The Ocean At The End of the Lane - Duke of York's Theatre

Back in December 2019, I got to see the stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, at the Dorfman at the National Theatre, and it was extraordinarily good (I ended up seeing it 3 times), so when I heard that it was transferring for a longer London run I suggested to my cousin, A, that she and her boys might like it, and we arranged to go together. Then, of course, or tickets.

Since the tickets we originally had were for January 2021, ended up being a longer wait than anticipated, but we finally got to go, almost exactly a year to the day after our original date - and it was worth the wait.

The Duke of York's is larger than the Dorfman, but the play still manages to feel intimate, and immediate, and the Hunger Birds are still terrifying! 

And, even though I have seen it before, I was still almost in tears at the end.

It's beautifully staged, and the story is such a poignant , heartbreaking evocation of childhood loss and fears. 

It's on until 14th May, at the Duke of York's Theatre and I do recommend that you see it, if you can. Since it is a  National Theatre  production, and one which is getting excellent reviews, I hope that they may film it for NT Live. I know that there were plans or a touring production, too, although I am not sure whether, post Covid. that's still the plan. I hope so.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

I was both excited and wary when I heard that the National Theatre would be doing a production based on Neil Gaiman's novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane excited because I love Neil's work, and Ocean is a book which speaks to me particularly deeply, and wary because it isn't a book which lends itself easily to being adapted.

I am seeing the play with friends next week, but also booked to see the first preview, as I feel that you get a different experience when you go to the theatre alone, and  can focus solely on the production, then you do when you are also enjoying a social experience. Plus, I thought that if the adaptation was good, I might well want to see it more than once!

I was not disappointed. Going into the Dorfman foyer, there is a projection (complete with lightning) of the Boy in the storm, then going into the theatre there is the set, with a great arched backdrop of thorns and brambles.

In the opening scene we see the adult 'boy', standing at the grave of his father, and we are off!

I was really impressed with the production - despite my concerned, it really, really works, both as a stand alone piece of theatre and as an adaptation of the book. 

The production uses puppetry, with visible puppeteers, to bring the Skarthach and the Hunger Birds to life, and they do so magnificently - the Skarthach is huge, a spider-like creature of rags and rubbish, and the huger birds are terrifying creatures - more frightening than the Skarthach itself.

Samuel Blenkin and Marli Siu, as the boy, and Lettie Hempstock respectively, are both excellent, and Pippa Nixon makes a superb, scary Ursula Monkton.

Set (during the interval) - thorns and
part of the Hempstock's kitchen  

There are some changes to the novel - the Boy's father is a widower, and he is a little older, but in general it's very faithful to it's source, and the changes are mainly, I think to pare it down to fit a 2 hours play.

It's very good - heartbreaking and magical and frightening in all the right ways. The set and staging are very good - from the nostalgic warmth of the Hempstock's kitchen, to the frightening ubiquity of Ursula as she moves impossibly fast from door to door. 

I can't wait to see it again.  

The play i on at the National Theatre until 25th January. I believe it is almost sold out but there are a few tickets still on some days, and day tickets and returns are available - if you can, do go! 

Playing in The Dark - Neil Gaiman and the BBC Symphony Orchestra

I like Neil Gaiman, and I like music, so when I saw that Neil was going to be reading from some of his works, with accompanying music from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, of course I needed to get a ticket, and to add to the enjoyment, I got to hang out with some friends before the show.

We met up for  some delicious Chinese food and lots of conversation, then we had a brisk (and partially unplanned - thanks, London Underground!) walk to the Barbican, where we split up (as we had not booked at the same time, so had separate seats)

I had a mild panic, as just after I sat down another woman with a ticket for the same seat also  showed up, but happily the Barbican staff were able to sort it out (it turned out that the other lady had a different seat allocated to her in their system than the one on her e-mail confirmation, so no-one missed out. 

The format of the evening was Neil reading from his works, and  introducing pieces of music, mostly with a brief explanation or comment about what the music meant to him, or why he chose it.

