''Neverwhere'' is an
urban fantasy
Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy which places imaginary and unreal elements in an approximation of a contemporary urban setting. The combination provides the writer with quixotic plot-drivers, unusual character traits, and a platform for cl ...
television miniseries by
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
that first aired in 1996 on
BBC 2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
. 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
Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter and writer.
Henry gained success as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in ''The Lenn ...
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
Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and nove ...
's novel ''
Free Live Free''.
[ "In a letter from the author included in the study guide, Gaiman revealed that he got the idea for Neverwhere after reading, "Free, Live Free", a Gene Wolfe book set in Chicago".]
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
Flat or flats may refer to:
Architecture
* Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries
Arts and entertainment
* Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch
* Flat (soldier), ...
, 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
Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End.
...
becomes "Night's Bridge", a stone bridge whose darkness takes its toll in human life;
The Angel, Islington
The Angel, Islington, is a historic landmark and a series of buildings that have stood on the corner of Islington High Street and Pentonville Road in Islington, London, England. The land originally belonged to the Clerkenwell Priory and has had ...
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 legion
The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period of ...
aries and medieval monks, as well as fictional and fantastical characters.
Characters and cast
* Richard Mayhew (
Gary Bakewell
Gary Bakewell (born December 1968) is a Scottish television actor who is best known for his role as Paul McCartney in the film ''Backbeat''.
As well as twice portraying Paul McCartney (in ''Backbeat'' and ''The Linda McCartney Story'') he has ap ...
) – a young businessman, who discovers the world of London Below one day after helping the injured Door recover in his flat.
* Door (
Laura Fraser
Laura Fraser (born 24 July 1975) is a Scottish actress. She has played Door in the urban fantasy series ''Neverwhere'', Kate in the film ''A Knight's Tale'', Cat MacKenzie in the BBC Three drama series ''Lip Service'' and Lydia Rodarte-Quayle i ...
) – 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 (and not just doors).
* Mr. Croup (
Hywel Bennett
Hywel Thomas Bennett (8 April 1944 – 24 July 2017) was a Welsh film and television actor. He had a lead role in ''The Family Way'' (1966) and played the titular "thinking man's layabout" James Shelley in the television sitcom '' Shelley'' (1 ...
) – 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 to be the one calling the shots, and he apparently has a taste (literally) for
fine china. Much of the imagery used to describe him is that of a fox.
* Mr. Vandemar (
Clive Russell
Clive Russell (born 7 December 1945) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline in ''Ripper Street'', Angus O'Connor in ''Happiness'' and Brynden Tully in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones''.
He also ap ...
) – 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 (even practising his golf swing with live toads). He also has a tendency to eat live animals. The descriptive imagery likens him to a
hound
A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey.
Description
Hounds can be contrasted with gun dogs that assist hunters by identifying prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. T ...
or a
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...
, and he even howls at one point when catching up with his mark.
* The Marquis de Carabas (
Paterson Joseph
Paterson D. Joseph (born 22 June 1964) is a British actor. He appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of ''King Lear'' and '' Love's Labour's Lost'' in 1990. On television he is best known for his roles in ''Casualty'' (1997–1998) ...
) – 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
"Puss in Boots" ( it, Il gatto con gli stivali) is an Italian fairy tale, later spread throughout the rest of Europe, about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand of a princess in marriage for hi ...
, in which the cat invokes a fictional character of this name. Gaiman stated this as the starting point for the character, and imagining "Who would own a cat like this?"
* The Angel Islington (
Peter Capaldi
Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in ' ...
) – An angel dwelling in the sewers of London Below. Its duty is to watch over London Below, though (or maybe because) it failed at its previous task: guarding the city of
Atlantis
Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...
.
* Hunter (
Tanya Moodie
Tanya may refer to:
* Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.
* Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name
* Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946)
* List of Mortal Kombat characters#Tany ...
) – 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.
* Old Bailey (
Trevor Peacock
Trevor Edward Peacock (19 May 1931 – 8 March 2021) was an English actor, screenwriter and songwriter. He made his name as a theatre actor, later becoming known for his Shakespearean roles. Later in his career, he became best known for playing ...
) – An old friend of the Marquis, he keeps the company of
pigeons
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
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.
* Lamia (
Tamsin Greig
Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Green Wing'', Beverly Lincoln in Br ...
) – The leader of a group of vampire-like seductresses, dressed in dark velvet, who "suck the warmth" from their victims.
* The Earl (
Freddie Jones
Frederick Charles Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (12 September 1927 – 9 July 2019) was an English actor who had an extensive career in television, theatre and cinema productions for a ...
)
* The Abbott (
Earl Cameron
Earlston Jewitt Cameron, CBE (8 August 19173 July 2020), known as Earl Cameron, was a Bermudian actor who lived and worked in the United Kingdom. After appearing on London's West End stage, he became one of the first black stars in the Britis ...
) – The leader of a group of armed black friars guarding a special key at Blackfriars.
* Anasthesia (
Amy Marston
Amy Jessica Marston (born 1972) is an English actress on screen and in theatre. She is known for her roles as Sylvia Sands in ''The Hello Girls'', as Deborah in ''Rome'', and as Jenny Rawlinson in ''EastEnders''.
film and television career
M ...
)
Episodes
''Neverwhere'' was first broadcast on
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
from 12 September 1996. There are six half-hour episodes:
# ''Door''
# ''Knightsbridge''
# ''Earl's Court to Islington''
# ''Blackfriars''
# ''Down Street''
# ''As Above, So Below''
Background
The idea for the story came from a conversation between Gaiman and Henry about a possible television series. Henry suggested a story with tribes of homeless people in London. Gaiman was initially reluctant to commit, as he feared that making the homeless appear "cool" might cause more young people to attempt to emulate the characters, but decided that the effect could be avoided by making the story more removed from reality.
