Books
The Art of Invective: Selected Non-Fiction 1953-94
Dennis Potter Edited by Ian Greaves, David Rolinson & John Williams (2015) Oberon Books 
Remembering Dennis Potter Through Fans, Extras and Archives
Joanne Garde-Hansen and Hannah Grist (2014) Palgrave Pivot UK 
Dennis Potter: The Authorised Biography
Humphrey Carpenter (1998) Faber & Faber 
Fight Kick and Bite: The Life and Work of Dennis Potter
W. Stephen Gilbert (1995) Hodder & Stoughton Ltd |
The Singing Detective: A critical reading of the series
Glen Creeber (2007) BFI TV Classics 
The Passion of Dennis Potter: International Collected Essays
Vernon W. Gras and John R. Cook (2000) Macmillan 
Dennis Potter: Between Two Worlds: A Critical Reassessment
Glen Creeber (1998) Palgrave Macmillan 
Dennis Potter: A Life on Screen
John R. Cook (1995) Manchester University Press |
Dennis Potter (Border Lines)
Peter Stead (1995) Seren 
Potter On Potter
Edited by Graham Fuller (1993) Faber & Faber |
Seeing the Blossom: Two Interview and a Lecture
Dennis Potter (1994) Faber & Faber |
Journals, papers, online...
'Mr Potter and his "Beast", Jason Griffiths
In 1968 Dennis Potter was already a controversial figure in his native Forest of Dean when for his next play he took as inspiration a notorious local event: the killing of the bears. Such was the potency of this dark moment in Forest history that reaction against Potter’s choice of subject prompted a slew of letters to the local newspapers even before filming had started. This paper, published in The New Regard: The journal of the Forest of Dean Local History Society, Issue 40, 2025, explores correspondence with the local newspapers by Potter's Forest of Dean viewers and his own letters in response. It provides a fascinating insight into the Forest community’s relationship with the events of eighty years before, but even more so with Potter himself.
Text-only version available here.
Journal available to purchase here.
‘The Country Boy’: Investigating the Dennis Potter Archive, Forest of Dean, England
John R. Cook
This article presents scholarship relating to work conducted in the Dennis Potter Archive, Dean Heritage Centre, Dean Museum Trust, England. It argues that the Dennis Potter Archive is a significant archive consisting of handwritten manuscripts and notebook drafts of virtually all of the work of famed writer Dennis Potter (1935–94), allowing us unique access to the engine room of his creativity. The article focuses on the ‘discovery’ of Potter works previously unknown and/or inaccessible, including completed drafts of unproduced television plays and unproduced film screenplays. It also sheds new light on the genesis of perhaps Potter’s most famous work, The Singing Detective (BBC TV 1986). It shows how this began as a ‘last’ television play, but that as it developed, Potter reached back to themes and preoccupations he first explored as a young man in an unpublished novel, written decades earlier. Marrying research in the archive with statements Potter gave about his work during his lifetime, the article uses accumulated Potter scholarship, together with manuscript critical analysis and dating, in order to piece together a clearer and fuller understanding of the working life of one of the most famous names in British television and film history.
Available here
John R. Cook
This article presents scholarship relating to work conducted in the Dennis Potter Archive, Dean Heritage Centre, Dean Museum Trust, England. It argues that the Dennis Potter Archive is a significant archive consisting of handwritten manuscripts and notebook drafts of virtually all of the work of famed writer Dennis Potter (1935–94), allowing us unique access to the engine room of his creativity. The article focuses on the ‘discovery’ of Potter works previously unknown and/or inaccessible, including completed drafts of unproduced television plays and unproduced film screenplays. It also sheds new light on the genesis of perhaps Potter’s most famous work, The Singing Detective (BBC TV 1986). It shows how this began as a ‘last’ television play, but that as it developed, Potter reached back to themes and preoccupations he first explored as a young man in an unpublished novel, written decades earlier. Marrying research in the archive with statements Potter gave about his work during his lifetime, the article uses accumulated Potter scholarship, together with manuscript critical analysis and dating, in order to piece together a clearer and fuller understanding of the working life of one of the most famous names in British television and film history.
Available here
Spiked columnist Andrew Doyle marks what wold have been Dennis Potter's 85th birthday by reflecting on his work and it's impact. 'In the tradition of George Orwell, his left-wing politics were infused with a cultural conservatism and a recognition of the importance of structure and tradition to society'. access it here
"There is a nostalgic, rightwing impulse in England"
Reproduced in The Guardian, Michael Billington's 1979 interview with Dennis Potter about Brimstone and Treacle arguably speaks volumes about recent political events...
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Dennis Potter's Message to Today's TV Execs - risk everything
Writer, presenter and critic Mark Lawson reflecting on the BFI season
'To take up the implications of the season’s title: what are Potter’s messages to the television of today? The first is the extent to which he was driven by innovation and risk.'
New Statesman, June 12th, 2014
access here
Writer, presenter and critic Mark Lawson reflecting on the BFI season
'To take up the implications of the season’s title: what are Potter’s messages to the television of today? The first is the extent to which he was driven by innovation and risk.'
