BBC America's televised retelling of Terry Pratchett's Discworld book series, The Watch, has received a new release date. The fantasy police procedural is a loose adaptation of Pratchett's novel series, with its lens focused on The Ankh-Morpork City Watch - a fictional police force situated within Pratchett's imaginative universe. BBC America had teased the first look into its forthcoming magnum opus back in January when it released the first images of The Watch's characters, featuring Game of Thrones alum Richard Dormer as the brawny Captain Sam Vines. It was subsequently revealed that creator Simon Allen had given the upcoming show a 'punk thriller' spin, drastically departing it from the source material's original medieval undertones. Now, some new information has surfaced about The Watch and it offers intriguing insights into the show's plotlines, cast, and characters.
The Watch is an idiosyncratic narrative of a group of non-conformist cops who take it upon themselves to rescue their lawless city from an impending disaster. Earlier it was revealed that Adam Hugill, Jo Eaton-Kent, Marama Corlett, Lara Rossi, and Sam Adewunmi would join Dormer in The Watch as Constable Carrot, Constable Cherry, Corporal Angua, Lady Sybil, and Carcer Dun respectively. An early synopsis had also mentioned how their characters would differ from the novel counterparts. Cherry, for instance, is an ingenious non-binary forensics expert instead of a bearded dwarf, while Angua is Carrot's trainer instead of his colleague. The show's recent overview reinforced similar ideas while also detailing a bit more about the show's central premise.
According to BBC America, The Watch has been scheduled for a January 2021 release. The exact premiere date, however, has yet to be announced. In The Watch, Terry Pratchett’s beloved creatures from his Discworld series - which include trolls, werewolves, wizards, and other outlandish entities - will embark on a quest that is as much a surprise to the heroes as it is to viewers. It will require the City Watch to prevent the resurrection of a powerful dragon who would otherwise orchestrate the doom of their hometown, Ankh-Morpork. Along with announcing a release date, BBC America also released a new image of The Watch's cast. Take a look, below:
BBC Studios is developing The Watch alongside Narrativia, Pratchett's own production company. When the show was in its pre-production phase, Pratchett, his daughter Rhianna, and his business manager Rob Wilkins were all attached to the show creatively. After Pratchett's passing, however, the show's progress hit a roadblock and Rhianna and Wilkins also discontinued their association with the project. But in 2018, BBC America ordered an eight-episode series of The Watch and tasked Craig Viveiros with the directional duties. Filming subsequently began in Cape Town with a 2020 release date in mind.
The Watch has induced public contempt for not following its source material closely. Rhianna and Wilkins have, in fact, even thrown subdued shade at the project, making references author Ursula LeGuin's take-down of the horrible adaptation of her Earthsea books. Initially, it was the cyberpunk theme that many found infuriating, but as these latest previews reveal, The Watch does not even appear to stay true to the plot of Terry Pratchett's original story. Several essential Discworld members do not appear in The Watch's cast, like Detritus, and of those that do appear look radically different from how Pratchett envisioned them, like Angua with her cropped hair. Dependable performances from stars like Richard Dormer and Anna Chancellor might shore up the project, but otherwise, by straying so far from its source material The Watch risks alienating fans before it even airs.
Source: BBC America