Neverwhere Review – Boston Globe

And there may be more than this out there, but Factiva has gone slightly mad in the past few days and is being rather uncooperative in it’s new interface.

Tom Russo reported the following review of Neverwhere in the September 28th Boston Globe:

Fantasy writer Neil Gaiman, author of the popular “Sandman” graphic novels, created and wrote this six-episode BBC offering, putting an adult spin on elements of “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and (a couple of years before the fact) “Harry Potter.” Richard Mayhew (Gary Bakewell) is a London office wonk who stumbles across a battered, bloodied woman on the sidewalk one night and, in helping her, gets sucked into the shadowy, mystical world of London Below, where he learns that she’s Door (Laura Fraser), daughter of (cringingly, yes) the late royalty figure Portico and a target of evildoers looking to upend this underworld.

There are some fun performances, particularly from Sisqo look-alike Paterson Joseph as Mayhew’s prima donna guide and Clive Russell as occult assassin Mr. Vandemaar, regularly seen chomping on rats. Some of the dialogue crackles in a surprisingly Hollywood-ready way, as when Vandemaar and his boss gleefully note: “Can’t make an omelet . . . without killing a few people.” But the enterprise is ultimately hurt by its “Dr. Who”-level production values. Gaiman supplies an interview and commentary, but when he notes that, for instance, the series strove to make its sets look expansive, the argument isn’t convincing. The fact that there’s an American feature version of Gaiman’s story in development seems to tell the true tale. (Newly available from A&E Home Video, $39.95.).

And yes, I know I’m late on the what happened last Saturday and Sunday posting thing. I will once life stops happening in bad ways, and I can catch my breath. Apologies.