Neverwhere
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- This article is about the Neil Gaiman series. For the comic book story world by Richard Corben, see Den (comics). (Richard Corben's Neverwhere was the same fictional realm visited by Dan in the 1980s cult classic Heavy Metal.)
Image:Neverwhere.jpg Neverwhere is an urban fantasy television series by Neil Gaiman. The series is set in 'London Below', a magical realm coexisting with the London familiar to all. It was devised by Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry, and directed by Dewi Humphreys. The story was later adapted into a novel of the same name, by Neil Gaiman himself.
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The TV series
The plot of Neverwhere centres around Richard Mayhew, an average Londoner who encounters an injured girl named Door on the street one night. Despite his girlfriend's protests he decides to help her, but unfortunately that also means that he suddenly ceases to exist for regular people and becomes real only to the denizens of 'London Below', whose inhabitants are generally also invisible to the people of 'London Above'. He loses his house, his job and nearly his mind as he travels London Below in an attempt to make sense out of it all and help Door survive.
In London Below the various familiar names of London all take on a new significance: thus "Knight's Bridge" is a real and dangerous bridge whose darkness takes its toll in human life; the Angel Islington is an actual angel. London Below is the world in and beneath the sewers. Its inhabitants are the homeless, but also people from other times, as well as fiction / fantasy characters. It's like a parallel world that connects in some points with reality.
Neverwhere was first broadcast on BBC Two from September 12 1996. There are six half-hour episodes:
- Door
- Knight's Bridge
- Earl's Court To Islington
- Blackfriars
- Down Street
- As Above, So Below
Primary Cast:
- Gary Bakewell - Richard Mayhew
- Laura Fraser - Door
- Hywel Bennett - Mr. Croup
- Clive Russell - Mr. Vandemar
- Paterson Joseph - The Marquis de Carabas
- Trevor Peacock - Old Bailey
The six episodes were released in the US to DVD as a two-disc set on September 9, 2003. The series has not been issued on DVD in the UK; however, the US discs can be played on UK DVD players (i.e. they are not restricted to region 1).
The novel
The novel was written after the series and was released in the UK by the BBC ISBN 0747266689 and from Avon Books ISBN 0380789019 in July 1997.
For a book based on a TV series, it is considered to be surprisingly good, perhaps because it was written by Neil Gaiman himself, and might be described as an adaptation of the series as he would have preferred it, without the compromises required by budget restrictions and other factors.
Plot summary
Neverwhere is the story of an ordinary London man named Richard Mayhew, and his bizarre journeys through the dangerous London “underworld.” At the start of the story, he is a young businessman, with a dull job and a fiancée, Jessica, who seems to view him as a fashion accessory more than as a person. All this changes, however, when he stops to help a mysterious young girl who appears before him, bleeding and weakened, as he walks with his fiancée to a dinner with her influential boss. This one action sets his life on an unstoppable path of danger, mystery, betrayal, and learning.
The morning after Richard rescues the girl, Door, from the streets, she is greatly recovered, and sends him on a quest to find the Marquis de Carabas, a man who will be able to help Door evade the attention of the infamous assassins, the Messrs. Croup and Vandemar. Richard is successful, and brings the Marquis back to his apartment to meet Door, only to see both curious individuals vanish immediately. The next day, Richard begins to realize the consequences of his actions. He appears to have become an invisible non-entity—he loses his job, and his apartment is rented out to other people. Perhaps the strangest part of this, however, is that nobody readily acknowledges his presence, and even those dearest to him, such as his fiancée and his best friend, are unable to recall who he is. Determined to set things right, and become a part of his world once more, Richard sets out for the world of London Below in search of Door.
Richard’s journey takes him through the realm of the Rat-Speakers, who worship and perform tasks for rats, across the mysterious Night’s Bridge, whose darkness takes a toll in human life from any party who crosses, and eventually to the Floating Market, where he meets again with Door, who is holding an audition for bodyguards. At this point, the legendary bodyguard and fighter Hunter joins their party, and the group, consisting of Door, the Marquis, Hunter, and Richard, sets out for the Earl’s Court. While Richard has been attempting to reconstruct his life in London Above, Door and the Marquis have travelled to Door’s home, and discovered a diary entry made by Door’s father, which advises her to seek the angel Islington. When the four reach the Earl’s Court, on a mysterious subway train which follows its own bizarre schedule, the Marquis is forced to leave due to an old grudge between him and the Earl, and the rest discover that they need to travel through the Angelus in order to reach Islington, and that the Angelus resides in the British Museum.
