DIRK GENTLY | ДИРК ДЖЕНТЛИ

seachick asked: Hey! I'm curious why you placed Interconnectedness of all Kings closer to the Dirk Gently TV show timeline than Salmon of Doubt comics or Spoon Too Short, which sort of hints at Blackwing backgroumd.

I placed it there according to the information from the first issues of A Spoon Too Short & The Salmon of Doubt

The interview with Arvind Ethan David.

Hello, it is the interview with Arvind Ethan David. Arvind is the producer of BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency & writer of IDW’s A Spoon Too Short and The Salmon of Doubt.

Hello, Arvind, at the beginning I want to ask you, how Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency has become TV series? 

25 years ago, I read this book and loved it so much, I – with my friend,  James Goss,  adapted it as my school play.  Then, at university, we did it again, and this time, amazingly, Douglas Adams himself came to see it!

That resulted in a many year friendship and launching my and James careers as writers and producers.  Then, 3 years ago, the TV rights to the books finally reverted to the Adams Estate, and they asked me if I would be interested in relaunching the franchise.  I said a big YES, and called my friend Max Landis and he said a big YES, and then the rest happened…

Can Dirk Gently become character-for-multiple-actors? Like James Bond or the Doctor?

He already has been! Many different actors have played him in my stage version — including the now famous Rory Kinnear, Stephen Mangan played him in a 3 episode series in 2010, and now of course, Sam Barnett is our perfect Dirk Gently.

The thing is, Dirk is such a unique and memorable creation, and so crazily specific in his character, that very different actors, as long as they are talented, and adhere to the basic truths about Dirk: his motor-mouth, his mixture of arrogance and innocence, and his belief in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things.  Sam nails all of that and brings his own very special vulnerability and funny bones to it. He is the perfect dirk for the Millennial generation.

How many seasons you wish to release in? I mean the situation when you have carte blanche, green light and all this sort of things.

We are now deep into the writing and planning of season 2, which will be a glorious 10 episodes.  We’ll keep going as long as audiences want us to. There is no shortage of impossible crimes for Dirk to solve… or at least try to solve.

The main theme of first season is time travelling. What will we see in season two? Conspiracies, parallel worlds, gods, aliens or, maybe, conspiracies of alien gods, who come from another dimension?

Sorry, no spoilers!  But you are right to notice that each season is going to take one big sci-fi or fantasy trope and run with it. Or dance with it, as likely.

As we see, Dirk from the TV series loves pizza like his book counterpart.  And what about his smoking habit?

Unlike too many Russias, Dirk has figured out that smoking is a filthy habit which will kill you even faster than time-traveling cultists.

What do you think about crossover with Doctor Who? Is it possible?
I think, it will be symbolic: Dirk Gently came into the world from Doctor Who’s Shada & City of Death, and finally, after 30 years of the character’s life, Dirk finally meets the Doctor. (Yes, it is very important question, as most Dirk Gently’s fans from Russia are also big fans of Doctor Who)

You are completely right about the history here.  Douglas Adams was the lead writer on Doctor Who in the 80s, and after he left the show, he took the ideas from some unproduced scripts and reworked them as the first Dirk Gently novel, with Dirk taking the Doctor’s place and Professor Regius Chronotis being a retired Time-Lord.   You are also right that a cross-over would be wonderful…  not entirely in my gift, but something I’d love to see as much as you would!

Several days ago I read an article on the Digital Spy site about possible Stephen Mangan’s cameo in the first season. Can you tell us more about it? Is it possible that we will see Mangan in season two?

No promises, and no spoilers.  But I’d love for Stephen to come play with us.

Who is your favourite character from the TV series & books?

Dirk, of course!  With Bart a close second.

Will we see another characters from books in the following seasons of the TV series?
Maybe. Like I say, no spoilers and no promises.

Do you have any plans on publishing of novelization of 1st season?

We’re talking about it but for the moment, the comics are the only new print versions, and serve to tie together the TV series and the books.

About Bentley the Corgi: was he a disciplined actor? Any funny moments with him? - That dog is fan favourite!

Bentley, the Gently dog…! He’s a sweet heart and became a better actor with each passing day.  I actually gave a whole interview about him, you can find it here

Arvind Ethan David’s Twitter page

theholisticdetective:

tparadox:

theholisticdetective:

NOT COOL BBCA, NOT COOL AT ALL

I can deal with the show, shows come and go. But to put the tv cast on the book cover when only one character from the book shows up in the book and 50% of the people gracing the cover aren’t even in the book. 

And didn’t you say that the show is only peripherally related to the book anyway? So why this?

They always put out a tie-in edition to draw in people who discovered the book from the movie or TV show. Every adaptation of every book, it happens. I hate it, but I get it.

//Ugh, I know, I understand it too, but it worse here imo because they’ve changed everything about the book in the show. It’s false advertising and there need to be laws against that!

Anyway, it looks interesting. 

(via theholisticdetective)