The watch - the bbc

[vetran]

and Wokery strikes again.

Captain Vimes is fundamentally decent and reasonable yes he is a functioning alcoholic but he is neither stupid, intentionally rude nor mendacious.

Constable Carrot is naïve not stupid he isn't vain. He doesn't do scared.

Angua is exotic not street slut.

Vetinari is Machiavelli not Maureen Lipman.

Cheery is a dwarf not the mighty boosh.

The streets of Ankh Morpork are more peppa pig (mud & puddles) than Manchester.

not great but its the Discworld universe so not terrible either.

[NotAllThere]

Going Postal on Sky was great. Angua proper scary (and exotic).

Hmm. Punk rock comedy thriller. I think I might drag the VPN out.

[cojak]

The Night Watch on Radio 4 had Philip Jackson as Vimes. A perfect piece of casting and Carrott was bang-on as the naive optimist. I really don’t like Tony Robinson’s portrayal of Carrott as stupid and slow.

[vetran]

Thanks its not just me then.

Having read all the books and listened to the Audiobooks the characters are wrong in this.

If they wanted a female Vetinari then have them properly scary not like a nun. The first thing anyone feels with their whole body in Vetinari's presence is "I really don't want to be here - ever"

[eek]

not great but its the Discworld universe so not terrible either.

It's only Discworld because the BBC bought the rights and then completely butchered it.

It's not Discworld in any way that the Terry Pratchett estate recognises - the retweet of https://twitter.com/neilhimself/stat...48850506846208 tells you everything you need to know as does the below quote

Rhianna Pratchett
@rhipratchett
·
Oct 9, 2020
Look, I think it's fairly obvious that @TheWatch shares no DNA with my father's Watch. This is neither criticism nor support. It is what it is.
289
1.7K
6.8KTerry Pratchett Retweeted

Rhianna Pratchett
@rhipratchett
Replying to
@rhipratchett
UPDATE:
@TheWatch
will succeed or fail on its own merits. But watching the recent talk around the show, I feel I should point out that there are many fine actors & crew involved who’ve worked hard on this. If you don’t like what you’ve seen, then please don’t take it out on them.

[d000hg]

People have been butchering books on the small and big screen for decades, without it being "wokery".

I've seen a few DW adaptations and never been enthralled by any of them, it's hard to 'do' a universe like this on TV IMO. Too much quirkery and colour, it easily ends up overdone & cheesey. And it's so open for interpretation that any one director's version will miss the mark for many.

Even the recent Good Omens, which was done about as well as I could wish for with a great casting, still larked the spark of the book. DW translates well to radio but not TV, to my taste anyway.

[vetran]

People have been butchering books on the small and big screen for decades, without it being "wokery".

I've seen a few DW adaptations and never been enthralled by any of them, it's hard to 'do' a universe like this on TV IMO. Too much quirkery and colour, it easily ends up overdone & cheesey. And it's so open for interpretation that any one director's version will miss the mark for many.

Even the recent Good Omens, which was done about as well as I could wish for with a great casting, still larked the spark of the book. DW translates well to radio but not TV, to my taste anyway.

I liked the sky adaptions, yes there were times when the imagery and style jarred with my imagination but you could see how the director etc. had go there. Nothing screamed we changed it because we didn't think it agreed with our opinions.

The Watch looks like they were adapting the the Watchmen or Suicide squad not discworld. There are many magnificent female characters round the watch ecosystem changing Vetinari, Angua and cheery so much was not needed.

Sam Vimes is totally moral if a little damaged, he is the valiant warrior who has seen too much. He is not an idiotic oaf.

[NotAllThere]

Going Postal - Claire Foy in leather. Hogfather was great too.

The first thing anyone feels with their whole body in Vetinari's presence is "I really don't want to be here - ever"

He can arrange that. Permanently. Don't let me detain you.

I watched the first episode this morning. I actually quite like it. It's not Pratchett. But I found it very darkly funny and it references many of the Vimes stories. I love that the alchemists guild are the drug dealers. Pterry didn't see that.

[vetran]

I watched up to episode 8 its not terrible but it isn't as good as Sir Terry.

[d000hg]

On related topics, any proper fans care to weigh in on American Gods series? I've read the book and never got round to the show, which I see is still going strong.