BBC Symphony Orchestra (before Neil came on)

The  readings and  pieces of music were, in order;

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Dukas)

April (from 'A Calendar of Tales'
Walking the Dog (Gershwin)

The Ocean at the end of the Lane (extract)
The Nightmare Song (Gilbert &Sullivan) Sung by Simon Butteriss

The Mushroom Hunters (read by Amanda Palmer)
(accompanied by an arrangement by Jherek Bischoff)

 There is a link here to a recording of her reading it to the music, on a different occasion  

Vampire Sestine
Valse Triste (Sibelius)

October (from 'A Calendar of Tales) 
Oriental March, Belshazzer's Feast (Sibelius)

*Interval*

The Ride of the Valkyries (Wagner)
Norse Mythology (Fenris Wolf)

Fahrenheit 451 - Prelude (Hermann)
The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury

Dies Irae,Sinfnia da Requiem   (Britten)

A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square (Sherwin, arr. Jherek Bishoff)
Sung by Amanda Palmer

Then,  just when we thought the show was over, Neil returned to introduce a special guest to give a reading from Good Omens, everyone's favourite less-than-wholly-evil demon, Mr David Tennant.

David Tennant reading from Good Omens

He read from the scene where Aziraphale and Crowley are drinking in Aziraphale's bookshop, and he was glorious! The narration was in his own (Scottish) voice, but the dialogue he did in his Crowley voice, and in a superb Michael Sheen as Aziraphale . 

We didn't get to hear hear the extra verses of Nanny Crowley's lullaby, which I had thought might be a possibility, when I hears that he was appearing, but one can't have everything, and we did get a lot! 

If I knew who came up with these captions I would credit them, but I don't,
so I can't

And people have been having fun with the photos of Neil and David doing their respective readings, as you can see above!

We also got to hear the Good Omens  theme played by the full orchestra, which was wonderful! And both for that, and for David'd reading, the stage was lit, half red, and half golden white, 

All of this took far, far longer than the advertised run time, which  is probably why the broadcast which goes out on Christmas Day will, I think, be edited and won't include David's reading, but I may be wrong (or the BBC may change their mind!)

Because I am very fortunate in my friends, I got to go to a party afterwards, and while that and the over-running show meant I missed the last train home, and had to find a hotel at very short notice, it was such a fun evening that it was worth it all!

The broadcast is on from 7.30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on 23rd December, and will be available worldwide via BBC Sounds for 30 days after that..

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman, David Tennant and Michael Sheen at the Royal Festival Hall, and a bookshop.

As you know, I am a fan of Terry Pratchett's work, and a fan of Neil Gaiman's work, so I am, and have been, pretty excited about the Good Omens TV series, which is out this weekend.

So, when I saw that Neil had an event at the Southbank  Centre, I couldn't resist, even though it was a week night. I'm pretty sure that Master Crowley would say I shouldn't try to resist temptation..

I went through Waterloo station, on my way, where there was a  pop up garden, with an apple tree, and warnings about snakes. (there were snakes, too, but they were having a snooze in private when I visited)

And , there friendly demons, tempting passers-by with apples...

I met up with my friend, and we dined, then went to the Southbank Centre. Where there were, perhaps inevitably,some chattering Satanic nuns. Which is not something you see every day, even at the Southbank Centre.  

Sadly we arrived just as they were finishing their mini concert, but I am sure that they sang beautiful, profane songs about the Antichrist. (they have an album out, you know)

Then the main event.

Neil Gaiman, Michael Sheen, and David Tennant were being interviewed by Kirsty Wark. 

The event started with a short clip from the show (the scene in the band stand, from Ep.3, for those who have seen the show) then Kirsty (who has a cameo in the show and was clearly a fan) interviewed the others.


Neil explained how he had felt that he had to make the series, for Terry, and that he was show runner so that no-one else could mess it up. He and Michael talked about a very awkward  meal they had together, when they were each trying to break it to the other that Michael wasn't right for the role of Crowley.

Michael and David performed a brief scene from the show (with Neil reading the stage directions ) - hearing Drunk Crowley and Drunk Aziraphale was a lot of fun. Kirsty Wark described Crowley's appearance as being 'aging rock star' - resulting in David feigning offence at the 'aging'  part (she hastily changed to 'young rock star' but David continued to make comments about his age during the rest of the evening! 

