Mark Gatiss on Doctor Who, Sherlock and how Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without any ghosts

As a lifelong fan of Mark Gatiss, I must say it’s truly inspiring to see his incredible career trajectory and the diverse range of projects he continues to take on. From Doctor Who to Sherlock, from A Ghost Story for Christmas to Bookish, Mark has proven time and again that he is a true master of storytelling.

For Mark Gatiss, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without any ghosts.

It’s not hidden that this British author and performer, renowned for his work on Doctor Who, Sherlock, Wolf Hall, among others, recognizes the holiday season as a period ripe with a hint of eeriness and melancholy. Given this affinity, he was an ideal choice to revive the BBC’s Ghost Story for Christmas, television versions of classic short stories that originally debuted in the 1970s.

This year, he’s transforming E Nesbit’s “Man-Size in Marble” into his seventh ghost story, titled “Woman of Stone.” You can watch it on BBC Two on Christmas Eve. Maintaining a spooky theme has proven to be quite challenging.

that I could adapt one of his stories into the play.

Instead of allocating funds to the documentary, we channeled as much resources as we could towards the drama, which turned out remarkably well. We had an entire week for this project, used a steam train, and filmed it in Manchester. It was a huge hit, and I was eager to continue with similar projects.

Nevertheless, he points out: “The issue lies in the fact that the standard 30-minute play slot no longer exists as it once did in the ’70s. It’s essentially obsolete. As a result, securing funding for a standalone half-hour of television programming has become quite challenging.

I continued to press and inquire until finally, the head of BBC Four, Cassian Harrison, asked, “Would you be able to manage it for a certain sum?” I’d prefer not to disclose the exact figure, but let’s just say it was relatively small.

In 2018, ‘The Dead Room’ was completed in just three days with a cast of three. Since then, it has been revitalized, except for the disruption caused by Covid-19. It has been an exciting adventure to preserve its legacy and continue evolving it.

In the previous year, Gatiss expressed concern that Lot No. 249, scheduled for release in 2023 as part of the series A Ghost Story for Christmas, might be its final installment.

Currently, he expresses that a risk was taken the previous year. Specifically, he chose to disclose openly, stating “This could very well be the final one.

Man-Size in Marble, transformed as Woman of Stone, narrates the tale of a duo who settle into a cottage erected above ancient house remnants, uncovering a local lore about wicked knights whose stone replicas resurface on All Hallows’ Eve. However, there’s much more beneath the narrative’s surface.

Speaking about the initial ghost tale he encountered, Gatiss commented, “This could serve as a fascinating foundation for exploring a topic like domestic violence,” he recounted.

Gatiss has a deep connection to the ghost story “Man-Size in Marble,” as it was his initial encounter with such tales and he later alluded to it in the Doctor Who episode titled “Empress of Mars,” which is among the nine stories he penned.

Regarding my initial frightening experiences, they’re quite reminiscent of ‘Doctor Who’, and I hope that the series will carry on being as exciting,” he remarks about the program.

Gatiss’s initial episode, The Unquiet Dead (which can be described as a ghost story but set at Christmas – even though it was broadcast in April, long before Doctor Who’s modern-day Christmas specials became a tradition), is now 20 years old. Reflecting on this, the writer comments: “It’s chilling – time, as the Doctor would put it, is chilling.

“I can’t figure out where it belongs. It has been twenty years now since The Unquiet Dead was filmed, making it 21 years since they announced Doctor Who would return. To consider an entire contemporary period of the show being nearly as long as the original duration is simply absurd.

“That’s just the way things are – and it’s thrilling to realize that this tradition continues to thrive, with a whole new batch of teenagers declaring, ‘It’s not as great as Matt Smith’s Doctor Who,’ meaning they prefer the more recent version. It’s hard to believe that what seemed so fresh just a short while ago is now considered history.

Mark Gatiss, who frequently penned Doctor Who scripts during Russell T Davies’ initial tenure and also under Steven Moffat, hasn’t contributed a script to the series in the past seven years.

When asked if he’d consider coming back, he responded: “Nobody has asked me yet! I had an amazing journey, completing nine different tales and ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’, which encapsulates everything that I adore about Doctor Who.

In simpler terms, “The most recent role I played was in Peter Capaldi’s final story titled ‘Twice Upon a Time’, which was a regeneration tale. This story also featured David Bradley, the actor who I had cast as the First Doctor, and I portrayed the Brigadier’s grandfather. At that moment, I found myself thinking, ‘Perhaps this is where I should retire, as it probably won’t get any better than this.’

Taking a break from Doctor Who has provided Gatiss with some benefits: “It’s refreshing for me to watch the show as a regular viewer now, and I enjoy that because it feels different. When you work on something you adore, your relationship with it naturally evolves, so it’s thrilling to simply observe what unfolds.

Over the holiday season, he’s eagerly anticipating viewing the production “Joy to the World,” penned by his longstanding partner in creativity and ex-showrunner of Doctor Who, Steven Moffat.

He openly acknowledges that he isn’t very familiar with the specific program. “Steven forwarded it to me some time ago,” he explains, “but I believe it has undergone considerable changes since then. I’m eagerly anticipating watching it – specifically on Christmas Day, as otherwise, I might revert into an eight-year-old self, huddled near the television, yelling at my family. In the background, the spirit of my mother would gently chide, ‘Shh, his show is on!’

Additionally, apart from “A Ghost Story for Christmas,” there’s plenty more coming up from Gatiss, such as the detective series titled “Bookish.

Currently, I’m working on a new series, and it’s striking how frequently one must portray the detective as intelligent simply by others mentioning it. Then, you remove all the parts that contradict this intelligence – that was Sherlock Holmes’ approach. I’m really looking forward to it,” he expresses.

Of course, when Gatiss mentions detectives, it’s hard not to wonder if our beloved character Sherlock might make a comeback. The last season was broadcast in 2017, and since then, there have been whispers and suggestions that we might catch another glimpse someday.

As a film devotee myself, I’ve had the desire to collaborate on a project with Steven, yet our schedules have proven challenging due to Martin and Benedict’s relentless work commitments. Alas, finding a suitable window of opportunity has thus far eluded us.

We’ve often expressed that if we came up with an excellent concept, we’d make a movie out of it. During the lockdown, we indeed had a fantastic idea and even held Zoom meetings with potential collaborators, but unfortunately, things didn’t progress beyond that point. Truth be told, it would be terrific to create a Sherlock film, but for now, that’s all we have – an idea.

As a passionate film critic, I’m thrilled to see Mark Gatiss pushing the boundaries and looking ahead – an eagerness reflected in his hopes for A Ghost Story for Christmas to persistently captivate audiences for many years to come.

Christmas Eve isn’t merely a sentimental exercise. The warm, candlelit beauty and the familiar feeling it evokes in us all are more than just nostalgia. It’s also thrilling to shake things up a bit during this special time.

2024-12-24 11:34

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