tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post3166346251888517277..comments2023-08-17T11:47:11.821+01:00Comments on James and the Blue Cat: AdaptationsJames Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16604261370633794445noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-88492619178762724142009-10-22T10:34:59.496+01:002009-10-22T10:34:59.496+01:00Yeah. Me again.
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson i...Yeah. Me again.<br /><br />The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson is VERY BBC4. Although it's not really ticking any regional boxes.Bozhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02065257907482952779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-6617824452479396332009-10-19T18:56:50.969+01:002009-10-19T18:56:50.969+01:00I am disappointed in myself not to have found the ...I am disappointed in myself not to have found the time to rifle through my books before you blogged again. Still. Ten minutes squat on my bedroom carpet has yielded the following:<br /><br />I'd like to see a good adaptation of <b>Good Omens</b>. I buspect they already have writers for this, sort of covered though.<br /><br /><b>Henrietta's War</b> by Joyce Dennys.<br /><br /><b>Mrs Jordan's Profession</b> by Claire Tomalin is rife with period detail and in need of tellying (or radioing).<br /><br /><b>Zuleika Dobson</b> is an awesome book.<br /><br />Turns out I am something of a period piece and not at all hip and trendy. Or I just, er, lent all those books to other people. Um.Bozhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02065257907482952779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-57115507418028733942009-10-16T21:58:32.453+01:002009-10-16T21:58:32.453+01:00There's a Blue Bear T-shirt - I want one.
And...There's a Blue Bear T-shirt - I want one.<br /><br />And surely things made in Germany don't count!Imonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-57883409070976650442009-10-16T21:58:14.355+01:002009-10-16T21:58:14.355+01:00There's a Blue Bear T-shirt - I want one.
And...There's a Blue Bear T-shirt - I want one.<br /><br />And surely things made in Germany don't count!Imonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-5851717589583002272009-10-16T15:45:13.345+01:002009-10-16T15:45:13.345+01:00AND a T-shirt, which I ended up giving to my frien...AND a T-shirt, which I ended up giving to my friend Nick, because he whinged at me every time I wore it.James Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604261370633794445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-4301451666378423522009-10-16T15:14:57.153+01:002009-10-16T15:14:57.153+01:00Imo : Captain Blaubär has been made into a cartoon...Imo : Captain Blaubär has been made into a cartoon, a puppet series AND a musical in Germany.Steve Dixhttp://www.stevedix.denoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-37132666645758783102009-10-16T00:48:32.599+01:002009-10-16T00:48:32.599+01:00Just thought I'd add a second vote to Dave Bar...Just thought I'd add a second vote to Dave Bartlett's one for Robert Rankin's Brentford trilogy of eight. I can't for the life of me imagine how it might work (except perhaps in a shockingly low-budget, original Hitchhikers' Guide kind of way: not sure how you'd pull off Victorian flying cars powered by Tesla Towers on a Beeb budget, without resorting to tacky CGI, and frankly balsa-wood models would probably suit the material better). <br /><br />Knees Up Mother Earth might adapt better than most, given that it's relatively ordinary (in the context of the others, far less absurdly sci-fi/fantasy/horror), and deals with Brentford F.C.'s pursuit of the FA Cup (with the help of a little black magic), which obviously has a fair bit of crossover appeal.ruehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18094220677049482704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-56844532290026381132009-10-15T22:54:13.285+01:002009-10-15T22:54:13.285+01:00That's great news, didn't know Button Man ...That's great news, didn't know Button Man was being adapted.<br /><br />Reading through the comments, there are tons of good suggestions.<br /><br />Have been mulling it over and kept coming back to Moorcock's Cornelius Quartet. Being able to play so fluidly with perception would be fantastic.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cornelius_QuartetMatt Gibbshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03983655931857493619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-42127388640757012862009-10-15T17:16:53.484+01:002009-10-15T17:16:53.484+01:00@Jill
