The Ankh-Morpork City Watch are making the leap from page to screen, but BBC America's upcoming series The Watch - based on the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett - has made some major changes to characters and world. The TV show, which was created by Simon Allen (Musketeers) is said to be a "punk rock thriller" that's "loosely inspired" by the books, and stars Richard Dormer (Game of Thrones) as the tough-as-nails Captain Sam Vimes, a veteran of the City Watch.
According to the official synopsis, The Watch is "set in a fictional city where crime has been legalized," and is "a genre-busting series that follows a group of misfit cops as they rise up from decades of helplessness to save their corrupt city from catastrophe." This seems fairly in line with the Discworld books, where crime hasn't so much been legalized as unionized. Institutions like the Thieves' Guild and The Assassins' Guild regulate the business of theft and murder in Ankh-Morpork, while the City Watch accomplishes very little - at least, until Vimes begins to reform it.
This week, BBC America shared a first look at The Watch that has stirred up quite the backlash among fans, due to radical changes to some of the show's characters and the general aesthetic of Ankh-Morpork. Here are the biggest differences between the Discworld book series and the TV show, based on what we know about The Watch so far.
Ankh-Morpork Is More Modern
Discworld's fantasy setting is a mostly pre-industrial world that's roughly analogous to medieval times, but the city-state of Ankh-Morpork is one of the most modern locations on the Disc. The books depict Ankh-Morpork as a city experiencing great progress, like the invention of the post office (and paper currency) and the diversification of the City Watch, with Sam Vimes recruiting not only its first female officers but also officers from non-human species. However, The Watch appears to be have far more modern aesthetics than any of the books. The officers of the City Watch wear cloth jackets instead of armor (Angua's even has a zipper), and there are what appear to be electric desk fans in the Watch station.
Carrot Is Trained By Angua
Played by petite actress Marama Corlett, Angua was initially mistaken for Cheery the dwarf by many fans when the Discworld images were released. In the books, Angua is the first woman to be recruited to the City Watch and - as a werewolf - also the first supernatural creature. One of her most distinctive physical features is her long mane of blonde hair, from which she can be recognized even in her werewolf form. However, the TV show's version of Angua has closely-cropped hair.
Unlike the more jaded members of the Watch, Carrot Ironfoundersson is relentlessly idealistic and morally upright. Raised by dwarfs, Carrot is an early recruit to the City Watch and appears in the very first Watch book, Guards! Guards! In the TV show Carrot (Adam Hugill) will be a plucky new recruit like he is in Guards! Guards!, but he's being trained up by Angua (who in the books didn't join until the second City Watch novel, Men at Arms). According to his character description, Carrot will still have the same backstory of being raised by dwarfs, but after he joins the Watch it's Angua who is "tasked with Carrot’s training and keeping the rookie alive."
Cheery is a Non-Binary Human
In The Watch, Constable Cheery is played by non-binary actor Jo Eaton-Kent and appears to be human - lacking the trademark beard and short stature of dwarfs. According to the character description, Cheery is an "ingenious non-binary forensics expert, ostracized by their kin and finding a new home and identity." Their gender identity is effectively a reversal of the book version of Cheery Littlebottom, who comes from a non-binary culture but rebels by identifying as a woman. In Pratchett's books, all dwarfs are assumed to be male and it's nearly impossible to tell otherwise, given their many layers of clothing and ubiquitous beards.
When Cheery is first introduced she, like all female dwarfs, is effectively in the closet and goes by he/him pronouns. However, through her friendship with Angua she gains the confidence to call herself a woman, asking people to pronounce her name "Cheri" and adopting other feminine quirks (though she keeps the beard). Many traditional-minded dwarfs are outraged by this behavior, but some of the younger female dwarfs begin following Cheery's example. Given that non-binary gender identities have only recently begun breaking into mainstream media (and have been the subject of backlash), this could serve as a timely update of Cheery's radical and game-changing gender politics from the Discworld books.
Lady Sybil Is a Vigilante
They say that opposites attract, and two characters can't get more opposite than Captain Sam Vimes and Lady Sybil Ramkin, who strike up a romance and eventually get married in the Discworld novels. In the books, Sybil is a large and formidable woman, who nevertheless leads quite a sheltered and reclusive life in her manor home, where she breeds dragons. She's extremely wealthy and posh, and is the last descendant of one of Ankh's oldest noble families.
The Watch's version of Sybil Ramkin, played by Lara Rossi, appears to lead quite a different lifestyle. While she's still descended from nobility, her official character description says that she's "trying to fix the city’s wrongs with her chaotic vigilantism," and we see an example of her doing so in the image above. Rossi is obviously a lot slimmer than the book version of Sybil, and seems more inclined to use actual violence as a tool rather than simply commanding fear through her words and social status. However, if the unfortunate person on fire in the above photo is anything to go by, the TV show's Sybil will still keep dragons as pets.
Nobby, Detritus and Colon Are Missing
Oddly, several core members of the City Watch from the Discworld novels don't appear to have been cast for the TV show. In the case of Detritus, the Watch's first troll officer, this may be down to limitations of the show's budget. More notable, however, is the absence of Nobby Nobbs and Fred Colon, two of the original Ankh-Morpork City Watch members from Guards! Guards!, who have played a prominent role throughout the series of City Watch novels. Though they might not be the brightest of the bunch, it's hard to imagine the Watch without them.