Neil talked about some of the other members of the cast, and how they accepted their roles (Frances McDormand's response when asked to play God was that it would confirm what her family had always suggested about her...,and Nick Offerman offered to pay for his own plane ticket if necessary!  )

 Michael talked about having been a fan of the book since it first came out, and David about having just loved the script when it was sent to him. 

It was a lovely evening, not least because both those on stage, and in the audience, seemed genuinely happy to be there and enthusiastic about the show. Although there was a slightly awkward moment during the Q and A when someone asked  rather oddly worded question which resulted in an uncomfortable silence as an entire auditorium full of people tried to  work out what was meant, and the four people on stage all looked as though they were hoping one of the others would work it out and say something!  (Kirsty Wark stepped in and asked the questioner to frame it more simply).

Neil also explained that Crowley would still have an answering machine, and that he took the view that this was for Aziraphale's benefit, that he would have found it hard to adjust to mobile phones, so Crowley dug out his old ansaphone and set it up again!

Then, a day or two after the Southbank event, I was in London for other reasons and was able to make time to go to Soho, where there was, very briefly, a pop-up version of Aziraphale's bookshop, which one may visit. 

I wasn't sure how easy it would be to find, or whether I would be able to get in, but when I arrived in Greek Street, I guessed, from spotting the VIntage Bentley, and Angel and Demon wandering around, that I was in the right place. 

'Aziraphale'

'Crowley'

And after a wait of around 15 minutes I was able to go into the shop. 

Crowley's Bentley, outside Aziraphale's shop in Soho 

It's very well done. The entrance has heaps of old leather-bound books, and a gentleman looking not unlike the late, great, Sir Terry, grumpily telling people to go away, and not to touch anything. (Crowley, wandering up and down the queue outside, was actively encouraging everyone to touch (and lick) everything)

Aziraphale's Shop

Then upstairs there was one room with an exhibition of art by Lorna May Wadsworth, including sketches made during filming, a giant portrait of Neil, and various Icons of David as Crowley, and Michael as Aziraphale.

 There was a second room with an exhibition of props and costumes from the series, including the basket Crowley takes the baby to the convent in, a very burned and battered copy of the Nice and Accurate Prophecies , and a copy of the paper with Shadwell's advert for the Withcfinder Army (among other ads, for Terry's lost hat, and for a book club reading of  'Neverwhere' , led by a Neil G..
)

There were some perfectly charming Demons and Angels keeping an eye on each of the rooms, all staying, like Crowley and Aziraphale outside, in character.

I didn't get to do the escape room, as this had to be booked in advance and sold out very fast, but the bits I did see were very good!

The shop was only open for 3 days, so I was very lucky to get the chance to go.

And all this on top of getting to see the show itself, which is of course now available on Amazon Prime and, f I may say so, well worth watching!   

More pictures over on Flickr

BBC Recording 'With Great Pleasure'

So, a little while back I applied, on the BBC's website, for tickets to go to the recording of With Great Pleasure at Christmas, for Radio 4, recorded on Saturday,  to be broadcast on Christmas Day. Tickets are allocated by random draw, and just over 2 weeks before the recording, I got an email to say I'd been successful and got tickets. 

The recording was in the evening after I was due to see Antony and Cleopatra, so I arranged  to meet up for a meal with my friend A, and then to go to the recording. Which we did. (although we had an anxious wait as they send out more tickets than spaces, and we were among the last to arrive, so were holders of yellow 'wait' stickers instead of white 'definite seats' ones..) But all was well, we got in, and the evening was a lot of fun.

The format of the programme is to invite a guest presenter to share some of their favourite pieces of writing. 10 years ago I got to go to a recording of the Christmas episode, where the guest was Terry Pratchett. This time, the guest was Neil Gaiman..

Photo shamelessly nicked form Mr Gaiman's facebook page, of the performers 

Neil had picked various poems and extracts from books, which were read by (and in one case acted by) his friends - Mitch Benn, John Finnemore, Nina Sosanya, and the Angel Islington himself, Peter Capaldi .Oh, and 4 members of the ukulele orchestra of Great Britain!

