Inspired by the Discworld books, The Watch series marks the first time that some of Sir Terry Pratchett's beloved characters have been brought to life in a live-action production. The fantasy police procedural has been in development since 2011, having shifted creative direction and changed creative teams several times over the course of the last decade.
Set in the largest city of Discworld, Ankh-Morpork, The Watch is centered around the group of misfits who are, in theory, in charge of protecting the city from domestic threats. In practice, however, there are few domestic threats to be found in Ankh-Morpork, thanks to the city's nearly benevolent dictator, Lord Vetinari. A social realist, Vetinari reasoned it would be impossible to eliminate crime from a city as large as Ankh-Morpork, thus, if crime were unavoidable, it should at least be organized crime. This led to a revolutionary new system where the Thieves and Assassins were recognized as legitimate craft guilds and their leaders were given social status in exchange for making sure that unlicensed crimes were harshly dealt with, a task they were far better equipped to handle than the City Watch. However, as the series opens, the Watch will suddenly find itself needed to deal with a threat to the city the Guilds and Lord Vetinari can't handle.
Despite this setting and set-up being taken directly from Pratchett's novel Guards! Guards!, the producers of The Watch do not seem to have been overly concerned with faithfully adapting Pratchett's work or characters. This stands in marked contrast to the recent adaptation of Good Omens, which was directly supervised by Pratchett's friend and co-creator Neil Gaiman. As a result, many fans of Pratchett's books are viewing The Watch with skepticism, as it borrows a number of names from the Discworld books yet there is little resemblance between the show's ensemble and the characters Pratchett created. Here's a rundown of the characters in The Watch and the actors who play them.
Richard Dormer as Captain Sam Vimes
A former gang member gone good and current leader of Ankh-Morpork's police force, Sam Vimes turned to hard drink to cope with the redundancy of his position after unionized criminals proved far more efficient at lowering the city's crime rate. The events of The Watch season 1 will see Vimes forced to sober up and smarten up when the city is threatened. Vimes is played by Richard Dormer, who is best known for his work as Beric Dondarrion in Game of Thrones. Dormer has a long career of playing lawmen and detectives, having also appeared in the role of Sheriff Dan Anderssen in the television series Fortitude and as DCI Gabriel Markham in the mini-series Rellik.
Lara Rossi as Lady Sybil Ramkin
The last scion of one of Ankh-Morpork's aristocratic families, Lady Sybil Ramkin has been fighting her own chaotic one-woman war against the city's corruption and will come to ally herself with Vimes and his officers out of necessity. She is played by Lara Rossi, who is best known for her performance as Arabela Seeger in the television series Crossing Lines. Rossi also appeared in the 2018 Robin Hood movie and lent her voice to the character of Vanasha in the video game Horizon: Zero Dawn.
Adam Hugill as Carrot
Found by a family of dwarves as a baby and raised as one of their own, Carrot was sent to Ankh-Morpork when it became clear he wasn't going to grow out of the habit of growing and kept banging his head on the mine ceilings. Still coming to terms with his newfound humanity, Carrot is earnest, honest, literal-minded and idealistic; all qualities that make him a less-than-ideal recruit for the City Watch as it stands now. Carrot is played by Adam Hugill, who most recently appeared as Private Atkins in the war movie 1917 and also played Jack the Junior Detective in the pilot episode of Pennyworth.
Marama Corlett as Angua
As a werewolf, Angua struggles to keep her wild side under control more than most. Currently a Corporal in the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, she had the unenviable task of wrangling Captain Vimes until she was given the possibly more difficult duty of keeping Carrot alive. This is a reversal from the books, where Carrot was a Corporal who showed Angua around Ankh-Morpork when she first joined the Watch. Angua is played by Marama Corlett, who most recently appeared as Katja Sirkka in His Dark Materials.
Jo Eaton-Kent as Cheery
It's a well-known point of trivia that female dwarves in the Lord of the Rings & Hobbit writings of JRR Tolkien have beards and that humans were unable to tell dwarven men and women apart. Sir Terry Pratchett satirized this point with the dwarfs (Pratchett uses "dwarfs," not Tolkien's "dwarves") of Discworld, who had a technically sexism-free society where everyone was assumed to be male. Cheery was an outcast from dwarfish society twice-over because she preferred mixing potions to mining and because she insisted on wearing make-up and being addressed as "she." Thankfully, Cheery found a home among the Ankh-Morpork City Watch as the Discworld's first forensicist. The Watch changes this up somewhat from the books by making its version of Cheery non-binary. Cherry is played by Jo Eaton-Kent, who played Bradley in the mini-series Don't Forget the Driver.
Ralph Ineson as the voice of Detritus
Made of living stone, Detritus the troll is one of Sam Vimes' closest friends and has served as a Sergeant in the City Watch for several years. This is a major change from the books, where Detritus didn't join the City Watch until the second Watch novel, Men at Arms, and didn't become a Sergeant until later in the series. He is voiced by Ralph Ineson, who has a long history of playing Inspector Detectives in various police procedurals. However, he is perhaps best known for playing General Tarakanov in Chernobyl and Dagmer Cleftjaw in Game of Thrones.
