Waggish (Free subscription) | 11/18/2009
I was thinking about this old tv play ( available entirely on youtube , hooray) in connection with two other old French films about childhood that I recently saw, Naked Childhood and My Little Loves . As much as they do their best to deromanticize childhood, this one may have them beat, and not just because adults are playing the children. The French movies all have alienation in one way or another,...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 11/30/2009
... a place of ghosts, big cat sightings and other strange happenings. In drama it was immortalised by Dennis Potter in his strange play for the BBC, Blue Remembered Hills, in which a boy is burned to death. Bromfield said he was receiving increasing requests for him to bless homes in his district because their owners feared something is amiss. The sheep's head is the latest sign of black...
Celebrity Gossip (Free subscription) | 11/29/2009
... The Farm. Her acting work includes appearances in Crossroads , Jonathan Creek , Casualty , Dennis Potter's Cold Lazarus , the British film The Truth About Love and the UK stage tour of Popcorn by Ben Elton.
Under Three Hundred (Free subscription) | 11/21/2009
... can appreciate why people might say that, though for me there were three main influences. Firstly, Dennis Potter’s Blue Remembered Hills and The Singing Detective , all the scenes set in the Forest of Dean. Secondly, as a reaction against the whole idea of the pastoral ‘village green’ being some sort of quintessential English heaven. And thirdly, Robert Shearman’s...
Sea Songs (Free subscription) | 11/14/2009
that the old Daily Herald was the authentic voice of a particular way of existence, overwhelmingly shaped by collective endeavour and determination to create a more equable society (and let us not forget Dennis Potter's early involvement), and that the original Sun carved out of its remnants was, like Wilson's government itself, a tantalising attempt to bring the whole concept forward...
The One-Line Review (Free subscription) | 11/07/2009
UK Television Film Director: Richard Loncraine Writer: Dennis Potter Cinematographer: Peter Hannan Cast: Donald Pleasence, Tom Conti, Denholm Elliott, Kika Markham, Phoebe Nicholls An aristocratic family are enjoying an idyllic summer’s day in their palatial grounds - the father is sitting quietly, reading and dozing fitfully; the trophy wife and comely daughter playing a leisurely...
Macleans.ca (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
... played down a little after the pilot. Still, at the moment, the show is almost like a lighter Dennis Potter production: musical numbers alternating with depressing drama. I suspect that the show will get lighter as it goes along; shows often do. Though whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is another question, since in some ways the dark, downbeat aspect of the show is the most...
SevenMinutesToMidnight (Free subscription) | 10/29/2009
... controversial , with all the artful direction of a 1980's Wham! pop-video . The 1982 film of Dennis Potter's 'banned' BBC play 'Brimstone and Treacle' deals with not entirely dissimilar issues , far more intelligently and coherently . Back to reality , and how appalling that one of the torturers of 'Baby P' , Jason Owen , has been deemed 'no significant risk' and will be released...
Reeko's Sketchbook (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
... investigation of guilt, passion and obsession will be a treat for fans of David Lynch, Dennis Potter, Grant Morrison and Paul Pope. This book is a huge and exciting undertaking for me and I am stunned that this has happened so quickly. The estimate on deadline for the book is 12-18 months although I'm hoping I can get everything done faster than that. I'll be focusing on the project...
A Writer's Life (Free subscription) | 10/29/2009
... are blessed with a tradition of great television dramatists, there’s no way that Alan Bleasdale, Dennis Potter or Jimmy McGovern could have written a dozen episodes of a show alone. We have recently imported the idea of showrunners for the resurrection of Dr Who and Survivors, but their power is limited, and the principle of collaboration doesn’t penetrate the lower echelons. Script...
Campaign for the American Reader (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
That Was the Satire That Was by Humphrey Carpenter (Victor Gollancz, 2000); US title: A Great, Silly Grin: The British Satire Boom of the 1960sThe biographer of Jesus Christ and Dennis Potter scrutinises the 1960s satire boom, in a book that almost doubles as a biography of Peter Cook. As Carpenter points out, the four cornerstones of 60s satire were the stage show Beyond The Fringe,...
The Observer (Free subscription) | 10/22/2009
... men five or 10 years their senior. Cast adult actors in the roles, and it would not look like Dennis Potter's famous adult-child play Blue Remembered Hills. It would look exactly the same. When the child-soldier unit snaps into action in one scene, with ferocious discipline and cohesion, I realised that the movie it looked like was Saving Private Ryan. Sauvaire's movie places the...
