Yahoo News A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder creator was a ‘control freak’ over BBC adaptation
Holly Jackson joked that she had 'trouble letting [her] baby go' during a panel at MCM London Comic Con
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Holly Jackson, author of the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series, joked that she was a "control freak" when it came to the BBC's TV adaptation of her first novel, which is coming to BBC Three in July.
The author shared her thoughts on the adaptation process during a panel promoting the series at MCM London Comic Con on Saturday, 25 May where she was joined by cast members Emma Myers, Zain Iqbal and Asha Banks as well as director Dolly Wells. There, the author shared insight into the demands she had for the way the TV series recreated her novel for the small screen.
What, how, and why?
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is based on the first novel in Jackson's trilogy, and it follows teen amateur detective Pip Fitz-Amobi (Myers) as she tries to solve the murder of local girl Andie Bell (India Lillie Davies) five years earlier. The public believe Andie's boyfriend Sal Singh (Rahul Pattni) was the one responsible after he left a confession and took his own life, but Pip doesn't believe him capable and will stop at nothing to learn the truth.
Reflecting on what it was like to have her work adapted, Jackson said: "We've learned throughout this process that I am a bit of a control freak and I have trouble letting my baby go.
"I've been on since the bitter beginning with our executive producers and our producers, we were working on the script together and once we were green light we had to find a director and I was very insistent I wanted a woman director. So then when we found Dolly, I was like, yes, nab her.
"I've been sticking my nose in wherever I bloody well can, I would go to set maybe one or two times every week to to play with [the cast], mostly mess around and get told off. No, I was very helpful actually."
Jackson went on to say that she approaches all of her books as if they are films or TV shows because she feels she's "a screenwriter trapped in the body of a novelist", and so it felt natural to see the book be transferred to the small screen even if some changes had to be made.
"I don't start writing like the first sentence of chapter one until I can run the entire thing like a movie in my bed," Jackson said. "So I think that's why they read quite cinematic and why it was an easy-ish process adapting it to screen.
"Obviously there are always hurdles and a lot of the book is Pip sitting at her laptop tip-tapping away, that would have been really boring if it was just Emma the whole time [on her computer] —as good as Emma is, that might have not been the most fun show.
"So we've we've had fun being creative, making it something that is an awesome TV show."
The author and Wells explained that certain aspects of the novel were changed and updated to fit current trends, such as references to Facebook from the book being swapped out for Instagram and TikTok. Wells explained that from her perspective it was more than just recreating the book: "The script has already been written by the time I was on board, so that was all dealt with.
"But my [job] was just bringing to life the story, seeing who is the perfect person. Who do I see as all these various characters and where do I see them living? And what's that house look like, and all of that."
What else happened at the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder panel at MCM London Comic Con?
Emma Myers also spoke at the convention about her experience acting with a British accent, something she joked wasn't perfect before she joined the series. The Wednesday star explained that she only had two weeks between her casting and the start of shooting so it was quite a fast process to get used to.
"I would hope that my version of Pip is very close to the book," Myers said. "I think we had about two weeks so it was kind of rushed into shooting, but, honestly, getting to read the book and then sitting and reading it with the script as well was really helpful to be able to blend his character over into the script.
"But I think really what did it was having such a great cast and a great director just to guide you on what the vibe is and not supposed to be feeling, and so I think it came pretty naturally, which is good because you could be natural in a character without having to worry."
Joking about her British accent, the American actor went on: "It's improved, it's good now, but it was interesting to be seen past my character in Wednesday because Enid is so very out there and Pip is the complete opposite. Pip is very reserved and she's very smart and forward thinking, and she's got a big brain to her.
"And so it was kind of touching to be thought of in a way that was so different from Wednesday and I just love Pip so much."
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder premieres on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer on Monday, 1 July.
