Mark Gatiss says new detective drama Bookish is a ‘love letter’ to bookshops and murder mysteries
- ontargetmedia8
- Jul 10
- 4 min read
Mark Gatiss discusses his new crime drama series Bookish, set in post-war London, in which a bookshop owner helps solve crimes. Words by Lynn Rusk.
Mark Gatiss first rose to fame playing a variety of roles in the BBC’s surreal comedy-horror series The League Of Gentlemen, which he co-wrote as part of a comedy troupe.
A lifelong Doctor Who fan, the 58-year-old actor and writer contributed to the revival of the iconic sci-fi series as both a writer and performer.
He later co-created the acclaimed BBC series Sherlock, in which he portrayed Sherlock Holmes’s brother, Mycroft.
More recently, Gatiss has appeared in the last two Mission: Impossible films and won best actor at the Olivier Awards for his performance as Sir John Gielgud in The Motive and the Cue at the National Theatre.
His latest creation is a new six-part detective drama series called Bookish, set in a post-war London, in which he plays a crime-solving book shop owner.
“There is nothing like a bookshop,” said the County-Durham-born star. “It is very much a love letter to bookshops and murder mysteries – especially at a time when libraries are being treated so badly.”
Gatiss plays Gabriel Book, who is gay at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in the UK.
He is in a so-called “lavender marriage” with his childhood best friend, Trottie, portrayed by Bridgerton’s Polly Walker.
Describing his on-screen dynamic with Walker, Gatiss said: “I have so fallen on my feet with Polly. She is a lovely, warm, beautiful person. It’s sort of mirroring the relationship in the script, which is exactly what I wanted. She’s got a wonderful quality.”
When Gabriel and Trottie take in a young offender named Jack, played by Everything I Know About Love’s Connor Finch, it initially seems an act of kindness.
Jack becomes an assistant in the bookshop and a useful partner in Book’s murder investigations, though it soon becomes clear his arrival was not as random as it first appeared.
Gatiss, who drew on his experience creating Sherlock, describes himself as a “student” of the TV detective genre.
“I’m very aware that every detective needs ‘a thing’. Sherlock Holmes is the paradigm, and Agatha Christie explicitly draws lines from him to create Poirot,” he explained.
“I thought, what if [Book] was an amateur detective bookseller – and basically, his shop is like an analogue computer.”
The set design was also inspired by Sherlock’s flat on Baker Street. “The bookshop is a triumph. It is so cosy. It’s a mess – but a mess that you want to spend time in,”said Gatiss.
“I wanted to present the bookshop as a kind of oasis for ‘othered’ people. Jack’s out of prison, doesn’t know why he’s there, but is sort of adopted.”
Walker, 59, who plays the scheming but loveable Lady Featherington in Bridgerton, said she was struck by Trottie’s warmth and positivity as she doesn’t often play those parts.
“She is such a good egg without being sickly sweet. She’s her own person,” said the Lancashire-born actress.
“Strangely it is a very good fit for me. I said to Mark Gatiss when I saw him, ‘I can’t believe that you’ve seen the goodness in me.’
“My family does. My husband does. But generally, in casting I’ve played a lot of baddies.”
Walker also relished the change in costume — from Regency corsets in Bridgerton to 1940s comfort in Bookish.
“In Bookish I can breathe. I can bend down if I drop a pencil,” she laughed.
“I’m not taking anything away from Bridgerton’s magnificent costumes, but this is a much more comfortable period to exist in and act in. Trottie is not rich. And it’s 1946, so she doesn’t have an extensive wardrobe. It’s a lovely period — very simple, nice lines for men and women.”
Finch, 29, who played Street in the TV adaptation of Dolly Alderton’s memoir Everything I Know About Love, was instantly captivated by the script.
“I remember reading the first draft of episode one, and after about three minutes I was like, ‘I’m there. I can see it.’ It was so detailed,” said Essex-born Finch. “You’re also thinking, it’s 1946 — but this character, Jack, could be out there now and I would still understand him.”
He also noted how the series steps away from traditional portrayals of the era. “I’ve not seen many shows set straight after the war,” he said. “It’s not the guys with hats and truncheons that are going out and solving these murders — it’s the people who know the street.”
Describing his character Jack, Finch said: “He’s a real watcher and a real listener. I find those people interesting.
“It’s that thing of going, ‘I’ve got this far in life on my own.’
“He has no element in him where he feels the need to impress. He’s not one of those people who has a telephone voice that is a little bit posher. There is a lot of power in someone like that.”
The series also features a number of household names including Daniel Mays and Joely Richardson.
Mays, 47, who plays a local butcher called Eric Wellbeloved, described his character as the “life and soul” of Archangel Lane, the street the bookshop is located on.
“You’ve got all these different shops: the bookshop, the butcher’s, the tailor’s, so it’s a very busy and vibrant London street,” explained the Line Of Duty star.
“Connor Finch’s character Jack walks into that off the back of coming out of prison.
“He’s kind of seduced by the business and the everyday comings and goings of all the local characters and Wellbeloved is at the very centre of that.
“He’s your kind-hearted, lovable, loud, friendly butcher.”
Mays said he admires Gatiss’ “encyclopaedic knowledge” of British television and old-school films.
“He’s steeped in that nostalgia, particularly for periods like this. Mark brings all that knowledge and his love of this period and just how talented he is as a writer.
“It’s a brilliant thriller, Bookish, as much as it is a character-led piece. And his acting is on a par with his writing. He’s an amazing box of tricks to work with is Mark.”
