Watched the pilot, and left conflicted. I've read all the books over the years, so it was nice to see elements brought to life, but why modernise and change things up, when playing it true to the source would have been easier and better? Pratchett isn't a show-writer from the grave, so let his work do the storytelling. It's what he did best, after all
376 Reviews
A swing and a miss....
glenn_gallagher3 January 2021
I've been waiting for this TV series for quite some time but unfortunately it just didn't hit the mark. I was hoping for something a little closer to 'Preacher' but with the dry/edgy english sense of humor but instead got a crappy 'Buffy the Vampire' style production. While we live in a world of shows like 'The Boys', 'Preacher', 'Lucifer', even 'Carnival Row' this just didn't stack up !!!
I gave it one star. But now I sort of like it. But it is NOT Pratchett's Watch. .
angeloleary10 January 2021
I kept watching and decided that I am starting to enjoy it. But it is in no way related to the discworld books. I'm still waiting for the real Sam Vimes, and he's not going to show in this program.
Terry Pratchett's Discworld is insanely smart and funny, with a fairly easy to imagine cheerfully dirty lightly steam punk aesthetic. The Discworld books are beloved for a reason, and Sam Vimes and the Watch make up one of the most iconic cast of characters in all fictiondom. There are zero reasons to think that a reasonably faithful adaptation would be too difficult to make or that it wouldn't be a huge success. But the makers of BBC's The Watch didn't trust the brilliance of the books and took it upon themselves to make story, character, and stylistic changes. It is nearly unrecognizable and nearly unwatchable. I understand that tv and books are different media and require different approaches but it feels like the creators of this project didn't actually like the Discworld books. This is a betrayal of the Discworld fandom and of the writing of Terry Pratchett.
Terry Pratchett's Discworld is insanely smart and funny, with a fairly easy to imagine cheerfully dirty lightly steam punk aesthetic. The Discworld books are beloved for a reason, and Sam Vimes and the Watch make up one of the most iconic cast of characters in all fictiondom. There are zero reasons to think that a reasonably faithful adaptation would be too difficult to make or that it wouldn't be a huge success. But the makers of BBC's The Watch didn't trust the brilliance of the books and took it upon themselves to make story, character, and stylistic changes. It is nearly unrecognizable and nearly unwatchable. I understand that tv and books are different media and require different approaches but it feels like the creators of this project didn't actually like the Discworld books. This is a betrayal of the Discworld fandom and of the writing of Terry Pratchett.
We truly live in the darkest timeline
petra_ste5 January 2021
There is a moment in one of Terry Pratchett's brilliant Discworld novels where the protagonist's "organiser", a magical device reminding the owner of his daily appointments, breaks, so it starts reciting the schedule from an alternate universe where the characters made the wrong choices with awful results.
This feels like a show made in that darker timeline.
Maybe the producers were making their own steampunk cop show and decided to slap Discworld names on it as a marketing afterthought. Imagine if someone was planning an on-the-road sci-fi/comedy and, by some dark miracle, managed to get the Lord of the Rings license from the Tolkien Estate: cue a LOTR version where a bunch of stoner hobbits and an insane cackling Gandalf ride speeder bikes towards Mordor through a cyberpunk Middle-earth; Aragorn is a woman, Galadriel a dude, Gollum a politically-minded revolutionary and everyone else is missing. That's The Watch. I'm no purist when it comes to adapting books to screen... but when setting, plot, tone and pretty much all characters are unrecognizable, you should just create your own original work instead of bastardizing someone else's.
Some of the actors could have been fine in a proper adaptation, like Dormer as Vimes - if the iconic character had not been turned into a punk Jack Sparrow. Vimes - who is, with Granny Weatherwax, one of Discworld's most complex, nuanced characters among so many memorable ones - was, pre-development, a broken, depressed drunk, not a goofball. Nearly every member of the Watch has been tinkered with in similarly deplorable ways, to say nothing of Sybil.
Also, how do you ruin the running joke of the huge Carrot being an adoptive/honorary dwarf? Why, you cast other tall actors as dwarfs! It takes some special kind of anti-genius to mess this up.
So, as its own thing? Not good. As an adaptation? Offensive, tone-deaf and nightmarishly bad. We'll always have dozens of great Discworld novels, I know, but it's sad we couldn't get a good Watch TV series as well.
1/10.
This feels like a show made in that darker timeline.
