Lockwood & Co. (TV series)

***Lockwood & Co*** is an television series produced by Complete Fiction and Netflix, based on Jonathan Stroud's book series of the same name. The series is helmed and executive produced by Joe Cornish.

On May 12, 2023, it was reported that Netflix had chosen to cancel the program after a single season.

## Official synopsis

In a world plagued by ghosts, where giant corporations employ psychic teens to battle the supernatural, only one company operates without adult supervision, and its name is Lockwood & Co. Run by Anthony Lockwood, a rebellious young entrepreneur haunted by his mysterious past, his brilliant but eccentric sidekick George and a newly arrived, supremely gifted girl called Lucy, this renegade trio are about to unravel a terrifying mystery that will change the course of history.

## Episodes

*Main article: Season 1*
The first season of *Lockwood & Co.*, consisting of eight episodes, beginning with "This Will Be Us" and ending with "Not The Eternal," released on Netflix on 27 January, 2023.

## Production

Showrunner Joe Cornish was aware of *Lockwood & Co.* from the publication of the first novel, *The Screaming Staircase*. At the time, he tried to option it, only to learn that it had already been optioned by major Hollywood studio with the hopes of developing it as a movie. He was forced to sit on it until ten years later when all five novels had been published and the rights once again became available. *The Screaming Staircase* had, in fact, been optioned as a film nearly a year before even being published, though ultimately the film was not created.

*Lockwood & Co.* was originally announced for adaptation to television in September 2017. At the time, it was stated that the series had been optioned by Big Talk Productions. At the time, Jonathan Stroud stated that he was "...hopping with delight at the prospect of *Lockwood* being brought to the screen by Big Talk… Their unique sensibility blends comedy, adventure and horror beautifully, and is in perfect synthesis with *Lockwood*’s world. I can’t wait for us to take up our rapiers, salt bombs and iron chains and get to work."

In May 2020, it was announced that Big Talk Productions was no longer involved with the project. Instead, it was now a project of Complete Fiction, a company founded in part by two former collaborators of Big Talk. It was revealed that Complete Fiction and Netflix were now to adapt *Lockwood & Co.* into a television series. Jonathan Stroud shared the announcement on his Twitter account, alongside an illustration. In April 2021, Tom Townend was revealed as the director of photography.. Filming began in July 2021. Among the filming locations for the series was London's famed Kensal Green Cemetery.

Author Jonathan Stroud stated that he was not directly involved in the production of the series, but had a consultancy role throughout and was on hand to help whenever the creators had questions. He described the essential plot points of the series as having been lovingly translated to screen and stated that he was blown away by the incredible level of detail in the series and particularly seeing 35 Portland Row brought to life. Joe Cornish stated that while Stroud was not directly responsible for the direction of the series, he was heavily involved, having seen all of the scripts, being on set quite often and answering questions regarding world-building. One example was Stroud writing text which appeared in items on-screen, such as the *Fittes Manual* or newspaper articles.

*Lockwood & Co.* was one of seven British originals announced by Netflix in 2020, but several of those originally announced were later canned, *Lockwood & Co.* being a survivor. Joe Cornish stated that if the show were renewed for future seasons, he could see getting two more seasons from the material from the original books, for a total of three seasons.

Showrunner Joe Cornish described the large fight sequence from the opening of the second novel, *The Whispering Skull*, as being the biggest scene that it was necessary to cut from the series due to it being a massive set piece that didn't really advance the story which they did not have time nor money for.

The release date is set to 27 January 2023. A teaser for the series was released on Netflix's official YouTube channel on 26 October, 2022. A full trailer was released on January 12, 2023.

## Style and tone

In an exclusive interview with SFX magazine, writer-director Joe Cornish stated that he did not want the series to have too many jump scares, limiting to only one or two and that the aim was more to create an atmosphere of creeping fear. He considered sound to be hugely important, but also appropriate use of silence, ruminating that modern media is often afraid of silence despite it sometimes being the most important element. Lighting and light levels were also considered another important aspect. He continued that while on many series you might only get a glimpse of a ghost, on this one they are really present with the characters fighting with them, thus it was necessary to come up with a design that you could really train the camera on. In a behind-the-scenes video released for the series, Cornish further stated that each episode was approached as a mini-movie, with a sense of lushness and scale.

In another interview, Cornish confirmed that the first season of the television series covers material from the first two books of the *Lockwood & Co.* series: *The Screaming Staircase* and *The Whispering Skull*. He expressed a hope for future seasons, stating that the program is serialized and planned for a definite end, following the arc of the novels.

