Richard Osman: ‘I had world’s best job. Now I’ve to work for a residing!’

Steven Spielberg has optioned his guide sequence for the large display screen, but when Osman is starstruck by this flip of occasions, he isn’t displaying it.

The 52-year-old creator of quizzes and former co-host of BBC’s Pointless seems to be taking the entire thing in his stride. He has bought 10 million copies of his Thursday Murder Club sequence, grossing greater than £25million.

The fourth novel, The Last Devil To Die, was revealed final week, and there are rumours of one other four-book take care of Penguin price £10million.

He admits: “I’m completely blown away by it all. I have had a career in telly where I’ve had successes but lots of failures as well. You learn to appreciate the successes as there is so much luck involved. When you have a success you thank the fates and just enjoy the ride.”

Asked in regards to the film, he shrugs and can solely say that actors of their 50s fairly than 70s will play the novels’ fundamental characters, to permit for the franchise to evolve. He says he has no clue on casting.

He smiles: “If people stop me in the street I know there is only one of two things they are going to ask me.

“They’re going to ask me how Fulham are doing (he is a fan) or they are going to tell me who should be in the first Thursday Murder Club film.

“It’s a lovely parlour game now. There are so many amazing older actors, but it’s up to Spielberg, not me.”

For the uninitiated, The Thursday Murder Club consists of Elizabeth, a former spy; Joyce, a former nurse; Ibrahim, a psychiatrist; and Ron, an ex trades union official, who meet up each week to research unsolved murders.

The author famously based mostly the placement within the books on his mom Brenda’s retirement dwelling in Sussex, claiming that the fictional Cooper’s Chase is rather like hers – with out the crime capers. When I say I’d like to stay in Cooper’s Chase myself, he agrees fervently: “Oh me too. It’s great. My mum’s place is such a brilliant place to live. It’s so full of mischief, gossip and trouble.”

Describing himself as a full-time author now, he feels as if he has moved on from TV. He now not has the time both.

“Writing a novel is insane, it’s really hard work. Being a TV presenter was the world’s easiest job. Suddenly I’m having to work for a living. But seeing the reaction to it does make it all worthwhile and I love it. I am not a TV presenter anymore, I am definitively a writer.”

There is a touch of heartbreak near dwelling within the newest guide.

He hesitates: “The latest book is set in the world of heroin importation – and antiques. There is an awful lot going on.

“I have the joy of these four characters, all of whom are so mischievous. They represent something very special about being older and the things you can do.

“But to have that fun, I have to pay the tax on that – which is to show the truth as well: grief, heartbreak and infirmity. In the latest book there are troubles and heartache close to home. There are tears but a lot of laughs. I try and write about unlikely friends and that you can have new adventures at any time of life.”

He says his fertile creativeness for writing was fired up as a baby by his adored maternal grandfather, a police officer.

“He was called Thomas but everyone called him Fred, in the way of that generation. Every time we walked around
the streets of Brighton he’d tell me who’d been murdered, and what went on behind certain lock-up garages.

“So my head has always been filled with stories of crime from a young age.”

Richard and his brother Mat Osman, a bass guitarist and founding member of Britpop band Suede, have been raised by single mum Brenda close to Haywards Heath, West Sussex, after their father deserted the household when he was 9.

Richard vividly remembers being sat down by his father, David, who confessed that he had fallen in love with another person and was leaving. “It was the worst thing that ever happened to me,” he has mentioned. “He just left and I didn’t see him again for 20 years – that’s hard.” He remembers: “My grandfather was the main male role model in my life. He was an incredibly strong, tough guy, but incredibly kind as well.”

His experiences made him decided to be there for his personal youngsters when he received divorced in 2007. “I wanted to spend as much time as possible with them and I have done.

“They are in their 20s (Ruby is 25 and Sonny is 23) so they are now what I describe as self-funding. They come around for boardgames nights and my daughter lives just around the corner.

“It’s lovely seeing them build their own lives and still wanting me to be part of that.” Asked what they consider his success, he shrugs: “I think they are proud which is nice. My son has never read the books.”

Three years in the past he met his second spouse, the Doctor Who actor and comic Ingrid Oliver. It was an sudden however joyful curved ball for him after relationship for many of his 40s. “I was always looking for The One,” he provides.

He says: “She was a guest on House Of Games one summer and she had moved in by October. I proposed on holiday last year and we got married in December.”

His dedication on the foreword of the third guide displays his deep emotions for her: “To Ingrid. I was waiting for you.”

He continues: “We met at just the right time. We just laugh all the time and that’s a world I like to be in.”

He is ambivalent about fame: “People used to stare at me in the street anyway because I’m 6ft 7in, but when fame came with Pointless, I was about 40, and fairly fully formed. It’s been a positive thing for me. I’ve always quite enjoyed it.”

● Order The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman (Penguin Books Ltd, £22) from Express Bookshop, £19.80. Visit expressbookshop.com or name the Express Bookshop on 020 3176 3832. Free UK P&P on on-line orders over £25. Also accessible as an audiobook narrated by Fiona Shaw