Despite these weaknesses, though, the series is still well worth watching, especially if you're fond of the genre, and also if you're fond of British television. Dewi Humphreys directs like he would direct a soap opera or a murder mystery, and though the directing of the dialogue is flawless, the action scenes are immensely disappointing, especially the 'Beast of England' battle, which is incredibly unconvincing. Therefore, the scenery, though highly inventive and original, doesn't look very impressive. Unfortunately, the series suffers from the same problems shared by most British TV series - a budget lower than that of one episode of 'Dharma and Greg'. Acting is terrific by everyone involved - I loved Gary Bakewell (frequent Paul McCartney impersonator on various BBC tele-biographies) as Richard Mayhew, the ordinary Englishman drawn into a strange adventure underground, and many other accomplished British actors - such as Laura Fraser, Trevor Peacock, Freddie Jones and Peter Capaldi - give a great performance. The script is really wonderful, and Henry helps with his own experience in screenplay writing. Neverwhere is a highly imaginative story of urban legend, rich with Gaiman's special brand of British black humor. If you love Neil's work, take the chance to finally see this lovely piece of work. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a video of the series a couple of years back, but those are quite rare. Gaiman fans such as myself have waited for quite some time to see this series introduced to American audiences - and since Gaiman is now finally breaking ground in the States (American Gods actually won the Hugo award, and was an international bestseller) this seems like the perfect time. Neil Gaiman, accomplished and acclaimed author of American Gods, Coraline and Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett) among others, and co-written by Gaiman and the wonderful British comedian Lenny Henry. This fascinating 1996 BBC mini-series was created by Mr. I'm sure many of you heard of it, but much fewer have seen it. After seven years, Neverwhere is finally available on DVD, and can be found on major shopping sites like Amazon.

Neverwhere 1996