This is incredible. My grandfather introduced me to Gormenghast in my 20s , I read it and was completely blown away. This man was a rare genius. Thanks for posting!

Horrible things happen to wonderful people, this is a tragic story. The good thing, his work lives on and I treasure every moment I wander and rewander the ancient masonry that is Gormenghast.......thankful that he married such a beautiful souled woman and had such loving children.

An inimitable genius gone too soon. Heartbreaking to see how he suffered. I will always treasure my copy of the Gormenghast Trilogy and the unique reading experience.

Very nice to see this documentary. I'm a long-time Peake fan and was always curious about his life. Sad story. Wish things had turned out different -- it always felt to me that the series could have had another book. And Peake's life a different ending as well.

My Granny is in the above clip, Mrs Toplis of Sark. I remember seeing a documentary aired during the first broadcast of Gormenghast on the BBC but I thought it had just contained the interviews and I vaguely remember that there was more footage of her. I can't find it now though.

Thanks for uploading. My favourite author and favourite book. So sad that he died so young.

His works played around the edge of madness, that was the genius of his unique vision, but he paid a heartbreaking price for the gifts he gave us.

My god, that was heavy. Thank you for posting.

LOVED The Gormenghast novels (it's actually not a trilogy since he planned to write more -- sadly he did not.) Most people stop reading a few pages into the third novel but I loved it, even though he had help. I've often considered writing Gormenghast IV. I have written the outline.

Huge thanks for making this excellent documentary available. Much appreciated.

An underappreciated genius. Being raised in China and witnessing medical dissections reminds me a great deal of J.G. Ballard's upbringing. And any Quentin Crisp interview is good.

Great post, sad but inspiring.

Very interesting. Thank you

Thanks for this 👌

An extraordinary writer and illustrator. A genuine original: “genius” as a term gets bandied about far too often but if you are familiar with his work, it’s hard to avoid.

I just love the way he writes I think some of us all share these places he so richly describes so happy I discovered him bought tormented trilogy for my son to read to my grandson xxxx

I had never heard of Mervyn Peake until about 9pm last Saturday. I was rereading some 24-year-old comics I have, Sonic The Comic (No.114), and a reader wrote in to ask what was the inspiration behind the character Grimer. The response was, "STC's Nigel Kitching (artist) got the name from 'Grimer Wormtongue' - a character created back in the 1920's by a writer/illustrator called Mervyn Peak." Now I am intrigued, not least because there is some confusion in that statement as Wormtongue is a Tolkien creation surely? But it seems Peak(e) may have inspired the artist Nigel Kitching. If there is an illustration of Grimer Wormtongue by Mervyn Peake I would love to see it!

I've been waiting for someone to upload this. I had it on tape but obviously it became obsolete along with my video recorder. Thanks

Love the Kundun soundtrack used.

What about Mr Pye?

I don't know if I'd get on with Gormenghast but I've always been curious about the man who wrote it... sometimes seen as the third great British fantasy series of the mid-20th century after Narnia and Middle Earth... I saw the TV dramatisation years ago, or bits of it, but couldn't really take it in and wondered how much justice it did the books. Maybe I will try to read them someday.

15:00 spoilers for book 1

18:31

The first part of the trilogy Titus Groan is a work of genius, after that he started loosing his mind