Lipstick on Your Collar

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Lipstick on Your Collar
DVD Cover
Genre	Romantic musical comedy
Running time	approx. 5 hours
Creator(s)	Dennis Potter
Starring	Giles Thomas Louise Germaine Ewan McGregor
Opening theme	Conny Francis - Lipstick on your collar
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original channel	Channel 4
Original run	1993–1993
No. of episodes	6
IMDb profile

Lipstick on Your Collar is a 1993 British television serial written by Dennis Potter, originally broadcast on Channel 4. It is also notable for being Ewan McGregor's first major role. The main story is set in a British Government Intelligence Office in 1956, where a small group of foreign affairs analysts find their quiet existence disrupted by the Suez Crisis. Ewan McGregor plays Mick Hopper, who is disillusioned with his job and spends his days creating comedic fantasy daydreams about his work colleagues singing and acting up to amuse himself. Louise Germaine plays Sylvia Berry, the blonde bombshell wife of a violent work colleague of Mick, who becomes the object of desire for him and the character Francis Francis. Some of the side themes include the influence of American Rock and Roll on English society, the work of Russian playwright Chekhov, and the appreciation of opulent theatre pipe organs.

While some might view this romantic comedy as one of Dennis Potter's more conventional works, it is not without graphic sex and violence, as well as Potter's characteristic flashes of dreamlike imagery. The centrepiece of this production is the surreal musical sequence set to the song In A Persian Market. It is viewed by some critics as being the final entry in the musical trilogy Potter began with Pennies From Heaven (1978) and The Singing Detective (1986). The series were the last production of Dennis Potter, before he died from cancer in 1994.

The series was nominated in 1994 for two BAFTA-awards, in the categories "best make-up" and "best music".