Talk:Dennis Potter

Brimstone and Treacle
Brimstone_and_Treacle -- what more do you think we need, Pigsonthewing?  11:47, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Nigel Barton plays
I don't see how Potter's television debut - the Nigel Barton plays - can be described as "conventional". It is true that they are naturalistic, and lack the fantastic elements of his later work, but for their day they were extremely radical politically, and "worried" the BBC establishment on that account. The personal father-son drama in "Stand Up, Nigel Barton" - painful to watch even today - was also on a different level from most TV drama of the day.

I have therefore edited out the "conventionally enough" comment. I hope this is not controversial.

Blue Remembered Hills
If you would like the National Film Institute to re-publish the classic 1979 BBC production on DVD, please contact the head of BFI Video, Erich Sargeant, at erich.sargeant@bfi.org.uk.


 * Does anyone else feel that the paragraph in the Television works section detailing the themes of the play seems more like a review? I've resisted rewriting/editing it, but I don't want to do so without consensus. Absurdtrousers (talk) 10:55, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

The Singing Detective
I can't BELIEVE there isn't an entry for this. It is probably DP's masterpiece and therefore a key piece of UK TV drama. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 83.100.152.92 (talk) 23:02, 10 March 2007 (UTC).


 * Oh there has been since 2004. M URGH   disc.  00:53, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Where is he buried?
Hi:

Just wondering, for the sake of completeness.

AG —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.92.22.192 (talk) 22:24, 22 March 2007 (UTC).

The film "Mesmer"
Dennis Potter also wrote the manuscript for this 1994 film, see imdb. Rune Kock 19:39, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Parliamentary aspirations
I've removed the statement "but Walker-Smith lost his seat", as the pages for both Derek Walker-Smith and East Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency) state that W-S was the MP between 1955 and 1983, with no breaks. Deadlock (talk) 09:50, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

Television Plays - Query...
It is stated that Moonlight on the Highway and Son of Man were preceeded by several poorly received projects... This isn't strictly true: Where the Buffalo Roam was deemed successful enough to warrant a repeat broadcast a year after its original transmission, while Message for Posterity was reviewed favourably by television critics and nominated by the Writers Guild for Best Drama (Single Play). This statement also implies that both Moonlight and Son of Man were successful projects - the latter certainly was (transferring to the stage a year after broadcast with Frank Finlay in the lead), but Moonlight was an obscure production, albeit a notable one, that provoked little press reaction. Just wondering if other editors feel this should be rephrased? Absurdtrousers (talk) 15:07, 8 January 2012 (UTC)


 * I was thinking of Shaggy Dog and The Bonegrander when I typed "several poorly received projects" based on the comments in secondary sources I have access to. This article was written decades after the play's first transmission, and is going to reflect contemporary attitudes primarily. Source material clearly needs to be cited at this point, or a rephrase as you suggest. Philip Cross (talk) 15:37, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

what is his wife's name?
This article gives 2 versions of Potter's wife's name in consecutive sentences, why? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 103.23.133.112 (talk) 18:32, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

The Wednesday Play section
(1) I have amended apparently inconsistent use of the past and present tenses. The Wikipedia style manual recommends reporting of actual past events in the simple past tense, and summarising of works of fiction in the present tense. The tense necessarily vacillates here, but I hope it is now more closely aligned to the manual.

(2) There is mention of threatened litigation but no citation for any subsequent legal action and resulting judgement; nor does the section refer to evidence that Potter did intend to expose a particular organisation. I have therefore added the word 'alleged' to the relevant passage.Humboles (talk) 01:23, 6 December 2016 (UTC)


 * It is usual to open sections on the talk page in chronological order, ratheer than posting them at the top of the page. The reference to the Dale Carnegie Institute was quite correct and I have added citations. Potter's intentions are most clear in Humphrey Carpenter's biography. He had written an article for the Daily Herald, which he said was not published because the DCI was an advertiser for the newspaper. Litigation did not develop beyond an exchange of letters. As no recording of The Confidence Course exists, and it is considered a minor work, it does not seem appropriate to develop the passage any further, at least not until more detail is added to the passages on Potter's major works. Philip Cross (talk) 10:25, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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'criticism' - etc.
The 'criticism' section is presently one unsourced gripe of Alan Bennett's, supposedly from a diary entry. Not convinced this justifies an entire section or even a mention (i.e. even if sourced) - will remove if there are no objections.

More generally, I think there's potential for a really good article on Potter - the present article is a perfectly acceptable introduction, but no more than that (i.e. there's very little on his actual work: much more needs to be said about The Singing Detective, for instance, and there needs to be something on his working relationship with Trodd). Might sketch out a suggested plan for an overhaul at some point. — Preceding unsigned comment added by DanielFeeld (talk • contribs) 18:38, 12 June 2018 (UTC)

‘Bibliography’ box?
Looking at the works listed inside the box at the end of the article, which is headed with the word ‘Bibliography’, one can’t help but notice that what is being offered is instead only a selected bibliography. Doing no more than simply checking another Wikipedia page shows more works: Dennis_Potter_bibliography

For example, just a quick glance shows these plays to be missing from the box (a box which decorates many other Wikipedia articles and so will be thought authoritative) and there is probably more missing as well:

1967 Message for Posterity

1968 The Bonegrinder

1969 Moonlight on

1970 Lay Down your Arms

1970 Angels Are So Few

1971 Paper Roses

1973 Only Make Believe

1973 A Tragedy of Two Ambitions

1974 Schmoedipus

1976 Double Dare

Can someone help make things more consistent? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.69.61.92 (talk) 23:17, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Potter's full name
This obituary in The Independent (ref.22) has his full name as Christopher George Dennis Potter but we give his full name as Dennis Christopher George Potter (unsourced). Is there a reliable source that shows that to be correct? If not, we should change it to the order shown in the obituary which is most likely to be accurate. Rodney Baggins (talk) 15:31, 27 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately his gravestone only says Dennis Potter. Maybe in life he strongly objected to the Christopher George bit and chose to drop those two names altogether, so it might be safer for us to follow suit as that is probably what he would have liked ;) Rodney Baggins (talk) 12:03, 28 November 2020 (UTC)