Mark Gatiss is brilliant in this series – just don't call it cosy crime
Many a fictional detective has an extracurricular talent that feeds into their work; Sherlock Holmes and his violin; Inspector Morse and his crossword skills; Columbo's fluency in several languages.
In Mark Gatiss' new crime series Bookish, the co-creator and co-writer of Sherlock stars as Gabriel Book, for whom the detective work is the extracurricular talent.
Book is an eccentric antiquarian bookshop owner who is also adept at solving mysteries. He draws on his encyclopaedic literary knowledge to help figure out motives, methods and the psychology behind all manner of crimes.
Book regularly helps out the local police, led by the affable Inspector Bliss (Elliot Levey), and if anybody queries his involvement, he tells them he 'has a letter from Churchill'. (A bit like Doctor Who's psychic paper, the mere mention of it seems to satisfy anybody who asks).
Bookish is set in London in 1946, a less common setting for period drama; Gatiss, a long-time detective fan (as well as Sherlock he has adapted several of Agatha Christie's Poirot stories for British TV, and starred in the series Marple), has said it's a favourite time period of his, given the state of the world: women suddenly empowered (although expected to return to their kitchens), lots of weapons brought back by soldiers, a radical government, and a sense of hope. But no shortage of criminal activity.
We first meet Book when a young man, Jack (Connor Finch), freshly released from prison, shows up for a job he's been given at the bookshop. Jack moves in with Book and his wife Trottie (Bridgerton 's Polly Walker), who runs a specialty wallpaper shop next door to the bookshop. Gabriel and Trottie seem very much in love – but they have a secret: theirs is a 'lavender marriage', the term given to a marriage where one or both parties are gay, when such a thing is illegal. The pair have long been best friends, having met as children, and Trottie is aware of Book's 'proclivities', which must be kept secret. Especially from the police he spends so much time with.
Jack is initially daunted by both Book and his books (all of which are 'catalogued' in a manner as oddball as the man himself), and understandably baffled that the local coppers defer to Book on criminal matters. But he soon comes around – and learns that he hasn't been taken in by the couple by coincidence.
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'I got thrown out by about 60 metres and travelled through the air and along the ground like a rag doll.' Donnelly remained strapped to his seat, coming to rest awkwardly in the middle of the track. As cars navigated their way past him and through the field of debris, the marshals in Jerez waited for the arrival of doctor Sid Watkins, but the assumption was that Donnelly was already dead. When Watkins flipped open the visor of his helmet, Donnelly's face had turned blue. He was unconscious having swallowed his tongue, had broken many of his bones — including both of his legs — and his internal organs had been so traumatised that he would be clinging to life on a respirator and kidney dialysis for weeks. Martin Donnelly was lucky to escape with his life, let alone his legs. Credit: Getty After being helicoptered to hospital in Seville, a priest was summoned to read him his last rites. Donnelly was lucky to escape with his life and both of his legs, and although he was subsequently able to resume his motor racing career, he never returned to Formula One as a driver. At least, not in real life. Over three decades later, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and the other producers of the movie perused F1 archives to find the crash upon which to base Hayes' narrative arc, a decision that was quickly made once they viewed Donnelly's dramatic incident in Jerez. Hamilton made the call to seek permission, blindsiding Donnelly one Saturday night at home. 'I thought it was going to be one of those cold calls for central heating or double-glazed windows,' he recalled. 'I was quite aggressive ... it's not every day you receive a call from a seven-time world champion!' When asked what had made him so good as a young racing driver, Donnelly joked with CNN Sports: 'Well it wasn't my good looks, that's for sure.' 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Nevertheless, as he described telling Pitt to climb from the left-hand side of the car, he accepted that he has always been a superstitious driver. 'My daughter once did a feature on me at school and said, 'Dad, can you write down all the superstitions you have,' and there were two A4 pages of it. She says, 'Oh my god, dad, you need some help!'' In assisting with the production of the movie, Donnelly was forced to relive the most traumatic experience of his life, experiencing it for the first time in the third person. The director recreated the crash and filmed it repeatedly, prompting him to wonder: 'Is this what I'm known for?' 'I watched them get a mannequin in yellow overalls and a helmet fly out of this car 15 times and all these cameras are taking pictures,' Donnelly said. 'And then it would drop and be dragged along the ground. For me, that was a reality check because I've never seen it happen.' 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Senna was close to Donnelly and clearly affected by his friend's clash in 1990. Credit: Getty/CNN They were close, and Senna offered anything he could do to help with his recovery. Four years later, Senna himself was involved in a devastating crash at the San Marino Grand Prix, and he was not so lucky. 'I do believe that I could easily have become a world champion but then I come back to reality. I'm still talking to you,' he said. 'My friend Senna is dead. He had all the millions in his back pocket, three-time world champion, but who's he going to share it with? 'His death on May 1st, 1994, was the final nail in the coffin for me to say, 'Hey Martin, look around you, you're in the paddock, you're still involved with the sport that you love. You've got no right to complain'.'
7NEWS
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Sad truth behind Martin Donnelly's haunting real-life crash depicted in F1 Movie: ‘Is this what I'm known for?'
