Beta Film is bringing the new high-end drama “Bookish” to this year’s London TV Screenings, and the post-WWII London-set crime series is generating plenty of buzz.
A captivating new project created by “Sherlock” co-creator Mark Gatiss – who also leads the show’s cast – and screenwriter Matthew Sweet, “Bookish” promises viewers a sophisticated and modern exploration of post-WWII London, one that combines a cerebral crime drama with complex character dynamics and a nuanced view of the LGBTQ experience in a time of societal repression.
Produced by Eagle Eye Drama in association with Happy Duck Films and supported by the Belgian Tax Shelter, the series is heading to UKTV’s specialist crime drama channel, U&Alibi. PBS Distribution holds the North American rights, and Beta Film handles world sales.
Across six episodes, “Bookish” introduces a captivating world where intellect, emotion and mystery collide within a gritty and evolving London, pockmarked with craters from German airstrikes on the city but not without its charms.
“As a viewer, you’re taken inside the splendor of the Savoy, and then when you step outside, you find a crater with plague corpses that were brought up to the surface during the bombings in front of a broken-down cathedral. It’s a more nuanced and mysterious, even more dangerous world,” says Eagle Eye CEO Walter Iuzzolino.
At the show’s heart lies its complex protagonist, Book, played by Gatiss. The titular protagonist is a former military spy turned maverick detective and, importantly, bookshop owner. With his cozy storefront nestled in London’s Archangel Lane, Book offers his services to the local police, helping solve the most intricate cases.
As beguiling as his public persona may be, his private life is equally complex. Book is in a “lavender marriage” with Trottie (Polly Walker), his exuberant wife who runs a wallpaper shop next door. Their marriage is one of mutual respect and love, but not one of romantic attraction, as Book is gay, and homosexuality was illegal in the 1940s.
Although the series is largely defined by its era, many of the issues it touches on are as relevant today as they would have been 80 years ago. According to Iuzzolino, “Bookish” isn’t just a period drama; it’s a modern exploration of relationships and societal change. It’s also a departure from the grittier, gorier crime that had been popular in recent years, falling into a sub-genre that Iuzzolino calls “comfy crime.”
“In these quite dark times, there is a joy to be found in escaping into a world with self-contained dilemmas that 46 minutes later are resolved, and normally, justice prevails,” he says, using his new show as an example. “[Bookish] is undoubtedly pleasurable for its intellectual sophistication, but also because of its portrayal of a broken London where a gay man in a lavender marriage with a woman he really loves, but not physically, works together to mend tragedy and find a way together.”
Eagle Eye Chief Creative Officer Jo McGrath, another key creative force behind “Bookish,” is proud of the series’ fresh, unique take on London in the aftermath of the war. “We wanted to portray London in a way that has never been done before. So, there is a sense that London is dangerous and that all the soldiers have just returned and brought their guns with them. It’s a chaotic place to be, but it’s even more dangerous for a gay man because, at the time, it was illegal to be gay.”
The show’s vibrant portrayal of macro-level changes experienced by a city in transition is juxtaposed by a tight focus on the close relationships between its characters, especially the deep bond between Book, Trottie and a small number of individuals invited into their inner circle.
It’s a dynamic that Iuzzolino says slots perfectly into the setting. “In this post-WWII world where people are atomized and floating in their own misery, they all come together around this open couple who really welcome them in because they become the children that they could never have biologically.”
For instance, the arrival of Jack, a young man with a troubled past who begins working at the bookshop, stirs the pot as suspicions arise about whether his appointment is part of a larger, hidden agenda. This twist in the narrative adds another layer of intrigue and suspense as the characters’ histories slowly unfold, revealing long-buried secrets.
According to McGrath, “It allows for a more clever crime story because you get time to bond with the cast and their story arcs. Mark [Gatiss] had a very strong vision for the show, and it was always going to be one crime examined over two episodes,” she explains, adding the show’s unique format to the list of its novelties.
By stretching each crime across two episodes, “Bookish” builds a layered, nuanced mystery, one where personal stories and the central crime storyline intertwine to keep the audience invested.
“You get your cake, and you eat it, too. At the end of one episode, you have a cliffhanger for a crime, but you can resolve some of the characters’ personal stories. Then, in the next episode, you can solve that crime but introduce a cliffhanger for one of the characters,” explains Iuzzolino.
If the formula works, there is no reason to think the show’s creative team won’t use it again. Although the show’s first season is currently in post, its producers are hopeful of a future return to Book’s Books, post-war London and the characters who bring it to life.
