Richard Osman found it “extraordinary" that his ancestor led a group of amateur detectives, like in his novel ‘The Thursday Murder Club’.
Richard Osman loves that his ancestor was an amateur detective, like his book characters
The ‘House of Games’ presenter joked that “you just couldn’t make up” after finding out about the sleuth-like hobby of Gabriel Gilliam - his four-time great grandfather, born in 1789 - after he discovered Gabriel had uncovered a dead body and helped solve the case, just like in his best-selling novel about a group of retirees investigating cold cases.
After finding out about his relative on the long running BBC series ‘Who Do You Think You Are’, the 51-year-old television personality told the Radio Times magazine: “Given the books I write, you just couldn’t make it up!
"It was extraordinary to discover that Gabriel Gilliam formed an amateur gang of detectives. It felt like it would make a good Sunday night TV drama.
“There are a million stories about the British upper class, from 'Downton' to 'Bridgerton', but very few about poor communities.”
Richard’s book - which is to become a trilogy after the follow-up ‘The Man Who Died Twice’ - is billed as: “In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.”
The ‘Pointless’ co-presenter recently revealed that he will departing the hit BBC One show and “will miss everyone so much” - including his co-host, comedian Alexander Armstrong - but will return for the “celebrity shows”.
At the time of the announcement, Richard said: “I will miss everyone so much, but I’m thrilled that I’ll still be presenting the celebrity shows. I can’t thank everyone enough for twelve amazing years.”
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