A SPY FOR ALL AGES
Midsomer Murders, Foyle’s War - now top mystery writer Anthon yHorowitz is bringing his teenage secret agent Alex Rider to TV. Here he tells how he accomplished his mission–and signed up some MAJOR talent
Howard Charles (Liar) plays SAS unit leader Wolf.
For Anthony, seeing his characters made real by such top stars is humbling. ‘I was blown away – just “Wow!” I was amazed they managed to capture the essence of the books while making it appeal to a more adult audience.’
That is crucial, he says, because his original readers are now two decades older. ‘The challenge was to embrace older viewers without disenfranchising the younger ones. That means keeping the swearing to a minimum, for instance, just as I do in the books. And Alex doesn’t carry a gun – that’s important to me.’
Anthony has never hidden his loathing for his own schooldays, though he says regular visits to talk at schools have been one of the favourite parts of his job. ‘I am not schoolphobic! But I went to a hideous prep school, very unpleasant and damaging. And I did come from a slightly strange family background.’
That background was wealthy but rackety. His father died in the late 70s, leaving a stack of debts and a fortune in a numbered Swiss bank account. Neither the number nor the name of the bank could be found, and the family had to sell practically everything they owned.
Anthony, then 22, hurled himself into writing and his first children’s novel was published a couple of years later in 1979. Since then there’s been a stream of books and TV shows, most notably the Second World War crime series
Foyle’s War. He’s also been appointed as successor to both Ian Fleming and Arthur Conan Doyle, writing novels featuring James Bond (Trigger Mortis) and Sherlock Holmes (The House Of Silk).
But it is Alex Rider that marked the biggest turning point in his career when Stormbreaker was published in 2000. Until that point, he says, many of his tales had elements of autobiography and even therapy. ‘I had issues as a kid, but I worked them all out in my earlier books. The day I started writing about Alex was the day I stopped writing about my own problems and hang-ups.’
The next big challenge is to decide on the follow-up if the show gets a second series, before Otto and Brenock become too old to play schoolboys. ‘The clock is ticking, though I talked to Otto via Zoom the other day and he looks five years younger – lockdown must be good for him. We’re going to have to work out how to make an action serial while maintaining social distance.’
Meanwhile, Anthony’s in negotiations to write another Bond novel and working on a raft of new ideas. ‘For me, the secret of a writing career is to keep pushing myself to do things I haven’t done before... and not to be afraid of falling flat on my face.’