Playing it by the Book

MARK GATISS TELLS LYNN RUSK WHY HIS NEW DETECTIVE DRAMA IS A 'LOVE LETTER' TO BOOKSHOPS AND MURDER MYSTERIES

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MARK GATISS has been at the heart of some of the biggest TV hits of recent years.

He rose to fame with surreal comedy-horror series The League of Gentlemen, which he also co-wrote, before the lifelong Doctor Who fan also contributed to the revival of the iconic sci-fi series as both a writer and performer.

The 58-year-old later co-created acclaimed BBC series Sherlock, in which he portrayed Sherlock Holmes’ brother, Mycroft and more recently, he’s appeared in the last two Mission: Impossible films.

Now he brings us Bookish, a six-part detective drama series, set in a postwar London.

“There is nothing like a bookshop,” says the County Durham-born star. “It is very much a love letter to bookshops and murder mysteries - especially at a time when libraries are being treated so badly.”

Mark - who won best actor at the 2024 Olivier Awards for his performance as Sir John Gielgud in The Motive and the Cue at the National Theatre - plays bookshop owner Gabriel Book, who is gay at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in the UK.

He is in what was known as a “lavender marriage” (a union of convenience to hide one or both partner’s sexual orientation) with his childhood best friend, Trottie, portrayed by Polly Walker.

“I have so fallen on my feet with Polly,” says Mark of their onscreen dynamic. “She is a lovely, warm, beautiful person. It’s sort of mirroring the relationship in the script, which is exactly what I wanted. She's got a wonderful quality.”

When Gabriel and Trottie take in a young offender named Jack, played by Connor Finch, it initially seems an act of kindness.