When Dennis Potter delivered the scripts for this six-part drama in 1984, they were greeted with "excitement, confusion, consternation and, let's be frank about it, terror," wrote former BBC head of drama
Jonathan Powell in his tribute to one of television's most controversial writers, who died last month. But when the series was screened, many critics hailed it as a masterpiece and a milestone in TV drama and only a few called it "shocking".
The distinguished cast is headed by Michael Gambon who stars as the writer of cheap detective fiction afflicted with such chronic psoriasis that reality and fantasy mingle in his feverish brain. In his less lucid moments he relives his wartime childhood "when you heard songs coming up the stairs when you were supposed to be asleep" and re-creates one of his own pulp novels with himself as the hero. In this first episode, Skin, the body of a naked girl is pulled from the River Thames.
Philip Marlow (aged 10) LYNDON DAVIES Producer Kenith Trodd ; Director Jon Amiei