An interview with *Empire* magazine establishes the television series as being set in the 2020s, with the Problem first surfacing in 1968. This diverges from the original novels, likely to place events within a timeline concurrent to when the series is airing, as the original novels were published from 2013-2017. Within the world seen on the show, "the digital revolution never happened." Joe Cornish describes it as being "more analogue and post-industrial - a bit more like when I grew up, in the mid-to-late '80s." As such, to create the series, after filming it was necessary to digital erase objects such as CCTV cameras, satellite dishes and other indicators of modern society.

Cornish described that one of his goals was to avoid exposition. He explained that he did not want the opening of the show to feel like a geography or history exam. As such, viewers are dropped in the middle of an investigation and pick up the world by watching. Multiple people told him he should explain, until he finally decided "Okay, well, let's put everything in the opening titles." As such, "All the factual, world-building stuff is in the opening titles. In the first episode of a Netflix show, you can't skip the opening titles. You can on the subsequent episode. You can skip it if you want, even though I think the opening music is really cool and the titles are really cool."

## Cast

* Ruby Stokes as Lucy Carlyle
* Cameron Chapman as Anthony Lockwood
* Ali Hadji-Heshmati as George Karim
* Ivanno Jeremiah as Barnes
* Jack Bandeira as Quill Kipps
* Morven Christie as Penelope Fittes
* Rhianna Dorris as Kat Godwin
* Paddy Holland as Bobby Vernon
* Hayley Konadu as Flo Bones
* Luke Treadaway as The Golden Blade
* Ben Crompton as Julius Winkman
* Rico Vina as Ned Shaw
* Michael Clarke as voice of Skull
* Ishtar Currie-Wilson as Annabel Ward
* Jemma Moore as voice of Annabel Ward

For the television series, the name of George Cubbins has been changed to George Karim, likely to reflect the ethnicity of the actor playing him, Ali Hadji-Heshmati. The new surname was worked out personally between Hadji-Heshmati and author Jonathan Stroud. The Golden Blade is apparently a new character created for the series.

## Music

The music for the series was composed by The Flight, an English musical duo consisting of Joe Henson and Alexis Smith, known for their work on video games such as the *Assassin's Creed* and *Horizon* franchises, and television series including *Kids on the Edge* and *Drugsland*. The series features songs by bands including Siouxsie, The Cure, and Bauhaus. The first season's soundtrack, consisting of 31 tracks, was released to YouTube on 2 February 2023.

## Promotion

To promote the new series, Netflix, through its Tudum sub-site, hosted a competition for U.K. fans of the series. Fans who correctly solved a riddle had the chance to win tickets to a special screening of the series on 26 January, 2023, one day before the official premiere. The contest was open to any resident of the United Kingdom age 18 or older, barring Netflix employees and those associated with the production of the series.

## Reception

Reviews for the series were posted on 24 January, 2023, following the release of Netflix's review embargo. Early reviews for the series have been positive. Boyd Hilton of *Empire* gave the series 4 stars out of 5, describing the show's setting as "meticulously realised" and the characters as "well-cast." Louise Griffin of the *Radio Times* gave the show 3 stars out of 5, but nevertheless described it as being a "haunting good time," stating that the series could be easily dismissed but that "Cornish’s ability to bring the most terrifying parts of Stroud’s novels to life (or to death) ... sets *Lockwood & Co* apart from Netflix’s other fantasy offerings." As of the evening of 26 January, 2023, the series has two reviews from critics featured by the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, both positive. Josh Stephenson of metro.co.uk describes the series as being "Fun, inventive – and a little bit Doctor Who...", while Jonathon Wilson of Ready Steady Cut praises the series for having "an awareness from the very first scene of this eight-episode series that it’s a slight cut above its contemporaries." Decider, a popular site owned by the *New York Post* that provides recommendations for content to watch on streaming services, stated that while Netflix has an unfortunate record when it comes to the YA fantasy genre, *Lockwood & Co.* is a triumph and that it may well be the best YA show on Netflix - *Stranger Things* included.

## Trivia

* The series is known as *Agencia Lockwood* in Spanish-speaking markets. The Japanese title is *ロックウッド除霊探偵局*, while the Ukranian title is *Агенція «Локвуд & К°»* or alternatively *Агенція «Локвуд і Ко»*.
* Rapper Kanye West, also known as Ye, was reportedly approached regarding the use of one of his songs within the series. Showrunner Joe Cornish ultimately decided against it when "Kanye asked for something like a million dollars – and we had to re-up it every year or something." He continued that in light of the recent controversies regarding the rapper that ultimately it may have been for the best.

