8.0/10167 votes#1 - Skin
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 11/16/1986
Pulp thriller writer Philip Marlow is in hospital with the skin complaint psoriasis, tormented by his past and threatened by his future. His memories, his 1930s-style gumshoe fiction and his disease weave him an altered reality.
Director: Jon Amiel
Writer: Dennis Potter
8.1/10132 votes#2 - Heat
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 11/23/1986
Dennis Potter's drama about a patient struggling to keep his sanity, with the help of his alter ego, the singing private eye. Marlow faces a talking cure with a psychologist.
Director: Jon Amiel
Writer: Dennis Potter
7.8/10115 votes#3 - Lovely Days
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 11/30/1986
While in hospital with psoriasis, Marlow thinks back to the war when he was a little boy, and remembers seeing his mother having illicit sex in the Forest of Dean. His memories, his 30s style gumshoe fiction and his disease weave him an altered reality.
Director: Jon Amiel
Writer: Dennis Potter
7.8/10102 votes#4 - Clues
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 12/7/1986
Marlow as a child visits London, but is not impressed. A film option on Marlow's novel thickens the plot. His memories, his 30s style gumshoe fiction and his disease weave him an altered reality.
Director: Jon Amiel
Writer: Dennis Potter
7.9/10100 votes#5 - Pitter Patter
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 12/14/1986
Marlow is getting better and the different strands of his fiction and reality begin to occupy the same time and place.
Director: Jon Amiel
Writer: Dennis Potter
8.0/10101 votes#6 - Who Done It
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 12/21/1986
The young Philip Marlow returns to the country railway station following his mother's death in London. Forty years on, Marlow the hospital patient still dreams about the homecoming and the frightening figure of the scarecrow that now erupts into the ward.
Director: Jon Amiel
Writer: Dennis Potter
The Best Episodes of The Singing Detective Season 1
Every episode of The Singing Detective Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Singing Detective Season 1!
Tormented and bedridden by a debilitating disease, a mystery writer relives his detective stories through his imagination and hallucinations.
Genre:Drama
Network:BBC One
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Skin" is the best rated episode of "The Singing Detective" season 1. It scored 8/10 based on 167 votes. Directed by Jon Amiel and written by Dennis Potter, it aired on 11/16/1986. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Heat".