Lights, Camera, Action! by Barbara Nadel

 

Barbara Nadel

 

There are very few crime writers, in my experience, who would not like to see a film or TV adaptation of their work come to fruition. Over the years my Cetin Ikmen books have attracted interest from many film and TV executives. Some have wanted to option my work, but it's never come to anything - until now.

Just before Coronavirus hit, back in 2019, my Istanbul set Cetin Ikmen series was optioned by Viacom for an initial eight-part TV series. I was ecstatic. But then, like everyone else, I had to contend with an unknown virus that may kill me and everyone I love. That concentrates the mind and so all thoughts about the option disappeared from my head until April this year when Viacom, now partnered with Miramax and a Turkish production company called Ay Yapim, told me they were beginning filming in Istanbul. I was shocked and thrilled, delighted and just massively curious. How was this going to pan out in actual reality?

A good sign was that they had chosen the lead actor of my dreams. I'm sure we've all from time to time played Fantasy Film Casting about our own and other people's books. For well over a decade I had wanted Cetin Ikmen to be played by Turkey's greatest living actor, Haluk Bilginer. And that is who IS playing Ikmen.

But back to April. 2022 continued where 2021 had left off inasmuch as it carried on being appalling all through the summer. I think that like a lot of people I had a delayed reaction to all the grief and despair that had followed on from lockdowns, loss and fear and I was basically used up. I can't tell you how I got through writing my latest Ikmen book, but somehow, I did. Then I was invited to Istanbul, to watch the filming.

This happened in early October, and it was just the tonic that I needed. I flew to Turkey, mask on and full of all sorts of weird thoughts and anxieties and it was just great. I spent three days on the set, which was out of town, in the forest up by the new Istanbul airport. I met actors, including Haluk Bilginer, directors, camera operators and sound people. I saw sets that were so detailed and in tune with my own vision, I was almost moved to tears. And when, on the last night I was invited to the Wrap Party, it was almost as if I was living the life of someone else.

We watched the trailer for what is to be called The Turkish Detective, which was super exciting and also really, again, emotional for me. Actors and technical folk sought me out to thank me for giving them work in these straightened times, which was so satisfying I can't tell you. One of the reasons I write is so that I can provide for my family and also hopefully, do something that matters via my books. Work matters, people matter and if what you do helps anyone along the way, that is the most profound bonus.

While I can't tell you about the plot of The Turkish Detective (to be screened 2023 by Paramount +) I can illuminate one scene I witnessed which really stuck in my head. Cetin Ikmen and his family are all seated around the dinner table with Ikmen's new colleague Mehmet Suleyman. They're all eating and chatting; the kids occasionally argue and there's lots of laughter and noise. In other words, a typical Turkish dinner time in a home filled with warmth. The director let the actors ad lib the scene which they did brilliantly. They kept that going in character for 15 minutes and it was astonishing. Of course, parts of this exchange will be cut, but when it was over, everyone watching just clapped and yelled, because it had been so absolutely wonderful.

Of course, I came home to all the same issues and problems a week later, but I'd had a moment or two in the sun and it felt good. When The Turkish Detective is screened next year, I will gather my nearest and dearest around me and relive that tiny spark of light that came into my life in early October, and I will smile. I hope that those of you who watch the series will love it too - and raise a glass to the actors, writers and directors who made it possible. 

Inspector Ikmen Mysteries

Belshazzar’s Daughter (1999)
A Chemical Prison/The Ottoman Cage (2000)
Arabesk (2001)
Deep Waters (2002)
Harem (2003)
Petrified (2004)
Deadly Web (2005)
Dance with Death (2006)
A Passion for Killing (2007)
Pretty Dead Things (2007)
River of the Dead (2008)
Death by Design (2010)
A Noble Killing (2011)
Dead of Night (2012)
Deadline (2013)
Body Count (2014)
Land of the Blind (2015)
On the Bone (2016)
The House of Four (2017)
Incorruptible (2018)
A Knife to the Heart (2020)
Blood Business (2020)
Forfeit (2021)

Barbara Nadel was born and brought up in the East End of London. She has a degree in psychology and, prior to becoming a full-time author, she worked in psychiatric institutions and in the community with people
experiencing mental health problems. She is also the author of the award-winning Inspector Ikmen series and received the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger for the seventh novel in the series Deadly Web. There are now 24 books in the series. Her most recent book is Web of Lies, the eighth book in the series featuring Lee Arnold and Mumtaz Hakim who run a detective agency in London's East End. Barbara now lives in Essex.