Neil Gaiman's _Neverwhere_ to be adapted to Comic Series

also, the way things are going, the series will have ended and be out in trade paperbacks by the time i can afford to buy comix again. hooray!

http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=1642

Just watched the miniseries. It's really oddly low-budget in that 80s Doctor Who kind of way, but it might be my American reaction to the video shot with a different frame rate. I read the comic adaptation first, so I still like that more (especially its versions of Door and Richard), the series feels even more dated than its actual year of 1996, but the good main ideas still shined through and the actors for the assassins and Marquis were pretty entertaining.

Possible film adaptation coming next year, directed by David Slade (30 Days of Night, Hard Candy).

http://www.movieweb.com/movies/film/FIqJ0wvrBMeTuq

Actor who played Marquis was Paterson Joseph of Peep Show fame! Tamsin Greig was in it as well! I would quite like to see it again, but not enough to buy it on DVD.

Just watched the miniseries. It's really oddly low-budget in that 80s Doctor Who kind of way, but it might be my American reaction to the video shot with a different frame rate.

nono, you're absolutely right - i borrowed a friend's vhs box set a few (four?) years ago and man, it's dated verrry badly. the whole thing looks like it was made for 79pee and a packet of nik-naks.

having seen gaiman introducing (and indeed taking slightly embarrassed musical part in) amanda palmer's gig the other day, i've been reminded that i want to own Neverwhere.

a quick amazon search reveals a DVD set for a tenner, but also brings up Gormenghast (which i know) and things called Mirrormask and Ultraviolet - anyone know about these?

also, holy shit, peter capaldi was in neverwhere!

some great trivia here: http://www.dvdbits.com/reviews.asp?id=3324

including: "The TV series Neverwhere was released in 1996 but it looks older owing to the fact it was a low budget production that was shot on video but lit for film (giving it a feel to old Doctor Who episodes). This was because it had been intended at the time of shooting that it would be given a treatment in post production to make it look like film, a decision that was reversed to the detriment of the show (so despite being largely shot on location it looks more like it was shot on a set). The only part of the production that achieves what Gaiman envisaged is Dave McKean’s opening titles (and yes that is Neil striding towards camera) and Eno’s score, which he did for free (in fact director Dewi Humphrey’s was spoilt for choice as Eno generated 16 hours of music). As Neil Gaiman comments on the DVD Americans who had been watching 5th or 6th generation bootleg videos of the show probably had a better viewing experience because of the degraded quality of the image which made its production flaws less apparent."

Mirrormask is directed by Dave McKean and co-written by him with Neil Gaiman. It takes partly in the real world but mostly in a cgi-generated fantasy world. It was made in collaboration with Henson Productions.
It's pretty enjoyable, and very striking visually, but not a masterpiece.

yeah there's a thread on it somewhere. Gorgeous-looking film, but I've already forgotten most of the plot.

Ultraviolet - you mean the Milla Jovovich movie?

A six-part British vampire-slaying mini-series apparently.

oh haha. Never heard of it. The other Ultraviolet is one of Milla Jovovich's action vehicles where she spends most of her time in skin-tight outfits kicking ass - i think she's a vampire in it too.

The comic adaptation is on paperback in Fopp for £7 - I might pick a copy up on the way home.

Oh, I have vague memories of that Jack Davenport thing, now that you mention it. Would never have remembered it in a million years if you hadn't, like.

Oh, it was the channel 4 Ultraviolet. I love that series. I didn't watch it when it first came out, but I picked up the series set on DVD for some silly price in a sale and was surprised to really enjoy it. It's a very British take on vampire drama, with more of a procedural feel than something like Buffy.

The TV series Neverwhere was released in 1996 but it looks older owing to the fact it was a low budget production that was shot on video but lit for film (giving it a feel to old Doctor Who episodes). This was because it had been intended at the time of shooting that it would be given a treatment in post production to make it look like film, a decision that was reversed to the detriment of the show (so despite being largely shot on location it looks more like it was shot on a set).

On reflection, I'm quite tempted to buy a VHS copy from somewhere and then rip it to DVD for the full lo-fi effect, since apparently that's exactly what they've done with the official DVD :-)

Ultraviolet (the TV series) was indeed classic.

The bit of Neverwhere that I remember being most obviously low-budget were the scenes inside Door's family's house - they could have been part of any Doctor Who episode since 1963.

i still have it on mouldering vhs somewhere but haven't watched it since it aired. got a signed (and unread) copy of the book as well.

parts of it were filmed in the (still!) disused battersea power station (and, i think, st pancras hotel and a bunch of closed tube stations (aldwych? mornington crescent? wood lane? down street?))

One scene was filmed on the remains of a platform at Down Street station, whilst trains were running; the scene has normal service trains rushing past all the way through it.

Several scenes were filmed on the roof of the Midland Hotel - it was the home of Old Bailey.

I heard he's making a film of Death: The High Cost of Living with Guillermo del Toro?!??

Also he has a new youth fiction novel out now called The Graveyard Book (like the jungle book but with ghosts instead of animals raising the orphan boy).

I remember Neverwhere looking bafflingly dated back in 96.

Death movie: del Toro's the exec producer and Neil himself will be directing. From his site:

Death and Me: The final draft of the script that Neil has sent in was very well received, and if all goes right, Neil will begin directing it soon. When asked if he's looking forward to directing, he's honest about it...he's only really directing this movie because the subject is too close to his heart to see anyone else impose their vision on it. If there are mistakes, they'll be his, if something has to be changed, he'll be the one to do it. The movie will be about Dream's older sister, Death. Every hundred years, for one day, Death is a human girl. This is so that she never looses touch with her function, that she always understands what it is like to be a human, and the high cost of living as well as dying. It was originally a three issue mini series, which, even filmed word for word would only make a half an hour movie. Neil has written a great deal of original material to add to the length. In 2004, New Line Cinema was attached at the studio for the project, and actors were being lined up for the roles. It’s rumored that Shia LeBeouf will star. Guillermo del Toro is the executive producer. Some sites refer to the movie as Death’s Day, but it is not officially the title yet.

I can't wait to read the Graveyard Book - I went to a reading a few months before the book was out, it's very dark and very funny. Also, the adult cover looks like this:

http://www.optimalthought.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/tgb.jpg

Gotta love McKean.

Thanks Roz! I am excited by this. Not as excited as I would be to hear Terry Gilliam is finally making the Good Omens movie, but excited nonetheless!

I'm going to get Graveyard Book this weekend...I'll probably have finished it by Monday ha.

That Death: The High Cost of Living movie has been in the making for ages, I remember when Gaiman was a guest in the Helsinki Comic Con in 1998 or 1999, he mentioned that it's gonna be his next project.