Bookish

So when I was...

Doing the first series of Bookish.

I was about to come onto

this.

A rainbow.

Appropriate for two poops.

And I know you've been working so hard on Bookish.

On Bookish! It's going very well.

Matthew is the author of Inventing the Victorians, Shepperton Babylon, The West End Front, and Operation Chaos.

He's the author of two novels, too, The New Forest Murders and Bookish, a detective mystery for book lovers, which is adapted from the TV series he co-wrote with Mark Gatiss.

And if Matthew's voice sounds familiar, it's because I think you're recognizing it from the programs he's presented over a 25-year broadcast career, including Freethinking and The Philosopher's Arms on Radio 4 and Sound of Cinema on Radio 3, amongst many others.

And as if all this wasn't enough, Matthew's also a public humanities fellow at the School of Advanced Study in the University of London.

I'll give you two answers to this.

The book I've reread the most often is Wilkie Collins' novel Basil, which is one of my obsessions, a kind of dark and dirty and dangerous novel of eight- 1852.

Uh, Brighton Rock I've also reread many times, and I am rereading now, um, in order to get myself into the zone for, um, uh, writing the, the next series of, of, uh, of, uh, Bookish, the, the detective show that I do with Mark Gatiss.

What's the nonfiction book you wish you'd written?

He's not an activist, and he's certainly no gobshite.

This week, he's been out promoting his next project, a brand-new series of his detective show, Bookish.

So yeah, have you heard that Mark Gatiss has been speaking about Doctor Who again, Charlotte?

Yes, because he was talking about the current s- situation we're in, so it traveled quite far, these comments.

Yeah

... also a real sort of production experience to go with what he says.

Real-world experience to running his own shows, and that's what's going to bring him into contact With organs such as the Radio Times, and when they're promoting series like Bookish, which did very, very well for him last year.

People loved that show on the channel, you and Alibi.

Okay.

You know what's great that's on British TV? It's called Bookish.

And it's Mark Gatiss'.

And I am fascinated by that immediately after World War II period.

You've made your RSC debut.

You've got Bookish season two coming out.

Do you like being busy?

busy?I do like being busy, yes.

But some- sometimes it gets a bit crazy.

It's a bit crazy at the moment.

I've just finished shooting the Bookish Christmas special, and we start shooting the third series in November.

Wow.

A great show

They are currently adapting a Richard Armitage crime series called Winter, and crucially, they produce a show called Bookish, which is a light crime series starring Mark Gatiss as a closeted post-war detective

And who co-wrote Bookish?

Matthew Sweet

If we connect this to the bigger picture, the industry synergy here is flawless

It really is

Eagle Eye's existing relationship with Sweet on Bookish essentially created a high-speed pipeline for The Great Dictator.

They already trust his writing, they already have a successful working dynamic, and they clearly respect his ability to craft historical narratives given that Bookish is set in the post-war era

It's wonderful.

You mentioned Bookish.

Its star and creator is Mark Gatiss.

And his birthday, he is 16 years old.