Neverwhere on BBC Radio 4

Thrilled as I am to hear that Neil Gaiman's newest novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, has been published, I was even more excited to hear that Neverhwere the first book of his that I ever read had been adapted into a BBC Radio drama produced by Dirk Maggs.

For those of you not already in the know, Dirk Maggs is the man responsible for the great "continuation" of Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as well as Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency that ran on BBC radio.

So, not only did I just finish listening to one of my favorite stories, I got to hear it interpreted through a full cast produced by a man whose previous work had already won me over. The result? I enjoyed it thoroughly and could not stop listening.

I think that time has shown me that Neverwhere is not a perfect story. If you haven't read it, it's basically about a man who, through performing an act of kindness, gets thrown into an alternate "fantasy" version of London where he is not welcome. He then tries to find his way back and encounters a lot of crazy things along the way.

While to this day the story has missing pieces, it's great fodder for the imagination. For example, The Angel, Islington actually has an angel named Islington - and he's not exactly on the level.

The voice acting was top notch with James McAvoy playing the protagonist, Richard Mayhew. Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans will be pleased that Anthony Head plays Mr. Croup perfectly.

Such performances make me wish we had an institution as "cool" and proven as the BBC in helping to produce great art for public consumption. Instead, we'll have to wait till our PBS stations license the content. Or find clever ways to search the web to listen and watch.

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