Back in April, the late author Terry Pratchett‘s Narrativia production company announced a new initiative to bring his Discworld novels to “screens.” Whether said screens would turn out big or small, they didn’t make clear. But now it begins. From BBC America comes the first image from The Watch, which Pratchett himself described as kind of a fantasy version of CSI. It’s based on the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, featured in eight Discworld novels and also one short story. The story follows a law enforcement team made up of fantasy and supernatural characters.
Per the BBC’s synopsis, “The comedic yet thrilling series pits trolls, werewolves, wizards and other improbable heroes against an evil plot to resurrect a great dragon which would lead to the destruction of life as they know it.” Members of the team include “the captain of The City Watch Sam Vimes (Richard Dormer), the last scion of nobility Lady Sybil Ramkin (Lara Rossi), the naïve but heroic Carrot (Adam Hughill), the mysterious Angua (Marama Corlett) and the ingenious forensics expert Cheery (Jo Eaton-Kent) together with The Watch’s own idiosyncratic depiction of Death.”
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Discworld adaptations to TV have occurred before, though they haven’t always had high profiles in the U.S. They include the 1997 animated miniseries Soul Music and its follow-up Wyrd Sisters, starring Christopher Lee as Death. In live-action, a series of two-parters saw release for Sky 1 in the UK from 2006-2010. These included Hogfather, The Colour of Magic, and Going Postal.
The Watch will debut in January 2021. Will you…watch? Let us know in comments.
Recommended Reading: Terry Pratchett Discworld novels Series 1 and 2 :10 books collection set
