"Casanova", Potter's first television serial, was broadcast on BBC2 in 1971. Inspired by Willard R. Trask's 1966 translation of Casanova's memoirs ("Histoire de ma vie"), Potter recast the Venetian libertine as a man haunted by his dependency on women. The serial was told using a non-linear narrative structure and, as the critic Graham Fuller noted in "Potter on Potter", "as chamber-piece and identity quest, "Casanova" strongly anticipates works such as "The Singing Detective"." It did, however, prove controversial for its frank depiction of nudity and was criticised for its sexual content. Controversy also dogged another play, "Brimstone and Treacle" ("Play for Today", 1976), the original version of which was not screened by the BBC for over a decade owing to the depiction of the rape of a disabled woman by a man who is implied to be the devil incarnate. It eventually was broadcast on BBC1 in 1987, although a 1982 film version had been made, with Sting in the leading role (see below) and a stage production had opened at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.