The evening opened with some festive music from the ukulele orchestra, then we heard lots of readings. (skip this part if you want the programme to be a surprise...)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

The readings included some horrifying children's stories (Lucy Clifford's 'The New Mother', and Charles Dickens' 'Captain Murderer)', extracts from Mary Poppins and 'Wind in the Willows', a Saki short story, several poems, including  Henry Treece's 'The Magic Wood' and Nicholas Moore's 'The Island and the Cattle', and Wendy Cope's 'Differences of Opinion (amid some chat and jokes, and Neil's demonstration of the 'I was wrong' dance he and Amanda have for diffusing any disagreements).

 Mitch Benn sang Alan Moore's ' Me and Dorothy Parker and the Ukulele orchestra performed their (Yorkshire) version of Kate Bush's 'Wuthering Heights'  

We heard an extract of the original BBC  radio HHGTTG recording, and a poem by Terry Pratchett, and Neil read and extract from his own Norse Gods. There was a bit of Brahms and Simons' 'No Bed for Bacon' (about paying writers)

It's difficult to pick, but I think my favourite part was perhaps the performance of A.A. Milne's 'The Fair Lady Dorothy', in which the stage directions / footnotes were read by John Finnemore, and Peter Capaldi played the dastardly (and somewhat obtuse) lover.

Neil introduced each of the pieces,   mostly with a brief explanation of why he chose it, or a joke or comment. And of course we got to see and hear the other performers, including Peter Capaldi's amazing, evil, grin! 

At the end of the recording, there were a few brief re-takes, and then it was all over. I think one of the things which made it special was that everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, performers as well as the audience!

Walking back to the tube station, there were slightly fewer people around on Oxford Street, so I was able to stop and enjoy the Christmas lights, which made a nice end to the evening! .

Angel on Oxford Street

The programme is to be broadcast on Radio 4 Christmas Day, at 7 a.m. and repeated (or just possibly, a slightly different variation of content) at 10 p.m.  Full details here, and for those overseas or unable to listen live, it will be available on BBC Sounds afterwards. Listen and enjoy!

Art Matters - Chris Riddell and Neil Gaiman

Regular readers will know that I am a huge fan of both Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell, so I was excited to see that they had a joint event in London, celebrating the launch of their new book, 'Art Matters', and naturally could not resist the opportunity, even though it was (most inconsiderately in my view) on a Wednesday evening, so I was for some time on tenterhooks wondering whether I would be able to wrestle my work schedule in order to be able to go, but happily I could, and so Wednesday afternoon found me on train to London, and then in a very long, very hot (but polite and friendly) queue, with a good friend.

And after some queuing,and collecting our pre-signed copies of the new book, we found ourselves in the auditorium. It's a former cinema, and still has some lovely panels on the ceiling.

Chris Riddell was on stage as we came in, sharpening his pencils and drawing sketches. (As Neil commented" There was a moment of panic, about 20 minutes ago, up in the Green Room  when we looked around and went, ' where's Chris?' . We thought we'd lost you" )

Then Neil read the 'Art Matters' speech from the book (after pointing out that it was a slightly new version, as it is the elements of the original speech which Chris liked and chose to illustrate), At the tart, this was accompainied by a running commentary from Neil's son Ash, before his mother took him backstage again. Which was a shame, his enthusiastic 'Dadda!' was lovely to hear!  After which Neil ad Chris  both answered questions put by host Lauren Laverne.

Neil spoke briefly about his current involvement as a show runner for the 'Good Omens' TV show ("Stuff like budget meetings, I was not put on this earth for fucking budget meetings") and about writing the sequel to 'Neverwhere'  100 pages in, but taking time due to the demands of being a show runner)

Towards the end of the evening, Antonia Byatt, Director of English Pen spoke a little about the organisation and it's aims, and read from a recent letter from writer Ahmet Altan ,  who who has been imprisoned in Turkey for expressing unpopular views.

