Hilary Lloyd (b. 1964, Halifax) lives and works in London. She has exhibited internationally, with solo exhibitions including: Ok darling, show’s over!, Roland Ross, Kent, England (2024); You want it to be art and I want it to be a magazine, International Centre for Contemporary Culture, San Sebastian (2024); Dog bEar Scarf, Josey, Norwich (2022), Car Park, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2019); Chance Encounters V, Loewe Foundation, Miami (2019); Bar, BAR, Turin (2019); Theatre, Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea (2017); Awful Girls, Dorich House Museum, Dorich House Fellowship & Dora Volume 1, Kingston (2017); Blaffer Art Museum, Houston (2016); Robot and Balfour, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2015); Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel (2012), Artists Space, New York (2011); Raven Row, London (2010); Tramway, Glasgow (2009); Le Consortium, Dijon (2009); Kunstverein München (2006); Waiters, Henry Moore Foundation Contemporary Projects, Venice Biennale (2003); Kino der Dekonstruktion, Frankfurter Kunstverein (2000); and Chisenhale Gallery, London (1999). Lloyd was nominated for the 2011 Turner Prize for her 2010 exhibition at Raven Row, London.

Dennis Potter (b. 1935–d. 1994) was a journalist, novelist, cultural commentator, broadcaster, producer, director and playwright.

Born in a mining village in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire and graduating from Oxford University, he briefly worked as a journalist and entered politics, unsuccessfully standing as a Labour candidate in the 1964 general election. However, his most significant cultural and artistic contributions were made within the realm of British television drama, where he authored more than forty single plays, serials, and adaptations. 

His notable contributions include many of the BBC's Wednesday Plays and acclaimed series such as Pennies from Heaven (1978). The latter, conceived as a 'television novel', marked a pivotal moment in Potter’s career, as one of the earliest instances in which his characters engaged in stylised performances of popular songs—lip-synching and dancing to original 1930s recordings.

Although Potter consistently denied that his work was autobiographical, many of his dramas were informed by personal experiences. Perhaps most notably, his lifelong struggle with psoriatic arthritis was reflected in The Singing Detective, in which the protagonist’s illness closely parallels Potter’s own condition. 

Prior to his death in 1994, he completed two final scripts, Karaoke and Cold Lazarus. Remarkably, he successfully proposed that the productions be a joint venture between rival broadcasters, the BBC and Channel 4 – marking a landmark collaboration in British television history.

Melvyn Bragg (b. 1939, Wigton, Cumbria) is a writer, broadcaster and cultural advocate. Born into a family of publicans, agricultural labourers, and colliers, he was among a new generation of working-class teenagers in post-war Britain who gained access to university through the grammar school system. Bragg earned a scholarship to study Modern History at Wadham College, Oxford, in 1957.

He joined the BBC as a general trainee in 1961 and was appointed editor of New Release in 1964. This was the first arts programme on the newly launched BBC2. From that point on, Bragg established himself as a major figure in British broadcasting, editing, producing, and presenting a wide range of acclaimed and often groundbreaking arts and culture programmes on both television and radio.

For 33 years, Bragg edited and presented The South Bank Show and also served as controller of Specialist Factual and Arts programming at ITV Studios. The South Bank Show continued airing on Sky Arts until 2023, when the series ended. On radio, he presented Start the Week on BBC Radio 4 from 1988 to 1998 and has hosted the long-running In Our Time since 1998.

The room is dimly lit. Seating is available. An audio transcription of The Last Interview is available from the front desk.
If you have any questions or need assistance with your visit, please contact us at +44 (0) 20 7622 1294 or access@studiovoltaire.org. Read Studio Voltaire's full access information here.

1. An Interview With Dennis Potter, Film still. 1994. Credit WT/Channel 4
2. Hilary Lloyd, Blossom, 2017. Film still. © Hilary Lloyd. Courtesy the Artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London.