Maybe the producers were making their own steampunk cop show and decided to slap Discworld names on it as a marketing afterthought. Imagine if someone was planning an on-the-road sci-fi/comedy and, by some dark miracle, managed to get the Lord of the Rings license from the Tolkien Estate: cue a LOTR version where a bunch of stoner hobbits and an insane cackling Gandalf ride speeder bikes towards Mordor through a cyberpunk Middle-earth; Aragorn is a woman, Galadriel a dude, Gollum a politically-minded revolutionary and everyone else is missing. That's The Watch. I'm no purist when it comes to adapting books to screen... but when setting, plot, tone and pretty much all characters are unrecognizable, you should just create your own original work instead of bastardizing someone else's.
Some of the actors could have been fine in a proper adaptation, like Dormer as Vimes - if the iconic character had not been turned into a punk Jack Sparrow. Vimes - who is, with Granny Weatherwax, one of Discworld's most complex, nuanced characters among so many memorable ones - was, pre-development, a broken, depressed drunk, not a goofball. Nearly every member of the Watch has been tinkered with in similarly deplorable ways, to say nothing of Sybil.
Also, how do you ruin the running joke of the huge Carrot being an adoptive/honorary dwarf? Why, you cast other tall actors as dwarfs! It takes some special kind of anti-genius to mess this up.
So, as its own thing? Not good. As an adaptation? Offensive, tone-deaf and nightmarishly bad. We'll always have dozens of great Discworld novels, I know, but it's sad we couldn't get a good Watch TV series as well.
1/10.
Appalling !!!
info-6762217 February 2021
Get the rights for the Disc world books about the Watch , then decide that Terry Pratchett's version was rubbish and you could do it better !! Why ?? Take the names and storylines from various books , completely change the personalities & background stories and get Richard Dormer to Chanel his Alex Higgins as Vimes !! Avoid !!
Actually its pretty good
gilesyoung6 January 2021
Ok, I've read all the books numerous times over the years and love them, and this is not the books, this is not an adaptation. They have been sign-posting this for months so why people are so amazed its not an adaptation astounds me. It a new story set in my favourite universe. If it helps imagine its a different trouser leg of time where The Night Watch took a different direction, there are enough of those in the books... Jingo anyone? Yes I miss Nobby and Colon and yes they missed a trick by not having Sybil as a hefty lady in middle years which is a shame, we could do with a few more heroines like that. The person who complained about exposition clearly hasn't read the books, they are 40% exposition and P'Terry does it brilliantly and frankly unfilmable without it. It was entertaining, it was great to see some of my favourite characters brought to life in a way they cant be on the page because of the authors tragic death. Its irreverent and the whole punk medieval vibe is arresting and fun. All the people crying and whining and saying 'HOW DARE YOU' ( god I laughed when I read that) need to grow up and let a new audience see some of the brilliance of Pterry's characters albeit watered down, in a new medium. Its a TV series, rather than crying if you don't like it and screaming invective, don't watch it, and find something actually important to get outraged about, global warming, starvation, poverty.... go on pick one I dare you..... If you have an open mind give this a watch (ohhh look my second pun) its fun, well acted, interestingly designed and entertaining
Rumours about this series being bad are greatly exaggerated
lariba-1973323 November 2021
You know, I don't think it's about if this series is akin to Pratchett work or if it isn't. If I had to sum up my experience of 'The Watch' today with you, I'd say that this is firstly characters, characters who give the viewer helping hand, when the viewer starts to question if to invest more time here, when the viewer asks himself a question "this story arc is simple as fork, what else does it have?". And it is a bit curious to realize that these characters, so different from their book prototypes, forge a way the series is perceived. Because when you expect the taste of the book thing, the way the things were described and are sitting in your imagination, sometimes you can't appreciate the different vision of "inspired by", I'd say, the slightly crooked mirror which helps you to progress, see things from different angles. Well, it's not my case today because I could, and I thank life! This series has indeed a different DNA than original STP work (and I agree with STPs daughter on that). I say it's punk rock, it's slums, it's nothing but retelling, a differently told story and differently weighted accents of it. And finally, when a lot of people ask me "How can you be so content with this sacrilege?" I simply answer, it is this taste of love for stories, this taste of love for surprise, completely different character creations from the expected ones, which pushed me today to love the new Vimes, Cheery, Carrot or - absolutely different yet still gorgeous - DEATH, but tomorrow, who knows, I may serve the community, and give the gift... The gift of reviewing some other title.
