Originally conceived as a televised novel, Pennies From Heaven gave Dennis Potter the chance to flex his creative muscles. Potter had previously written many one-off drama's for the BBC in such programmes as Wednesdays Play and Play For Today, but Pennies From Heaven was the first multi-part production which allowed Potter to embellish and mix complex drama with darkly laced, musical fantasy.
This is a masterpiece, with a career-making performance from Bob Hoskins, which looks at the dark underbelly of post-war (WWII) Britain. Hoskins plays Arthur, a frustrated sheet music sales man; frustrated, though, in more ways than one. All he wants is to be loved by his wife, Joan (played masterfully by Gemma Craven), who is repressed and less than willing to give herself to Arthur's desires. Whilst on a business trip he falls in love with the innocent, but passionate schoolteacher Eileen (Cheryl Campbell) and when she becomes pregnant with his baby his life starts to slowly unravel.
This was groundbreaking and thought provoking when it first came out - the fact that, at any given moment the cast break out into song & dance routines from the 1930's is never explained, and heightens the unreality of the series. It also helps to further distance Arthur from his reality - in some respects I wonder if the whole series is portrayed from Arthur's point of view; even when we look at what is happening to the other characters, it's possible that we're seeing Arthur's own fantasies being enacted. This mixture of music hall and drama would be solidified with The Singing Detective and taken to new heights.
Pennies From Heaven has not aged at all and it is still far better and deeper than many drama's that have been produced since. All the performances are exemplary and Bob Hoskins proved to the world just how talented he really was. A timeless classic!
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