Posted in: streaming, TV | Tagged: Alan Moore, The Great When

The Great When Set for Series; Alan Moore "Excited and Enthusiastic"

Playground is developing a series adaptation of Alan Moore's fantasy novel The Great When, the first in Moore's "Long London" series.

There's a series adaptation of one of Alan Moore's works on the way – and the iconic writer is actually "excited and enthusiastic" about it??? In an exclusive report that went live this afternoon, Colin Callender's production company Playground (Wolf Hall, All Creatures Great and Small, The Hardacres, Small Town, Big Story, Lynley, and Maigret) has won the rights to adapt Moore's fantasy novel The Great When and plans to turn it into a major multi-season tentpole series. "We did take a big swing with this, really; we wrote a big check to get this," Callender shared regarding what's been reported as a competitive bidding situation among a number of interested parties. Published on October 1st and stemming from Bloomsbury, The Great When is set to be the first in Moore's five-volume "Long London" series that will serve as the source material for the adaptation (with writers reportedly already being reached out to regarding the series). Here's a look at the official overview for the novel from Bloomsbury:

The year is 1949, the city London. Amidst the smog of the capital stumbles Dennis Knuckleyard, a hapless eighteen year-old employed by a second-hand bookshop. One day, on an errand to acquire books for sale, Dennis discovers a novel that simply does not exist. It is a fictitious book, a figment from another novel. Yet it is physically there in his hands. How?

Dennis has stumbled on a book from the Great When, a magical version of London beyond time and space, where reality blurs with fiction and concepts such as Crime and Poetry are incarnated as wondrous, terrible beings. But this other, magical London must remain a secret: if Dennis cannot find a way to return this book to where it belongs, he risks repercussions, such as his body being turned inside out (or worse).

So begins a journey delving deep into the city's occult underbelly and tarrying with an eccentric cast of sorcerers, gangsters, and murderers – some from legend, some all too real, and all with plans of their own. Soon Dennis finds himself at the centre of an explosive series of events that may alter and endanger both Londons forever…

"For the first time in my career, I'm genuinely excited and enthusiastic about a work of mine…one that I own and believe could work marvelously in a different medium…being adapted for the screen," Moore shared when the report first hit, with Deadline Hollywood first reporting the news. Noting that he is "excited and enthusiastic" to work with Playground on the series adaptation, Moore added, "In Playground, I feel that I've connected with people who respect both me and the narrative and are receptive to such input as I can offer. And, given Playground's track record, I have little doubt that this will be anything short of spectacular. It's taken me some time, but I think at last I'm ready for my closeup."

David Stern, Joint Managing Director of Playground, added, "Alan Moore's 'The Great When' is an extraordinary work of imagination, combining elements of history, fantasy, and mystery to create a world that is both epic and intimate, strange yet deeply human. This project represents the type of storytelling we at Playground are passionate about, and we couldn't be more thrilled to be working with Alan, one of the most influential writers of our time, to bring this remarkable work to television."

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