A BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the unproduced screenplay

Unmade Movies: Dennis Potter's The White Hotel

Dennis Potter's unproduced screenplay of D. M. Thomas's award-winning novel, plus bonus documentary 
 
'Incendiary' Radio Times 
 
The annals of movie history are full of lost treasures - spectacular scripts from world-renowned writers that could have been classics, had they only been made. Now, for the first time, some of these forgotten gems have been brought to life, fully realised as vivid, cinematic radio productions. Scripted by major 20th Century writers, including Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, Alfred Hitchcock and Dennis Potter, they star a host of A-list actors and feature richly evocative, atmospheric soundtracks. 
 
The White Hotel, one of seven 'unmade movies' available on audio, centres around circus performer Lisa, who visits famous Berlin psychoanalyst Dr Probst to discover the cause of her mysterious breast and pelvic pains. Reading her sexually-charged journal, Probst concludes that the answer lies in her past. But then Lisa reveals her unsettling premonitions - 'I see what is going to happen. And what is going to happen cannot be endured.' Is her trauma really the result of childhood memories, or a dark vision of the future? 
 
Lauded for his groundbreaking TV dramas, Dennis Potter also wrote several acclaimed screenplays, including Gorky Park. The White Hotel was taken up by numerous directors, from Bertolucci to David Lynch, with actors including Barbra Streisand and Meryl Streep slated to star - but the project defeated them all. Now, directed by Jon Amiel, who worked with Potter on The Singing Detective, this haunting, hallucinatory drama has finally found an audience. Anne-Marie Duff (His Dark Materials) stars as Lisa, with Bill Paterson (Fleabag) as Probst and Simon McBurney (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) as the narrator. It is preceded by a 15-minute documentary, The Long Road to the White Hotel, telling the story of the many failed attempts to film Thomas's novel and the making of the radio production. 
 
NB: Contains strong language and sexual scenes 
 
 
Production credits 
Written by D. M. Thomas 
Original screenplay by Denis Potter under licence from Briarpatch Limited L.P 
Directed by Jon Amiel 
Produced by Laurence Bowen and Peter Ettedgui 
Sound design: Wilfredo Acosta 
A Dancing Ledge production for BBC Radio 4 
 
Cast 
Lisa - Anne-Marie Duff 
Probst - Bill Paterson 
Narrator - Simon McBurney 
The Lover - David Gyasi 
Victor - Nigel Lindsay 
Aunt Magda - Morwenna Banks 
Vera/Old Woman/Wife - Jasmine Jones 
Various - Wayne Forester 
Officer/Captain/Maitre d'/Old Man - Nick Underwood 
Koyla - Felix Jamieson 
Little Lisa - Tillie Murray 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 8 September 2018 
 
The Long Road to the White Hotel 
With DM Thomas, Amanda Bale and Jon Amiel 
Produced by Philippa Geering and Geoff Bird 
An Overtone Production for BBC Radio 4 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 8 September 2018 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Dennis Potter's unproduced screenplay of D. M. Thomas's award-winning novel, plus bonus documentary 
 
'Incendiary' Radio Times 
 
The annals of movie history are full of lost treasures - spectacular scripts from world-renowned writers that could have been classics, had they only been made. Now, for the first time, some of these forgotten gems have been brought to life, fully realised as vivid, cinematic radio productions. Scripted by major 20th Century writers, including Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, Alfred Hitchcock and Dennis Potter, they star a host of A-list actors and feature richly evocative, atmospheric soundtracks. 
 
The White Hotel, one of seven 'unmade movies' available on audio, centres around circus performer Lisa, who visits famous Berlin psychoanalyst Dr Probst to discover the cause of her mysterious breast and pelvic pains. Reading her sexually-charged journal, Probst concludes that the answer lies in her past. But then Lisa reveals her unsettling premonitions - 'I see what is going to happen. And what is going to happen cannot be endured.' Is her trauma really the result of childhood memories, or a dark vision of the future? 
 
