Maltaran Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Derfel Cadarn said: Bugger. Oh well by the time they do the first few books the city watch series may have been put out of our misery, and the rights revert. Hope they do a fairhful Colour if magic adaptation. They cut so much out of the previos veesion. Felt like paint by nunbers Having just reread Colour of Magic, I’m not sure I actually want a faithful adaptation - there’s too much parody of other works and it doesn’t properly feel like Discworld. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog-days Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 I think Mort and Wyrd Sisters are the books where Discworld starts to really feel like Discworld. IMO, anyway. Equal Rites was getting there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 My biggest hope is (still) that someone can convince Taika Waititi to take on NATION. There's even an acting part custom-made for him (Pilu) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 On 4/28/2020 at 10:17 PM, Maltaran said: Having just reread Colour of Magic, I’m not sure I actually want a faithful adaptation - there’s too much parody of other works and it doesn’t properly feel like Discworld. Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic were a very clear attempt to do a fantasy equivalent of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and while fun Pratchett just doesn't operate on that level in that style. He started getting more to his own thing after that but Discworld doesn't hit its peak for me till Reaper Man (which is the 11th book). After that it's at its best all the way through to Going Postal (33). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 I would rather see some kind of anthology series titled Discworld and using elements from the novels than I would adaptations. Apart from the Watch books, the only one that I’d like to see is Going Postal and I thought the Sky 1 version was fine. Maybe Raising Steam would be good but that kind of depends on the preceding books in the city. My next favourite sequence is the witches, I suppose, but it strikes me that would be kind of boring without the Ankh Morpork milieu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Rhianna Pratchett continuing to show her firm displeasure with The Watch. Some scuttlebutt that BBC America may have exploited some contractual loophole to manoeuvre Narrativia off the project when they inherited it from the BBC (note that, despite the name, BBC America and the BBC itself are completely separate entities). Given that Narrativia is Sir Terry's own production company, founded in 2012 specifically to make sure future adaptations of his work were handled with respect and integrity, I can see why that has infuriated the Pratchett Estate. Yikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 Producer of The Watch snubs Pratchett and the Estate when extending his thanks to people involved in the project, also dubs himself the show's "creator." The fanbase, as you'd expect, has not responded favourably to this event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 2 hours ago, Werthead said: Producer of The Watch snubs Pratchett and the Estate when extending his thanks to people involved in the project, also dubs himself the show's "creator." The fanbase, as you'd expect, has not responded favourably to this event. An understatement. The built-in fanbase hate The Watch and they’ve yet to see an episode. The producer might as well have pissed on Pratchett’s grave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 How beloved is Pratchett in the States? I wonder if Americans are generally less fussed about him, and this Simon Allen thinks he can get away with it, being produced for BBC America. I know for instance I had no interest in the American Dirk Gently series, so maybe they're expecting the reverse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 19 hours ago, The BlackBear said: How beloved is Pratchett in the States? I wonder if Americans are generally less fussed about him, and this Simon Allen thinks he can get away with it, being produced for BBC America. I know for instance I had no interest in the American Dirk Gently series, so maybe they're expecting the reverse. Much, much less well-known as in the UK, where he's a household name, national treasure etc. In the States he's popular and more than he used to be, but still relatively low-key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 On 9/14/2020 at 6:09 PM, The BlackBear said: How beloved is Pratchett in the States? I wonder if Americans are generally less fussed about him, and this Simon Allen thinks he can get away with it, being produced for BBC America. I know for instance I had no interest in the American Dirk Gently series, so maybe they're expecting the reverse. You're missing out, I actually really enjoyed that series and was sad it didn't get to continue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 1 hour ago, Starkess said: You're missing out, I actually really enjoyed that series and was sad it didn't get to continue! In terms of plot it was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the books but I thought it did capture some of Adams' anarchic sense of fun. I enjoyed it a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 1 hour ago, Starkess said: You're missing out, I actually really enjoyed that series and was sad it didn't get to continue! 6 minutes ago, williamjm said: In terms of plot it was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the books but I thought it did capture some of Adams' anarchic sense of fun. I enjoyed it a lot. Hmmm, maybe I shall put my skepticism aside and give it a go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 22 hours ago, williamjm said: In terms of plot it was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the books but I thought it did capture some of Adams' anarchic sense of fun. I enjoyed it a lot. Oh yes, it was certainly its own thing, but enjoyable nonetheless. Which I found to be very in the right spirit of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 There is a British Dirk Gently show, with Stephen Mangan. It feels a bit more like the books. I did also really enjoy the BBC America one too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog-days Posted September 19, 2020 Share Posted September 19, 2020 I enjoyed the American Dirk Gently show - it was pleasantly weird and different - though haven't read the books so didn't have that prior attachment. And it was nice to see Sam Barnett in a lead role; he's very watchable. Hope he will appear in something else good soon since DG was cancelled. I feel sicker and crosser the more I read about the City Watch TV show. It could have been so good in other hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plessiez Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 I haven't particularly cared for any of the televised adapations of Discworld that I've seen to date (and I'm not really convinced that the books translate to the screen at all) but this does seem to be on track to be spectacularly awful. (I have vague memories of quite liking the Cosgrove Hall animations when they originally aired, actually. But I suspect they don't hold up particularly well.) On 9/15/2020 at 12:09 AM, The BlackBear said: I know for instance I had no interest in the American Dirk Gently series, so maybe they're expecting the reverse. I'm a big fan of the first Dirk Gently book (the second one I'm not so keen on), and I couldn't stand the American series. I think you made the right choice to ignore it, personally. I made it about two and a half episodes in because people kept recommending it to me, but ... yeah, not for me. I'm still not really sure why it exists (it doesn't seem to be especially targetted at people who liked the books, who aren't a large enough audience to matter anyway, and apart from a couple of names there's nothing to connect it to them: surely it would have made more sense to market it as an original work?). On 9/17/2020 at 11:45 PM, john said: There is a British Dirk Gently show, with Stephen Mangan. It feels a bit more like the books. The British series borrows a lot more of its plot elements from the books and is low budget enough to occasionally feel like the lost episode of Dr Who that the first book began life as. But it didn't really work for me either. It just feels very slight and disposable (though I vaguely recall thinking that Mangan was a passable Dirk). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 12 hours ago, Plessiez said: I'm a big fan of the first Dirk Gently book (the second one I'm not so keen on), and I couldn't stand the American series. I think you made the right choice to ignore it, personally. I made it about two and a half episodes in because people kept recommending it to me, but ... yeah, not for me. I'm still not really sure why it exists (it doesn't seem to be especially targetted at people who liked the books, who aren't a large enough audience to matter anyway, and apart from a couple of names there's nothing to connect it to them: surely it would have made more sense to market it as an original work?). While I really enjoyed the show, I think it is a fair question and it wouldn't have lost anything if it had lost the Dirk Gently connection completely. It's not really even trying to do the same thing, it's more of a comedy drama rather than an outright comedy like the book. I would agree the first book in particular is better, but I do think it's a masterpiece of comic SF so it would be difficult to live up to that. The second book doesn't work as well overall but still has some great scenes. The British series borrows a lot more of its plot elements from the books and is low budget enough to occasionally feel like the lost episode of Dr Who that the first book began life as. But it didn't really work for me either. It just feels very slight and disposable (though I vaguely recall thinking that Mangan was a passable Dirk). I watched the pilot episode of that. It wasn't terrible and Mangan was a reasonable Dirk but it felt a bit uninspired, it might have been closer to the book but it seemed to have lost most of the humour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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