New Statesman, June 12th, 2014
access here
The Singing Detective, 25yrs On: Journal of Screenwriting
This edition of the journal is dedicated to Potter's Singing Detective and features the following papers:
Editorial by Adam Ganz
Blue Remembered Hills by Jonathan Powell
Nudging Into Shape: the producer looks back by Kenith Trodd
Interview with Jon Amiel, Director of The Singing Detective by Adam Ganz
Back to the Future in The Sining Detective: Amphibians, puzzles, and adaptations by Tmothy Corrigan
And the Beat Goes On: The continuing influence of The Singing Detective by Glen Creeber
'Message for Posterity': The Singing Detective (1986) 25 years on by John R. Cook
Bridges and gaps: The Singing Detective's serial afterlife by Sean O'Sullivan
Chaos, culture and fantasy: The television plays of Howard Schuman by Leah Panos
Revisiting The Singing Detective decades later by Vernon Gras
The pleasure of immersion: Some thoughts on how The Singing Detective sustains narrative by Anne Karpf
Television writer Peter Bowker in conversation with Professor John Cook by John R. Cook
The Singing Detective goes to Hollywood: An interview with director Keith Gordon by Faisal A. Qureshi
Report on The Singing Detective 25th Anniversary Symposium, University of London, 10 December 2011 by David Rolinson
Book Reviews by Carmen Sofia Brenes, Eddie McMillan, and Jamie Sherry
Journal of Screen Writing, Volume 4, No.3, 1August 2013
access here
This edition of the journal is dedicated to Potter's Singing Detective and features the following papers:
Editorial by Adam Ganz
Blue Remembered Hills by Jonathan Powell
Nudging Into Shape: the producer looks back by Kenith Trodd
Interview with Jon Amiel, Director of The Singing Detective by Adam Ganz
Back to the Future in The Sining Detective: Amphibians, puzzles, and adaptations by Tmothy Corrigan
And the Beat Goes On: The continuing influence of The Singing Detective by Glen Creeber
'Message for Posterity': The Singing Detective (1986) 25 years on by John R. Cook
Bridges and gaps: The Singing Detective's serial afterlife by Sean O'Sullivan
Chaos, culture and fantasy: The television plays of Howard Schuman by Leah Panos
Revisiting The Singing Detective decades later by Vernon Gras
The pleasure of immersion: Some thoughts on how The Singing Detective sustains narrative by Anne Karpf
Television writer Peter Bowker in conversation with Professor John Cook by John R. Cook
The Singing Detective goes to Hollywood: An interview with director Keith Gordon by Faisal A. Qureshi
Report on The Singing Detective 25th Anniversary Symposium, University of London, 10 December 2011 by David Rolinson
Book Reviews by Carmen Sofia Brenes, Eddie McMillan, and Jamie Sherry
Journal of Screen Writing, Volume 4, No.3, 1August 2013
access here
Beyond the Reach of the Cartographer: Dennis Potter the Reviewing Writer and the Writing Reviewer
Dr David Rolinson, lecturer in Film and Television, University of Stirling
Posted 31st July 2013
access the full article here
Dr David Rolinson, lecturer in Film and Television, University of Stirling
Posted 31st July 2013
access the full article here
The Dennis Potter Heritage Project: Auto/Ethnography as Process & Product
'The Dennis Potter Heritage Project provides a unique opportunity for complex empirical research. It offers the researcher a chance to study the organisational and cultural processes involved in the evolution of a heritage project...'
Hannah Grist for New Horizons, Issue 20
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'The Dennis Potter Heritage Project provides a unique opportunity for complex empirical research. It offers the researcher a chance to study the organisational and cultural processes involved in the evolution of a heritage project...'
Hannah Grist for New Horizons, Issue 20
access full paper here
Face to Face with Dennis Potter
'It’s 1986 and Blitz Magazine has sent me to interview Dennis Potter in his Central London flat...'
Jon Wilde
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'It’s 1986 and Blitz Magazine has sent me to interview Dennis Potter in his Central London flat...'
Jon Wilde
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The Function of “The Bloody Songs” in Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective
C. Kenneth Pellow in The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 46, Issue 5, pages 1051-1069, October 2013
access to abstract here
C. Kenneth Pellow in The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 46, Issue 5, pages 1051-1069, October 2013
access to abstract here
Dossier: Dennis Potter In America
'Compiled by a veteran US television critic, this dossier examines Dennis Potter from an American perspective - how and when the United States slowly became aware of Potter and his works, how they were televised, and how, in 1992, Potter reacted when he visited New York for a retrospective of his work…'
David Bianculli for Critical Studies in Television, Volume 8, No.1, Spring 2013, pp.91-107
access abstract here
'Compiled by a veteran US television critic, this dossier examines Dennis Potter from an American perspective - how and when the United States slowly became aware of Potter and his works, how they were televised, and how, in 1992, Potter reacted when he visited New York for a retrospective of his work…'
David Bianculli for Critical Studies in Television, Volume 8, No.1, Spring 2013, pp.91-107
access abstract here
