Neverwhere (2013)

 

Not the awesomely inventive, mid-90s-BBC-budget miniseries, mind you.  Same story, different medium.  This is Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere in radio-play form.  (Side note:  I get the sense that Gaiman is forever chasing a perfect version of Neverwhere.  It’s also been published as a novel and a comic.)  I find that both incarnations are excellent in their own ways.  It’s like with Doctors – Two and Nine, for instance, are massively different but equally great.  Bet you didn’t think I could come up with an analogy that’s even nerdier than the thing I’m actually talking about, did you?

 

Split into six parts, this radio drama is actually half an hour longer than the original miniseries.  Each episode covers about the same ground as its television counterpart, but first episode is twice as long; apparently, set-up takes more time when you can’t see anything.  I was impressed with how well it comes off on radio.  There are a few clunky lines where one character needlessly describes what something looks like, but they manage to avoid it for the most part.

 

It’s interesting, the way your imagination fills in any visual gaps.  There’s some description, like I said, foley art is used well, and occasional sound effects on the voices give added hints, but really, that’s it.  Just a light framework for the world of London Below, and my mind fleshes out the rest.  (Amusingly enough, I envision the on-the-cheap sets and costumes of the miniseries.  Wonder if that’s what Gaiman had in mind!)  I’m not sure, though, if it’d be so easy for someone who hasn’t seen the TV version; I might have to find myself a guinea pig.

 

Since radio nicely minimizes the expense of creating an urban fantasy world, terrifying hallucinations, and a hulking beast, the whole production feels a lot sleeker than the original.  The big names don’t hurt, either.  James McAvoy and Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell on Game of Thrones, and a repeat visitor to Elementary) lend their voices to Richard and Door, and both are excellent.  McAvoy’s Richard is an overwhelmed but good-hearted everyman, and Dormer brings an otherworldly quality to Door, along with an inner strength.

 

I’m not terribly familiar with David Harewood, who plays the Marquis de Carabas, and he doesn’t make a huge impression on me.  In his defense, however, Paterson Joseph is just astounding in the miniseries and would be hard to match.  Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda, and she also played Liz Ten in series 5 of Doctor Who) is a fierce, dignified Hunter; her voice work here makes me wish I could see her performance onscreen.  Benedict Cumberbatch’s Islington couldn’t be more different from Peter Capaldi’s, and I think he tips his hand a bit early, but he’s very good as well.  No question that Islington isn’t of this world.  Anthony Stewart Head (Giles from Buffy, and he appeared in Who’s “School Reunion”) plays Mr. Croup with joyful menace.

 

And those are just the major players.  Also featured are Romola Garai (who starred in a miniseries of Emma a few years ago) and the great Christopher Lee.  For even more Whoniverse alumni, we have Bernard Cribbins (Donna Noble’s grandpa,) Lucy Cohu (Torchwood’s “Children of Earth” series,”) Yasmin Paige (Maria Jackson from The Sarah Jane Adventures,) and Paul Chequer (From Torchwood’s “Random Shoes.”)  Have I mentioned lately how much I love Britain?