Support Us Login

TV

Books to TV adaptations: best modern novels on the small screen

By Helena Kealey on 12/9/2018

From The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair to Catch 22: these are best modern novels being made into TV series that you don't want to miss

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, Sky Witness

A spine-tingling whodunnit arrives on Sky Witness this week and is all we're talking about. The American mystery-drama miniseries stars Grey's Anatomy's Patrick Dempsey, Ben Shnetzeer and girl-of-the-moment Kristine Froseth (from Sierra Burgess is a Loser). It is based on the bestselling French novel and asks the question: did Harry Quebert really murder Nola 33 years ago?

WHEN

Out now

WHERE

Sky Witness / NowTV

Patrick Melrose, Sky Atlantic

Benedict Cumberbatch has pedigree playing the gifted addict, the gentleman junkie with quick mind, clipped cut-glass accent and repressed trauma. In Patrick Melrose, the fictionalised autobiographical novels by heroin addict Edward St Aubyn, Cumberbatch leads a story of excess and depravity in the best TV show we've enjoyed this year.

WHERE

NowTV

A Series of Unfortunate Events, Netflix

Lemony Snicket's weird, wonderful and most unfortunate family of Baudelaire children arrived on Netflix in 2017 and was an instant hit with critics. We await the third series (and last) series of this funny, family friendly and incredibly depressing TV show with anticipation.

WHERE

UK Netflix

The Handmaid's Tale review Channel 4: [STAR:5]

The Handmaid's Tale, Channel 4

The second season was too brutal and bloody for our liking, frankly, but who wasn't gripped by the first series of Handmaid's Tale? Adapted from Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel this Hulu original show was widely considered to be the best (and most important) show of 2017.

WHERE

Channel 4

Big Little Lies, Nicole Kidman Sky Atlantic

Big Little Lies, Sky Atlantic

Based on Liane Moriarty's bestselling novel, Big Little Lies follows five female antiheroes in Monterey, California, and the dark secrets they keep close to their hearts.

WHERE

NowTV

Florence Pugh and Alexander Skarsgård star in The Little Drummer Girl

The Little Drummer Girl, BBC

Two years ago, the BBC proved that the British public has an apatite for John le Carré's nail-biting thrillers on the small screen when The Night Manager received a glittering reception. Keep your eyes out for another tale of international espionage from le Carré as The Little Drummer Girl comes to the BBC some time later this year from the hands of Korean director Park Chan-wook.

WHEN

TBD

WHERE

BBC One

Good Omens, BBC

Jon Hamm, Nick Offerman, Niel Gaiman. What more could you want? How about Michael Sheen and David Tennant? Congratulations to BBC and Amazon Prime on their upcoming adaptation of the Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett novel next year. The apocalypse has never looked so stylish and cool.

WHEN

2019

WHERE

BBC and Amazon Prime

New thriller by Phoebe Waller-Bridge to come to BBC

Killing Eve, BBC One

It's been out in the States for a while courtesy of Amazon Prime, but finally Killing Eve – the outlandish, hilarious, female-friendly adaptations of Juke Jenning's novella series ‎Codename Villanelle – are making their way onto the BBC from the hands of Phoebe Waller-Bridge. No wonder rumours of how brilliant it is have reached our shores.

WHEN

Saturday 15 September 9.15pm

WHERE

BBC One

Sharp Objects, Sky Atlantic

After wowing us with impeccable direction and editing in Big Little Lies, Jean-Marc Vallée immediately returned to the small screen with Sharp Objects. An adaptation of Gillian Flynn's debut novel, the story follows journalist Camille Parker as she returns to her conservative hometown to report on a vicious murder. She is forced to confront her traumatising past, and to come out the other side alive. It's definitely one of the darkest, most horrible, and most addictive series of 2018.

WHERE

Sky Atlantic

Jack Ryan, Amazon Prime

The latest reimagining of Tom Clancy's famous character, Amazon Prime's adaptation of the Jack Ryan novels is an exceedingly thrilling military drama. 2018 has been a great year for John Krasinski, taking dramatic steps away from his much-loved character in the US Office (especially in A Quiet Place) and Jack Ryan is another brutal confirmation of his talents.

WHERE

Amazon Prime

Dafne Keen to play Lyra in Philip Pullman's Dark Materials on BBC One

His Dark Materials, BBC

Fans of Philip Pullman's bestselling fantasy series are on tenterhooks for this one, especially after the poor reception The Golden Compass received in 2007. The BBC, jumping at the opportunity to work with fantasy, are adapting the books. Dafne Keef (Logan) will play the teenage heroine Lyra and James MacAvoy has been cast as her father Lord Asriel. A second series has recently been commissioned, so there's a great deal of confidence behind these adaptations.

WHEN

On 31 Jan 2019, Air and date time TBD

WHERE

BBC1

George Clooney is set to star in Catch-22

Catch-22, Channel 4

George Clooney is helming this new adaptation of Joseph Heller's seminal work Catch-22, a biting satire based on the Heller's experiences during the Second World War. The six-part miniseries follows bombardier John Yossarian, who's flummoxed by an airforce rule that if a pilot applies to stop flying, he is declared sane enough to fly – the infamous Catch-22. It stars Kyle Chandler, Hugh Laurie, and George Clooney (who's also directing).

WHEN

2019

WHERE

Channel 4

Lord of the Rings TV adaptation comes to Amazon Prime

The Lord of the Rings, Amazon Prime

In case fans were bored of 11 hours of Lord of the Rings, 9 hours of The Hobbit, and the unlimited pages in Tolkien's famous saga (always expanded by his sons), a new TV series on Amazon Prime is on the way. The first season is to focus on Dunedain ranger/true king of Gondor Aragorn prior to the events of Lord of the Rings, and has been commissioned for four further seasons after that. This will be a true treat for any Tolkien fan.

WHEN

2019

WHERE

Amazon Prime