Neverwhere (1996)

I have made no secret of how excited I am that Stardust has finally made its way to blu-ray, that the adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s work had been stuck in HD-DVD purgatory for so long is a real tragedy. Matthew Vaughn adapted the book onto a canvas so big to be done justice in standard definition, as befits Gaiman’s work, another of which, Coraline, was among the first salvos fired in the new barrage of 3D films. That the technology and budgets exist to do his work justice make me a happy Film Cynic, but what about the adaptations that got made before these wondrous times under much tighter budgetary and technological constraints?

Gaiman himself said that it is best to watch the show on a 4th or 5th generation VHS copy, where the video degradation actually works in its favour.

Neil Gaiman was once approached to create a teleplay for the BBC about various tribes of homeless people living in London. He balked at the idea trying to make living on the street seem “cool” to young people (can you believe this man’s integrity?) but went ahead and created something with his own spin: the world of “London Below”. London Below is a magical world beneath the streets of London comprised of the Underground and several other nooks and crannies that goes unseen by the mundane residents of “London Above”. London Below is replete with monsters, wizards, angels, demons, warriors and hunters and will sometimes spill out into the “real world” – like when Lady Door magically appears lying on the sidewalk in front of buttoned-down office bore Richard Mayhew while he’s on his way to dinner with his vapid fiancee. This chance encounter drags Richard into this world, with no discernible way out. Thus begins a quest alongside Door, who can magically open any lock; Hunter, a legendary warrior who seeks to slay the Great Beast of London; and the Marquis of Carabas, a proper rogue with flimsy loyalties and his own agenda. Sniffing after their trail are Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, a set of pre-historic thugs after Door at the behest of a mysterious employer, someone very powerful who has already taken out Door’s entire family.

The story is fantastic, so great in fact that it was expanded into a full-length novel by Gaiman (a book I read almost exclusively while riding Toronto’s subway lines). In fact, the novel was so good I had thought the TV show had been adapted from it… adapted imperfectly. The production values for the show are pretty weak, with everything looking like it was put together by the crew of 1980′s Doctor Who in their off hours. I understand that it was supposed to have been shot on video and then run through some kind of filmization process to polish it up, but that never happened – leaving the lighting looking pretty garish and ugly. Gaiman himself said that it is best to watch the show on a 4th or 5th generation VHS copy, where the video degradation actually works in its favour. That aside though, I think it’s fascinating to watch Neil Gaiman’s ideas contained within such a small creative space, it really lets his ideas shine through unfettered.