Book-to-series adaptions to look forward to, or not

[selenak]

...in 2013, 2014 or thereabouts:

1.) Wolf Hall. Why not A Place of Greater Safety, damm it? Riding on the Tudor craze with a much better novel as the basis, but since Cromwell's pov is a great part of what makes the novel, I'm not sure this will work in the medium of a tv show in the same way. And they need to find a very good actor for Cromwell, though the BBC has a good track record there. I also hope for a good Wolsey.

2.) War of the Roses Cousins series, aka the one about the war of the roses from the women's pov. Which would thrill me as a premise, except it's based on Philippa Gregory's novels. I've read them. Um. They're better than her Tudor ones? But still not very good. Her Elizabeth Woodville, who is, I take it, to be the central character of the show, is an example of how love for a character can actually result in making the character less interesting. See also: her Catherine of Aragorn and Mary Boleyn. (By comparison, the Elizabeth Woodville from Sharon Penman's The Sunne in Splendour, who isn't meant to be the heroine of the tale, is a wonderful example of a morally ambiguous, layered character, just as interesting as her also layered husband, Edward IV. Gregory's Elizabeth of Perfect Perfection pales by comparison.) To be fair: ironically enough I thought Philippa Gregory manages a genuinenly interesting Richard III., neither the Evil McEvil of Tudor tradition nor the White Knight of Misunderstoodness. Also, for all that I dislike her making Elizabeth and her mother have actual magical powers, the scene where Elizabeth Woodville and her daughter, Elizabeth of York, put a very specific curse of what's supposed to happen to the one guilty of killing her son(s), and indeed all his descendants, impressed me because as she goes on you realise that the curse comes true.... through the fates of the Tudor dynasty. I.e. young Elizabeth of York has inadvertendly sealed the fate of her own children and their children. Anyway, there are adaptions that transcend their source material (the first season of Dexter was definitely one of those), and maybe this will happen with the War of the Roses series, too. Here's hoping.

3.) A Casual Vacancy, based on J.K. Rowling's novel. This I can see work very well as a miniseries. It's an ensemble story told in multiple povs, which will suit the tv format and offer a lot of good roles. It also offers the kind of terse social commentary that goes with a lot of good British tv. I wonder whether, say, Jimmy McGovern adapting it would be too much of a good thing (i.e. McGovern's anger + Rowling's anger in this particular novel), or whether he'd balance the polemic with the humanity. Or maybe it will be several scriptwriters. I know that RTD isn't doing anything but Wizards & Aliens because of his partner's health situation, but maybe an episode or two?

4.) American Gods. Neil Gaiman mentioned in his blog a month or so ago that preparations are still ongoing. I'm continuing to look forward to the result, whenever it will be broadcast.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

I think Gregory's raw material is pretty good, even if she always goes for one Super Good Woman, so I guess it will depend whether they play it straight from her books or used the sales of her books as a hook to get a female-centric War of the Roses series going!

[selenak]

Oh, the raw material could provide us with an excellent series. But if the adaption of The Other Boleyn Girl is any indication, they'll play it straight with her books. Well, it the very least it will be pretty.

[weewarrior]

*goes hunting for her copy of Wolf Hall*

Philippa Gregory - has she been writing for a long time? My major historical novels reading period was 15-20 years ago, so if I've read her, it should have been then.

I've heard that the plans for American Gods are to turn it into a five-season show, so I'm really curious how they are going to do this. Center the action mostly around the town, perhaps? (Also, if they don't cast Shadow with a black actor, someone is getting a strongly worded letter.)

[selenak]

Philippa Gregory: since the early 90s, I think.

American Gods: well, there are also all the origin stories for how the various gods at first came to America which presumably might be used as well. And Shadow needs to be black, yes. Or at the very least played by a dark-skinned Asian or Arab actor. (I don't think the book specifies the ethnicity, but he's consistently described as "dark", so I assumed his mother was African-American, too.)

[kalypso]

And they need to find a very good actor for Cromwell

Actually, the last person I saw playing Cromwell was the brilliant Danny Webb, pretty much the only reason to watch an ITV two-parter on Henry VIII ten years ago. I was thinking only the other day of his performance in the execution scene, where he rendered a preceding conversation between two courtiers about how the King had assigned a first-time axeman to do the job completely superfluous; Danny told us everything we needed to know about what a ghastly thing this was with the look on his face when he saw the boy on the scaffold, and steeled himself to coach the lad. I fear they won't look at a man in his fifties, but I'd love to see Danny Webb play the role in a better production.

[vaysh]

I wish they wouldn't adapt Wolf Hall to the silver screen, I really wish. :/ Not going to happen, of course, and Ms. Mantel deserves the money, but still. Some books are meant to be read.

[saturnofthemoon]

Having read Jean Plaidy/Victoria Holt and Margaret George, I've grown a bit disgusted with historical novels about morally ambiguous women that seek to somehow purify the heroines and exonerate them of their crimes. I've only read Gregory's "The Other Boleyn Girl", but I was surprised/impressed at how she was willing to portray Anne Boleyn as a villain (somewhat), although Mary, of course, had to be the exact opposite. I have most of her other novels but haven't gotten around to reading them yet. I'll be sure to watch the miniseries, but it's more because it's about the Lancasters/Yorks instead of the Tudors for a change. My expectations aren't very high.

[selenak]

I was massively let down by Anne Boleyn in The Other Boleyn Girl, because it was simply "Anne was guilty of everything anyone ever accused her of", short of having six fingers and a mole. Including the incest, which really was the most ridiculous charge. (Well, that, and her having sex a day after giving childbirth; Cromwell didn't even bother to come up with likely dates.) Not because you can't paint a villainous picture of Anne Boleyn - for example, Mantel does just that in her Thomas Cromwell novels, but the difference is that Mantel also highlights Anne's intelligence, lets her be genuinenly interested in reform (i.e. not just because it serves her cause) and above all doesn't use Anne's nastiness to paint anyone else as saintly. Making Mary the youngest Boleyn sibling when she was the older sister just so she can be extra victimized was extra cringe worthy. All this being said, there is nothing on that level in her White Queeen/Red Queen/Kingmake's Daughter novels.

(My favourite fictional Anne is probably the one from the ages old BBC series about Henry VIII, where she's played by Dorothy Dunnett and we see her first from Katharine of Aragorn's pov (negative) and then in the next ep from her own (positive), but it's still discernably the same woman, and a good mixture of flaws and virtues.)

[skywaterblue]

Sort of dreading the Gaiman adaption of American Gods mainly because I wish it were Sandman instead.

Very much looking forward to the BBC adaption of Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell.

[selenak]

Ah, but the last time people talked about a possible Sandman series, was not the dreaded name of Kripke uttered? Anything but that!