262:("Waggytail Din-Din"): both of which feature Denholm Elliott's character Jack Black acting, and justify his claim to the psychiatrist that the adverts present an idealistic and "pure" world view. As Jack's mental health deteriorates throughout the course of the play, the voiceovers and dialogue featured in these commercials start to form an ironic commentary into his condition. The Krispy Krunch commercial, which originally sees Jack going to the kitchen for a midnight snack, transforms into a recollection of how he stumbled upon his wife in bed with his agent, while extracts from the Waggytail Din-Din advert are intercut with Veronica's misunderstanding of Jack's intention as she invites him to seduce her ("Dogs can't live without it!"). The play's final turning in on itself as one long commercial for tranquillisers sees Jack dressed in a medic's white coat in a television studio, quoting the "
273:. Jack appears to be aware of his role as a character within the confines of a television play and comments accordingly on the drama as it progresses. In the opening scene, as he waits for his appointment with the psychiatrist, Jack comments on the "shoddy" set design and the play's apparent lack of pace ("Not much bloody action, is there? People will switch over or switch off"); when an elderly patient tries to make polite conversation with him, he chastises her for the banality of her dialogue ("You don't get many interesting lines, do you?") before acknowledging this is "not fault" and that she has "only got a small part". Jack's paranoia about his predicament is intensified by his awareness of the camera, which
281:, the corrupt zombies"). Jack abdicates responsibility for his actions in the early part of the play by surrendering himself to its anonymous, malevolent author —when he beats his wife Judy during their walk on Barnes Common he immediately apologises by saying that is what the script demanded him to do— but when he attempts to take over the narrative in the latter part of the drama only then does he begin to realise exactly how powerless he has become until he receives medical intervention.
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mistakes his declarations of love as a sexual advance and invites him to seduce her. At an appointment the next day (junior) Doctor Bilson prescribes Jack with some different drugs to alleviate his paranoia. Jack leaves the hospital and climbs into a car with his wife Judy – and the whole play ends with "Jack's next job (in reality or imagination) ... fronting a presentation" for his newly prescribed drugs.
302:(1973), which also features a central protagonist (in this case 'Daniel Miller') who becomes aware of himself as a character in a novel and seeks to liberate himself from the hands of the author. In this work The Author also derides his agent, clearly based on Clive Goodwin, Potter's own agent at this time, in both works. This theme is also returned to in
202:
where Jack becomes violent and, convinced the camera is on him again (he acted in a dog food commercial there), decides to disrupt the narrative by running Judy over with her car. In an attempt to restore some 'goodness' into the plot he goes to Colin's flat to see his young wife
Veronica, who
314:(1996), both of which feature an author who becomes convinced that their latest works are being played out in front of them and they have been relegated to players in their own drama. The former uses a fictional advert for a chocolate bar, filmed as a pastiche of the 1970s
266:". Potter uses these commercials as a wider metaphor for popular culture becoming an inheritor of scripture; this is a device he explores in several plays, all of which take an essentially religious structure (see below).
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he much prefers them to television plays, which he considers morally corrupting. He goes on to reveal that his sexual disgust drove his wife Judy into having an affair with his agent Colin and that he has lost his faith.
379:"treated it as light comedy, skating over its psychological agonies", but recognised that Potter had "reached a peak" with this work. It received repeat broadcasts in 1987 (on
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Jack Black is a disturbed actor who believes himself to be trapped in a television play, followed around by an invisible camera. Having sought the help of an
340:(1954); in Thomas' poem, Black finds the sexual habits of the young couples in the eponymous Welsh town disgusting and dreams of frightening them.
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The play was first broadcast on BBC 2 on 4 July 1972 and received mixed reviews with critics missing the religious theme. Potter biographer
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series of eight plays featuring the same six actors. The play's central theme is of popular culture becoming the inheritor of religious
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Leaving the psychiatrist's surgery he encounters his wife, who persuades him to go somewhere where they can talk. They head to
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commercials, as a means of demonstrating how far an actress will go in pursuit of her profession, while the latter uses a
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As a means of underlining Jack's distaste for sex, Potter borrows his character's name from the cobbler in
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hospital psychiatrist, Jack explains that although he has recently only been able to find work in
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A major theme of the play is the exploration of individual choice in the face of a seemingly
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359:'s Oz stories, which are often viewed as satires for "glitzy commercialism" and the
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The action of the play is broken up by two mock television commercials for
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club as a metaphor for how human yearning becomes a commodity.
