TV bosses turn to the books for hot new series
AIDAN Turner strides naked to the waist from the Cornish surf as Ross Poldark, and Benedict Cumberbatch lies shivering in a bath during a drugs binge in Patrick
Melrose. And if your favourite TV moment isn’t among those scenes, how about David Morrissey as a detective torn between parallel realities in The City And The City, or Elisabeth Moss in the visually stunning, upsetting fantasy The Handmaid’s Tale?
All these triumphs have one factor in common: they were adapted from novels. More than ever, TV bosses are turning to the bookshelf for shows.
QUEEN OF SCHEMERS
What is it? Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (1848).
What’s the story? Brave, heartless Becky is determined to leave her disreputable past behind and climb to the top of aristocratic society. Her best friend Amelia is a golden child and a terrible judge of character. And they both desire the same dashing soldier. Acclaimed by many as the greatest book in all English literature, this story has sex, satire, spectacle and selfish betrayals galore. It’s like War And Peace, yet far funnier.
GHOSTLY GOTHIC
What is it? The Haunting Of Hill
House, by Shirley Jackson (1959), is on Netflix from October 31.
What’s the story? When a team of paranormal investigators descend on a gloomy mansion, they are hoping to discover scientific proof of the existence of the spirit world. Instead, they find the house seems to feed off their own psyches and secrets. This is a US classic and was filmed in both 1963 and 1999. Director Mike Flanagan is masterminding this updated TV version.
A SPY IN TOO DEEP
What is it? The Little Drummer Girl, by John le Carre (1983), airs next year.
What’s the story? Although it’s far less known than the spy master’s biggest sellers such as Tinker Tailor
Soldier Spy, this multi-layered novel about Charlie, a left-wing English actress recruited by Israel to snare a Palestinian terrorist, has been hailed by top thriller writers as the perfect espionage novel. Florence Pugh takes the role.
ALIEN INVASION
What is it? The War Of The Worlds, by HG Wells (1897).
What’s the story? The seminal sci-fi tale from the end of the Victorian era spawned an Orson Welles radio play (that reputedly terrified America to a standstill in 1938), a hit album and a Steven Spielberg movie in 2005, starring Tom Cruise. This version stays close to the original, set in Edwardian London as aliens invade.
Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson co-stars with Rupert Graves and Robert Carlyle.
RUN, RABBITS, RUN
What is it? Watership Down, by Richard Adams (1972), airs late this year on Netflix.
What’s the story? This TV remake stars James McAvoy as the voice of Hazel, the brave young rabbit who leads his friends and family to a new home after their warren is bulldozed.
MAGICAL MYSTERIES
What is it? His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman (1995).
What’s the story? A tale of mythical creatures and parallel universes, partly set in Oxford, and another adaptation to star McAvoy, this time as Lord Asriel, father of the heroine Lyra (Dafne Keen). A film version was made in 2007 with Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, but it failed to capture the magic of the trilogy.
MURDER MOST FOUL
What is it? The ABC Murders, by Agatha Christie (1936)
What’s the story? John Malkovich joins the roster of those to play the fabled detective Hercule Poirot, but instead of the famous waxed moustache, Malkovich sports a neat goatee.
Rupert Grint, Andrew Buchan and Tara Fitzgerald join the cast in this story of a serial killer who picks his victims alphabetically and leaves a copy of the ABC Railway Guide beside each corpse.
A DARCY DALLIANCE
What is it? Pride And Prejudice, by Jane Austen (1813).
What’s the story? It is a truth universally acknowledged that viewers can never have too much of Mr Darcy. The producers, Mammoth Screen, have yet to announce the cast for the latest remake, but scriptwriter Nina Raine promises this will be unlike any previous version.