## Gallery

### Behind the scenes

Jonathan Stroud and Joe Cornish on the set
### Videos

Lockwood & Co. - Official Trailer - Netflix-2Lockwood & Co. - Official Teaser - Netflix-2Lockwood & Co featuretteLockwood & Co. - Behind The Hauntings - Netflix-2Lockwood & Co. Official Blooper Reel - Netflix-2The Lockwood & Co Cast Take The Best Friends Challenge - NetflixThe Lockwood & Co. Cast Take a Tour of London - NetflixThe Lockwood & Co. Cast Draw Each Other (As Ghosts 👻) - Netflix-2What is "The Problem" in Lockwood & Co.?Lockwood & Co. Deleted Scenes - Netflix-2
## External links

* *Lockwood & Co.* on Netflix
* Lockwood & Co. *on Wikipedia*
* *Lockwood & Co.* on IMDb
* Tudum - Meet the Ghost Hunters of ‘Lockwood & Co.’
* Tudum - "‘Lockwood & Co.’ Ending: Wait, What Happens with George?"

## References

Lockwood & Co Has Been Cancelled by Netflix After One Season. Cancelled Scifi (May 12, 2023). Retrieved on May 12, 2023.
Weiss, Josh (January 26, 2023). Q&A: Joe Cornish Discusses Move To Television With Ghost-Busting Series ‘Lockwood & Co.’ On Netflix. Forbes. Retrieved on January 27, 2023.
Kroll, Justin (October 24, 2012). Illumination, U acquire ‘Lockwood’ series. Variety. Retrieved on January 7, 2023.
Tartaglione, Nancy (September 19, 2017). ‘Lockwood & Co’: Big Talk Prods To Adapt Spooky YA Detective Series For Television. Deadline. Retrieved on January 7, 2023.
5. ↑ "‘Baby Driver’ Producer Nira Park, Director Edgar Wright Launch Complete Fiction with Netflix Projects" - Variety
6. ↑ Jonathan Stroud (@JonathanAStroud) - Twitter
7. ↑ Joe Cornish (@mrjoecornish) - Instagram
Worral, Simon (November 10, 2021). Wild parakeets, far from their native land, have taken a liking to London. National Geographic. Retrieved on January 6, 2023.
Carpenter, Caroline (January 20, 2023). Jonathan Stroud on Lockwood & Co's Netflix adaptation. The Bookseller. Retrieved on January 21, 2023.
Whittock, Jesse (January 27, 2023). Joe Cornish Talks Netflix Ghost Hunter Series ‘Lockwood & Co’ & Updates On ‘Attack The Block 2’. Deadline. Retrieved on January 27, 2023.
Dick, Jeremy (February 11, 2023). Lockwood & Co. Creator Hopes the Show Will Run for Three Seasons at Netflix. Movieweb. Retrieved on February 11, 2023.
Venn, Lydia (January 27, 2023). Netflix's Lockwood & Co: The one big change the series made from the book. Cosmopolitan. Retrieved on January 28, 2023.
Setchfield, Nick (December 25, 2022). New Netflix ghost hunting series Lockwood & Co. doesn't rely on jump scares, says director Joe Cornish. Games Radar and SFX Magazine. Retrieved on January 6, 2023.
14. ↑ YouTube - *Lockwood & Co.* featurette
Travis, Ben (January 17, 2023). Joe Cornish Wants Multiple Seasons Of Supernatural Netflix Show Lockwood & Co: ‘It Really Goes Somewhere, And It Does Have An End’ – Exclusive Image. Empire. Retrieved on January 18, 2023.
16. ↑ Jolin, Dan. "Ghost World." *Empire*, March 2023, pp. 72-77
Giroux, Jack (January 20, 2023). Lockwood & Co. Showrunner Joe Cornish Brings Killer Ghosts To Netflix [Exclusive Interview]. Slashfilm. Retrieved on January 21, 2023.
Griffin, Louise (January 27, 2023). Lockwood & Co creator explains biggest changes from the books. Radio Times. Retrieved on January 29, 2023.
Romero, Ariana (January 20, 2023). Win Tickets to a Spooky Screening of YA Mystery ‘Lockwood & Co.’. Netflix. Retrieved on January 22, 2023.
Hilton, Boyd (January 24, 2023). Lockwood & Co. Review. Empire. Retrieved on January 24, 2023.
Griffin, Louise (January 24, 2023). Lockwood & Co review: Netflix's ghost hunting romp is a haunting good time. Radio Times. Retrieved on January 24, 2023.
*Lockwood & Co.* - Season 1. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on January 26, 2023.
O'Keefe, Meghan (30 January 2023). What to Watch - "Lockwood & Co.". Decider. Retrieved on February 7, 2023.
Barr, Sabrina (January 24, 2023). Kanye West ‘demanded $1,000,000’ for song to be used in Netflix series Lockwood & Co.. Metro. Retrieved on January 24, 2023.