Interview with Philip Gladwin about The Snake
Interview by Louise Cannon – Bookmarks and Stages
Today it gives me pleasure to welcome Philip Gladwin to Bookmarks and Stages as part of the Random T. Tours virtual blog tour, who I thank for setting this interview up. I also thank Philp Gladwin for the fascinating and in-depth answers to my questions.
Philip Gladwin has written several books, such as After the Fire, Old Persistent Spirits and more…
He has previously wrote for some of the UK’s top TV dramas, which has sent him out in interesting situations to do research. His latest thriller is The Snake, which sent him out with SO19 on research… more about that thrilling experience in the interview. We talk about the plot of the book, the originality of focusing on an SO19 police unit, mental health in a way that is different from what you may expect and more…
The Snake is set in London, 1999. There’s a family tragedy, which breaks Kate’s heart, but also propels her into a new job with the elite police unit, SO19. There are fast cars, serious weaponry and threats along the way. It’s far from regular policing and Kate is one of a team of firearm specialists.
There’s also an ex-marine sniper witwh a grudge to contend with…
Let’s begin the interview, which holds some fascinating answers, I am sure readers will not have know nor realise as certain bits take you behind certain scenes of the first-hand research and experiences. The Snake is available now and launched 6th October 2026.
- You’ve written for some of the top tv dramas, such as The Bill, Trial and Retribution and New Tricks (all dramas I have enjoyed). With over 60 credits over the past 25 years, what inspired you to go into writing novels?
The 2020 lockdown had a major impact. TV drama stopped in its tracks for a while, and the project I was about to begin got cancelled, and that gave me valuable time to re-assess.
For a few years before that, I’d been concerned that the dominance of the American streamers was pushing TV into being too slick, and very forgettable, and I had been increasingly wanting to write on more lumpy, less obviously commercial projects. I also had a great bank of stories saved up that wouldn’t work on TV.
That spring I wrote my first novel After The Fire, about a homeless guy who goes back to a school reunion to find out what happened to his first love. I realised I much preferred the freedom of writing books compared to the tight confines of any TV drama, and when After The Fire was done I just continued.
The Snake (launched Oct 6th) is my sixth book since then (ironically, probably the most commercially viable thing I’ve ever created) and there are more to come. It’s been amazing to finally be able to tell the stories that I love just the way I choose.
- The Snake is the only novel that truly focuses on the elite SO19 unit, why do you think this is and what attracted you to tackle it in your novel?
I honestly don’t know why no-one else has tackled SO19 in novel form; all the books I can find are memoirs. (I’m still waiting for someone to let me know I’ve missed the obvious and I’m actually SO19 novel number 28!) To me, thinking dramatically, SO19 is an obvious goldmine, with endless stories, sharply defined desire lines, characters who can go as deep and as morally complex as you want, great set-pieces, natural adrenaline, the ultimate story stakes, and a good clear, pre-existing market.
I can think of two possible reasons why no-one has yet gone there.
Firstly, there seem to be very few long-form investigations for the average SO19 officer. The nature of the work seem often to be more about being sent out on sorties, or patrols. Once they’ve done their bit, they leave, and they often have no idea what happens to the people involved. That means the obvious crime story whodunnit won’t work (if you’re being realistic) and you’ll need to do some serious research to find the unique stories that properly belong to that world.
Secondly, getting that super-close research access on a daily basis is seems less straightforward these days. I was fortunate enough to have a mass of access before 9/11 (and especially 7/7 in London), forced much tighter security, and that’s actually one of the reasons the book is set in the years around the Millennium – I really knew how things worked back then.
- You spent some days riding with SO19 Officers for the first-hand research experience, what did you discover that the public perhaps don’t know that you can tell us about and how did you choose which parts of this experience to transfer into The Snake?
Two things really struck me. Firstly, how much we all laughed. I was happy to find that these bright, skilled, super disciplined and highly professional people were also very funny. Presumably for very deep, stress-relieving reasons, their sense of humour was very dark, and very sharp, and I genuinely have never laughed as much as I did when I was hanging out with these officers.
