Don't listen to the negative reviews

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Blistering performances.

You probably have to know London a bit to fully enjoy the story of Neverwhere (the series or the novel for that matter). The whole story relies on knowing a bit of the city layout, above and below :) And it's understandable that US viewers can be surprised by the low budget BBC production (unless they were familiarized with it through stuff like Dr Who which seems to be popular at the moment). Most European TVs don't get to sell their productions abroad so they won't invest as heavily as the US productions.I read the novel long before I could get my hands on the DVD (actually way before I was even aware of anything being available in filmed form, much less as a DVD). For some reason the only release seems to be for the US market.Regarding the Neverwhere series, yes, while the cast is mostly good, some of the actors are so-so. Even with the obviously shoestring budget, the sets and costumes are quite inventive and convincingly used. The directing unfortunately is really poor and it does quite a bit of damage to the effectiveness of the whole.If you have read and enjoyed the novel, you will find the series to be something imperfect yes but also something that you can watch with fondness. Possibly a proper adaptation by a proper director with a decent budget would be nice. But it's unlikely it will ever happen. Isn't it better to enjoy what's available even if it could theoretically be better ?

I started watching this series with keen anticipation. By the end of the second episode I was hugely disappointed.Have you ever watched something and felt that it could have been so so much better? There's no doubt that Niel Gaimans story is very imaginative, but this series makes it seem unforgivably cheesy.I'm all for a low budget, so long as some creativity has gone into the use of it. Unfortunately, the combination of disgraceful acting, and boring, DIY, cinematography make this a challenge to sit through.Maybe one day a director with some talent 'll have another crack. Until that day comes, do yourselves a favour and read the book instead.

True enough, this isn't glitzy, cellophane-shrink-wrapped Hollywood fare. Then again, neither is it all-gloss-and-no-substance Hollywood fare. It may not have the overdone special effects and billion-dollar sets that audiences have come to expect, but Neverwhere lacks nothing by way of storytelling and acting. (In fact, Gaiman's unhappiness with the final result was that they couldn't shoot in all the locations he'd wished - by my research he's not stated he was unhappy with the story itself.) If you have any imagination at all (or any respect for the difficulty faced by filmmakers constrained by the fact that they're not backed by Hollywood trillions) then Neverwhere is worth the watch. The book is also first-rate and includes some of the scenes Gaiman had to cut or alter during filming.

Neil Gaiman is a very professional and entertaining author. His work reaches deep into your imagination ad pulls those chords that you never thought existed until you read his words. He is adventurous, daring, and imaginative with each stroke of his pen. His work forces you to think outside the box and see a new world outside of our own. He is, simply put a genius. Sadly, for those that have never read his work and decide to watch this series will be deeply disappointed. The BBC has crafted a miniseries of one of his stories using cheap production, horrible lighting, and a script that seems so far away from Gaiman that it will bring a tear to the avid reader's eye. When you read one of Gaiman's stories, it is your imagination that makes it a pleasure from beginning to end. He uses amazing descriptions to build the characters and the story into a visionary and symbolic pop-up book. It literally springs from the pages. Your imagination creates the characters and the worlds instead of someone else doing it for you, and that is where this series ultimately fails. This was not how I envisioned Gaiman's story when I first set eyes on it. I saw a much darker world where life hung on a balance and the most unusual characters were born. In this series, I saw clichéd moments coupled with human existence. London Below was full of more than just humans, it was a den of evil and corruption. This was not even explored in this series. Strangely, the themes of humanity were not even uncovered. An aspect that I loved about Gaiman's book was the polar differences between the working class and the poor. The idea that we do not see our fellow man or even remember them is a haunting theme that lingers throughout the book, while in this series it is just a flash in the pan.So, if you haven't read Gaiman's book (which I suggest that everyone should), what can you expect from this series? To begin, the acting is some of the worst I have ever encountered in a series or film. Nobody seemed to be in their role at all. Their characters were so underdeveloped that they changed in nearly every scene. I felt as if the Marquis had just graduated from High School drama and was handed this part. Door was not the woman I wanted her to be, and Richard Mayhew was nothing more than a bumbling idiot with futile attempts of humorous interruptions. These interruptions only soured this series even more. Several times I had to check the expiration date on the DVD box to ensure that this story hadn't curdled. The humor in some of these scenes was unnecessary and a complete knock against the book. I don't remember laughing at all while I read the story, so why should I laugh now. The only aspect that I did laugh at during this series was the acting and the overall cheap feeling I had from watching this. Several showers were taken after each viewing.I would also like to add that director Dewi Humphreys did some of his homework, while the other half was done while deeply intoxicated by an unknown substance. For example, each opening scene was cheap (for lack of a better word) and dizzying. The characters were giving their monologues while splices of freeze-frame were intermixed throughout. I felt like I was watching an Oliver Stone rip-off, and that is being generous. These were supposed to be scenes that introduced each chapter, but instead it left that same sour taste in your mouth similar to the humorous interruptions. They were disgraceful and pointless. What drugs did you need to be taking to find this enjoyable? This also goes the same with Richard's continuous flash-forwards of what was going to happen. These images continuously occurred whenever he walked into a section of the film that couldn't fit into the budget. With the budget being below any corporate standards, Humphreys relied on continual showings of the same image over and over again to drive into the viewer the idea of what will happen near the end. By the fourth time I watched this, I was thankful I didn't have epilepsy and that I hadn't paid good money to see this. The first time I saw these flash-forwards I knew what they were to represent, and anyone that has seen any movies would realize this as well, so you didn't need to reuse it time and time again. This only helped destroy Gaiman's original story.Overall, I was greatly disappointed. There was so much imagination lost with this series that I had to go back and read the story again just to rid my mind of this travesty. For Gaiman fans out there, I do not suggest this series at all. I am saddened by the final outcome and that Gaiman attached his name to such a project. It only proves that a bigger budget is needed to fully convey Gaiman's imaginary voice. I would be happy to have donated some to allow this series to be better. BLAH!Grade: * out of *****