There was also an auction in support of EnglishPen, of one of the original artworks for the book, (which auctioneer Lauren Laverne pointed out, included DNA samples from Neil and Chris from where they had handled it, so the winner would be able to clone their own Neil or Chris!)

Neil holding the artwork to be auctioned

(and photographer Tom Bowles took the most perfect picture of it, which you can see  here)

There was then some time for a few questions from the audience, for which Chris drew replies, as well as giving verbals replies. 

I had to leave just before the end, in order to catch my train home, but the entire evening was videoed and is up on YouTube for all to enjoy. And of course the book is available to buy all over the place. If you don't already have a copy, I urge you to get one. 

Coraline, The Opera

As you will have seen from last week's post, I was deeply disappointed on Easter weekend when a combination of my illness, and GWR's idiosyncratic approach to providing a train service meant that I couldn't use the ticket I booked (last October) to see the Coraline Opera. At the time, I thought this meant I was going to miss it altogether, as it was only on for 9 performances and was completely sold out.

However, when I called to return my ticket, the nice chap at the Royal Opera House was able to find a returned ticket for me for the matinee this Saturday, so I got to go after all.

I don't know a lot about opera - as regular readers will know, I'm generally more about 'straight' theatre, but I am also very fond of 'Coraline', and curious about how it would translate onto stage and music.

Curtain, pre-performance

When I took my seat, I saw that the curtain not only had Coraline's name across it, but was also showing a projected image of the auditorium and the audience, acting as a huge mirror, but one too dark to be able to tell whether it was a true reflection, or whether what we saw might be, in fact, the Other audience, button eyes an all!

The opera has a small cast  of just 6, and the story is also pared down - the cat is gone, and Miss Spink and Miss Forcible's scotty dogs, and Coraline's battle with the beldame simplified, but the bare bones are still there.

Production photo:
Alexander Robin Baker as the Other Father, Kitty Whately as the Other Mother

At the performance I saw, Coraline was sung by Robyn Allegra Parton (the role was shared with Mary Bevan),who did an excellent job as a the brave (but also often sulky and occasionally stroppy) eleven year old, with Kitty Whately and Alexander Robin Baker were both excellent as her parents (and as her Other parents). I particularly enjoyed the poignancy of the Other Father's end, after he tried to help Coraline to escape.

At the interval, the curtain came down again, but this time, we, like Coraline herself, were on the wrong side, and the image was reversed...

Curtain, half time. We are the Other audience, now

This, and the original curtain, were indicative of the design of the show,which plays heavily on mirrors and reflections - the Other version of Coraline's house is the mirror image of the original, for instance, and the homes of Mr Bobo and of Miss Forcible and Miss Sink come from the opposite sides of the stage, dependent on whether we are in our word, or that of the Other Mother.

I personally felt that the Other Mother's world wasn't as creepy and terrifying as it could have been, but it seemed to do the job for the target audience; at the point where the there Mother produces her buttons and needle and thread, there were audible gasps, and more than one squeak of fear, and I heard a little voice from behind me saying (and sounding pretty scared) "Don't be scared Daddy. It's not really real" ........ "is it?" .  (It sounded as thought Daddy was able to reassure her that he wasn't too scared, and that she need not be, either, and she seemed to enjoy the rest of the performance)

Over all, I enjoyed it, and I'm very glad I got to see it. I thought it kept the underlying 'flavour' of the original book, although the it took a while to get going in the first act, with rather more exposition that was strictly necessary. But  I have to admit that I am still not big on opera - I suspect that I would have enjoyed it more had it been a straight play. However, I can see that it could spark n interest in opera for children, and even for a non-opera fan it was well worth seeing. There were no surtitles, abut that wasn't an issue, the singers were all admirably clear (much more so than in the last opera I saw!

The run at the Barbican has finished now, but I believe that there are plans in the pipeline for translated productions to be performed in Germany, France and Sweden, and I would imagine that it may well be revisited - it sold out completely, and from what I could see, was very warmly received by those of all ages who saw it. 