Anna Chancellor as Lord Vetinari
The absolute ruler of Ankh-Morpork, Lord Vetinari rules the city with a light shower of anxiety rather than a reign of terror. One of the characters from the Discworld novels who was gender-flipped for The Watch, Lord Vetinari is played by the prolific Anna Chancellor, who is perhaps most recognized for her performance as Henrietta (aka Duckface) in the film Four Wedding and a Funeral and Questular Rontok in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. She most recently appeared as Frances Gaunt in the series Pennyworth.
Samuel Adewunmi as Carcer Dun
Comparable to The Joker in his sick philosophy, Carcer Dun was a psychopathic killer and the chief villain of Night Watch, the sixth of the Watch books. He fills a similar role in The Watch, but has a deeper tie to Sam Vimes as his former best friend from Vimes' time as a gang member. The Watch's take on Carcer has also gone beyond simple unlicensed theft and murder to summoning dragons in a bid to burn the whole world. Carcer is played by Samuel Adewunmi, who won the 2019 British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer for his performance as Femi in the film The Last Tree.
Bianca Simone Mannie as Wonse
Describing herself as a simple cleaner, Wonse is anything but simple, being a powerful magic user (she dislikes the word "wizard") who aids Carcer Dun in his schemes. Virtually everything about the character has been changed from the original Discworld books, where Lupine Wonse was a man, a childhood friend of Sam Vimes, and Lord Vetinari's personal secretary. She is played by Bianca Simone Mannie, who was recently seen playing the Governor of Pallas in the SyFy series Vagrant Queen. She has also appeared in Homeland and Our Girl.
Ruth Madeley as Throat
In the Discworld books, Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler is an infamous salesman on the streets of Ankh-Morpork, who can be found wherever a crowd is gathered, trying to sell sausages of dubious quality and merchandise that fell off the back of a donkey cart. The Watch version of Dibbler, simply known as Throat, has been gender-flipped and transformed into a snitch for the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. Throat is played by Ruth Madeley, who is best known for her performance as Ingrid Woodhouse in The Rook.
Ingrid Oliver as Doctor Cruces
The leader of Ankh-Morpork's Assassins Guild, Dr. Cruces is in charge of overseeing what is largely considered to be the finest school for young ladies and gentlemen in Ankh-Morpork, and enforcing the guild's high professional standards. The Assassins teach that there is nothing so precious or valuable in this world as a human life and, this being the case, if that life is to be ended, it should be ended (or "inhumed") by people of quality for a great deal of money. Dr. Cruces is played by Ingrid Oliver, who will be immediately recognizable to fans of Doctor Who as UNIT scientist Petronella Osgood.
Wendell Pierce as the voice of Death
Known alternatively as the Defeater of Empires, the Swallower of Oceans, the Thief of Years, the Ultimate Reality, the Harvester of Mankind, the Assassin Against Whom No Lock Will Hold, the only friend of the poor and the best doctor for the mortally wounded, Death is a constant companion of Ankh-Morpork's City Watch. At the very least, Death claims to have had several near-Vimes experiences and had expressed some mild disapproval that Captain Vimes has an amazing tendency to miss their appointments. Death is voiced by Wendell Pierce, who is best known for playing Detective William 'Bunk' Moreland on The Wire. More recently, he appeared on Chicago PD as Alderman Ray Price.
The Watch Supporting Cast and Guest Stars
Matt Berry as the voice of Wayne, a talking sword - famous for his series Snuff Box and Toast of London, Berry is probably best known to American audiences for playing Laszlo Cravensworth in What We Do In The Shadows.
Joe Vaz as Urdo van Pew, President of the Thieves' Guild - Vaz has most recently appeared as Executioner Jean-Claude in Good Omens and played Big Joe in Dredd.
Paul Kaye as Inigo Skimmer, an Assassin - Kaye has most recently appeared in Good Omens, After Life, The Stranger, Urban Myths and Year of the Rabbit.
Jane de Wet as Alice Band, an Assassin - De Wet has appeared in The Girl from St. Agnes, Moffie, Trackers, Still Breathing, Rage and Parable.
Matthew Van Leeve as Oook, the Unseen University Librarian - Best known for his work as a stunt performer, Van Leeve has appeared in Kite, Dominion, Number 37 and The Scorpion King: Book of Souls.
James Fleet as The Archchancellor of Unseen University - Fleet most recently appeared as King George III in Bridgerton and as Hugo Horton in The Vicar of Dibley.
Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Captain John Keel, Sam Vimes' mentor - Kae-Kazim most recently appeared as Terry in Black Beauty and Mambo in Riding with Sugar.
Munro Lennon-Ritchie as Young Sam Vimes - Lemon-Ritchie's previous roles include Young Callum in Noughts + Crosses and Campion at Age 8 in Raised by Wolves.