Adaptations can be hit and miss. Any fan of any book could tell you this, and the intense arguments breaking out around TV shows like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Rings of Power prove that you can never please everyone. I liked the Silmarillion adaptation more than most, but if I never s🦩aw another Harfoot or heard another reference to the Peter Jackson films, it would be too soon.
There have been a few Terry Pratchett adaptations over the years, and I’m afraid to admit that the only one I’ve experienced is the Colour of Magic text adventure game made for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64. But that’s not🌺 to say it hasn’t been done. As it happens, there are seven Discworld adaptations for television or film, including the most recent, The Amazing Maurice, which I didn’t eve♉n realise was based on a children’s book set in the Discworld universe.
From Christmas specials of The Hogfather to ‘80s animations of The Wyrd Sisters, the Pratchett adaptations are numerous and varied. There’s no definitive ‘Discworld TV show’ because, well, who’s going to tackle that? The series is so convoluted and stories so disparate that nobody in their right mind would want to tackle all 41 novels. Pratchett fans already argue over ideal reading orders and produce complex graphs to help (read: hinder) newcomers to enjoy the seriesꦜ. The only thing we agree on is that the first book is the worst place to start.
There are several contained series within the Discworld universe, and a handful of single-volume standalone novels too. These would be the best place to start for an adaptation, picking up Small Gods or Monstrous Regiment to test the waters with a contained story. The latter in particular woul🐼d make a particularly good TV show in this day and age, with Pratchett’s ahead-of-his-time conversations about gender taking the forefront.
The Witches series was ♌similarly forward-thinking, and a good adaptation starting with Equal Rites would go down a storm. The best series to adapt, surely, would be The City Watch as it has recognisable characters, huge popularity, and an easy premise for newcomers to grasp. A corrupt police force in an even more corrupt city. The looming threat of dragons returning to Ankh-Morpork. A six foot six d🉐warf named Carrot. How could it go wrong?
Except it all did go wrong. The Watch premiered in 2021 to almost universal criticism. The BBC series did away with the fantasy setting in favour of a pseudo-modern punk rock vibe, removed any of Pratchett’s iconic wit, and eschewed interesting characters for stories described by reviewers as “generic”, “crushingly rote”, and “one-dimensional”. The adaptation was so bad that Pratchett’s daughter, game developer Rhianna, said that the show “shares no DNA with my father's Watch”. Not even Matt Berry voicing a talking sword could save it from mediocrity.
The Pratchett estate has likely been burned by its experience with The Watch, something which languished in adaptation limbo for 👍a number of years after the rights were bought. While the Amazon adaptation of Good Omens has been received far better by fans, the star power and intoxicating chemistry of stars David Tennant and Michael Sheen help things along. It will also help that co-author and lifelong friend of Pratchett’s Neil Gaiman is credited as creating the show and serves as a hands-on showrunner as the series moves past the events of the novel. If anyone knows how to continue the Pratchett legacy, it’s him.
In response to a headline𓂃 decrying Discworld as another huge franchise “going to waste”, the Pratchett estate posted a status to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter saying, “It’s not going to waste, it’s just very much wanting to do the right ♕thing and definitely not do the wrong thing. Again.”
The account, run by Pratchett’s longtime assistant and business manager Rob Wilkins, followed up by saying, “Our nuclear weapon rem𝕴ains our ability to say no and you simply wouldn’t believe how often we still have to use it”, adding the hashtag #Narrativia, referencing Pratchett’s production company that owns the multimedia rights to all of the author’s work.
The article in question was based on the prem🀅ise that a recent Kickstarter for a Good Omens graphic novel reached $2 million in funding. The writer suggested that this meant the rights holders of Pratchett’s life work were wasting the potential of Discworld by not greenlighting similar adaptations.
Rhianna Pratchett responded too, saying that “we are more mindful than ever, than when we give the ‘yes’ it has to be right”. After the decidedly unPratchett adaptation of The Watch, she has every right to be cautious. While the book﷽s are timeless, and continuously prove that Pratchett was ahead of his time in more ways than you could ever imagine, a slew of poor quality adaptations could tarnish that legacy.
Adaptations, whether they take the form of TV shows, films, or graphic novels, are intended to bring the original work to a new audience, while giving existing fans something new and fresh. There will always be compromises when changing media, but the most important thing is capturing the heart, soul, and wit of Pterry’s life work. If a pitch doesn’t convince Rhianna Pratchett and Rob Wilkins that it can distil Pratchett’s essence into its adaptation, then it hasಞ no right to exist.