The (Night) Watch

[zarniwhoop]

Just noticed that for those with access to BBC2 there are the first two episodes of a new 8-part series at 9:00 and 9:30 tonight. According to the Grauniad, 'Terry Pratchett - inspired comedy drama' and for the second 'Control of a dragon is key to Carcer's plan'. Sounds like "inspired by, but totally changed' to me, but then when I've seen the films on Sky they were certainly different from the books, so maybe worth watching for a laugh.

 

ĸen

[bimble]

The entire series has been on the iplayer for a while.  The Pratchett estate has distanced themselves from this production, and having watched it I'm not surprised why.  Apart from the names there is nothing in common with the books.  Even the character of the characters is totally different.  There is no similarity to how the city is run in the books (the guilds, the Watch, the Unseen University, Vetinari), there is no suggestion that the books have been read in detail and the timelines of the stories followed.

 

If you're expecting anything like the books you will be disappointed.   They obviously had a decent enough budget, they had the rights to Discworld, and I can only assume that the scriptwriter got themselves the vaguest of character descriptions and then made their entire own world/story up.

 

At least the Sky films tried to follow whichever story they were adapting, but this...

[rovex]

I watched the entire series and I enjoyed it.

It's not for purists which I will admit on somethings I am, but I enjoyed this more than the Sky films.

[zarniwhoop]

I've now watched the first one (recorded both), and after some thoughts along the lines of "what?" and "you cannot be serious" (particularly with Angua as a sergeant explaining things to the new recruit Carrot) I actually enjoyed it. But I think I'd like some of whatever the writer was taking to be able to come up with such a re-imagining.

 

And I thought I was a purist in discworld matters!

[Hroth]

Sounds like something that was originally developed for the streaming-only BBC3 and has been moved over to BBC2 because they've got to have something to fill the airtime without being an obvious repeat...

 

I'll give the first episode a try, if I can subdue my "I've read ALL the Discworld novels, and the short stories too" part of my brain from crying out in anguish.

 

There's a lot in the  Wikipedia article about The Watch  that explains things.  It started out as a Pratchett informed production, with input from Rhianna Pratchett, but got into the hands off BBC America, where I expect the rot set in.  One review went as far to say that "The Watch takes everything devotees loved about Pratchett: the wryness, the whimsy, the Tolkien-goes-Monty Python setting of Ankh-Morpork. And then chucks it out the window.".  Rhianna Pratchett stated it shared "no DNA with my father's Watch", and Neil Gaiman compared the series to "Batman if he's now a news reporter in a yellow trenchcoat with a pet bat".

 

Oh well, it looks as if its worth watching on Friday 13th....

 

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by Hroth
Change a word here, change a word there...

[bimble]

It's like someone was given the budget & rights to write some fan fiction... but set down a very different trouser leg of time to that of the storylines we're used to.  An original story would have been fine, but what got me was the characters having nothing in common to how they are in the books, with the exception of their names.

 

There was one incident, for example, that suggested that the script-writers certainly hadn't read 'Men At Arms'

Quote

The doors shattered.  A six-foot iron arrow passed Carrot and Vimes and removed a large section of wall on the far side of the courtyard.

A couple of blows removed the rest of the gates, and Detritus stepped through.  He looked around at the assembled Assassins, a red glow in his eyes.  And growled.

It dawned on the smarter Assassins that there was nothing in their armoury that could kill a troll.  They had fine stiletto knives, but they needed sledgehammers.  They had darts armed with exquisite poisons, none of which worked on a troll.  No-one had ever thought trolls were important enough to be assassinated.  Suddenly Detritus was very important indeed.  He had Cuddy's axe in one hand and his mighty crossbow in the other.

Some of the brighter Assassins turned and ran for it.  Some were not as bright.  A couple of arrows bounced off Detritus. Their owners saw his face as he turned towards them, and dropped their bows.

 

Kinda reminded of the BBC adaption of Christie's 'ABC Murders' from a few years back where they totally rewrote the story, including having Japp die and Poirot having been a priest...

[zarniwhoop]

I doubt the scriptwriters would get the trouser leg of time reference.

[Hroth]

I watched episode one, with increasing incredulity, followed by episode two which opened with a shootout where arrows certainly didn't bounce off Detritus. So I gave up.

 

One thing I did do was to watch with the sound muted, to prevent any preconceptions due to corny dialogue. An odd storyline, the first episode seeming to mix Guards Guards and Men at Arms indiscriminately, while ignoring internal timelines.  Who was the indeterminate foppish character who seemed to occupy an Igor role?  Why was there electricity in the world? Why did the Tower of Art seem so squat? Why was the city seemingly surrounded by a lifeless desert and where had the fertile Sto Plains gone? And so on.

 

Oh well.

 

[bimble]

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

Who was the indeterminate foppish character who seemed to occupy an Igor role? 

 

 

I think you're talking about Cheri.... the dwarf.  You wouldn't have recognised her by the lack of beard... and lack of lack of height.

