11. Karaoke

Dennis Potter's Karaoke was the first of two linked dramas written
as he was dying and produced posthumously after his death. Starring
Albert Finney as dying writer Daniel Feeld, the series is a kind of
Dennis Potter's greatest hits with references aplenty to his
previous works and a self-aware storyline that reflects on the
blurring of lines between reality and fiction when people starting
behaving like Feeld's characters and speaking the lines he has
written. A stellar guest cast includes Hywel Bennett, Richard E.
Grant, Alison Steadman, Roy Hudd, Liz Smith, Saffron Burrows and
Keeley Hawes. Martin also watched and reflects upon its sequel Cold
Lazarus and its links with Karaoke. Is this Dennis Potter at its
finest or simply one of his last works? Join Andy and Martin as
they go back to examine a TV series that had been long-awaited when
it debuted in 1996. Next Time: London's Burning (the Jack Rosenthal
pilot not the more run-of-the-mill TV series that followed it!)