Adaptations

Minette's first five books were adapted to critical acclaim by the BBC and are regularly shown in the UK and around the world.

The television adaptations of Minette's first five books are now available on DVD from the BBC. This five-DVD boxset contains dramatisations of: The Ice House; The Sculptress; The Scold's Bridle; The Dark Room; and The Echo.

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(Please bear in mind that the box set is for Region 2 DVD players only.)

"When my books were first adapted for television, I was asked if I regretted allowing it to happen. Basically I take the approach that television is a completely different medium. I'm lucky that I don't have a series character like many other crime writers. If you have one of those, that character can be totally destroyed for you. I've found writers who will testify to that. It wouldn't matter if television murdered one of my characters. I still have the others because every book has its own. Anyway, I'm a telly fan. On the whole, I have been very pleased with how they've been done."

Adaptations:
The Ice House
The Sculptress
The Scold's Bridle
The Dark Room
The Echo

Minette's subsequent novels have come under regular tender for film and TV adaptation, but she admits to being 'more picky' about how, when and if they might be adapted.

"The serialisations were happening so fast that they were threatening book sales, and the turnover of staff at the BBC meant I never knew from one day to the next who was in charge of production. With the changes in audience viewing since the introduction of satellite TV, the number of people who are prepared to dedicate themselves to two, three or four nights of viewing in order to follow a serialisation have dropped. The future is two-hour videos or movies, and that is the route I want to go."

The only book that Minette has agreed to release for adaptation in the last few years is Acid Row, which is currently under option with Company Pictures.

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