The other thing was the simple, constant, no-questions-asked, heroism. There was one transformative moment when I found myself in the back of an Armed Response Vehicle racing towards an armed robbery happening at a bank on Southampton Row. I was wearing all the bullet proof gear that was available to me, but during those tense few minutes I regretted very deeply my choice of writing project, my desire for first-hand experience, and even my entire career!
That day I didn’t disgrace myself, but I did realise that I am a bit of a coward generally, and would rather do almost anything other than go up against people with guns and knives.
Not so for the average SO19 officer. I saw first-hand how, every single day they go out, they are prepared to lay down their life for the general public – the same general public which often mistrusts, fears or even hates them. I find that absolutely extraordinary, and well worth writing about.
As far as what went into The Snake, well, I tried to express a lot of their attitude to life, a lot of their mindset, and my insight into the choices I’d seen them make. Generally, it was a case of using the old story instinct: include moments that make you go ‘Wow!’ and leave out the boring bits.
- You deal with mental health issues, such as psychosis, demonic possession as well as grief as guilt and indeed have a deranged marine sniper who begins a killing spree.
What do you hope readers see and take away as you deal with those issues and show the sacrifice police officers are prepared to make?
I’m very interested in the interplay between joy and lament, and how the bright light of love is balanced by the darkness of fear. I believe both sides of that balance are necessary for a life lived in all its fullness. I don’t want to write throwaway stories, and many of the writers I love are honest about both good and evil. I think writers can definitely (perhaps even should?) go into the abyss, and then come back and write about it – just so long as they bring back some boon or blessing for humanity as a result of the trip. I’m not a fan of horror films for that reason – there’s rarely any boon. (In fact, most horror stores seem to say that humanity is damned.) I prefer to focus on the possible path to salvation if I can find one.
What’s more, having talked to various experts in the mental health field, I’m told there is a growing recognition by some serious, very academically respectable, practitioners, that some forms of mental illness may actually have more spiritual, even more supernatural, origins than simply chemical or hormonal. I find all that intensely interesting, and have tried to dramatise that question in The Snake. So I guess another thing I’d hope to leave for readers is the sense that, in all our lives, even in the hard nosed, nuts and bolts world of SO19, there are places where you can find things that go beyond.
- Pacing is important, The Snake sounds fast-paced, what is your rhythm for setting this and does it differ from or are there similarities to writing for tv?
I really do hope it does read fast. Despite my serious answers to the last question, Rule 1 for any story I’ve ever worked on is that it must entertain!
For me, pace comes from having a strong idea of the outline of the story, even down to the content of individual scenes, and getting rid of everything that doesn’t move the story forward. When that basic shape is in place to the point that reading it makes my heart beat a little faster, I’ll write each scene up as fully, yet as concisely, as I can, still working hard on stripping out all the extra ideas and words that I can find.
I’ve found myself writing some very short chapters in The Snake – as you’d expect from an ex-screenwriter – but I’ve also given myself a lot of room for that wonderful thing you can’t do in a screenplay: meander off the narrative thread for a while and just play a while.
Other things that help – clarity over character’s desires, needs, and actions; and stripping out anything that clogs these up, or splits them. This straightening out wouldn’t work in a Samuel Beckett play, or a George Eliot novel, but for an action thriller it’s good.
- Writing a novel has some different processes and gives a bit more space to write than for tv, what did you learn from writing your novel and getting it published and will there be further books?
You do have more space with a novel, and that feels like an incredible luxury, but the biggest difference for me is that I’m on my own. As a TV writer, depending on the show and the management structure of the production company, you can find yourself getting notes on every draft from from three to ten or more people. Honestly, after all these years writing for hire for others, I don’t think that’s a process I want to go through any more. It’s so much more fun to do it on my own, even if I do make a fair few mistakes and lapses of judgement along the way.
God permitting, there will certainly be further books. Firstly, I’ve got a great idea for The Snake Part 2: Full Flood, to be written if Part 1 takes off. Then I’ve between thirty and forty thousand words written of two more novels – still lots to do on each – have an action adventure fantasy story half formed, and then there is an absolutely massive community saga story, again set in North East Lincolnshire, that I’ve been putting off for a very long time, basically because I’m scared of it.
Given I seem to take about a year to finish a book once I commit, and adding in a little extra time for red herrings, all that that will keep me busy for at least the next five years!