Lauded for his groundbreaking TV dramas, Dennis Potter also wrote several acclaimed screenplays, including Gorky Park. The White Hotel was taken up by numerous directors, from Bertolucci to David Lynch, with actors including Barbra Streisand and Meryl Streep slated to star - but the project defeated them all. Now, directed by Jon Amiel, who worked with Potter on The Singing Detective, this haunting, hallucinatory drama has finally found an audience. Anne-Marie Duff (His Dark Materials) stars as Lisa, with Bill Paterson (Fleabag) as Probst and Simon McBurney (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) as the narrator. It is preceded by a 15-minute documentary, The Long Road to the White Hotel, telling the story of the many failed attempts to film Thomas's novel and the making of the radio production. 
 
NB: Contains strong language and sexual scenes 
 
 
Production credits 
Written by D. M. Thomas 
Original screenplay by Denis Potter under licence from Briarpatch Limited L.P 
Directed by Jon Amiel 
Produced by Laurence Bowen and Peter Ettedgui 
Sound design: Wilfredo Acosta 
A Dancing Ledge production for BBC Radio 4 
 
Cast 
Lisa - Anne-Marie Duff 
Probst - Bill Paterson 
Narrator - Simon McBurney 
The Lover - David Gyasi 
Victor - Nigel Lindsay 
Aunt Magda - Morwenna Banks 
Vera/Old Woman/Wife - Jasmine Jones 
Various - Wayne Forester 
Officer/Captain/Maitre d'/Old Man - Nick Underwood 
Koyla - Felix Jamieson 
Little Lisa - Tillie Murray 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 8 September 2018 
 
The Long Road to the White Hotel 
With DM Thomas, Amanda Bale and Jon Amiel 
Produced by Philippa Geering and Geoff Bird 
An Overtone Production for BBC Radio 4 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 8 September 2018 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Alfred Hitchcock

Ernest Lehmann

Mark Gatiss

Anthony Hinds

D.M. Thomas

Dennis Potter

Harold Pinter

Karen Blixen

Joseph Conrad

Alexander Mackendrick

Jay Presson Allen

Arthur Miller

Michael Sheen

Peter Serafinowicz

Mark Strong

Hugh Laurie

David Suchet

Vanessa Kirby

Meera Syal

Full cast

Seven BBC Radio 4 Adaptations of Unproduced Screenplays

Seven legendary unproduced screenplays, resurrected and reinvented for BBC Radio 4 
 
The annals of movie history are full of lost treasures – spectacular scripts from world-renowned writers that could have been classics, had they only been made. Now, for the first time, some of these forgotten gems have been brought to life, fully realised as vivid, cinematic radio productions. Scripted by major 20th Century writers, they star a host of A-list actors and feature richly evocative, atmospheric soundtracks. 
 
Collected here are seven sensational ‘unmade movies’: 
 
Harold Pinter’s Victory, adapted from the novel by Joseph Conrad 
Harold Pinter’s The Dreaming Child, adapted from the novel by Karen Blixen 
Arthur Miller’s The Hook 
Alfred Hitchcock’s unfinished screenplay The Blind Man, completed by Mark Gatiss 
Hammer Horror’s The Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula 
Dennis Potter’s The White Hotel 
Alexander MacKendrick’s Mary Queen of Scots 
 
These could-have-been classics are brought to life with stellar casts featuring Hugh Laurie, Bertie Carvel, Rose Leslie, Bill Paterson, Ellie Bamber, Tim Pigott-Smith, Rebecca Front, Anne-Marie Duff, Meera Syal, Vanessa Kirby and Mark Strong. Setting the scene and providing the ‘establishing shots’ – the original stage directions and descriptions from the screenplays – are narrators Simon Russell Beale, Anne Reid, David Suchet, Peter Serafinowicz, Michael Sheen, Simon McBurney and Glenda Jackson. 
 
Moving, mysterious, suspenseful, thrilling and terrifying, these dazzling productions will keep you enraptured from beginning to end. So sit back, grab some popcorn and let them play out on the biggest screen of all – that of your imagination. 
 
NB: Contains strong language and sexual scenes 
 
© 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Books by D.M. Thomas

Series by D.M. Thomas

Unmade Movies

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter