The Singing Detective

Writer Philip Marlow is in hospital being treated for a severe skin affliction, something he has suffered from for 25 years but is now worse than it has ever been. He finds himself in a general ward with a group of other men being treated for a variety of ailments. Marlow's psoriasis covers him from head to toe and even the slightest movement proves extremely painful.The doctors have tried numerous treatments and medication, but to no avail. His only relief, ever so slight, is to gave his body greased from head to toe even though he is embarrassed at his reaction when the pretty Nurse Mills tends to him. Unable to use his hands, he nonetheless keeps working on a novel by imagining the events. In wartime London, Mark Binney goes to a sleazy nightclub where he leaves with two of the girls working there. One of them is later fished out of the Thames, nude.

After 10 or 11 weeks in the hospital, Marlow has a session with a psychiatrist, Dr. Gibbon, that does not go well. Gibbon believes that the root of Marlow's skin disorder is psychological and that he will not heal until he deals with his inner demons. Marlow recalls events, real or imagined, from his childhood growing up in a coal mining community. His father's singing, his beautiful mother's piano playing and the taunts from classmates. He also recalls encountering his mother in the woods with a man. In his novel, Mark Binney hires Marlow the private detective on the recommendation of his solicitor. He's spent the night with the Russian, Sonia, and now she's nowhere to be seen. He's even been told by the police, who didn't believe him when he said two men were watching his flat, not to disappear.

In the final episode of the series, memories of Marlow's childhood, his dreams and the events in his re-imagined novel collide with present day reality. Marlow continues his sessions with the psychiatrist, Dr. Gibbon and recalls his return to his Dad after the death of his mother. He reveals the lie from his school days that lead to a classmate, Mark Binney, being severely beaten by their teacher. The events and characters in his re-imagined novel are blended into his childhood memories, his fantasies about his ex-wife and her lover, the outcome of the novel and his medical condition.