Neverwhere

Last night and tonight I (re-)watched the BBC miniseries Neverwhere, written by Neil Gaiman. I had forgotten how well-done it is in many ways. If you liked the Sandman comic book, you'll probably enjoy this show too.

Neverwhere focuses on Richard Mayhew, a businessman (banker?) in London who gets sucked into the underworld. Not underworld like in mafia -- underworld as in a different world that exists beneath the streets of London and that is populated by some very other-worldly sorts of folks. Gaiman seems to do particularly well with putting ordinary people in extraordinary situations and making good story come out the other end. One of the things I liked about Sandman is that despite the millieu, I felt I was reading about people. Maybe not people who could ever exist on Earth, but people nonetheless. Some of the core characters in Neverwhere share that quality.

There are stock characters, and caricatures, to be sure. The visible bad guys (who I keep wanting to call Guido and Luigi though those aren't their names) are stereotypical but well-done and just the right blend of archtype and creep. The enigmatic Marquis is a mystery until the end. Door, the sweet young thing at the center of the conflict, seems helpless but isn't entirely so.

At the center of this is Richard, who doesn't really fit in either world and is now caught between them. The resolution of his story is nicely done, but I won't say more lest I spoil things.

There is one bit of cinematography (or art design, or something -- not sure where to place the credit) that was very effective. Somewhere in each episode we see this sequence of images -- the first time it's a dream, but not always -- that doesn't make a lot of sense. It's always the same sequence. Over the course of the six episodes, the meanings of the images become clear. Nice.

In general the production values are, um, toward the lower end, but you know what? I don't care. It was well-done within what was apparently a limited budget. I care a lot more about story than about sets and props.

Neverwhere was released on DVD in the US last year. (That's good, because Nth-generation PAL-to-NTSC tapes aren't always so wonderful. :-) ) The show aired in 1996.

Caveat: There is also a book. I read the book before seeing the show. I didn't know it had been made into a TV show when I found the book, actually. When I learned about the TV show I thought it was based on the book. Nope -- other way around. The book is a novelization. I think I might have enjoyed the show more if I had not read the book first.