Almost everything in the blockbuster F1 movie is fictional, but the protagonist's spine-chilling origin story really happened exactly as depicted on screen. Brad Pitt's character Sonny Hayes is haunted by a high-speed crash which initially cost him his Formula One dream, but for the man who survived that crash in real life, there would be no Hollywood ending. In 1990, Martin Donnelly was a promising British racing driver with the Lotus Formula One team, but a suspension failure in a practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix sent him hurtling into the Armco barrier at around 257km/h. The aftermath is one of the most horrifying scenes ever witnessed in motorsport. Donnelly says he has no memory of the crash, but he told CNN Sports that his car effectively became a bobsled without any steering or braking control prior to the moment of impact. 'The carbon fibre tub shattered like a car bomb, and I went with the energy,' he said. 'I got thrown out by about 60 metres and travelled through the air and along the ground like a rag doll.' Donnelly remained strapped to his seat, coming to rest awkwardly in the middle of the track. As cars navigated their way past him and through the field of debris, the marshals in Jerez waited for the arrival of doctor Sid Watkins, but the assumption was that Donnelly was already dead. When Watkins flipped open the visor of his helmet, Donnelly's face had turned blue. He was unconscious having swallowed his tongue, had broken many of his bones — including both of his legs — and his internal organs had been so traumatised that he would be clinging to life on a respirator and kidney dialysis for weeks. After being helicoptered to hospital in Seville, a priest was summoned to read him his last rites. Donnelly was lucky to escape with his life and both of his legs, and although he was subsequently able to resume his motor racing career, he never returned to Formula One as a driver. At least, not in real life. Over three decades later, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and the other producers of the movie perused F1 archives to find the crash upon which to base Hayes' narrative arc, a decision that was quickly made once they viewed Donnelly's dramatic incident in Jerez. Hamilton made the call to seek permission, blindsiding Donnelly one Saturday night at home. 'I thought it was going to be one of those cold calls for central heating or double-glazed windows,' he recalled. 'I was quite aggressive ... it's not every day you receive a call from a seven-time world champion!' When asked what had made him so good as a young racing driver, Donnelly joked with CNN Sports: 'Well it wasn't my good looks, that's for sure.' So, he could scarcely have imagined that one of Hollywood's biggest heartthrobs would end up playing a character based on his life experience in a movie. Donnelly said it was surreal to find himself filming in a garage at Brands Hatch, with Pitt asking for advice on where to stand and how to enter the car. ''Hey Brad, if I were you, just stand at the back of the car, walk around it, touch it, just ask the car to be good to you today, pray that you're going to be both quick and safe',' he recalled saying. Donnelly said that he never dwelled upon the inherent dangers of high-speed racing. 'If you have something in the back of your mind about having an accident, you're not driving that car at 100 per cent, you're at 99 per cent,' he explained. 'In my mind, (accidents) happened to other drivers, not me.' Nevertheless, as he described telling Pitt to climb from the left-hand side of the car, he accepted that he has always been a superstitious driver. 'My daughter once did a feature on me at school and said, 'Dad, can you write down all the superstitions you have,' and there were two A4 pages of it. She says, 'Oh my god, dad, you need some help!'' In assisting with the production of the movie, Donnelly was forced to relive the most traumatic experience of his life, experiencing it for the first time in the third person. The director recreated the crash and filmed it repeatedly, prompting him to wonder: 'Is this what I'm known for?' 'I watched them get a mannequin in yellow overalls and a helmet fly out of this car 15 times and all these cameras are taking pictures,' Donnelly said. 'And then it would drop and be dragged along the ground. For me, that was a reality check because I've never seen it happen.' Donnelly said that footage was never used in the final edit, perhaps because nothing could match the intensity of the original television recording, which he said he didn't know would be used until he saw the movie in the cinema. While he said that he feels 'honoured and privileged that Brad Pitt chose my accident and my life to document', the 61-year-old admitted that the whole thing is bittersweet; his crash came at a cost. 'This is what I've been reenacted for,' he lamented. 'And my friends at the time — Damon Hill, Jonny Herbert, Eddie Irvine, David Coulthard have all gone on to be very successful and very rich. Why wasn't I given a chance to have that? Because when they were my teammates, I kicked their asses!' But then he stops himself, recalling the fate of one of F1's greatest ever drivers Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian famously walked to the site of Donnelly's accident at Jerez and watched as the rescue teams fought to revive him on the track. They were close, and Senna offered anything he could do to help with his recovery. Four years later, Senna himself was involved in a devastating crash at the San Marino Grand Prix, and he was not so lucky. 'I do believe that I could easily have become a world champion but then I come back to reality. I'm still talking to you,' he said. 'My friend Senna is dead. He had all the millions in his back pocket, three-time world champion, but who's he going to share it with? 'His death on May 1st, 1994, was the final nail in the coffin for me to say, 'Hey Martin, look around you, you're in the paddock, you're still involved with the sport that you love. You've got no right to complain'.'