Neil Gaiman and Stephen Fry at Hay

The last of the events I booked for was the glorious meeting of Neil Gaiman and Stephen Fry, which, as it turned out, had the additional, wonderful addition of Chris Riddell, illustrating the conversation.

Neil's most recent book is of course his Norse Mythology, retelling some of the stories of the Norse gods, and Stephen, it appears, is in the process of writing a book retelling some of the Greek Myths (out in November).

He explained that when he was told Neil had a book of Norse Myths out his first thought was not the normal joy which one usually feels on learning that Neil has a new book out, but rather 'oh sod, is he doing series?' ..

Neil Gaiman and Stephen Fry

He explained that once reassured that Neil wouldn't be publishing a retelling of Greek Myths any time soon, he relaxed and enjoyed the book!

Neil talked a little about when and how he first fell in love with the Norse myths (comics first, then Roger Lancelyn Green). They agreed that it's best to tell the stories and not try to make explain them "If you try and explain them, they get less. They don't get more". 

He also spoke about how different Norse myths are from Greek ones - how inhospitable the world in which the Norse gods live; 'No-one is hanging around wearning not very much and staring at their reflection in pools' 

Neil read an  extract of his story of Loki's children, about the binding of Fenrir.

Fenris Wolf

And Stephen talked about the Greek Myths, and how her grew up on Robert Graves. There was a little discussion about how the ancient greek myths explain the creation of the world, (and how the Norsemen would have known how unscientific the Greeks were, in thinking the world came from chaos, when everyone knew everything was really licked into being by a giant cow...)

They agreed that the ancient Greeks, like the Norse, didn't trust the gods, they are treacherous and unreliable, and as wicked and capricious and lustful as humans!

After a  slight delay (it would appear that  not having yet published your book, makes it harder to actually read from your book.) Stephen read about King Midas, , ('rather a nice King. He loved his roses') who had asses ears, as a result of criticising Apollo's musical ability..

King Midas has Asses Ears

They talked about mining myths, how you can dig down into older versions, (with specific reference to versions of the Orpheus and Euridyce story), and also spoke briefly about 'American Gods'

Chris Riddell illustrated both of them. (It should be mentioned that as Chris's art was being projected onto a large screen at the back of the stage, we the audience could see what he was drawing, but Neil and Stephen couldn't, without turning round, which meant that from time to time their (relatively) serious conversation was interrupted by laughter from the audience!

Is Neil going to be writing a book of Welsh Myths, he was asked

As, for instance, when a member of the audience asked about whether Neil had any plans to use the Welsh Myths.. (Stephen did point out that, out of mercy to his spell-checker he probably shouldn't go from Norse to Welsh myths!)

Questions included Stephen's views on insulting gods He takes the view you can't insult what you don't believe in, but that if it turned out there was an omnipotent god and he met it, he'd be 'a bit cross' .

Neil was asked which of the Norse gods he most identified with (Kvasir, because he didn't to anything to dreadful, and because of the mead of poetry) 

They were also asked about whether they felt like gods while writing. Neil admitted he did when he first got to write Doctor Who, and wrote 'TARDIS, Interior' and when he wrote Batman and realised that he could make Batman do anything!

Finally, Amanda Palmer came onstage to read Neil's poem, 'The Mushroom Hunters' which was new to me.

The BBC was recording the session and put the full thing online here. Watch and enjoy!

After the event, Neil did a signing, which was very generous of him. The tent in which the event was held seats around 1,700 and it seems as though most of us wanted to get stuff signed! 

About an hour and a half  into the queuing-for-the-signing  part of the evening, Amanda and Patrick came to entertain us, (and to let anyone who didn't know, know that they had a gig later) 

It was, as always, lovely to see Neil and say hello, but I can completely understand why he doesn't often do such big signings. 

I had a long drive back home afterwards, so couldn't stay for Amanda's gig, but it was a lovely day!

(More photos from Hay here)

In Which there are Dodgy Gods

On Wodin's Day evening, after a lovely meal with a good friend, we made our way to the auditorium for the evening with Neil Gaiman, speaking about his new book, Norse Mythology, a retelling of some of the Norse Myths.

