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The Singing Detective

The Singing Detective
★ 7.5/10•1986•1h 10m•Drama•Mystery
Similars

Tormented and bedridden by a debilitating disease, a mystery writer relives his detective stories through his imagination and hallucinations.

StatusEnded
Runtime1h 10m
LanguageEN
First Air DateNov 16, 1986

Episodes

Episode 1 - SkinE170m

Skin

Pulp thriller writer Philip Marlow is in hospital with the skin complaint psoriasis, tormented by his past and threatened by his future. His memories, his 1930s-style gumshoe fiction and his disease weave him an altered reality.

Nov 16, 1986

Episode 2 - HeatE270m

Heat

Dennis Potter's drama about a patient struggling to keep his sanity, with the help of his alter ego, the singing private eye. Marlow faces a talking cure with a psychologist.

Nov 23, 1986

Episode 3 - Lovely DaysE370m

Lovely Days

While in hospital with psoriasis, Marlow thinks back to the war when he was a little boy, and remembers seeing his mother having illicit sex in the Forest of Dean. His memories, his 30s style gumshoe fiction and his disease weave him an altered reality.

Nov 30, 1986

Episode 4 - CluesE470m

Clues

Marlow as a child visits London, but is not impressed. A film option on Marlow's novel thickens the plot. His memories, his 30s style gumshoe fiction and his disease weave him an altered reality.

Dec 7, 1986

Episode 5 - Pitter PatterE570m

Pitter Patter

Marlow is getting better and the different strands of his fiction and reality begin to occupy the same time and place.

Dec 14, 1986

Episode 6 - Who Done ItE670m

Who Done It

The young Philip Marlow returns to the country railway station following his mother's death in London. Forty years on, Marlow the hospital patient still dreams about the homecoming and the frightening figure of the scarecrow that now erupts into the ward.

Dec 21, 1986

Actors

Michael Gambon

Michael Gambon

Philip Marlow

Joanne Whalley

Joanne Whalley

Nurse Mills

David Ryall

David Ryall

Mr Hall

Sharon D. Clarke

Sharon D. Clarke

Night Nurse

Gerard Horan

Gerard Horan

Reginald

Ron Cook

Ron Cook

First Mysterious Man

George Rossi

Second Mysterious Man

Recommendations

Devil in Ohio
Spider-Noir
Before
Ratched
The Doctor Blake Mysteries
The Crowded Room
Harlan Coben's Lazarus
Echoes
Murder in a Small Town
The Fall of the House of Usher
Disclaimer
Sugar
Perry Mason
Wayward
Tell Me Lies
River
The Alienist
The Crow Girl
HIS & HERS
The Stolen Girl

Similars

Fleming
Fargo
4 Reasons Why I Hate X-Mas
Witches of East End
Gap Dong
The Widower
Columbo
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
Golden Blood
Class of '09
Hitohira's First Love
Chasing Life
The Night Shift
The Girls of Slender Means
Pope John Paul II
Space Race
First Love
My Brother Jonathan
Giri/Haji
Trapper John, M.D.