Episode 5 - Erin Kelly, Robert Thorogood & Adam Hamdy

From page to screen and back again.

Robert Thorogood, Erin Kelly, Mark Billingham

29 November 2016

In the fifth episode of A Stab in the Dark, Mark Billingham is joined in the studio by The Poison Tree and Broadchurch author Erin Kelly and creator of Death In Paradise Robert Thorogood to discuss the art of adaptation.

In contrast to the more well-trodden path of adapting television shows from books, both Erin and Robert have experience in the other direction: from the screen to the page. But before we hear about the process that goes into this we looked at their involvement in creating some of our favourite crime dramas...

Despite being a pioneering author in psychological thrillers (otherwise known as domestic noir) but she doesn't begrudge the recent boom in the genre as it's driven a wider readership of her own work.

More recently, Erin took on the challenge of adapting the series Broadchurch into a book from the TV show, with extra short stories released after every episode of the latest series. We also hear about Erin's new book He Said, She Said, released on the 4th May.

Robert reveals an intriguing story into the origination of his series Death In Paradise, which lists influences as far reaching as Agatha Christie and the series Monk.

Coincidentally, Mark's wife directed two episodes of the latest series of Death In Paradise, reporting that it might be harder work filming on a Caribbean island than you may think.

Listen and Subscribe

Meanwhile, Paul Hirons gets a visit from writer and producer Adam Hamdy who takes us through the top 5 tips he uses to adapt crime fiction. Adam also shares his experiences of adapting David Mitchell's number9dream and working on the adaptation of his own book Pendulum with Tom Hardy's production company.

Guest Recommendations

In each episode we ask our guests for a recommendation for a good read and a good watch, and as we were discussing adaptations Robert offered up the original Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as his recommended watch with Anthony Horowitz's Magpie Murders as his recommended read. Erin's suggestions include Little Deaths by Emma Flint and the classic crime drama Cracker.