Matthew Sweet and guests discuss Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective. Produced for the BBC by Kenith Trodd and directed by Jon Amiel, the drama revolves around the personal entanglements -real, remembered, and imagined - of a crime writer, Philip Marlow (played by Michael Gambon), who is suffering from acute psoriasis and from the side-effects associated with its treatment. The result is a complex, multi-layered text which weaves together the varied interests and themes of the detective thriller, the hospital drama, the musical and the autobiography.

Matthew Sweet is joined by Kenith Trodd, Bill Paterson (who played the psychiatrist in the series), the critic Anne Karpf and the writer and actor Mark Gatiss to discuss one of television's most celebrated dramas.

First broadcast in November 2011. Show less