Neil Gaiman Epic Fantasy Needs A New Adaptation
Neverwhere was Neil Gaiman’s first solo book. However, this story started as a TV miniseries before Gaiman stepped in to write the book and expand upon it. Later, a podcast dramatization emerged, but with modern technology, it’s time to bring the story back to life.
Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere
Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere focuses on Richard Mayhew, a young businessman. New to London and on his way to meet with his fiancee and her boss, he comes across a girl named Door and starts to help her. While trying to assist the young girl and later save himself, he spends a lot of time in a magical place known as London Below.
First A Miniseries In 1996
The original TV miniseries isn’t bad by any means. The acting is almost perfect, and the story still flows well. However, the limited budget and time mean the story is lacking in terms of quality and doesn’t feature many details Neil Gaiman wanted fans to know, which is how the book came to life.
From TV To Bookstands
I know Neverwhere became a book because Neil Gaiman felt that the TV mini-series didn’t do a good job explaining the world and answering questions. However, so many of his other adapted stories are doing quite well, such as Sandman and Good Omens more recently and movies like Coraline and Stardust historically, that it may be time to look back at Neverwhere.
The Radio Play
In 2013, Neverwhere received a full-cast dramatization based on the original mini-series. For those who don’t know, these full-cast dramatizations are sort of mixes between audiobooks and old radio stories. The dramatization had a pretty amazing cast, with actors like James McAvoy (X-Men: First Class), Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones), David Harewood (Blood Diamond), David Schofield (Gladiator), Sophie Akonedo (Hotel Rwanda), Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness), Christopher Lee (Lord of the Rings), and Anthony Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
Would Benefit From A Modernization
While the dramatization is pretty awesome, and I urge anyone who is a fan of Neverwhere—either the book or the show—to watch it, I think the book deserves a full adaptation. Anyone watching the miniseries or listening to the dramatization is missing important information and ideas that had to be cut to improve the TV show. Therefore, it could be argued that those two versions of the story aren’t complete.
Besides, with modern CGI and effects, how amazing would some of the more magical scenes of Neverwhere look? Imagine the Floating Market or the Night Bridge, with a great budget and modern TV visuals. It would be amazing to see.
Gaiman Has Been Teasing A Sequel
Of course, Neil Gaiman has been teasing people with a sequel of Neverwhere, likely called The Seven Sisters, for a long time now. It’s possible that the film industry was simply waiting for the second book to come out and turn the entire story into a series or set of movies. Unfortunately, the book doesn’t appear to be coming out soon, if ever.
For those who have been waiting, a new adaptation of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman would be a great way for people to delve back into this fantasy world, besides reading the book or watching the original series again.
If you want to watch the series again, it’s free to stream on PlutoTV with ads. You can also rent/buy the series on AppleTV, Amazon Prime TV, or Fandango.
