David Weir: Director
David Weir is a 45-year old Londoner of Celtic descent with not a drop of Oriental blood and who doesn't even speak Japanese or Chinese. His interest in things oriental goes back only to 1976 when he began work on THE WATER MARGIN adaptation. Previously, he has written scripts for THE ONEDIN LINE and THE LOTUS EATERS. With both Japanese series, he was given a translation of the original dialogue and reworked it to make it more colloquial and approachable to the general public, often, as in the case of MONKEY, incorporating idiomatic English humour to fit the actions of the characters - dialogue which has no equivalent in the original. For instance, in one episode, a Taoist magician carries off Tripitaka on his cloud and Monkey gives chase on his own cloud. After shooting down the Taoist's cloud with a type of home-made laser, Monkey speeds to rescue the falling Tripitaka, catching him neatly with a "Howzat!" to which Tripitaka replies, "Well caught." Only an Englishman could have written that exchange, as cricket and cricketing terms are an unknown quantity in Japan.