By Helen Langdon
There have been a few attempts at transporting Discworld to the screen, from Cosgrove Hall’s animated adaptations of Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters, to the more recent Sky productions of Hogfather, The Colour of Magic and Going Postal. But beyond the brief glimpses we get of such characters as Angua, Nobby Nobbs and Visit-The-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets, the Watch novels have yet to reach our television sets. Why?
There have been a few attempts at transporting Discworld to the screen, from Cosgrove Hall’s animated adaptations of Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters, to the more recent Sky productions of Hogfather, The Colour of Magic and Going Postal. But beyond the brief glimpses we get of such characters as Angua, Nobby Nobbs and Visit-The-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets, the Watch novels have yet to reach our television sets. Why?
Here’s the thing – it’s not like there’s a lack of interest in the Watch novels. For years, an adaptation of the City Watch stories has been the next mooted on-screen adaptation. Most recently, that was going to take the form of a 13-episode police procedural, albeit set in Ankh-Morpork, home to more mythical creatures than the pages of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It was set to be overseen by Rhianna Pratchett, Terry Pratchett’s daughter, as she takes over responsibility for the universe. And the series was supposed to be well written – at various times, Terry Jones, Gavin Scott (The Borrowers) and Guy Burt (The Borgias) have all been attached to the project. But all these details were announced in 2012. No broadcast date appears to be on the horizon.
That’s a travesty, because possibly no other Discworld group of novels would adapt to TV so well as the City Watch ones. With the Watch novels, you don’t need to adapt a specific plotline, but instead can branch out into the wider criminal underworld of Ankh-Morpork. More than any of the other series, the Watch characters lend themselves to being placed in other storylines. There’s only so many times you can see Death fetching souls, or watch the witches of Lancre go about their everyday lives. But crime dramas are always interesting! (Your mileage may vary, obviously, but there’s always at least ten crime dramas on TV at a time)
And you know what else is currently popular? Subverting fantasy tropes. It’s showing these fantastical beings in mundane situations, such as sharing a house (Being Human) or going to school (Teen Wolf). And there’s no better set of novels for dissecting the fantasy genre and serving it back to you. All of the Discworld novels do it to a point, but the City Watch ones take it to the next level. These are the characters, as Pratchett points out, that are usually skipped over in fantasy novels. If a guard is mentioned, they’re either guarding or getting killed by the hero. Guards are never the good guys in fantasy. But the Watch novels take the ordinary problems you’d encounter while policing a fantasy metropolis and turn them into comedic artworks.
And you know what else is currently popular? Subverting fantasy tropes. It’s showing these fantastical beings in mundane situations, such as sharing a house (Being Human) or going to school (Teen Wolf). And there’s no better set of novels for dissecting the fantasy genre and serving it back to you. All of the Discworld novels do it to a point, but the City Watch ones take it to the next level. These are the characters, as Pratchett points out, that are usually skipped over in fantasy novels. If a guard is mentioned, they’re either guarding or getting killed by the hero. Guards are never the good guys in fantasy. But the Watch novels take the ordinary problems you’d encounter while policing a fantasy metropolis and turn them into comedic artworks.
The only foreseeable problem, as with any book-to-screen adaptation, would be in casting these well-defined characters. Three members of the watch have already made it to screen, but who could bring the ginger hair, brawn and charisma that Captain Carrot needs? Would they try and force David Jason into a fat suit so that he could play Fred Colon (please, please, no)? And then there’s Vimes. To be honest, Vimes is probably the major stumbling block. Because he’s the unexpected protagonist, in a series where you’d expect the young and righteous Carrot to be taking the lead. But Vimes is an everyman, a cynic who just wants to get the job done and go home. He’s not especially charismatic or intelligent, and distrusts those who make deductions (Vimes would probably punch Sherlock Holmes on sight, and arrest him on a charge of Being a Smug Bastard). The actor playing Vimes has to be believably world-weary, as well as determined. There’s been a recent surge of Tumblr support for Idris Elba to play Vimes. Elba’s recent turn as Luther shows that he can do the grumpy detective routine, but he might be slightly too attractive and charming to play Vimes.
But talking about casting is dreaming too big at this stage. There’s been no official news on the subject for the last couple of years, although Pratchett has been talking about it in personal appearances. It’s difficult to know how it would be able to fit into Discworld continuity. With new stories, it could fit in and around established plotlines, or it could be post-current novels. Whatever they do, hopefully the series manages to make it to air soon. Otherwise, the City Watch novels could turn into the new Good Omens – brilliantly funny novels with adaptations spoken about for years, which never quite make it to the filming stage.
But talking about casting is dreaming too big at this stage. There’s been no official news on the subject for the last couple of years, although Pratchett has been talking about it in personal appearances. It’s difficult to know how it would be able to fit into Discworld continuity. With new stories, it could fit in and around established plotlines, or it could be post-current novels. Whatever they do, hopefully the series manages to make it to air soon. Otherwise, the City Watch novels could turn into the new Good Omens – brilliantly funny novels with adaptations spoken about for years, which never quite make it to the filming stage.
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