Just before going in we were lucky enough to bump into Chris Riddell, so I got to tell him how much I had enjoyed his event, and he also kindly signed my '100 hugs' book. (And he asked whether we'd seen the Terry Pratchett docu-drama 'Back in Black')

Neil's event started with him reading 'Freya's Wedding' from his new book; very funny.

Then he was interviewed, about the book and other matters. He explained that he first met the Norse Gods through the original Marvel Comics version of Thor, then read the Roger Lancelyn Green version of the Norse Myths, before reading Kevin Crossley-Holland's versions, and the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda as an adult, and he loves the human-ness of the Norse gods, and the fact that they have stories - they are dodgy gods, much more human than divine!

We then got to see a trailer for the American Gods TV series, and after that, a not-quite-final trailer for How to Talk to Girls at Parties both of which look very interesting (although I am still just a little doubtful about Ian McShane as Mr Wednesday; I find it hard to get past thinking of him as Lovejoy!

Neil spoke a little about the Good Omens TV series,which is about to start casting. He explained that he and Terry Pratchett had always agreed that they would do any sequel or adaptation together, but later Terry asked him, as a last request, to write the TV series, so he has. And that he spent time being angry with life, because he couldn't phone Terry and tell him when he wrote a really good bit, and angry at Terry because he wasn't there to call to ask him for ideas when he got to a tricky bit. 

He explained that the show is being made by the BBC with Amazon. The interviewer (whose name, unfortunately, I didn't make a note of) expressed reservations about Amazon' involvement, so Neil explained that the BBC are making the show and Amazon is simply providing wheelbarrows of money.

He also said that he thinks that it is the best thing he has ever written. Which when you think about it is pretty exciting!

We then moved on to the Q&A section of the evening.

He was asked about current works, and confirmed that he is writing a Neverwhere sequel, and that he feels that when he wrote Neverwhere, he had things to say about how society behaves towards the homeless, and that now, with his work with UNHCR, and seeing  attitudes towards refugees and the dispossessed, he feels he has things he is angry about, and cares about, and is writing Seven Sisters.

Another question was about whether he would write stories about the Norse goddesses, and he explained that it was harder, as while we know the names and attributes of some of the goddesses, no stories have survived. He also explained, which I didn't know, that the stories we do have were written down only after  Christianity took hold, and a large part of why they were written down was out of fear that 'kennings' (metaphors etc.) in the Icelandic sagas and poetry would no longer be understood, not out of a wish to preserve the tales and beliefs themselves. 

He was asked about his favourite lines, or the lines of which he is proudest, in his own work. He said it's not any of the things which get quoted a lot, (such as " you get what anyone gets, you get a lifetime"), it's a line from American Gods - "Chicago happened slowly, like a migraine"

And perhaps the most entertaining answer to a question was in relation to a question about what he reads to Ash. He told us that he reads the Chu books (because his publisher gave him copies!!) and that Ash enjoys the books also he has to read them over and over, and thinks it's a pity there are only 3, but that he has not, despite that, sat down to write any more! He also re-tells the story of the Three Little Pigs, because Ash enjoys the Big Bad Wolf, but he pus lots of variety in so *he* doesn't get bored (he mentioned, for instance, conversations between the Pig and the Hay salesman, extolling the virtues of hay as an ecologically sound building material) and that Ash puts up with it because he knows that the Big ad Wolf is coming. 

Which made me want to ask him to tell us the story of the 3 little pigs, to see what happens this time!

The tickets which we had included a signed copy of the book, so after the evening was over, I got to take the book away and am going to try to ration myself and make it last...

As you can see, Neil has recovered from his unfortunate recent hair cut...

Finally, for anyone who missed it when it was published in the Guardian, or when Neil retweeted it, have  look at the wonderful Tom Gauld's cartoon about the tour.  

Tom Gauld's wonderful cartoon / tweet

(I didn't spot Odin in the Festival Hall, but I wouldn't like to say, with any confidence, that he was not there!)

Oh, and check out Chris Riddell's Tumblr. He was sitting a few rows behind us and drawing his way through Neil's event, and the pictures are wonderful!