Neverwhere
- TV Mini Series
- 1996
- 30m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
3.2K
YOUR RATING
A man in London encounters an injured young woman, and instantly exists only to those in London Below. As he helps the woman escape from assassins, he must try to find his way back to London... Read allA man in London encounters an injured young woman, and instantly exists only to those in London Below. As he helps the woman escape from assassins, he must try to find his way back to London Above.A man in London encounters an injured young woman, and instantly exists only to those in London Below. As he helps the woman escape from assassins, he must try to find his way back to London Above.
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After being treated to the first episode of this gritty tale of another world I was left desperate for more! I am quite surprised that this passed me by in the first instance. What on earth was I doing in 1996 when this was being shown?
Neverwhere begins with the introduction of its characters in a less than conventional way. It almost puts you off by its quirky and totally off the rails introduction. Once you get over this and the low budget nature of the program you find that the storyline is quite appealing. There are many familiar faces to discover throughout each episode.
This 6 episode adventure would appeal to fans of Dr Who and general low budget science fiction. This is never going to be mainstream programming and thats where its appeal lies. Give the first 10 minutes of episode one a try, its a pretty good indicator of the general story itself, and it got me hooked pretty quickly.
8/10 LEWIS CAROL EAT YOUR HEART OUT!
Neverwhere begins with the introduction of its characters in a less than conventional way. It almost puts you off by its quirky and totally off the rails introduction. Once you get over this and the low budget nature of the program you find that the storyline is quite appealing. There are many familiar faces to discover throughout each episode.
This 6 episode adventure would appeal to fans of Dr Who and general low budget science fiction. This is never going to be mainstream programming and thats where its appeal lies. Give the first 10 minutes of episode one a try, its a pretty good indicator of the general story itself, and it got me hooked pretty quickly.
8/10 LEWIS CAROL EAT YOUR HEART OUT!
10buchichu
This series will both surprise and delight you...the quality isn't the greatest, like that of a British soap opera, but you'll be hooked after the first 10 minutes. The writing is great, the characters are wonderfully written, each one with it's own personality, back round, life - you tend to feel you know them by the end, and an emotional connection is unavoidable. Perfect acting by ALL involved. Highly recommended.
You probably have to know London a bit to fully enjoy the story of Neverwhere (the series or the novel for that matter). The whole story relies on knowing a bit of the city layout, above and below :) And it's understandable that US viewers can be surprised by the low budget BBC production (unless they were familiarized with it through stuff like Dr Who which seems to be popular at the moment). Most European TVs don't get to sell their productions abroad so they won't invest as heavily as the US productions.
I read the novel long before I could get my hands on the DVD (actually way before I was even aware of anything being available in filmed form, much less as a DVD). For some reason the only release seems to be for the US market.
Regarding the Neverwhere series, yes, while the cast is mostly good, some of the actors are so-so. Even with the obviously shoestring budget, the sets and costumes are quite inventive and convincingly used. The directing unfortunately is really poor and it does quite a bit of damage to the effectiveness of the whole.
If you have read and enjoyed the novel, you will find the series to be something imperfect yes but also something that you can watch with fondness. Possibly a proper adaptation by a proper director with a decent budget would be nice. But it's unlikely it will ever happen. Isn't it better to enjoy what's available even if it could theoretically be better ?
I read the novel long before I could get my hands on the DVD (actually way before I was even aware of anything being available in filmed form, much less as a DVD). For some reason the only release seems to be for the US market.
Regarding the Neverwhere series, yes, while the cast is mostly good, some of the actors are so-so. Even with the obviously shoestring budget, the sets and costumes are quite inventive and convincingly used. The directing unfortunately is really poor and it does quite a bit of damage to the effectiveness of the whole.
If you have read and enjoyed the novel, you will find the series to be something imperfect yes but also something that you can watch with fondness. Possibly a proper adaptation by a proper director with a decent budget would be nice. But it's unlikely it will ever happen. Isn't it better to enjoy what's available even if it could theoretically be better ?
this novel was one of the better dark fantasy books i have read, a very modern Hero Epic. Anyone who has ever lived in london (as i have) will certainly appreciate this. Fans of Neil Gaiman is a must. Its flaw is that some of the performances are only so-so, and it us unfortunately incredibly Under-funded. Not that big budgets are a must (look at Blair Witch Project), but this looks a little too cheap, a lot like Dr. Who.
After seven years, Neverwhere is finally available on DVD, and can be found on major shopping sites like Amazon. I'm sure many of you heard of it, but much fewer have seen it. This fascinating 1996 BBC mini-series was created by Mr. Neil Gaiman, accomplished and acclaimed author of American Gods, Coraline and Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett) among others, and co-written by Gaiman and the wonderful British comedian Lenny Henry. Gaiman fans such as myself have waited for quite some time to see this series introduced to American audiences - and since Gaiman is now finally breaking ground in the States (American Gods actually won the Hugo award, and was an international bestseller) this seems like the perfect time. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a video of the series a couple of years back, but those are quite rare. If you love Neil's work, take the chance to finally see this lovely piece of work.
