DENNIS POTTER: IT'S IN THE SONGS
Sunday 2 January 2005 10.15pm-10.45pm; 1am-1.30am; 3.30am-4am; Friday 7 January 7pm-7.30pm
When Arthur Parker, the hero of Pennies from Heaven, turns to the camera for the first time and mimes Somewhere the Sun is Shining to the voice of Elsie Carlisle, television was changed forever. Of Dennis Potter's many television firsts, perhaps his use of popular song was the most original.
In his two masterpieces Pennies from Heaven and The Singing Detective, he turns the conventions of the musical inside out. These are not songs written for the story, they're already there. Potter employs them to unforgettable effect to express emotions beyond dialogue or reinforce the dramatic situation itself.
Men sing to the voices of women, women to the voices of men. As Arthur says himself, "It's in the songs, it's in the songs" - the songs he tries to peddle for a living.
Potter explores and harnesses the all-pervasive art form of the 20th Century - the recorded popular song - to unprecedented dramatic effect. It's In The Songs examines how and why he does it and asks why the popular song so universally potent.
