However, another TV screenwriter, whose latest work goes out on Sunday night – the six-part police series By Any Means (BBC1, 9pm) – has never received the attention he deserves.
The late Dennis Potter (Pennies from Heaven, The Singing Detective) was the first British small-screen auteur, with only Stephen Poliakoff, Alan Bennett, Jimmy McGovern and Lynda La Plante subsequently coming close.
Only very occasionally does a TV writer achieve the status of being literally or metaphorically before the title. TV drama is essentially an actors' form, partly because of the importance of on-air trails in promoting new shows: having seen someone in A, we are expected to tune in to B, after seeing a glimpse of them in it just before the news. In theatre, leading playwrights get their name on the posters in a type at least equal to the actors and, if they write a hit, can earn millions for decades. Although movie actors are paid astonishing amounts of money, film is largely a directors' (or, in the case of Harvey Weinstein, producers') medium, with the Woody Allens, Martin Scorseses and Quentin Tarantinos calling the shots and dominating the publicity. Y ou can tell a lot about an artform by who gets most credit.
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