Excellent news for fans of Neil Gaiman and/or sci-fi and/or radio dramas: It’s been announced that the radio drama of Neil Gaiman’s urban fantasy novel Neverwhere on BBC’s Radio 4 will begin airing on March 16th. In case you missed it, Neverwhere the radio drama is voice-acted, among others, by Sherlock Holmes as Smaug the Dragon — errr, Benedict Cumberbatch — and some others you may know.
Also on the docket are the likes of James McAvoy (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; X-Men: First Class), Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones), Sophie Okonedo (Doctor Who), David Harewood (Homeland), and even the great Count Dracula Dooku-man the White himself, Christopher Lee (everything you’ve ever seen).
Don’t know Neverwhere? You should, because here’s the gist: Everyman Richard Mayhew, a young businessman who’s also kind of a (loveable) loser, ends up “slipping through the cracks” into London Below, a sort of alternate, supernatural version of  London that exist between spaces. He’s sucked into an evil plot because he dares to help a strange young woman named Door — who coincidentally has the power to open things — as she’s trying to escape two of the creepiest but most polite goons you’ll ever know named  Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. There are also Troll dolls.
In short, you should totally listen to this version of Neverwhere (they’re describing it as an “audio film”), but you could score extra geek points if you read the book first. Neverwhere will be a six-part series, starting at 6pm on March 16th on Radio 4. If you do, you’ll never be able to look at city rats the same.
(RadioTimes via Tor.com)
Published: Feb 21, 2013 04:35 pm