The Watch (Discworld TV series)

[Andy147]

Discworld overall is OK for female characters, but I don't think the City Watch stories do. Angua's character is werewolf and love interest for carrot, and nothing else. Then there's Cheery... and I think that's it.

Also Sally in "Thud!"

[Glyn]

It is a carelessly wasted opportunity though, to do something good with these characters and setting. The fact this is the end result of years in development makes it feel even more of a crushing disappointment, that they couldn't come up with anything better than this misjudged shite.

Yep, the sky adaptations suffered a lot from being too faithful and being David Jason's vanity project (leaving them looking like the Disney Narnia movies idea of fantasy) but this seems to have gone in completely the opposite direction to the point of ridiculousness.

To adapt Discworld you have to make a lot of compromises with plot and tone of voice but to also change characters to this extent feels pointless unless you are very confident you can do it better than the source material. Its only 90seconds worth of footage but there's enough to suggest that it won't be an improvement.

I mean even bloody Gaspode looks wrong (assuming that's the joke about remaining silent?), that's almost an achievement.

[Alberon]

As I said above months back, by the last one Sky was getting their adaptions right. Going Postal is good. When you're doing an adaptation of a book you do have to change loads, the difference between page and screen usually demands it, but you need to stay faithful to the spirit of the originals or what is the point?

[samadriel]

Fucking hell

https://twitter.com/TheWatch/status/1314622278844510208

[no_offenc]

Jesus christ

[olliebean]

For a Discworld adaptation, this takes itself extraordinarily seriously. I would occasionally recognise a line from the books and think, I remember that being funny when I read it; they must have worked really hard to stop it being funny now.

[Alberon]

This is out now? I'd completely forgotten about it. I will have to watch the first one at least, and I will try to withold judgement, though it is going to be difficult.

[olliebean]

Out tomorrow in the US, I think, but episode 1 is "available."

[Catalogue Trousers]

I don't like judging on a 90-second trailer, but dear Gawd that really does look and sound shite. It's changed so much that they might as well just have done a generic 'fantasy police' series. These are not the characters. They're not even subtly-or-not-so-subtly-altered alternate takes, interesting Elseworlds-styled parallel versions. They are completely different and bland things.

I don't idolise Pratchett as some do, but I've got a lot of time for his creation and this does seem set to monumentally fuck it over. The Sky adaptations were sensitive pieces of genius by comparison to how these 90 seconds look and sound.

[Alberon]

I've watched the first ten minutes so far and, as I think others have said, I might like this more if it wasn't based on Discworld. As it is I have had to resist knifing the screen.

The way the characters introduced so far are all 'wrong' just drives me up the wall. Even Vetinari isn't right, and that's nothing to do with the gender swap. Death is relatively easy to do correctly, but he's not here.

As for NotVimes - that isn't anything like the real thing. Carrot might be okay, haven't seen enough of him yet.

[king_tubby]

I see this is now on the iPlayer. Anyone bothered?

[Milo]

I had a go on it this week when I saw it on iPlayer and basically what Alberon wrote is how I reacted. It was just so wrong.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Watched a couple of episodes. As others have said, if this wasn't based on Pratchett it might be ok, but it just doesn't work. The business with the

Spoiler alert

Vimes from a parallel universe

[close]

was particularly rubbish.

It's also meshing plots from different books together in a particularly weird way. Carrot was in the Watch before Angua and Cheery in the books, but here he joins after them. And no Colon or Nobbs.

Liked what the series did with the goblins though. And how grim living in Ankh-Morpork felt.

[Mr Trumpet]

I managed about 10 minutes. Relentlessly zany. Too much Captain Jack Sparrow stuff. Decent cast, could have maybe worked with different writers, producers, directors and editors.

And they should have had Nobby, and he should have been played by Jimmy Nail

[Bently Sheds]

Having only read one Pratchett book I came into this with no expectations, but fuck me it's hard work. The jaunty camera angles, the relentless "comedic" mugging by the actor playing Vimes, the wacky "not quite Edgar Wright" direction. It's all too much. I'm all for ambitious fantasy stuff on telly, but this is way too overstuffed and overplayed for my liking.

[Mister Six]

I managed about 10 minutes. Relentlessly zany. Too much Captain Jack Sparrow stuff. Decent cast, could have maybe worked with different writers, producers, directors and editors.

And they should have had Nobby, and he should have been played by Jimmy Nail

But Jimmy Nail's face CGIed onto the body of someone about a third his height.

[Mr Trumpet]

He could just shuffle around on his knees.