[Dave Hunt]

I'm a great fan of the Discworld and in particular the Watch and Sam Vimes so was really looking forward to watching the first two programmes and arranged the evening to suit. After about twenty minutes of growing incredulity and annoyance, though, I gave up and switched off.

 

Dave

[Dave47549]

.

Edited October 4, 2021 by Dave47549
Removed pointless guff

[chris45lsw]

I'm surprised I watched episodes 1 & 2 to the end - I will not be watching any more!

 

Chris KT

[Hroth]

2 hours ago, bimble said:

 

I think you're talking about Cheri.... the dwarf.  You wouldn't have recognised her by the lack of beard... and lack of lack of height.

 

Ahhhhh....

I was a bit puzzled by Angua - she should have long hair and be as tall as Carrot. Also, Colon and Nobby?

 

Nevermind, I won't be following their continuing adventures!

 

[BR60103]

There is, as yet, no sign of it this side of the ocean.

I think Discworld Monthly covered it a few months back.

 

[Jonboy]

This is a SciFi tradition is is not, take a brilliant book and mangle it to suit the directors vision…..just compare the Frankenstein movies over the years to the book….

 

I am enjoying it as its own/different interpretation but agree it’s nothing like the book(s).

[Hroth]

5 hours ago, BR60103 said:

I think Discworld Monthly covered it a few months back.

 

I didn't realise DWM was still going!

 

Having read the anguished review in DWM issue 285 it seems that if you've been put off by episodes 1 and 2, then its not going to get any better.  I wouldn't advise people NOT to watch at least episode 1, watch it and you can come to your own decisions!

 

Personally, I'm going to sandbox my mind and watch the first episode again with the sound on and see if it makes more sense as a generic "fantasy" series.  I still may not like it, but I'll have made the effort!

 

[Hroth]

2 minutes ago, Jonboy said:

This is a SciFi tradition is is not, take a brilliant book and mangle it to suit the directors vision…..just compare the Frankenstein movies over the years to the book….

 

We don't have to look back as far as Frankenstein adaptations.  The recent BBC adaptation of The War of the Worlds is a brilliant example of a series that takes the book title and initial premise and then wanders off on the whim of the production team...

[Jonboy]

Ah well the Frankenstein example is on my mind because we went to the new House Of Frankenstein in Bath a couple of weeks ago…..well worth an hour or twos time in my opinion.

[Hroth]

The advantage with Frankenstein is that nowadays few people have read the book and there has been many cinematic efforts ranging from the early 30s James Whale interpretations, Mel Brooks Young Frankenstein and so on. Frankenstein, as a book, is now over 200 years old so there are many interpretations of the "man makes monster, what could possibly go wrong?" theme, all enjoyable in their own way.   Perhaps when Discworld is 200 years old, then adaptations will be created with less baggage and expectations!

[lapford34102]

Watched 1 + 2 and probably thought much the same as every other Discworld fan. The characterisations seemed to be almost the exact opposite of what I imagined. Quite enjoyed it though and as there isn't that much fantasy for "grown-ups" on terrestrial tv will stick with it

Stu

[Bill Radford]

Watched the first 3 episodes on i-player a couple of months back...

 

I think that says it all!

 

Quite enjoyed Going Postal. If you really want to see a massacaring of a good book read Jasper Fforde's The Last Dragonslayer and hide your eyes when you watch Sky's version!

[johnlambert]

I've read and enjoyed most, if not all of the Discworld series over the years.  Having read lots of negative reviews of The Watch I watched it for myself.  Possibly because my expectations had been suitably lowered I found myself enjoying it and got though every episode in fairly quick succession over a few evenings.

 

Would the series have been better for being a more faithful adaptation of a Pratchett story? Probably.  But every fan probably has a slightly different vision of how the stories "look" and so no adaptation is ever going to please everyone.

 

For my money, the adaptations of The Hogfather, The Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic and Going Postal, done for Sky (I think) were far more faithful adaptations of Discworld stories and will probably remain forever the definitive TV/film versions.

[Welly]

I have never read any of the Discworld series books (apart from Carpe Diem which I could not get into) so I watched the first two episodes of the Watch and found it OKish. I was most annoyed at Sam Vimes' perfect teeth!

[30801]

11 hours ago, Bill Radford said:

Quite enjoyed Going Postal. If you really want to see a massacaring of a good book read Jasper Fforde's The Last Dragonslayer and hide your eyes when you watch Sky's version!

 

Or Stephen King's eight book Dark Tower series made into a 95 minute film by missing out all the stuff in the books.

[Ian J.]

I've not yet watched a Pratchett Discworld adaptation that works for me - too much of Pratchett's style is in his narrative, something that doesn't translate well into characterisation.

 

I will admit I haven't seen anything of this one, but I did see parts of the not so recent BBC version of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency with Stephen Mangan, and that missed the mark by miles as well. It wasn't even trying to be faithful to Douglas Adams' book either, and his style is also in his narrative (and sometimes Pratchett sounds similar).