The main story arc is indeed very simple. Visually - it's a great attempt to remake Ankh Morpork, total punk rock, slums, wasted folks, anti utopian style. The most disappointing thing: Vetinari, only in the last episode of the series there was a glimpse of this ominous patrician. All the time I was wondering why everybody is afraid of her. Most surprising: how well reinventing the Death came out. I was initially a bit disappointed seeing the Death not speaking in capital letters, yet this disgruntled supernatural grew on me and I find him hilarious.
My general impression is that 'The Watch' takes a lot from the source material, yet tries to remix and retell that story very much differently, given that moving pictures is a bit different medium than a book. The humor is simpler, has less satirical edge than the one in the books (which is sad, but it is what it is) - yet still has shining moments all over the series, especially in goblin and death departments. The series final is expected, yet well played and I actually think if the final episode was finished after the scene in The Watch House, it would make for a strong WOW! Factor due to its bitterness. Unfortunately, producers went for a cliffhanger for possible continuation, which watered it down.
If you like BBC Doctor Who, punk rock, don't mind the reviews focusing on comparing it to the books or one's expectations and remain indifferent to all sociopolital views impacting the rating - you will most probably enjoy 'The Watch'. It has potential not fully used, true, but it is also a good entertainment already and I think there's a great injustice done to it in many reviews: it is not the books or more traditional Discworld movies produced before, it's simply a different take on STP work.
P. S. Yes, the first part is a paraphrased monologue from the comedy movie I really enjoyed.
The main story arc is indeed very simple. Visually - it's a great attempt to remake Ankh Morpork, total punk rock, slums, wasted folks, anti utopian style. The most disappointing thing: Vetinari, only in the last episode of the series there was a glimpse of this ominous patrician. All the time I was wondering why everybody is afraid of her. Most surprising: how well reinventing the Death came out. I was initially a bit disappointed seeing the Death not speaking in capital letters, yet this disgruntled supernatural grew on me and I find him hilarious.
My general impression is that 'The Watch' takes a lot from the source material, yet tries to remix and retell that story very much differently, given that moving pictures is a bit different medium than a book. The humor is simpler, has less satirical edge than the one in the books (which is sad, but it is what it is) - yet still has shining moments all over the series, especially in goblin and death departments. The series final is expected, yet well played and I actually think if the final episode was finished after the scene in The Watch House, it would make for a strong WOW! Factor due to its bitterness. Unfortunately, producers went for a cliffhanger for possible continuation, which watered it down.
If you like BBC Doctor Who, punk rock, don't mind the reviews focusing on comparing it to the books or one's expectations and remain indifferent to all sociopolital views impacting the rating - you will most probably enjoy 'The Watch'. It has potential not fully used, true, but it is also a good entertainment already and I think there's a great injustice done to it in many reviews: it is not the books or more traditional Discworld movies produced before, it's simply a different take on STP work.
P. S. Yes, the first part is a paraphrased monologue from the comedy movie I really enjoyed.
Garbage
dibblah3 January 2021
After seeing good Discworld TV productions like Hogfather, The Colour of Magic and Going Postal I actually thought that BBC would be able to make something at least as good ...
This is utter crap ... Discworld in some weird punk style.
Characters not even trying to be the characters we love from the books, and that's not even getting into the whole gender swap mess.
If you are a fan of the books watch the old TV movies I mentioned above and give this garbage a pass.
This is utter crap ... Discworld in some weird punk style.
Characters not even trying to be the characters we love from the books, and that's not even getting into the whole gender swap mess.
If you are a fan of the books watch the old TV movies I mentioned above and give this garbage a pass.
Make your own mind up, I love it
bevereva4 January 2021
I think this series is funny, has good visuals and Is everything I look for in a sci-fi and fantasy series. If you expect this to be specifically a Sir Terry Pratchett production you may be disappointed but give it a go anyway you might just like it.
If, and it's a big if, you can put the books out of your mind it is rather fun
Tweekums17 July 2021
This series is merely 'Inspired by the works of Sir Terry Pratchett' so don't expect a faithful adaptation of any story; there are plenty of familiar characters but some only keep the original's name and the plot seems to combine elements from several books rearranged in a way that means everything is quite different.
