PRIME TIME

Get up to speed on Locke & Key, a Netflix comic book adaptation with a difference

Locke & Key? Let me guess — is this about a pair of crime-fighting locksmiths?

In short: no. Originating as an acclaimed 2008 comic book series by Joe Hill, with art by Gabriel Rodriguez, Locke & Key fits into the ‘fantasy horror’ category, telling the story of three siblings — Tyler, Kinsey and Bode Locke — who move into a mysterious old house after their father is murdered.

So, it’s your classic haunted house set-up?

Not exactly. There are magical keys, portals to dimensions, possessed souls, Lovecraftian demons, and even occasional flashbacks into the American Revolutionary War.

Seems like it would be a tricky thing to adapt.

The evidence seems to suggest so: it’s languished in development hell since at least 2010, when it was first picked up by the Fox network in the US, listing the likes of Alex Kurtzman and Steven Spielberg as producers. When that fizzled out, Universal came sniffing for the rights and briefly considered a feature film, with Kurtzman still attached. US streaming service Hulu came closest, with Andy Muschetti (It, Mama) directing a pilot episode in 2016. But Hulu decided not to proceed.

Where is it going now?

Netflix, the eternal saviour of lost or cancelled shows, has come to the rescue, ordering a full series, scrapping the pilot and starting afresh. Expect Locke & Key to be finally unlocked sometime next year.