The Old Hollywood Thrillers That Quietly Shaped PBS’ New Must-Watch Detective Series [Exclusive]

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Published Feb 9, 2026, 11:59 AM EST

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If you walked into Gabriel Book’s shop and asked for a recommendation that captured the soul of Bookish, don’t expect a single neat answer. The story is set in London in 1946, just after the Second World War, and follows Book — an antiquarian bookshop owner with a sharp mind and encyclopedic knowledge of literature — who helps the police solve baffling murder cases. His ease with books becomes his crime-solving edge. When asked what story best reflects the tone and spirit of his post-war detective series, Mark Gatiss admitted it’s easier to point to films than books — but the influences are crystal clear.

“It’s difficult. It’s easier to actually name a film,” Gatiss said. “Well, the two films to me, which are the absolute pole stars of this show, are a brilliant Sidney Gilliat thriller called Green for Danger with Alistair Sim, which, if you’ve seen, is one of my favorite films, set during the war with Alistair Sim as this fantastically eccentric Scotland Yard detective. It’s about a murder in a hospital. It’s very, very clever, very, very clever and really funny and really scary at the same time.”

What Else Is 'Bookish' Based On?

That balance — wit mixed with genuine menace — runs straight through Bookish, where cozy bookshop charm sits right alongside murder and moral compromise. Gatiss pairs that with another wartime-era story that influenced how he shaped Gabriel Book himself. “That and a Leslie Howard film called Pimpernel Smith, which is basically a remake of The Scarlet Pimpernel, which is one of his great hits, but it’s about getting people out of Nazi Germany, and he’s brilliant. I mean, he’s just a wonderful actor, but I based a lot of Book on [him.] That’s what I wanted him to be like.”

Like Leslie Howard’s quietly heroic professor, Book presents one face to the world while working against darker forces behind the scenes. “He’s a professor, he appears to be totally different, but he’s behind the scenes, he’s actually working crazily against the baddies," says Gatiss. And if that weren’t enough vintage cinema DNA, Gatiss adds one more classic performance into the mix, saying, “That with a dash of Roger Livesey in A Matter of Life and Death. So between those three, I would say.” Taken together, those influences paint a clear picture: Bookish isn’t just a murder mystery series. It’s a love letter to a style of storytelling where intelligence, decency, and quiet courage matter just as much as clues and corpses.

Bookish is currently airing on PBS in the United States. Don't miss the Season 1 finale next Sunday on February 15.