It's taken me a long time to discover "Neverwhere". When it was first shown in the UK in 1996, I was a student without regular access to a TV, so I never heard of it, and never saw it. The first time I heard about it was in November 1999, when I visited the disused Underground station at Down Street, where some of the series was filmed. People mentioned it, and it all sounded interesting.
I kind of forgot about it until recently, when I was browsing around for something to read, and came across the "Neverwhere" novel. I bought it, read it, and loved it - I think it's an original, exciting and highly readable book that really appealed to me. Having read it, I was itching to see the TV series, which has stupidly never been released on DVD in the UK, but is available in America - I ordered it from Amazon. It's worth pointing out that the DVDs are actually region-free, although advertised as Region 1, so you'll be able to play them in whatever DVD machine you have. The Region 2-only DVD drive on my computer worked fine.
Anyway...it's interesting to note the comments here. This seems to be a love it or hate it series, with some people clearly very unimpressed. I think it's important to point out a couple of things - first, the TV series was made before the novel was published, and it was written first and foremost as a screenplay. Neil Gaiman only began writing the novel once filming had commenced. He says that the novel is how he would have liked the series to be without the constraints of the budget they had, but that said, there's nothing massively different between the book and the series.
Second, I think a lot of people criticise the series for its production values. Yes, bits of it look a bit cheap and nasty, but it's not a major issue if you ask me - it's still a good piece of drama. You don't need a massive budget to make good fantasy, and the BBC has an excellent track record, with things like the older series of Doctor Who. This series is perhaps the last of a long line of typically British sci-fi and fantasy, a genre somewhat different to the stuff made in the States, and to some extent, you either get it or you don't. The BBC have now thrown huge budgets and a lot of SFX into the new Doctor Who and Torchwood, and perhaps they're a little poorer for it.
Third, if you're not at least slightly familiar with London's geography and history, bits of this won't make all that much sense at all. The American edition of the novel is actually quite different to the British one, in an attempt to explain some of the things that Londoners would just instinctively understand. The series is clearly closer to the British version of the novel.
The cast features some surprisingly big names, and I thought they were all good, especially the beautiful and slightly mysterious Door, the deliciously creepy Croup and Vandemar, and the charismatic Marquis. All the actors in the series have gone on to bigger and better things, which shows the strength of the talent in this.
I'll agree that the action scenes weren't very convincing, but never were they so bad that I had to suspend my disbelief. Given the budget and the constraints the makers were working under, I thought this was a really fine effort. The last episode in particular was very good indeed, and finished off the whole series brilliantly.
The only thing that struck me as a little pointless, and annoying, was the monologues at the beginning of each episode. A little stilted and wooden, and not really very necessary.
Neverwhere is perhaps crying out for big-screen treatment, and the Jim Henson Company has bought the rights, but the whole project seems to be a bit stagnant. However, it couldn't be in better hands - with fine films like Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal to their credit, I'm sure JHC would make a fine job of this. I really hope it sees the light of day.
Neil Gaiman has also hinted at a sequel (at least in novel form), and I sincerely hope it happens. If there's any justice in this world, Richard and Door will be an item by now. :) Highly recommended.
I kind of forgot about it until recently, when I was browsing around for something to read, and came across the "Neverwhere" novel. I bought it, read it, and loved it - I think it's an original, exciting and highly readable book that really appealed to me. Having read it, I was itching to see the TV series, which has stupidly never been released on DVD in the UK, but is available in America - I ordered it from Amazon. It's worth pointing out that the DVDs are actually region-free, although advertised as Region 1, so you'll be able to play them in whatever DVD machine you have. The Region 2-only DVD drive on my computer worked fine.
Anyway...it's interesting to note the comments here. This seems to be a love it or hate it series, with some people clearly very unimpressed. I think it's important to point out a couple of things - first, the TV series was made before the novel was published, and it was written first and foremost as a screenplay. Neil Gaiman only began writing the novel once filming had commenced. He says that the novel is how he would have liked the series to be without the constraints of the budget they had, but that said, there's nothing massively different between the book and the series.
Second, I think a lot of people criticise the series for its production values. Yes, bits of it look a bit cheap and nasty, but it's not a major issue if you ask me - it's still a good piece of drama. You don't need a massive budget to make good fantasy, and the BBC has an excellent track record, with things like the older series of Doctor Who. This series is perhaps the last of a long line of typically British sci-fi and fantasy, a genre somewhat different to the stuff made in the States, and to some extent, you either get it or you don't. The BBC have now thrown huge budgets and a lot of SFX into the new Doctor Who and Torchwood, and perhaps they're a little poorer for it.
Third, if you're not at least slightly familiar with London's geography and history, bits of this won't make all that much sense at all. The American edition of the novel is actually quite different to the British one, in an attempt to explain some of the things that Londoners would just instinctively understand. The series is clearly closer to the British version of the novel.
The cast features some surprisingly big names, and I thought they were all good, especially the beautiful and slightly mysterious Door, the deliciously creepy Croup and Vandemar, and the charismatic Marquis. All the actors in the series have gone on to bigger and better things, which shows the strength of the talent in this.
I'll agree that the action scenes weren't very convincing, but never were they so bad that I had to suspend my disbelief. Given the budget and the constraints the makers were working under, I thought this was a really fine effort. The last episode in particular was very good indeed, and finished off the whole series brilliantly.
The only thing that struck me as a little pointless, and annoying, was the monologues at the beginning of each episode. A little stilted and wooden, and not really very necessary.
Neverwhere is perhaps crying out for big-screen treatment, and the Jim Henson Company has bought the rights, but the whole project seems to be a bit stagnant. However, it couldn't be in better hands - with fine films like Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal to their credit, I'm sure JHC would make a fine job of this. I really hope it sees the light of day.
Neil Gaiman has also hinted at a sequel (at least in novel form), and I sincerely hope it happens. If there's any justice in this world, Richard and Door will be an item by now. :) Highly recommended.