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355:) underline the central theme of both Potter's play and
435:, Woodstock and New York: Overlook Press, 1998, p.202
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949:Television shows written by Dennis Potter
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264:Epistle of St Paul to the Philippians
154:, first broadcast in 1972 as part of
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387:) as part of Dennis Potter seasons.
18:1972 British TV series or programme
433:The Life and Work of Dennis Potter
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585:Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton
1:
451:, London: Faber, 1998 , p.274
641:Follow the Yellow Brick Road
296:Follow the Yellow Brick Road
143:Follow the Yellow Brick Road
25:Follow the Yellow Brick Road
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449:Dennis Potter: A Biography
734:The Mayor of Casterbridge
553:
617:Moonlight on the Highway
782:Lipstick on Your Collar
367:Broadcast and reception
275:he frequently addresses
609:A Beast with Two Backs
577:Stand Up, Nigel Barton
504:Nigel Williams (Ed.),
258:("Krispy Krunch") and
192:television commercials
944:BBC television dramas
939:1972 television plays
873:The Singing Detective
825:Brimstone and Treacle
758:The Singing Detective
705:Brimstone and Treacle
673:Blue Remembered Hills
509:: Painting the Clouds
497:Graham Fuller (Ed.),
298:into his first novel
128:4 July 1972
681:Blade on the Feather
250:Structure and themes
900:Pennies from Heaven
817:Pennies from Heaven
750:Tender Is the Night
742:Pennies From Heaven
447:Humphrey Carpenter
431:W. Stephen Gilbert
405:Pennies from Heaven
326:Cultural references
271:omniscient narrator
169:Pennies from Heaven
697:Cream in My Coffee
593:Emergency – Ward 9
373:Humphrey Carpenter
343:The references to
290:Other Potter works
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245:as Veronica Sands
227:as Doctor Whitman
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81:Country of origin
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689:Rain on the Roof
665:Where Adam Stood
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345:The Wizard of Oz
256:breakfast cereal
239:as Doctor Bilson
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110:Original release
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219:Billie Whitelaw
213:Denholm Elliott
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148:television play
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75:Michele Dotrice
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361:American Dream
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300:Hide and Seek
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200:Barnes Common
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383:) and 2005 (
377:Alan Bridges
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332:Dylan Thomas
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279:telly snacks
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102:Running time
45:Alan Bridges
24:
15:
657:Double Dare
398:Double Dare
308:(1976) and
305:Double Dare
41:Directed by
933:Categories
841:Dreamchild
833:Gorky Park
766:Christabel
716:Television
625:Son of Man
601:Shaggy Dog
567:Television
419:References
357:Frank Baum
160:The Sextet
132:1972-07-04
105:69 minutes
89:Production
31:Written by
916:Blackeyes
774:Blackeyes
649:Joe's Ark
545:Works by
164:scripture
849:Track 29
726:Casanova
391:See also
385:BBC Four
351:and the
349:the film
260:dog food
182:Synopsis
94:Producer
51:Starring
790:Karaoke
718:serials
633:Traitor
412:Karaoke
320:karaoke
311:Karaoke
156:BBC Two
130: (
125:Release
115:Network
919:(1987)
911:(1986)
903:(1981)
895:(1973)
884:Novels
876:(2003)
868:(1993)
865:Mesmer
860:(1991)
852:(1988)
844:(1985)
836:(1983)
828:(1982)
820:(1981)
801:(1996)
793:(1996)
785:(1993)
777:(1989)
769:(1988)
761:(1986)
753:(1985)
745:(1978)
737:(1978)
729:(1971)
708:(1987)
700:(1980)
692:(1980)
684:(1980)
676:(1979)
668:(1976)
660:(1976)
652:(1974)
644:(1972)
636:(1971)
628:(1969)
620:(1969)
612:(1968)
604:(1968)
596:(1966)
588:(1965)
580:(1965)
511:; 2005
501:; 1993
347:(both
809:Films
569:plays
507:Arena
146:is a
119:BBC 2
381:BBC2
188:NHS
158:'s
150:by
935::
477:^
456:^
440:^
363:.
334:'
538:e
531:t
524:v
134:)
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