Neil Gaiman's likely story
Famed for his dark fantasy novels, some of which have been turned into films, Neil Gaiman’s short stories are being given the TV treatment. With typically unusual results...
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Your support makes all the difference.If you hanker for fantasy, chills and wit, then Neil Gaiman’sLikely Stories is compulsive viewing.
The Englishman, who has lived in the United States for more than two decades, is an international award-winning novelist and screenwriter, author of Coraline, Stardust (both of which have been made into movies) and the extraordinarily inventive 2001 bestseller American Gods. He was also a particularly memorable guest voice on The Simpsons. And now Sky Arts is bringing some of his brilliantly bizarre short stories to the small screen.
Set in London, these four tales are characteristically dark, fantastical and strange. Their London is a dream world that only makes sense to its inhabitants but full of warmth and wit.
Fans of Gaiman will recognise Closing Time and Feeders and Eaters from his 2006 collection Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders, and Looking for the Girl and Foreign Parts from his 1998 collection Smoke and Mirrors.
Viewers will be drawn into Gaiman’s intricately fashioned world that moves seamlessly between reality and fantasy. “Short stories traditionally do not get a lot of love from television,” says Gaiman “So I’m really excited to see what the [Sky Arts] team are going to do with Likely Stories – they’ve given it real thought and it feels like it’s going to be something very, very, special.”
And very, very special it most certainly is, with Johnny Vegas, in particular, excelling as narrator Daniel in Closing Time, a ghost story about a back-street drinking establishment, which was inspired by MR James and cult horror author Robert Aickman. It’s suitably unnerving with a killer, turn-of-the- screw-like twist.
Vegas is part of a robust ensemble cast which includes Tom Hughes, who starred in BBC2’s Cold War thriller The Game, George MacKay (the lead in the 2014 comedy-drama film Pride), acting heavyweight Kenneth Cranham (Maleficent), Monica Dolan (who won a BAFTA for her performance as Rosemary West) and sixties star Rita Tushingham (A Taste of Honey).
They are directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, the duo responsible for the multi-award winning, critically acclaimed Nick Cave docu-film 20,000 Days on Earth. Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker provides the original score and Gaiman himself cameos in each episode in an unusual way.
Neil Gaiman’s Likely Stories starts on 26 May 9pm on Sky Arts and is available to catch up with on demand.
Three for all
A trio of treats from the doyen of dark fantasy
American Gods by Neil Gaiman “There’s none so blind as those who will not listen…” Neil Gaiman’s 2001 masterpiece American Gods centres on Shadow, a taciturn ex-convict who becomes embroiled in a war between “gods” in America. It’s an extraordinary feat of imagination, which is also droll and very moving.
Where from: £5.84 in paperback from amazon.co.uk
Doctor Who: Series 6 (12) Gaiman’s scripted one of the superior episodes of the sci-fi, ‘The Doctor’s Wife’ in Series 6, in which the energy of the Time Lords’ Tardises has been consumed by an entity called the House (voiced by Michael Sheen). It’s a memorably creepy episode, with typically excellent performances from Suranne Jones and Matt Smith as the Time Lord.
Where from: £22.99 from moviemail-online.co.uk
Neil Gaiman Quote -1 Barely There iPhone 6 Case: Rudolf This quirky iPhone case from Zazzle has a Neil Gaiman quote, from 2013, tastefully written on its front: “A book is a dream that you hold in your hand”.
Where from: £29.95 from zazzle.co.uk
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