I second that MM's Repose, loved that as...@Jill<br />I second that MM's Repose, loved that as a childNear byhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15789416046678156902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-38408274018683869082009-10-15T15:14:31.877+01:002009-10-15T15:14:31.877+01:00China Mieville's Un Lun Dun. Post-punk subvers...China Mieville's <b>Un Lun Dun</b>. Post-punk subversive alternate-London Alice-evoking YA lit. Of the Marxist persuasion. But bloody brilliant. <br /><br />Or, in fact, anything else by him, New Crobuzon would be hell on the budget but would visually blow you away. The weird mirror stuff of "The Tain" would also be very creepy, visually.extemporaneahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06034595157700070101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-66973650150510442042009-10-15T14:01:47.153+01:002009-10-15T14:01:47.153+01:00I second the Robert Rankin suggestion. His most re...I second the Robert Rankin suggestion. His most recent books feel a bit formualic to me, but the Brentford trilogy is just calling out for a TV adaptation.<br /><br />I wouldn't say the Sky Pratchett adaptations are bad, but to me the look and feel of them is just too much like a fan film thrown together over a number of weekends. Just with proper actors. So a higher budget stab at them would be good.<br />And of course theres Good Omens, but Terry Gilliam has a version in development hell.<br /><br />One thing I'd really like to see is a proper version of Jekyll and Hyde, which actually follows the plot of the book, and doesn't reveal they're the same person til the end. But I suppose everyone knows that already, so it wouldn't work particularly well any more.<br />I think I heard Guillermo Del Toro wants to do a version, though, so heres hoping.<br /><br />(word varification is castle...not only a real word, but the name of the TV show i'm watching right now....i'm slightly scared)Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06863632558447548474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-79536306056455151112009-10-15T13:56:16.356+01:002009-10-15T13:56:16.356+01:00I reckon you should do a good, nostalgic adaption ...I reckon you should do a good, nostalgic adaption of one of your favourite childrens' books. You've already written for children's TV; it'd be great.<br /><br />As for me, I'd like to see a series adaption of I Capture the Castle. Or a live action Redwall series...Newf, who is working on starting an actual blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-6716818925933419032009-10-15T13:09:13.900+01:002009-10-15T13:09:13.900+01:00I know the 'Special Borrible Group' were a...I know the 'Special Borrible Group' were a reference to the 'Special Patrol Group' set up by the Met in the 80's, (allegedly) responsible for the death of Blair Peach.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Patrol_Group<br /><br />Be quite hard to sneak that kind of thing past the publishers these days, I would think.James Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604261370633794445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-998927033325289862009-10-15T13:01:32.863+01:002009-10-15T13:01:32.863+01:00Ha! I never realised the latter. The whole Wombles...Ha! I never realised the latter. The whole Wombles thing was weird, it was sort of a Clockwork Orange-style ultra-violent hyper-parody of other kid's books. With nail-spiked clubs and burning gold for good measure. And catapults. And the Special Branch.<br /><br />And no bespectacled wizards in sight.spacemonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-50598754341925297202009-10-15T13:00:28.042+01:002009-10-15T13:00:28.042+01:00I wouldn't mind seeing the three Bernard Samso...I wouldn't mind seeing the three Bernard Samson trilogies, done in a way Len Deighton would be happy with (i.e. let them be repeated or available on DVD).<br /><br />Or however many episodes it would take to chronicle James Ellroy's Underworld USA trilogy. Wasn't HBO sniffing around <i>American Tabloid</i> some time back?<br /><br />Shame Roland (disaster porn merchant) Emmerich has the rights to <i>Foundation</i> and is planning to make a film.<br /><br />And I just saw on the <i>Variety</i> site that Columbia have nabbed the rights to remaking <i>Red Riding</i>. Oh dear.<br /><br />(And yes, Harlan is a top bloke.)Good Doghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10789861569691613179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-28641149453057837042009-10-15T12:37:18.388+01:002009-10-15T12:37:18.388+01:00Weren't Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry looking at...Weren't Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry looking at The Borribles? I think they gave up in the end, because it did make child homelessness look potentially like a cool fun thing. If you were stupid.<br /><br />Cuh, it wasn't until I re-read those books years later that I got all the references to other things, like the Rumbles being the Wombles, and the Borribles being captured by Steptoe and Son at one point...James Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604261370633794445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-5551900396009583952009-10-15T12:24:52.796+01:002009-10-15T12:24:52.796+01:00Oooh, oooh - also, The Baroque Cycle. But you'...Oooh, oooh - also, The Baroque Cycle. But you'd have to take out the dull-as-ditch-water Daniel Waterhouse character and focus on the adventures of Jack and Eliza - and then it would probably just look like a Pirates of the Caribbean rip-off.