Trivia

He hated Rupert Murdoch so much that when he discovered he had cancer he named it 'Rupert'.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts have an award named after him, presented annually for outstanding writing for television.

He graduated from New College, Oxford University, with a second class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Producer Kenith Trodd, who worked closely with him for years, sees the events of his life as ideal for a biographical film drama: "I don't know whether it'll ever come off, but I want, at some point, probably for television, to do a Dennis Potter biopic. I haven't yet homed in on how we'd do it, who would write it or whether the character would be called Dennis Potter. But I know that in that life, there is a terrific story."

He was lampooned in a Spitting Image (1984) song that was never broadcast, but revived on YouTube.

He was the father of Jane Potter, Sarah Potter and Robert Potter.

Lampooned by Peter Kay.