Richard Ayoade adapting The Unfinished Harauld Hughes for television
Richard Ayoade is adapting his spoof memoir, The Unfinished Harauld Hughes, for television.
Published in October, the book supposedly chronicles "Ayoade's dogged quest to rescue Harauld Hughes - the great mid-century playwright, and Ayoade's uncanny doppelganger - from obscurity".
Given that the book's premise is that The IT Crowd star was drawn to Hughes's story because of his resemblance to the hitherto overlooked auteur, there appears a strong likelihood that Ayoade will also star in the comedy.
US entertainment website Variety reports that the Harauld Hughes series is being developed with House Productions, with whom Ayoade is already developing a feature adaptation of George Saunders' short story The Semplica Girl Diaries.
If brought to television, The Unfinished Harauld Hughes will be the latest, high-concept and self-reflexive iteration of The Double director Ayoade's preoccupation with doppelgangers.
The Guardian described the memoir as "the narrative of the making of a documentary that never gets made, about a movie that also never got made. Its protagonist-narrator is Richard Ayoade, an alter-ego of the author of the book, Richard Ayoade.
"He's in search of an alter-ego of his own - or, at least, a doppelganger ... Its comic tenor is part satirical and part pure whimsy, and it's very beguiling."
Ayoade has also just directed and appears in the music video for Kim Deal's song Big Ben Beat, featuring looped scenes of the former Breeders frontwoman, the comedian and his family.
Richard Ayoade - The Unfinished Harauld Hughes
This new memoir follows Ayoade's dogged quest to rescue Harauld Hughes - the great mid-century playwright, and Ayoade's uncanny doppelganger - from obscurity.
Gifted filmmaker, corduroy activist and amateur dentist, Richard Ayoade first chanced upon a copy of The Two-Hander Trilogy by Harauld Hughes in a second-hand bookshop. At first startled by his uncanny resemblance to the author's photo, he opened the volume and was electrified. Terse, aggressive, and elliptical, what was true of Ayoade was also true of Hughes's writing, which encompassed stage, screen, and some of the shortest poems ever published.
First published: Thursday 3rd October 2024
- Publisher: Faber And Faber
- Pages: 192
- Catalogue: 9780571377893
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- Published: Thursday 10th April 2025
- Publisher: Faber And Faber
- Pages: 256
- Catalogue: 9780571339174
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- Published: Tuesday 1st October 2024
- Publisher: Faber And Faber
BCG may earn commission on sales generated through the links above.
- Published: Tuesday 1st October 2024
- Publisher: Faber And Faber
Buy and sell old and new items
Search for this product on eBay
BCG may earn commission on sales generated through the links above.