Gormenghast (DVD)

have been an avid reader and defender of Mervyn Peakes work for many years. I say defender because he is a novelist who has come in for a lot of criticism for being too long-winded, dark and inaccessible in his writting style. These are the very arguments that you could level at Dickens or Tolkein yet they are regarded as classics. In fact I think Peake has a very Dickensian quality to his work, lavish descriptions, decadant settings and characters that are summed up by their names, Steerpike, the protaganist of the peice, Swelter, the sweaty kitchen master and Mr Flay, the sinister butler. Peake seems to have been relegated to cult status and largely forgotten, so I ...

Direct from video transfers, an utter lack of extras and the editing of series into little tele-films for no good reason are par for the course in the realm of television DVD releases … can you say “slapped on disc”? Luckily, in this case, you won’t have to. THE SERIES The BBC adaptation of Peake’s fantasy classics ‘Titus Groan’ and ‘Gormenghast’, originally aired in the first two months of 2000, is a production very lavish by British standards, features a cast absolutely packed with known faces and names, and follows the source material to a surprisingly thorough degree, eschewing any ...

Here is a castle like no other filled to the brim with order, tradition, and clearly defined roles of society. Come inside and meet the family! Lord Sepulchrave Groan is the 76th Earl, head of the ancient noble family of Groan, and the impossibly huge complex that is Gormenghast castle. Lady Gertrude has finally born him an heir in the autumn of his life, and he couldn't be more pleased. She is content, as always, to ignore everyone else's company in favor of her hundred white cats and collection of feathered friends, especially Master Chalk, an albino raven whom she is never without. Lady Fuchsia is their elder child, full of rebellion and tired of being either ignored ...