Neverwhere
Neverwhere is an urban fantasy television series by Neil Gaiman that first aired in 1996 on BBC Two. The series is set in "London Below", a magical realm coexisting with the more familiar London, referred to as "London Above". It was devised by Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry, and directed by Dewi Humphreys. Gaiman adapted the series into a novel, which was released in September 1996. The series and book were partially inspired by Gene Wolfe's novel Free Live Free.
Plot
Richard Mayhew, a Scottish man living in London, encounters an injured girl named Door on the street one night. Despite his fiancée's protests he decides to help her; upon doing so he ceases to exist on Earth and becomes real only to the denizens of "London Below", whose inhabitants are generally invisible and non-existent to the people of "London Above". He loses his flat, his job, and nearly his mind as he travels London Below in an attempt to make sense out of it all, find a way back, and help Door survive as she is hunted down by hired assassins.In London Below the various familiar names of London all take on a new significance: for example Knightsbridge becomes "Night's Bridge", a stone bridge whose darkness takes its toll in human life; The Angel, Islington is an actual angel. London Below is a parallel world in and beneath the sewers. Its inhabitants are the homeless, but also people from other times, such as Roman legionaries and medieval monks, as well as fictional and fantastical characters.
Characters and cast
- Richard Mayhew – a young businessman, who discovers the world of London Below one day after helping the injured Door recover in his flat.
- Door – A young woman from London Below, the daughter of a noble family who were all murdered shortly before the beginning of the story. She possesses her family's innate ability to "open" things.
- The Marquis de Carabas – The Marquis is arrogant, cunning and very self-confident. Though very much the trickster, he is a loyal friend of Door and her family. This character was inspired by Puss in Boots. Gaiman stated this as the starting point for the character, and imagining "Who would own a cat like this?"
- Mr. Croup – The talkative half of the pair of assassins, the Messrs. He is short, fat, and speaks in a pompous and verbose manner. Like his partner, Mr. Vandemar, he seems to be able to simply move from one place to another very quickly despite his ungainly appearance. He is the brains of the pair and seems be the one calling the shots, and he apparently has a taste for fine china. Much of the imagery used to describe him is that of a fox.
- Mr. Vandemar – Dull-witted, tall, and gangly, Vandemar is Croup's polar opposite. He does not speak much, and when he does, his statements are often laconic and blunt. He is quite brutish and seems to enjoy nothing more than killing and destroying things. He also has a tendency to eat live animals. The descriptive imagery likens him to a hound or a wolf, and he even howls at one point when catching up with his mark.
- Old Bailey – An old friend of the Marquis, he keeps the company of pigeons on the rooftops and wears clothing made of feathers. He became indebted to the Marquis long ago, and so is charged with keeping a portion of his life safe for him.
- Hunter – A warrior of London Below; her feats are legendary. Her lifelong obsession is to slay the great Beast of London. The imagery used to describe her likens her to a lioness.
- The Angel Islington – An angel dwelling in the sewers of London Below. Its duty is to watch over London Below, though it failed at its previous task: guarding the city of Atlantis.
- Lamia – The leader of a group of vampire-like seductresses, dressed in dark velvet, who "suck the warmth" from their victims.
- The Abbott – The leader of a group of armed black friars guarding a special key at Blackfriars.
- The Earl
Episodes
- Door
- Knightsbridge
- Earl's Court to Islington
- Blackfriars
- Down Street
- As Above, So Below
Background
Neverwhere received some criticism for its appearance. One major problem lay in the original plan to shoot on video, and then later "filmise" the footage to make it look as if it had been shot on film. For this reason, the programme had been lit and shot in a manner appropriate to a film-based production. However, the decision to apply the filmisation process was later reversed. In addition to what some considered the old-fashioned appearance of un-filmised video, the lighting set up with film in mind appeared garish and unsubtle on the more clinical medium. Gaiman himself commented that the loss of quality resulting from multi-generational VHS copies actually improved the appearance in this respect.
Production
Locations
- Abbey Mills Pumping Station was used as the Angel Islington's lair.
- The scene where Richard meets Old Bailey was filmed on the roof of the Midland Grand Hotel at St. Pancras Station. The hotel interior was also used as "Down Street".
- The exteriors for the first Market were filmed at Battersea Power Station, though a different location was used for the interiors. HMS Belfast was the scene of the second Market.
- The scene where Richard saves a man from suicide was filmed on the Albert Bridge.
- The scenes where Croup and Vandemar capture the Marquis and where Richard bids farewell to Door and London Below were filmed in the abandoned Crystal Palace Subway.
DVD releases
Adaptations
Novelisation
Neil Gaiman wrote a novelisation of the television series that was first released in 1996, during the television show's transmission. This was accompanied by a spoken word release on CD and cassette. The text was later re-written for the US market and a third version is now available which combines elements of both earlier versions of the novel.Graphic Novel
A nine-issue graphic novel limited series began in June 2005, written by Mike Carey, with art by Glenn Fabry.Vertigo changed a character, the Marquis De Carabas, that had been portrayed in the TV series and on the Radio as a man from the African Diaspora into a creature with a black skin tone not seen in the real world.
The comic is an adaptation inspired by the novelisation, rather than the original TV series. Thus the characters and settings do not generally resemble those seen in the series. The series was published by DC Comics's Vertigo imprint. The collected volume was also published by Vertigo, in February 2007.
Stage
In 2006, a world-premiere stage adaptation of the novel, developed by writer and actress Eve Butler and director Sasha Travis, was produced by the Savannah Actor's Theatre in Savannah, Georgia.In 2008, a stage adaptation of the novel was created and performed by the Actors Gymnasium in Evanston, Illinois.
In 2010, Lifeline Theatre in Chicago performed an adaptation written by Robert Kauzlaric. The eight-week run proved so successful that it was extended another four weeks. The play was viewed by Neil Gaiman and the co-creator of the original BBC series, Lenny Henry, during the extension.
In February 2012, Calgary-based theatre company Mob Hit Productions performed a two-week run of Kauzlaric's adaptation.
In May 2011, the first school production of Kauzlaric's adaptation was performed at Northwest Academy in Portland, Oregon. In February 2013, Kauzlaric's adaption was performed at Friends Academy in Locust Valley, New York.
On 5 April 2013, the Sacred Fools Theater Company in Los Angeles performed the American West Coast premiere of Kauzlaric's adaptation. Originally scheduled to run through 11 May, it was extended an additional two weeks due to its popularity. The play was viewed by Neil Gaiman.
In August 2013, Washington, D.C.-based company Rorschach Theatre performed Kauzlaric's adaptation after a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Film
A script was written for a movie version in 2009 and was optioned by The Weinstein Company. The project has been abandoned since.Radio
A radio dramatisation in six parts was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 4 Extra in March 2013, written by Dirk Maggs and co-directed with producer Heather Larmour. During one of his book signings Gaiman indicated that it will be released for sale in late 2013.Sequels
Since at least 2014, Gaiman said a sequel to the book titled The Seven Sisters was a possibility.In 2017 he announced that he was in fact writing it.
"How the Marquis Got His Coat Back" is a short story written by Neil Gaiman and set in the Neverwhere universe. It was published in Rogues, a short story anthology edited by Gardner Dozois and George RR Martin.