''Neverwhere'' received some criticism for its appearance. One major problem lay in the original plan to shoot on video (for budgetary reasons), 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
Abbey Mills Pumping Station is a sewage pumping station in Mill Meads, East London, operated by Thames Water. The pumping station lifts sewage from the London sewerage system into the Northern Outfall Sewer and the Lee Tunnel, which both run to B ...
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
Midland may refer to:
Places Australia
* Midland, Western Australia
Canada
* Midland, Albert County, New Brunswick
* Midland, Kings County, New Brunswick
* Midland, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Midland, Ontario
India
* Midland Ward, Kohima, Naga ...
at
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is ...
. The hotel interior was also used as "Down Street".
* The exteriors for the first Market were filmed at
Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned Grade II* listed coal-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) ...
, 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 at the abandoned
Crystal Palace station.
DVD releases
The six episodes were released in the US and Canada to DVD as a two-disc set on 9 September 2005 in conjunction with
A&E Network
A&E is an American basic cable network, the flagship television property of A&E Networks. The network was originally founded in 1984 as the Arts & Entertainment Network, initially focusing on fine arts, documentaries, television drama, dramas, and ...
. Despite the DVDs often being advertised as
region 1, some of the actual discs are region zero. The BBC have released the series on DVD on 23 April 2007. The opening theme tune on the original BBC2 transmission was the same as the music over the closing credits. The opening theme on the Region 2 DVD version is a series of abstract sounds, while the closing music remains intact. The music for the series was made by
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
.
Adaptations
Novelisation
Neil Gaiman wrote a
novelisation
A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...
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 (Gaiman's publisher insisting that many of the references of London were too obscure for US tastes) 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 Limited series may refer to:
*Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series
*Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered
*Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...
began in June 2005, written by
Mike Carey (who had worked on ''
Lucifer
Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage ...
'', a spin-off from Gaiman's ''
The Sandman
The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes.
Representation in traditional folklore
The Sandman is a traditional charact ...
''), with art by
Glenn Fabry
Glenn Fabry (; born 24 March 1961) is a British comics artist known for his detailed, realistic work in both ink and painted colour.
Career
Glenn Fabry's career began in 1985, drawing ''Sláine (comics), Slaine'' for ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD ...
.
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
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
's
Vertigo
Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...
imprint
Imprint or imprinting may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series
* "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror''
* ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film
...
. 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
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
.
In 2008, a stage adaptation of the novel was created and performed by the Actors Gymnasium in
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...
.
In 2010, Lifeline Theatre in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
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
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
-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
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
. In February 2013, Kauzlaric's adaption was performed at Friends Academy in
Locust Valley, New York
Locust Valley is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the Oyster Bay (town), New York, Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island ...
.
On 5 April 2013, the
Sacred Fools Theater Company
The Sacred Fools Theater Company is a Los Angeles-based theatre company and nonprofit organization. Founded in January 1997, it's a member organization of the LA Stage Alliance.
For 18 years the company resided at 660 N. Heliotrope in The Heliotr ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
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.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
-based company Rorschach Theatre performed Kauzlaric's adaptation after a successful
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign.
Film
A script was written for a movie version in 2009 and was
optioned
In the film industry, an option is a contractual agreement pertaining to film rights between a potential film producer (such as a movie studio, a production company, or an individual) and the author of source material, such as a book, play, or s ...
by
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...
. 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
David George Dirk Maggs (born St. Helier, Jersey, February 1955) is a British freelance writer and director. During his career as a Senior Producer in BBC Radio he made radio drama adopting a cinematic-sounding approach, combining filmic story c ...
and co-directed with producer Heather Larmour. During one of his book signings Gaiman indicated that it would be released for sale in late 2013. The radio play starred James McAvoy as Richard Mayhew and Natalie Dormer as Lady Door.
Sequels
Since at least 2014, Gaiman said a sequel to the book titled ''The Seven Sisters'' was a possibility, later confirming in 2017 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 rogue is a person or entity that flouts accepted norms of behavior.
Rogue or rogues may also refer to:
Companies
* Rogue Ales, a microbrewery in Newport, Oregon
* Rogue Arts, a film production company
* Rogue Entertainment, a software comp ...
'', a short story anthology edited by
Gardner Dozois
Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American people, American science fiction author and editing, editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of ...
and
George RR Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels '' A So ...
. Audible adapted it as an audio story as well.
See also
*
List of films about angels
This is a list of films where angels appear.
Angels
* ''The Christmas Angel'' (1904)
* ''The Passing of the Third Floor Back'' (1935)
* ''The Green Pastures'' (1936)
* '' Here Comes Mr. Jordan'' (1941)
* ''I Married an Angel'' (1942)
* ''A Guy Na ...
* ''
Undone'', a radio series featuring a number of parallel universe versions of London between which the protagonists may pass by means of hidden "gaps". It was described by one of its authors as "a kind of comic ''Neverwhere''".
References
External links
*
*
*
The Very Small But Quite Significant Neverwhere PageNeverwhere at h2g2*
{{Brian Eno
BBC television dramas
British fantasy television series
Television shows written by Neil Gaiman
1990s British drama television series
1996 British television series debuts
1996 British television series endings
1990s British television miniseries
Television shows set in London
Angels in television
Fiction about invisibility
English-language television shows
Comics set in London