ‘trusting mind’; introducing the dirt we buy to the dirt we already have To help us keep this free, please think about making a donation.

The castaway on this week's Desert Island Discs is a man who has reached the top of his profession through a fantastically varied number of routes - steeplejack, trainee accountant, circus fire-eater and hotel porter are just a few of them. Now one of the hottest properties in the film business on both sides of the Atlantic, actor Bob Hoskins will be talking to Sue Lawley about his image as a tough cockney lad, which has been prompted by such films as Mona Lisa and The Long Good Friday, and the role that took him to fame: Arthur Parker in Dennis Potter's TV series Pennies From Heaven.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Adagio For Strings by Samuel Barber Book: Catch 22 by Joseph Heller Luxury: Telescope

This week's castaway is the playwright Dennis Potter. Best known for his television series Pennies from Heaven and The Singing Detective, Potter worked as a journalist and television critic before turning to writing. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he looks back on his childhood in the mining community of Forest of Dean, his career in Britain and Hollywood and talks about coping with psoriatic arthropathy.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: My Happiness by The Pied Pipers Book: Spycatcher by Peter Wright Luxury: Train set

This week’s castaway is the playwright Dennis Potter. Best known for his television series Pennies from Heaven and The Singing Detective, Potter worked as a journalist and television critic before turning to writing. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he looks back on his childhood in the mining community of Forest of Dean, his career in Britain and Hollywood and talks about coping with psoriatic arthropathy. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: My Happiness by The Pied Pipers Book: Spycatcher by Peter Wright Luxury: Train set

Gemma Craven is one of our most versatile actresses. An award winning stage performer, she made her film debut opposite Richard Chamberlain in The Slipper and the Rose. On television her work has ranged from the part of Joan in Dennis Potter's Pennies from Heaven to appearances on The Morecambe and Wise Show. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, she looks back over her life on stage and off, and chooses eight records to take to a desert island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Boil The Breakfast Early by The Chieftans Book: Floyd on Fish by Keith Floyd Luxury: Manicure set

Gemma Craven is one of our most versatile actresses. An award winning stage performer, she made her film debut opposite Richard Chamberlain in The Slipper and the Rose. On television her work has ranged from the part of Joan in Dennis Potter’s Pennies from Heaven to appearances on The Morecambe and Wise Show. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, she looks back over her life on stage and off, and chooses eight records to take to a desert island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Boil The Breakfast Early by The Chieftans Book: Floyd on Fish by Keith Floyd Luxury: Manicure set

Roy Plomley's castaway is playwright Dennis Potter.Favourite track: Sons Of The Brave by Gus Band Book: Collected essays by William Hazlitt Luxury: Edward Hopper's painting, Gas

Roy Plomley's castaway is playwright Dennis Potter. Favourite track: Sons Of The Brave by Gus Band Book: Collected essays by William Hazlitt Luxury: Edward Hopper's painting, Gas