UKTV, Mark Gatiss build Bookish

FIRST LOOK: Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) stars in Bookish, a six-part series he has also created coming to UKTV’s Alibi in 2025.

He plays the erudite and unconventional Gabriel Book who, from his antiquarian bookshop, helps the police to solve a variety of mysterious crimes. With three main cases in the series, each storyline spans two-episode instalments.

Further cast include Polly Walker (Bridgerton) as Book’s colourful wife, Trottie, alongside Connor Finch (Everything I Know About Love) as Jack, Elliot Levey (We Were the Lucky Ones) as Inspector Bliss, Blake Harrison (Still Up) as Sergeant Morris and Buket Kömür (Our House) as Nora.

The series, written by Gatiss, also features guest stars including Joely Richardson as Sandra Dare, Daniel Mays as Eric Wellbeloved, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as Stewart Howard, Paul McGann as Mr Kind, Michael Workéyè as Billy Fox, Luke Norris as Jesse MacKendrick, Jonas Nay as Felix and many more.

London, 1946, is the dynamic, dangerous and chaotic setting for this stylish new detective drama, with the whip-smart and debonair Gabriel Book (Gatiss) at the very heart of the story: a maverick consultant detective to the local police. The thousands of books that line the shelves of his shop provide him with all the knowledge he needs to solve even the most puzzling of crimes.

Book has gathered around him a host of lovable, damaged misfits whom he informally protects, cajoles, and mentors. His wife Trottie (Walker) runs the wallpaper shop next door. She’s a charismatic adventuress whom Book loves deeply but not physically, for they are in a ‘lavender’ marriage to help conceal Book’s sexual orientation in a time when it was illegal to be gay.

The series is produced by Eagle Eye Drama and distributed by Beta Film.

tagged in: Alibi, Beta Film, Bookish, Eagle Eye Drama, Mark Gatiss, Polly Walker