Tales of the House of Groan

It counts as costume drama from the BBC--but “Pride and Prejudice” it’s not. No bonnets or frock coats, no stately dancing in grandiose halls, heartfelt but unspoken love affairs, or carriages trundling through the verdant English countryside.

“Gormenghast,” which begins tonight on cable’s BBC America and will make its way to PBS next spring, simply isn’t like that.

Instead, it’s a remarkable fantasy epic, based on a trilogy by the British cult author Mervyn Peake (1911-1968)--”Titus Groan” (1946), “Gormenghast” (1950) and “Titus Alone” (1959). These books are hard to classify, the words “magical” and “Gothic” fail to do them justice, but certainly they are soaring flights of imagination.

Gormenghast is the name of an immense crumbling castle where the ancient Groan family has ruled for centuries. But the House of Groan and its long-standing rituals are threatened by the ascent of Steerpike (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a Machiavellian kitchen boy who wants to run the place. On the very days Titus, heir to the Groan dynasty, is born, Steerpike makes his escape from his menial life in the kitchens and starts plotting in earnest. He will stop at nothing--murder, treachery, seduction--to achieve his ends.

Critics have sought to find parallels in Peake’s work with the fall of Britain’s empire and the rise of fascism in Europe in the mid-20th century. Yet for Peake’s fans, the appeal of the books lies in the richness of his language and flowery descriptions of the castle and the fantastical characters who inhabit it. Peake’s writing in the trilogy evokes strong visual images; it’s no coincidence that he was also a gifted book illustrator.

It’s Peake’s almost overpowering visual sense that the four-part BBC adaptation of “Gormenghast” aims to emulate. Unquestionably it’s a lavish production, one that required no fewer than 120 sets at Shepperton Studios, 20 miles west of London. And as series producer Estelle Daniel noted, it was five years in the making.

She was a development executive to Michael Wearing, formerly the BBC’s head of drama, and in that capacity commissioned two hugely successful but conventional costume dramas--”Pride and Prejudice” and “Middlemarch.”

The problem with Peake’s trilogy is that it’s hard to pitch; it’s not exactly high concept and it resists easy categorization. “The first thing [senior BBC executives] asked about Gormenghast was: ‘Where is this place?’ ” Daniel recalled. “And it’s a good question. We were seeking to create a world that was totally other. Peake created this world which resonates, but it’s hard to put into a box.”

This may account for Peake’s work never having been adapted for any size of screen. “It lay in Hollywood for a long time,” said Daniel.

Certainly the four-part adaptation allows for more of the story to be told than a conventional feature movie would. “It has six murders, three seductions and various tragic deaths,” Daniel observed. “It’s the beauty of television that you can tell epic stories at length.

In Britain, Peake is an author who polarizes opinion; he leaves many readers cold. But those who like him do so with a passion. “I’ve never had so many phone calls from actors wanting to be a part of something,” said Daniel. “People would brazenly contact me, offering to do even small roles.”

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In casting terms, then, the “Gormenghast” production team was spoiled for choice and soon managed to assemble a formidable list of British character actors. Royal Shakespeare Company veteran Ian Richardson (best know to American TV audiences as the crooked prime minister in the series “House of Cards”) is a devout Peake fan and was delighted to be offered the role of Lord Groan, head of the dynasty.

Christopher Lee, the veteran British actor best known for roles in horror films like “Dracula,” went one further--he actually knew Mervyn Peake and in the 1950s used to join him for tea in Harrod’s library, when it still existed. Lee takes the role of Flay, Lord Groan’s faithful retainer.

But the key piece of casting was the actor to play the ruthless young Steerpike; at 21, Irish-born actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers, already a big-screen name from roles in “Velvet Goldmine,” “Titus” and “Ride With the Devil,” is too young to have been affected by the Peake cult.

Acting quality aside, the main distinction of “Gormenghast” is its extraordinary visual impact. It’s a triumph of production design--though, as Daniel admits, it took a long time to decide on the look of “Gormenghast.” “Everyone who hasn’t read Peake for a while thinks the settings are dark and gloomy,” she said. “While scripts were being written, I traveled with my husband to Ladakh, a province in the high plains of India near the Chinese border. It’s a time warp. And in a hilltop monastery there I saw what I think of as Gormenghast.

“I got back and the director, Andy Wilson, had found this painting by the Surrealist Max Ernst, called ‘The Entire City.’ And it looked just like the monastery I had visited. So we both had the same idea.

Clearly, then, “Gormenghast” is a startling departure from most literary adaptations by the BBC. The series aired in Britain in January, amid a welter of publicity--and although it commanded high ratings for its first episode, audiences fell away thereafter.

Daniel is unperturbed. “Whether you loved it or hated it, I think you’d have to say you hadn’t seen anything like it before,” she said.

“But I also know this--I received a mailbag of letters praising it in a volume I’ve never experienced before. People who liked it really liked it.” She also feels “Gormenghast” may receive more sympathetic attention in other countries: “It’s basically a fairy tale. And I don’t know what it is about the British. They’re uneasy about fairy tales. They think fantasy is just for children. The American tradition embraces fairy tales far more readily than we do.”

* “Gormenghast” premieres tonight at 5:30, 7:30 and midnight on BBC America, which is available on cable systems, Dish Network and DirectTV. Parts II-IV can be seen on consecutive Saturdays beginning June 17 at 7 p.m. and midnight. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children).