Writer Peter Harness is currently on a roll.
After attracting praise for his work onWallander, hisDoctor WhoepisodeKill The Moonbrought him to more mainstream attention.
For that, Perter Harness must earn the plaudits.
I just want to say I think youve done truly brilliant work with this series.
I saw a two-episode preview of the series, and came back buzzing from it.
Thats really nice to hear.
Ideally we would have just binge-watched it all!
Ad content continues below
I would have happily have sat there for seven hours!
I guess one of the first things Id like to ask is whyJonathan Strange & Mr Norrell?
I knew it would be a colossal challenge and that all appealed.
The challenge of it it appealed, and I felt it would be enjoyable.
I think writing it was the happiest writing experience of my life.
Its an amazing mishmash of genres.
How would you describe it to someone whos still not sure about watching it?
I think you described it quite well in your article actually.
It is a mishmash of genres.
you’ve got the option to describe it asHarry Potterfor grown-ups, which I dont like.
I think its a disservice to primarilyJonathan Strange, but alsoHarry Potter.
I would say just watch it for an hour!
We all love the book and we all know it back to front.
The book itself was always put out in any meetings we had like a totem.
Weve tried to make it work as well as a TV series as it does as a book.
Part of what we wanted to do was send people in the direction of the book anyway.
The characters are recognizable, and like I said, they walk off the page.
and sometimes were not entirely sure, which is a very high compliment.
What made you think that youd be the one able to do this?
Was there anything that surprised you when it came to adapting it?
What surprises you are things that you dont notice about the book.
Theres a few of those little surprises where you find out why something was happening.
So it was a process to make them as compelling and attacking on-screen as they are in the book.
So with her I think the most invention has been done, and I guess the most liberties taken.
What was your process for distilling the story?
(Laughs) Oh God…
You know, just explain your entire writing process…
It was trying to find a way to tell the story that was simple, yet complex and compelling.
Im not a big planner as a writer.
Its a more exploratory process which brings things to life better in my opinion.
Can you give an example of this at all?
Toby and I had hours and hours of conversations.
Some of that comes across in the series.
We just had this idea that magic takes stuff away.
But we could probably write a whole book on the magic of Jonathan Stranges world.
Id read that book!
I dont know what I would think.
So its primarily a character drama, and the rest of it is gravy.
Youve mentioned Susanna Clarke a couple of times now, how involved was she in the adaptation?
She wasnt very involved with the process of adapting it.
She was quite firm on that actually!
Youre originally from Yorkshire, is that right?
Yes, Im not very far from York, from a place by the coast called Hornsea.
Does the fact that a lot of the story is set in that part of the world appeal?
Yes, it was very appealing that it could be a Yorkshire story as well.
There are lots of different dualities in it.
And north versus south is quite an important one.
I was delighted we ended up shooting it there.
The story offers a range of genres beyond fantasy.
Its a period piece, a political intrigue, and Id argue that its also a love story?
Thats the biggest change I feel from the book.
But its also the love story between Strange and Arabella.
In the book, Stranges number one preoccupation is magic, and Arabella comes a close second.
It opens it up and makes it a more emotional story, and thats what you need.
Did you ever have any actor in mind for the roles when writing?
No I dont think so.
Often you do, but I had such vivid pictures of them from the book.
And all of them had that in the audition tapes or read-through tapes.
It was a fairly unanimous its obviously him, or its obviously her.
Our casting director, whos called Kate Rhodes James, deserves a huge thank-you.
Was there a character you particularly enjoyed writing for the most at all?
Probably the Duke of Wellington!
Is that why is became a seven part series?!
More space for Gatcombe and Tantony!
But they were the sort of incidental characters who surprised me with how fun it was to write them.
For instance The Gentleman is an enormous psychopathic toddler with huge magical powers.
Hes not actually particularly evil, hes just totally self-absorbed.
He wants what he wants, and hes incredibly capricious and rather petty.
So of course hes a joy to write.
But Im in love with them all in different ways.
Well hes lonely isnt he?
I just think that all the time when reading it.
Now thatJonathan Strangeis finally being broadcast, whats next on your plate with projects?
No I cant give you any clues!
Its not up to me to drop cryptic hints really, thats Steven (Moffats) job.
Was it enjoyable to write?
Its interesting to do a two-parter as well.
Definitely, Im glad to see them back.
It felt like a totally new and different era.
But its a real privilege to write for it.
Oh Ive got a few things…
Anything it’s possible for you to hint at?
Ive got a couple of series coming up, and maybe despite myself another adaptation of a fantasy-style book.
But I am going to try and strike a balance between adaptations and my own stuff.
I do like adapting things, but I dont want to just do that forever.
Well I look forward to watching it all!
Peter Harness, thank you very much!
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell continues on Sundays on BBC One at 9pm.
