I went on Comfort Blanket, Joel Morris's excellent podcast. Joel and I have known each other for years. We've worked on a couple of the same comedy shows, and he was the visiting speaker when I taught comedy writing in 2022 at the Arvon Foundation - he's very knowledgable about the mechanics of jokes and joke-telling. He's also currently one of my kid's heroes because, with Jason Hazeley, he wrote Cunk, which every fourteen year old I know is obsessed with. I know this because I asked my kid's friends why they were singing "Pump Up TheJam". Joel and I talked about my comfort watching - Pride and Prejudice - Andrew Davies' adaptation to a six part TV series, (the one with Colin Firth), of course. I love this show so much. I rewatch it whenever I need a good cry. Jennifer Ehle is excellent, capturing Lizzie Bennett's wit and joy de vivre, and Crispin Bonham-Carter does the most amazing job playing the thoroughly decent but pliable Mr Bingley. Jane Austen is, of course, the most successful comedy writer in the history of the world, with too many adaptations of her six major novels (and a couple of unfinished works) to count. What I admire so much about Austen is her intricate plotting - everything is there for a reason - and Andrew Davies' brilliant version does it justice. I can't help but feel that a six-part series is often a great length for a novel to be adapted to. We're currently talking about how many episodes my thriller, Mother's Day, should be. (Ha! Got you! You thought I wasn't going to mention the book and I levered it in!) You can buy it here.
You can listen to the podcast here.
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