Is The Reluctant Vampire based on a book? Eric Morecambe’s novel explained
Yes. BBC One’s The Reluctant Vampire, starring Lenny Rush, is based on Eric Morecambe’s 1982 children’s novel. Here is what the book is about and how the Alan Partridge writers adapted it.
Yes, it is. BBC One’s new family sitcom The Reluctant Vampire is based on the 1982 children’s novel of the same name by Eric Morecambe, the comedian best known as one half of Morecambe and Wise.
The series began on Sunday 4 October, and all six half-hour episodes went up on BBC iPlayer the same day, so anyone who has raced through it may well be curious about where the story started.
Published two years before Morecambe’s death in 1984 and written for young readers, the book is set in the village of Katchem-by-the-Throat, where vampires have ruled for centuries, and its hero is Valentine, a vampire prince with an embarrassing secret: he cannot stand blood and would much rather have chips and a small glass of red.
When he finally owns up, it sparks a royal row with King Victor and leaves Valentine wondering whether a vampire who prefers chips to necks can ever find his place in the world. The novel did well enough for Morecambe to follow it with a sequel, The Vampire’s Revenge.
It is that gentle, daft premise that Neil and Rob Gibbons, the brothers best known for co-writing Alan Partridge with Steve Coogan, have used as the basis for the television version. On screen the prince becomes Val, played by Lenny Rush, a boy raised in a traditional vampire family who has never quite lived up to his father’s expectations.
A surprise encounter with his own reflection then reveals the reason: he is not undead at all. From that moment Val has to keep the truth from the family in the castle on the hill while slipping down to the village to learn how ordinary people live.
Rush, who won a BAFTA for Am I Being Unreasonable?, is leading a series for the first time, and when his casting was announced he made no secret of how much the source meant to him. "How lucky am I to bring to life something from the mind of comedy legend Eric Morecambe?" he said.
Tom Davis and Sian Clifford play Val’s vampire parents, Victor and Valeeta, while Gabriel Nagy plays his suspicious brother Vernon. Around them is a cast full of familiar comedy faces, including Asim Chaudhry, Joe Wilkinson, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Charlie Cooper, Esther Smith, Ross Noble and Bill Bailey.
The Morecambe family has stayed close to the project throughout. Eric’s son Gary Morecambe served as script consultant on the series, which was made by Boffola Pictures, the company behind Am I Being Unreasonable? The adaptation was first announced in 2023, and Rush was confirmed in the title role two years later.
For anyone who has finished the series and wants more, the books are the natural next step. HarperCollins has brought out editions of both The Reluctant Vampire and The Vampire’s Revenge to tie in with the show, which gives younger viewers a way to stay in Katchem-by-the-Throat after the final episode. If you missed our earlier piece on how the series came together, you can read The Reluctant Vampire brings Lenny Rush to BBC One.
The BBC has not yet said whether Val will be back for a second series, but with two books’ worth of mischief to draw on and a cast this strong, it would be no surprise to see the castle doors open again. The Reluctant Vampire continues on BBC One, and every episode is available now on BBC iPlayer.
Images: BBC.