Neverwhere is a highly imaginative story of urban legend, rich with Gaiman's special brand of British black humor. The script is really wonderful, and Henry helps with his own experience in screenplay writing. Acting is terrific by everyone involved - I loved Gary Bakewell (frequent Paul McCartney impersonator on various BBC tele-biographies) as Richard Mayhew, the ordinary Englishman drawn into a strange adventure underground, and many other accomplished British actors - such as Laura Fraser, Trevor Peacock, Freddie Jones and Peter Capaldi - give a great performance. Unfortunately, the series suffers from the same problems shared by most British TV series - a budget lower than that of one episode of 'Dharma and Greg'. Therefore, the scenery, though highly inventive and original, doesn't look very impressive. Dewi Humphreys directs like he would direct a soap opera or a murder mystery, and though the directing of the dialogue is flawless, the action scenes are immensely disappointing, especially the 'Beast of England' battle, which is incredibly unconvincing.
Despite these weaknesses, though, the series is still well worth watching, especially if you're fond of the genre, and also if you're fond of British television. A word on two great artists who contributed much to the series: Dave McKean, for one, the great artist who collaborated with Gaiman in works like 'The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch', 'Black Orchid' and Coraline, created an astounding opening sequence to every episode, which is a fascinating piece of work by itself; if you enjoy his work on such graphic novels as Arkham Asylum, Cages and his covers for Neil's Sandman series, the DVD is worth it just for this one sequence. Secondly, the brilliant Mr. Brian Eno, the inventor of Ambient music and musical collaborator of the likes of David Byrne, David Bowie and Robert Fripp, supplies the wonderful score to the series, very eerie and atmospheric synthesized music. Thank god for that, because without him we'd probably have basic British TV music, which tends to be quite awful - and Eno's sound really adds a lot to the atmosphere of the story.
It's important that, if you read and enjoyed the novel Neverwhere, you won't approach this series expecting Hollywood - or even modern American television - production values, because you'll be disappointed. A movie version of this nature, in collaboration with Jim Henson co, has been in talks for some time, but it doesn't seem very likely. If fantasy films are to you special effects and big battle scenes, you probably won't be impressed by Neverwhere. If you love fantasy literature, though, and especially Gaiman's work, you'll find Neverwhere highly rewarding. It's very entertaining, and very imaginative. And in the end, imagination is what fantasy is all about. Isn't it?
Neverwhere is a highly imaginative story of urban legend, rich with Gaiman's special brand of British black humor. The script is really wonderful, and Henry helps with his own experience in screenplay writing. Acting is terrific by everyone involved - I loved Gary Bakewell (frequent Paul McCartney impersonator on various BBC tele-biographies) as Richard Mayhew, the ordinary Englishman drawn into a strange adventure underground, and many other accomplished British actors - such as Laura Fraser, Trevor Peacock, Freddie Jones and Peter Capaldi - give a great performance. Unfortunately, the series suffers from the same problems shared by most British TV series - a budget lower than that of one episode of 'Dharma and Greg'. Therefore, the scenery, though highly inventive and original, doesn't look very impressive. Dewi Humphreys directs like he would direct a soap opera or a murder mystery, and though the directing of the dialogue is flawless, the action scenes are immensely disappointing, especially the 'Beast of England' battle, which is incredibly unconvincing.
Despite these weaknesses, though, the series is still well worth watching, especially if you're fond of the genre, and also if you're fond of British television. A word on two great artists who contributed much to the series: Dave McKean, for one, the great artist who collaborated with Gaiman in works like 'The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch', 'Black Orchid' and Coraline, created an astounding opening sequence to every episode, which is a fascinating piece of work by itself; if you enjoy his work on such graphic novels as Arkham Asylum, Cages and his covers for Neil's Sandman series, the DVD is worth it just for this one sequence. Secondly, the brilliant Mr. Brian Eno, the inventor of Ambient music and musical collaborator of the likes of David Byrne, David Bowie and Robert Fripp, supplies the wonderful score to the series, very eerie and atmospheric synthesized music. Thank god for that, because without him we'd probably have basic British TV music, which tends to be quite awful - and Eno's sound really adds a lot to the atmosphere of the story.
It's important that, if you read and enjoyed the novel Neverwhere, you won't approach this series expecting Hollywood - or even modern American television - production values, because you'll be disappointed. A movie version of this nature, in collaboration with Jim Henson co, has been in talks for some time, but it doesn't seem very likely. If fantasy films are to you special effects and big battle scenes, you probably won't be impressed by Neverwhere. If you love fantasy literature, though, and especially Gaiman's work, you'll find Neverwhere highly rewarding. It's very entertaining, and very imaginative. And in the end, imagination is what fantasy is all about. Isn't it?
Did you know
- TriviaNeil Gaiman later published a "preferred text of Neverwhere" as a novel. His own vision of it was somewhat different from what wound up on the screen. Much of his dialogue and ideas had to be cut for one reason or another. And every time the BBC cut something he really liked, he said to himself "Not a problem. I'll put it back in the novel."
- GoofsDoor's father, who has been murdered. leaves her a message instructing her to see the Angel Islington. It transpires that the Angel Islington hired Mr Croup and Mr. Vandemar to murder Door's father and fake the message. However, Mr Croup and Mr. Vandemar spend the series actively trying to stop Door from reaching the Angel Islington, which makes no sense if their plan was for Door to reach him.
- Quotes
Mr. Croup: If you cut us, do we not bleed?
Mr. Vandemaar: [pondering] No.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits are full of surreal, distorted images from London Below. And each episode opens with a different character narrating the events of the previous episode. The end credits uses surreal imagery as a backdrop.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Worlds of Fantasy: Through the Looking Glass (2008)
- How many seasons does Neverwhere have?Powered by Alexa
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