The Art of Invective

Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 - 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. Beginning with contributions to BBC television's The Wednesday Play anthology series from 1965, he peaked with The Singing Detective (1986), a BBC TV serial for which he is best remembered. This work and many of his other widely acclaimed television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social and often used themes and images from popular culture. A sufferer from psoriatic arthropathy for most of his adult life, Potter made regular public pronouncements on issues dear to him. Although Potter won few awards, he is held in high regard by many within the television and film industry, and he was an influence on such creators as Steven Bochco, Alan Ball, Andrew Davies, Charlie Kaufman, Peter Bowker, Margaret Edson and Alain Resnais. His work has been the subject of many critical essays, books, websites and documentaries. BBC Four marked the tenth anniversary of Potter's death in December 2004 with a major series of documentaries about his life and work, accompanied by showings of Pennies from Heaven and The Singing Detective, as well as several of his single plays-many of which had not been shown since their maiden broadcast. His influence has also extended into popular music: Welsh band Manic Street Preachers used quotes from Potter on the inner sleeves to their single Kevin Carter and greatest hits collection, while Scottish art rock band Franz Ferdinand modeled the promotional video for their song The Dark of the Matinée after Blue Remembered Hills and The Singing Detective. Guy Garvey, lead singer with Elbow, has said he named his band after the exchange in The Singing Detective where the central character claims that word to be the most beautiful in the English language. Potter's papers, including unproduced plays and unpublished fiction, are being catalogued and preserved at the Dean Heritage Centre in Gloucestershire.