Casanova is a British television drama serial, written by television playwright Dennis Potter. Directed by Mark Cullingham and John Glenister, the serial was made by the BBC and screened on the BBC2 network in November and December 1971. It is loosely based on Italian adventurer Giacomo Casanova's Histoire de ma vie (Story of My Life; 1780–1792). It was Dennis Potter's first television serial, having previously written single plays for the BBC's The Wednesday Play and Play for Today series. Frank Finlay starred in the title role and was nominated for the best actor award at the 1972 BAFTA ceremony. Like much of Potter's work, Casanova's scenes take place out of chronological order, during various times well before and well after the first scene in the series; sometimes an event in the episode will cause a flashback to an earlier period.