The greatness that is Mark Gatiss

On: September 10, 2011,  By: Bill Young

In television, whether it be comedy, drama or documentaries, there are individuals whose names you may know but not the face or whose face you may know but not the name. In the case of Mark Gatiss, this is brilliance that you should know both the name and the face. His involvement in numerous series and specials on both sides of the pond over the years have provided us with some of the best television on television from documentaries to comedy and drama.

We had the incredible good fortune of talking with Mark last Fall along with co-conspirator, Steven Moffat, as both were gearing up to not only write episodes for the new season of Doctor Who but making plans for Sherlock 2. Would have loved to have talked League of Gentlemen and Psychoville, but, sadly, that discussion had to be left for another day. Without question, one of the most creative and nicest individuals ever.

I could go on and on, but then we’d be here all day. So, to give you a glimpse of Mark’s efforts on both sides of the camera, this was the easiest way….

WRITER – Doctor Who

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VpgsCiEJRo

HOST – History of Horror, Frankenstein clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKVnrVFgsiU

ACTOR (drama) – Sherlock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zkUqvl4_ME

ACTOR (comedy) – League of Gentlemen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOtpgz4L5d8&

In: Action/Drama,Actors/Actresses,Comedy,Drama

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  • Paul

    Mark Gatiss is vastly over-rated. His Doctor Who stories are terrible (HE wants to be DW). Sherlock is a joke compared to Jeremy Brett’s version, and he’s NO Charles Gray.
    Moffat and Gatiss are destroying television.

    • @Paul: Thanks for the comments. Re: Comparing the new Sherlock programs to the Jeremy Brett programs, I don’t think you can. I agree that, without question, Jeremy Brett has to be the best Sherlock Holmes of them all, but, to me, it’s an apples and oranges comparison to try and compare the 21st Century version with Benedict Cumberbatch with any of the previous versions set in another century. That’s just my opinion, however. Thanks for your comments. Would be interested to hear from others on Sherlock, Doctor Who, etc.

  • Bob hat

    Moffat is a brilliant writer. Mark Gatiss’ stories in both Doctor Who and Sherlock are vastly inferior to Moffat’s.

    Compare the first episode of Sherlock to the last, or The Impossible Astronaut to Night Terrors.

    Moffat’s stories are always funny and ingenious, full of brilliant ideas, great lines and a great awareness of what the audience will be feeling or expecting. If there are ever any problems with his episodes, I get the feeling it’s because he’s struggling to keep track of all the great ideas in them, like miniature Terry Gilliam films.

    Gatiss’s are a mess. His attempts at comedy often fall flat, the characters are unbelievable, the ideas hackish, the emotion mawkish, and the internal logic of the stories fuzzy and vague.

    I think the ideas behind the reimagined Sherlock were brilliant, so I have to give him some credit for that, but those ideas were only properly realised in Moffat’s episode. The idea was the fetishize modern life the same way Sherlock Holmes adaptations often fetishize the 1800s. The first episode did that – it had an incredible feeling of modernness and connectedness, and the script was a typically subversive and compelling Moffat script. The other two were some convoluted, uninspired crime-bollocks with a character named Sherlock in it.

    • WIthout question, I agree, Moffat is brilliant as I have said here many, many times dating back to his creation of Coupling and prior. He continues to demonstrate his grasp of the craft of writing as each Doctor Who ep has out done the last one.