Dennis Potter is arguably the most important creative figure in the history of British television. From 1965 until his death in 1994, he constructed a personal work of such depth and consistency that it will probably never be equalled in the medium.
The most prolific yet also most controversial of television playwrights, he remains the undisputed figurehead of that peculiarly British phenomenon of writers who make it their passion to show that television can be just as powerful a vehicle for artistic expression as cinema or theatre.
In 1989, after a falling out with his erstwhile producer Kenith Trodd, Potter decided to direct a television adaptation of his “feminist” novel, Blackeyes.
The result was a critical bloodbath in the United Kingdom, with the director accused of precisely the misogyny and sexploitation he claimed he had been trying to expose on screen.
The story revolves around the fictional character of ‘Blackeyes’ (Gina Bellman), a sexually exploited model who has been dreamed up by an ageing author who happens to be the original dirty old man.
77-year-old Maurice Kingsley (Michael Gough) has his literary invention used by men and adapting herself to their needs and fantasies. Eventually, she drowns herself.
Kingsley’s niece, Jessica (Carol Royle), is a former model and the inspiration for the Blackeyes character. She is so furious at her uncle’s work that she plans to write a sequel as revenge.
Enter Geoff (Nigel Planer), an advertising copywriter who has fallen in love with the fictional Blackeyes and decides to help Jessica.
Now comes the confusing part: Blackeyes, Jessica, and her uncle are all characters in another book . . . written by Geoff.
The complex series dealt explicitly with sexual exploitation and rape and delved into the darker side of our sexual behaviour. Predictably, it raised a storm even before the public had been given a chance to actually see it.
The actress at the eye of the storm, Gina Bellman, was prepared for the reaction of the moral majority She didn’t feel she was being manipulated and was aware of the double-edged irony of the series;
“How can you demonstrate the awful exploitation of models like Blackeyes without showing it on the screen? You can’t play safe with themes like this and we have made no compromises. Some scenes may shock but it’s for a purpose. There’s nothing I’ve done in it I’m ashamed of, nothing titillating”.
Potter directed the four episodes and provided the copious narration in his unmistakable West Country burr.
Maurice James Kingsley
Michael Gough Jessica
Carol Royle Jeff
Nigel Planer Blackeyes
Gina Bellman Jamieson
Colin Jeavons Andrew Stilk
Nicholas Woodeson Detective Blake
John Shrapnel Mark Wilsher
David Westhead Colin
Gary Love Little Jessica
Hannah Morris Narrator
Dennis Potter
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In 1989, after a falling out with his erstwhile producer Kenith Trodd, Potter decided to direct a television adaptation of his “feminist” novel, Blackeyes.
Kingsley’s niece, Jessica (Carol Royle), is a former model and the inspiration for the Blackeyes character. She is so furious at her uncle’s work that she plans to write a sequel as revenge.
“How can you demonstrate the awful exploitation of models like Blackeyes without showing it on the screen? You can’t play safe with themes like this and we have made no compromises. Some scenes may shock but it’s for a purpose. There’s nothing I’ve done in it I’m ashamed of, nothing titillating”.
