Reading the room

A bookseller solves crimes in post-war London in a new detective drama from Mark Gatiss

- STEVEN PERKINS, ELAINE PENN

NEW DRAMA Bookish Wed, 8pm & 9.10pm, U&Alibi (box set, Sky Box Sets, Virgin TV Box Sets & NOW)

As TV&Satellite Week joins the cast and crew of U& Alibi's new detective drama Bookish on set in London, creator Mark Gatiss tells us excitedly that his latest project has been brewing in his mind for quite some time. 'I've always wanted to play a detective, and I first had this idea about eight years ago on a plane, says the 58-year-old. 'It arrived sort of fully formed: a bookshop owner called Book who is gay and in a lavender marriage. Gatiss stars in the six-part series as

Gabriel Book, who uses the wealth of knowledge he's accumulated from a lifetime of bibliophilia to assist the police in solving complex cases in 1940s London. As homosexuality was still illegal in the UK at this time, Book is married to his childhood best friend Trottie (Polly Walker), who runs the wallpaper shop next door.

'They have an unconventional marriage, but they're very close, Bridgerton star Walker, 59, tells us. 'It's a very supportive, loving relationship - it was very unsafe to be gay then, so she gives Book the mask of respectability, I suppose, and she also helps him solve crimes. Trottie is very practical and low-maintenance - she has her own love life and boyfriends, and he has his.

The postwar setting of the series portrays London as a city in flux; the repercussions of the Blitz are still being keenly felt, and its citizens haven't fully adjusted to living in peacetime.