Claim: The Singing Detective played on BBC One.

The Singing Detective is a BBC television serial drama , written by Dennis Potter , which stars Michael Gambon and was directed by Jon Amiel . The six episodes were `` Skin '' , `` Heat '' , `` Lovely Days '' , `` Clues '' , `` Pitter Patter '' and `` Who Done It '' .   The serial was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 in 1986 on Sunday nights from 16 November to 21 December with later PBS and cable television showings in the United States . It won a Peabody Award in 1989 . It ranks 20th on the British Film Institute 's list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes , as voted by industry professionals in 2000 . It was included in the 1992 Dennis Potter retrospective at the Museum of Television & Radio and became a permanent addition to the Museum 's collections in New York and Los Angeles . There was co-production funding from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . It was released on DVD in the US on 15 April 2003 and in the UK on 8 March 2004 .