I DON’T BELIEVE IT! VICTOR MELDREW COMES TO FANTOM
Comedy Writer David Renwick pens a brand new novel bringing One Foot in the Grave into the 21st Century.
This October sees the publication of a new novel based on the award winning BBC television comedy series which ran from 1990 through to 2000, reaching over twenty million viewers in the UK alone.
“I always thought it was a shame Victor didn’t survive to see the 21st century unfold,” says David Renwick. “His adventures in the TV series were all too often driven by events and attitudes drawn from the world at large, and I don’t think the last twenty years would have mellowed him much.”
In One Foot in the Grave and Counting, Victor’s attempts to claw back some self-respect with a new job are met with a string of disasters, while a mission to untangle the affairs of a deceased relative takes him to a spooky old house in the wilds of Yorkshire, pursued by a knife-wielding maniac.
And in an age where communication between continents is no big deal how noble is Mrs Warboys’ decision to befriend a convicted axe murderer in Arkansas?
As Victor falls prey to the constant banana skins fate throws in his path – inadvertently sexting his neighbours and kidnapping a millionaire’s mother – the soddishness of circumstance is ever there to thwart him. Whether he’s being thumped in the face by Buddha or arrested for gross indecency in a car park; demolishing a priceless summer house or triggering a delivery of frozen urine to an old people’s home, life is certainly never dull …
“It’s a source of delight and constant surprise to me that after all this time the character still seems to live on in so many people’s minds. I guess because he managed to articulate the frustrations and bewilderment that all of us feel as we struggle to cope in a largely insane universe. But largely, I’m hoping, because he did it in a way that was fun. As a television show I suspect One Foot in the Grave wouldn’t get very far today; it would be subject to too much executive scrutiny, and a lot of intellectual arguments, at the expense of intuition, which is rarely helpful. For better or worse, in the old days producers and writers were pretty much left to make their own decisions, so there was a much greater chance of a truly organic project. The industry, and society, have moved on, as our social and comic norms have evolved.”
“So, I’ve no regrets about retiring the show when I did. However, I felt there was no reason the characters couldn’t be revived in print, where I could devise a whole set of fresh misfortunes, played out against a backdrop of modern life, while revisiting some of Victor’s classic escapades from the past. Most importantly, amid so much current doom and gloom, I wanted to deliver some laughs.”
But that isn’t all. We are also re-publishing the original novelisation of One Foot In The Grave, first published in 1992, meaning that there are two volumes perfectly book ending the life and times of our favourite anti-hero Victor Meldrew. Both books will be published in hardback priced £19.99.
You can purchase a limited-edition special gift bundle directly from us, which also includes signed copies of the book and an exclusive tote bag. The bundle is priced £49.99 and will give readers priority access to the books this September, before they appear anywhere else!