<br /><br />My fave kids books The Borribles was also meant to be In Development as a UK movie - but seems to have gone the way of all such things...spacemonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-37912829539572842422009-10-15T12:19:45.801+01:002009-10-15T12:19:45.801+01:00I tried to get BBC Wales to do an adaptation of Th...I tried to get BBC Wales to do an adaptation of The Dark Is Rising books back when I worked as a script editor there (and, sadly, before it was Cool and Rejuvenated and Full Of Daleks). Unfortunately the Henson company had the rights... <br /><br />Like yr other esteemed poster, seeing the trailer for the eventual film of it made dark matter fall out of my eyes and burn away my hands. <br /><br />The words "childhood" and "raped" spring to mind.<br /><br />Otherwise: my secret wish is to do Grant Morrison's The Invisibles as a big-ass movie series. Sadly difficult post-The Matrix (which arguably stole from it big time) and kind of harder to do Terrorists As Heroes nowadays.<br /><br />Hilariously, the BBC were once developing a TV version with Mr Morrison himself. It is shit. You can find it on-line.spacemonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-29931670814310935312009-10-15T11:20:29.282+01:002009-10-15T11:20:29.282+01:00Righty-ho. Bagsy any or all of the following. (I k...Righty-ho. Bagsy any or all of the following. (I know some of 'em are already taken, but fuckit, let's dream.)<br /><br />TV<br />--<br />Flashman<br />Bulldog Drummond<br />The Dark Is Rising<br />The Seafort Saga<br />Foundation<br />Culture novels<br /><br />Film<br />----<br />The Skylark of Space<br />Lensman series<br />Coalescent<br />Dragonriders of Pern<br />Zodiac<br />Fu Manchu series<br /><br />Off the top of me head.Piershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04682054203119052550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-68479607229840729502009-10-15T11:00:25.478+01:002009-10-15T11:00:25.478+01:00I'd love to adapt any of the George MacDonald ...I'd love to adapt any of the George MacDonald Fraser 'Flashman' series, it could be a kind of anti-Sharpe.<br /><br />Failing that, the brilliant, non-fiction Agent Zigzag, although I heard Tom Hanks owns the rights.Pughnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-9660618553815327952009-10-15T10:04:58.105+01:002009-10-15T10:04:58.105+01:00I see they're filming George R R Martin's ...I see they're filming George R R Martin's Game of thrones. If it's to be an even half decent adaptation it will outstrip the Wire in complexity and sheer chutzpah. <br /><br />It could well be utterly fantastic, and yet it still won't reach the heights of the books. Must be scary to adapt something with that scope.PKnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-58761331496808592302009-10-15T09:37:03.160+01:002009-10-15T09:37:03.160+01:00pk dick! the short stories, not the novels as inte...pk dick! the short stories, not the novels as interpretively danced by hollywood.just dropping bynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-19964740916530376932009-10-15T08:05:28.136+01:002009-10-15T08:05:28.136+01:00Our household vote goes to any Georgette Heyer (bu...Our household vote goes to any Georgette Heyer (but we reserve the right to veto the casting), also Pratchett's The Bromeliad (much better than his adult stuff).<br />No idea about Proper Serious Literature, sorry.Smathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01001981110308457546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-5701062581039127162009-10-15T00:38:30.507+01:002009-10-15T00:38:30.507+01:00*takes deep breath*
Novels of Christopher Brookmy...*takes deep breath*<br /><br />Novels of Christopher Brookmyre, Fire and Hemlock and/or The Merlin Conspiracy by DW-J, Scarlett Thingie's The End of Mr Y, The Sterkarm Handshake and The Sterkarm Kiss by Susan Price (Bit of costume drama, bit of romance, bit of conspiracy, bit of swordsmen on horseback, bit of time travel set in the Borders ie next to my house), the Cherub novels of Thingy Muchamore (somebody SURELY must be developing these...), Mortal Engines Quartet by Phillip Reeve (Would be waaaay too expensive, but still...), similarly The Bartimaeus Trilogy although at least you wouldn't have to build LOndon-on-Wheels, ummmm... Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner... I could live with someone having another crack at the Peter Wimsey novels of Dorothy L Sayers, Dead Man in Deptford (Burgess's novel of Christopher Marlowe) and probably lots more too. Actually, has anyone ever done GK Chesterton's Man who was Thursday? That would be grate.nanga parbatnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10831518.post-84032446784864312442009-10-14T23:29:19.379+01:002009-10-14T23:29:19.379+01:00Phillip Pullman's The Tin Princess. I know the...Phillip Pullman's The Tin Princess. I know they have done the first two books with Sally Lockhart, but why they ain't going to the whole hog and doing the other two I don't know! (Or are they?) <br /><br />But reading The Tin Princess I just couldn't help thinking, "WOW this would be awesome!"kirstenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02294598812652737438noreply@blogger.com