Door and Richard travel to the Museum, while Hunter, due to a curse which prevents her from entering London Above, remains in the abandoned British Museum subway station. After some searching, and a nearly disastrous encounter between Richard and his former fiancée, they find the Angelus, which Door “opens” using her family’s special power, and travel through it to the underground home of the angel. Islington speaks to them at length, explaining that his position as protector of London Below is a punishment for the submersion of Atlantis, which was also under his care, and telling Door that he will help her learn the identity of those who killed her family—for a price. She and her company must retrieve a unique key from the Black Friars, before they return. The two return to the Museum, reunite with Hunter, and make their way to the Floating Market, where they are due to meet the Marquis.
In the meantime, the Marquis has sought out Croup and Vandemar, and has made a deal with them—in exchange for a priceless Tang dynasty figurine, the Marquis is given information regarding who ordered the murder of Door’s family. The true price for this information, however, his his life—Croup and Vandemar catch, torture, and kill him, breaking the one-hour truce agreement that was part of their deal with the Marquis. Door, Richard, and Hunter proceed onward to the dwelling of the Black Friars. There, they are forced to defeat a series of three ordeals; Hunter wins a test of strength, Door wins a test of intellect, and Richard, alone in history, wins a test of constitution of character, and as a result, the three succeed in gaining the key. They then travel to the floating market, where they are unable to find the Marquis, but where a friend of Door’s is able to forge a copy of the key won by Richard. They enlist the mysterious Lamia as a guide, and set foot on their final path, toward Islington.
As Door, Richard, Lamia, and Hunter make their way down the long path of Down Street, a friend of the Marquis’ named Old Bailey finds and revives him, using a stored portion of the Marquis’ life, and the Marquis sets out himself, following Door and company. On Down Street, we discover that Lamia was a dangerous choice for a guide, because the price she demands of Richard for his services is higher than he can pay and yet live, but she is driven away by the weakened Marquis. We also discover that Hunter long ago turned traitor to Door’s cause, when she gives Door to Croup and Vandemar, in exchange for the magical spear she needs to follow her calling and namesake, and hunt and slay the great Beast of London. Croup and Vandemar travel onward and downward, while Richard, the Marquis, and Hunter travel at a slower pace, all toward the great labyrinth through which they need to pass to reach Islington. It is in this labyrinth that the Beast dwells, and Hunter and Richard manage to kill it and pass through the maze, although the Beast’s death is at the price of Hunter’s own.
Richard rushes ahead, to the final confrontation between the parties, in which we learn of Islington’s true nature. Islington wishes to use Door and the key to force open the door to Heaven, where he seeks dominion over all the other angels. After Richard is tortured by Croup and Vandemar, Door agrees to open the door, but does not open it to Heaven, but instead to somewhere else, as far away as she could. Islington, Croup and Vandemar all disappear through the gateway before Door closes it. Door uses the Black Friars’ key to allow Richard to travel back to London Above, and a London Above in which he is known and recognized. After returning home, Richard is happy for a time, but he realizes that his experiences have changed him, and that his old life and friends mean little or nothing to him now. The story ends with his return to London Below.
Other adaptations and sequels
Image:Neverwhere issue1.jpg
Rumours of both a feature film adaptation and a sequel to the original story have been circulating since the original release. A script has been written for a movie version and was optioned by the Jim Henson Company, but the project has been through so many script and directorial changes that it may well be designated as lost in development hell. Neil Gaiman has given a sequel to the book a definite maybe, and makes mention in the DVD commentary of wanting to write a short story, "How the Marquis Got His Coat Back," in order to patch up a minor plot hole.
A nine-issue comic book limited series began in June 2005, written by Mike Carey (of the Vertigo series Lucifer), with art by Glenn Fabry. The series is being published by DC Comics's Vertigo imprint.
Mentions in Popular Culture
The band Coheed and Cambria made mention of the title in the song "Three Evils," with the lyrics "on the wrong way out, on the causeway to Neverwhere." The meaning of the reference is arguable.
See also
- The Angel, Islington
- Night Watch (2004 film) A Russian fantasy film with similar elements