The Advertiser
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Ozzy Osbourne's final months filmed for documentary
Ozzy Osbourne's final months were filmed for a documentary. The 76-year-old Black Sabbath rocker died earlier this week following a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Son Jack revealed his parents, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, had been filming a docuseries Home To Roost about their move back to Buckinghamshire in the UK after 20 years in the USA. Jack also told the Daily Mail's Weekend magazine that his father had finished an autobiography called Last Rites, which is due out later in 2025. Jack, 39, did the interview before his father passed away and during the chat, he spoke about his work as a co-producer on an upcoming biopic about Ozzy. He said: "Right now it'll take place over the Sabbath era and early 1980s. We're definitely going for a more adult rating for the film. "This is by no means going to be a fluff piece. Right now we're going through a rewrite with Craig Borten, who wrote Dallas Buyers Club." News of Ozzy's death was confirmed by his family in a statement, which read: "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. "We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis." It was later reported that Ozzy died at his home in Buckinghamshire and his family had flown in from Los Angeles to be with him. A source told MailOnline: "(His passing was) unexpected to be this soon." The insider added that daughters Aimee, 41, and Kelly, 40, had come from Los Angeles to be with their father and Jack had flown in from his home in Idaho to watch his father perform at his final Black Sabbath gig in Birmingham on July 5. The source said: "Ozzy was always meant to come back to Britain to live in Buckinghamshire, it was where Sharon had spent so long preparing their family home for him. "There was much hope that he would be around for a lot longer than this but at one point there were fears they would not get him back from Los Angeles for the concert earlier this month. "Kelly has been at the house a lot in the last week or so, so has Aimee. It is terribly sad for all of them, they really hoped he would be able to carry on for a bit longer. "But it's so lovely that he had his children around him during his last days." Ozzy Osbourne's final months were filmed for a documentary. The 76-year-old Black Sabbath rocker died earlier this week following a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Son Jack revealed his parents, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, had been filming a docuseries Home To Roost about their move back to Buckinghamshire in the UK after 20 years in the USA. Jack also told the Daily Mail's Weekend magazine that his father had finished an autobiography called Last Rites, which is due out later in 2025. Jack, 39, did the interview before his father passed away and during the chat, he spoke about his work as a co-producer on an upcoming biopic about Ozzy. He said: "Right now it'll take place over the Sabbath era and early 1980s. We're definitely going for a more adult rating for the film. "This is by no means going to be a fluff piece. Right now we're going through a rewrite with Craig Borten, who wrote Dallas Buyers Club." News of Ozzy's death was confirmed by his family in a statement, which read: "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. "We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis." It was later reported that Ozzy died at his home in Buckinghamshire and his family had flown in from Los Angeles to be with him. A source told MailOnline: "(His passing was) unexpected to be this soon." The insider added that daughters Aimee, 41, and Kelly, 40, had come from Los Angeles to be with their father and Jack had flown in from his home in Idaho to watch his father perform at his final Black Sabbath gig in Birmingham on July 5. The source said: "Ozzy was always meant to come back to Britain to live in Buckinghamshire, it was where Sharon had spent so long preparing their family home for him. "There was much hope that he would be around for a lot longer than this but at one point there were fears they would not get him back from Los Angeles for the concert earlier this month. "Kelly has been at the house a lot in the last week or so, so has Aimee. It is terribly sad for all of them, they really hoped he would be able to carry on for a bit longer. "But it's so lovely that he had his children around him during his last days." Ozzy Osbourne's final months were filmed for a documentary. The 76-year-old Black Sabbath rocker died earlier this week following a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Son Jack revealed his parents, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, had been filming a docuseries Home To Roost about their move back to Buckinghamshire in the UK after 20 years in the USA. Jack also told the Daily Mail's Weekend magazine that his father had finished an autobiography called Last Rites, which is due out later in 2025. Jack, 39, did the interview before his father passed away and during the chat, he spoke about his work as a co-producer on an upcoming biopic about Ozzy. He said: "Right now it'll take place over the Sabbath era and early 1980s. We're definitely going for a more adult rating for the film. "This is by no means going to be a fluff piece. Right now we're going through a rewrite with Craig Borten, who wrote Dallas Buyers Club." News of Ozzy's death was confirmed by his family in a statement, which read: "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. "We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis." It was later reported that Ozzy died at his home in Buckinghamshire and his family had flown in from Los Angeles to be with him. A source told MailOnline: "(His passing was) unexpected to be this soon." The insider added that daughters Aimee, 41, and Kelly, 40, had come from Los Angeles to be with their father and Jack had flown in from his home in Idaho to watch his father perform at his final Black Sabbath gig in Birmingham on July 5. The source said: "Ozzy was always meant to come back to Britain to live in Buckinghamshire, it was where Sharon had spent so long preparing their family home for him. "There was much hope that he would be around for a lot longer than this but at one point there were fears they would not get him back from Los Angeles for the concert earlier this month. "Kelly has been at the house a lot in the last week or so, so has Aimee. It is terribly sad for all of them, they really hoped he would be able to carry on for a bit longer. "But it's so lovely that he had his children around him during his last days."
