About Neverwhere
Beneath the streets of
London there is another London. A subterranean labyrinth of sewers and
abandoned tube stations. A somewhere that is Neverwhere.
An
act of kindness sees Richard Mayhew catapulted from his ordinary life
into a subterranean world under the streets of London. Stopping to help
an injured girl on a London street, Richard is thrust from his workaday
existence into the strange world of London Below.
So begins a curious and mysterious adventure deep beneath the streets of London, a London of shadows where the tube cry of 'Mind the Gap' takes on new meaning; for the inhabitants of this murky domain are those who have fallen through the gaps in society, the dispossessed, the homeless. Here Richard meets the Earl of Earl’s Court, Old Bailey and Hammersmith, faces a life-threatening ordeal at the hands of the Black Friars, comes face to face with Great Beast of London, and encounters an Angel. Called Islington.
Joining the mysterious girl named Door and her companions, the Marquis de Carabas and the bodyguard, Hunter, Richard embarks on an extraordinary quest to escape from the clutches of the fiendish assassins Croup and Vandemar and to discover who ordered them to murder her family. All the while trying to work out how to get back to his old life in London Above.
A six part adaption of Neil Gaiman’s novel adapted by Dirk Maggs for Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra, sees James McAvoy as Richard lead a stellar cast which includes Natalie Dormer, David Harewood, Sophie Okonedo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christopher Lee, Anthony Head, David Schofield, Bernard Cribbens, Romola Garai, George Harris, Andrew Sachs, Lucy Cohu, Johnny Vegas, Paul Chequer, Don Gilet and Abdul Salis.
What this very inviting preview does not say:
After the first episode on Radio 4 (FM) the next five episodes will be broadcast only on Radio 4 Extra (DAB)
I can think of only one reason for this and it is illustrated graphically by the following bar graph from OFCOM. The public are not buying DAB radios fast enough for BBC. The government has confirmed repeatedly that national FM radio will not be switched off until 50% of radio listening is digital and national coverage is equal to that of FM and also covers 90% of all roads.
By the way - the OFCOM site explains that the fall from 28% to 22% is within the scope of error of this survey and should not be considered significant. If a 21% drop is not significant what figure would be significant?
So begins a curious and mysterious adventure deep beneath the streets of London, a London of shadows where the tube cry of 'Mind the Gap' takes on new meaning; for the inhabitants of this murky domain are those who have fallen through the gaps in society, the dispossessed, the homeless. Here Richard meets the Earl of Earl’s Court, Old Bailey and Hammersmith, faces a life-threatening ordeal at the hands of the Black Friars, comes face to face with Great Beast of London, and encounters an Angel. Called Islington.
Joining the mysterious girl named Door and her companions, the Marquis de Carabas and the bodyguard, Hunter, Richard embarks on an extraordinary quest to escape from the clutches of the fiendish assassins Croup and Vandemar and to discover who ordered them to murder her family. All the while trying to work out how to get back to his old life in London Above.
A six part adaption of Neil Gaiman’s novel adapted by Dirk Maggs for Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra, sees James McAvoy as Richard lead a stellar cast which includes Natalie Dormer, David Harewood, Sophie Okonedo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christopher Lee, Anthony Head, David Schofield, Bernard Cribbens, Romola Garai, George Harris, Andrew Sachs, Lucy Cohu, Johnny Vegas, Paul Chequer, Don Gilet and Abdul Salis.
What this very inviting preview does not say:
After the first episode on Radio 4 (FM) the next five episodes will be broadcast only on Radio 4 Extra (DAB)
I can think of only one reason for this and it is illustrated graphically by the following bar graph from OFCOM. The public are not buying DAB radios fast enough for BBC. The government has confirmed repeatedly that national FM radio will not be switched off until 50% of radio listening is digital and national coverage is equal to that of FM and also covers 90% of all roads.
By the way - the OFCOM site explains that the fall from 28% to 22% is within the scope of error of this survey and should not be considered significant. If a 21% drop is not significant what figure would be significant?
Read "Drood" by Dan Simmonds for a great account of a deep deep London.
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