Before Neil Gaiman became known by film-going audiences for Coraline and Stardust and even before he was the god of fantasy and literary nerds everywhere, he wrote a script for an odd little BBC mini-series called Neverwhere. The novelization of the mini-series was his first novel written solo. (Gaiman had previous collaborated with Terry Pratchett on the apocalyptic satire Good Omens.) On its own, Neverwhere is a wonderfully imaginative mini-series with a wicked sense of humor and a dark sensibility. Viewing the mini-series in the larger context of his career so far, I could see a number of trends and traits that now define a Neil Gaiman work.
Richard Mayhew (Gary Bakewell) is a normal (if not a little boring) young man. He works in an ordinary London office and has a strong-willed fiance Jessica (Elizabeth Marmur) who walks all over him. At the beginning of Neverwhere, he is trying not to mess up yet another date with Jessica, but on the way to dinner, he stops to help a mysterious woman Door (Laura Fraser) who appears out of nowhere covered in blood. When the slimy Mr. Croup (Hywel Bennett) and brutish Mr. Vandermaar (Clive Russell) show up at Richard's apartment, Richard starts to suspect that Door is not any ordinary girl. He agrees to help Door by finding the Marquis De Carabas (Paterson Joseph), and his adventures take him below London's streets and beyond anything he could have dreamed.
Gaiman usually prefers his leading characters to be in a fish-out-of-water predicament. In Stardust, Tristan is a village boy encountering a world of witches and falling stars. Coraline in Coraline is discovering a new reality inside her family's dull house. Shadow from American Gods is dropped in a world where goddesses speak through episodes of I Love Lucy. Richard in Neverwhere is no different. If these characters were written by a lesser writer, Tristan, Coraline, Shadow, and Richard might have been passive and uninteresting next to more eccentric characters like the Marquis De Carabas. While Richard isn't my favorite character in Neverwhere, he manages to hold his own, even in the presence of the unbridled badassery of Door's bodyguard Hunter (Tanya Moodie). He overcomes so much to save Door, and in the process, he gets a taste for adventure and cannot go back to life as before.
Many of Gaiman's other signature traits are present in Neverwhere. Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandermaar are unmistakably Gaiman villains with their moments of dark humor (Mr. Vandermaar practicing his golf swing on frogs) to scenes of pure evil (torturing the Marquis). Gaiman's tendency to mix in a little religion with his fantasy is also present with Islington (Peter Capaldi), an angel banished from Heaven. Even little details like having tea down in the subway tunnels were so much fun for a fan like myself.
Of course, there is always the problem that a mini-series like Neverwhere is too niche to appeal to a wider audience. I know people that will think Neverwhere is bizarre, or they will focus on the series' low budget or older special effects. Viewers have to be willing to suspend their disbelief, and considering the strength of the writing and performances, it shouldn't be difficult. 15 years after its initial release, audiences can still get lost with Richard Mayhew, and like Richard, they might not want to leave this magical world.
SPECIAL FEATURES
The new DVD release has special features from the previous release of Neverwhere plus some new features specifically for the 15th anniversary of the mini-series. Previous extras include an interview with Neil Gaiman, an audio commentary by Gaiman, a photo gallery, and character descriptions. The team compiling this release did a great job giving the fans what they wanted with a map of Neverwhere, an introduction to the series, and a new commentary by Gaiman, Lenny Henry, and Clive Brill. Overall, I would call it a must-buy for those who already love the series as well as people who enjoy fantasy and want to see where Gaiman got his start.
"Neverwhere" is on sale November 15, 2011 and is not rated. Adventure, Fantasy, Television. Directed by Dewi Humphreys . Written by Neil Gaiman, Lenny Henry. Starring Clive Russell, Elizabeth Marmur, Gary Bakewell, Hywel Bennett, Laura Fraser, Paterson Joseph, Peter Capaldi, Tanya Moodie.