The series is centred on the City Watch, the police, in the city of Ankh-Morpork; it contains humans, a werewolf, a dwarf and even a troll. This is a place where magic is real and the strange is commonplace. Sam Vimes, the Watch captain has many concerns; most notably somebody he thought he saw die many years previously is back, and doesn't appear to have aged a day; there is also the small matter of the dragon this man is trying to summon.
As a fan of the books, who is currently half way through reading 'Guards! Guards!', I was rather horrified when I started watching episode one and saw all the changes that had been made; I decided that as the series is only eight episodes long I'd plough on... I'm glad that I did as I grew to enjoy it as something entirely separate from the books. There are plenty of funny moments in each episode; as well as some cringe inducing misfires such as times characters start singing and dancing. There are some character problems; Lady Sybil Ramkin is far too much of a 'Mary Sue' and Lord Vetinari really shouldn't have been gender-flipped. Early on I was unimpressed at the casting of a reasonably tall actor as Cheery the Dwarf; the character was entertaining enough if you can forget they are meant to be a dwarf. The cast is sold; most obviously Richard Dormer as Vimes and, despite looking nothing like how I imagine the character, Marama Corlett as Corporal Angua the werewolf. The look of the city may have been changed from the books but its punk aesthetic is suitably grungy for Ankh-Morpork. Overall I'd recommend giving this a go although I admit that many won't get past the changes, and I can understand that.
The series is centred on the City Watch, the police, in the city of Ankh-Morpork; it contains humans, a werewolf, a dwarf and even a troll. This is a place where magic is real and the strange is commonplace. Sam Vimes, the Watch captain has many concerns; most notably somebody he thought he saw die many years previously is back, and doesn't appear to have aged a day; there is also the small matter of the dragon this man is trying to summon.
As a fan of the books, who is currently half way through reading 'Guards! Guards!', I was rather horrified when I started watching episode one and saw all the changes that had been made; I decided that as the series is only eight episodes long I'd plough on... I'm glad that I did as I grew to enjoy it as something entirely separate from the books. There are plenty of funny moments in each episode; as well as some cringe inducing misfires such as times characters start singing and dancing. There are some character problems; Lady Sybil Ramkin is far too much of a 'Mary Sue' and Lord Vetinari really shouldn't have been gender-flipped. Early on I was unimpressed at the casting of a reasonably tall actor as Cheery the Dwarf; the character was entertaining enough if you can forget they are meant to be a dwarf. The cast is sold; most obviously Richard Dormer as Vimes and, despite looking nothing like how I imagine the character, Marama Corlett as Corporal Angua the werewolf. The look of the city may have been changed from the books but its punk aesthetic is suitably grungy for Ankh-Morpork. Overall I'd recommend giving this a go although I admit that many won't get past the changes, and I can understand that.
Why in Offler's name did the BBC make this travesty to Sir Terry's name?
baduffe4 January 2021
I just watched the two episode debut of The Watch on BBC America and I have to ask why? Why did the BBC decide to go so far away from the source material, Sky did a very reasonable job with Going Postal, hell, even The Hogfather (a Christmas time favourite in our home) and The Colour of Magic where infinitely better executed. I had some hope after hearing Richard Dormer was cast as Vimes, I loved him in Fortitude, but everything here seems wrong. The setting doesn't feel like Discworld, their vision of Ankh-Morpork doesn't fit the theme or style of the books (slowly developed and fleshed out over multiple volumes). The casting is off, not just the removal for key characters (Sgt. Colon and Nobby Nobbs) but the unfortunate idea of casting Lord Vetinari as a completely unthreatening afterthought is baffling, Charle Dance and Jeremy Irons are both still alive and have played the part so much better. There are just too many things wrong with this programme, if you want the real Watch, read the books, if you want to watch Pratchett done well, watch Going Postal.
Think outside the box
wordclock24 September 2021
Pratchett aficionados will hate this. How DARE someone change a Discworld story. The characters don't look like I imagined them. It's not funny enough. The dwarfs are too tall. The posh lady is too black. The werewolf isn't busty enough. Just STOP. All right? This is something else. And I like it.
0ver 10 years on this site, never made a review until now...
mugiwaranotaicho28 June 2021
TLDR - worth a chance if you have an interest, ignore the bad reviews and decide for yourself.
Seeing these reviews makes me cringe to be a Discworld fan. 1/10,1/10,1/10 its disgusting and I finally made an account just to balance this out. I also have read all the books several times. And yes a lot has changed in this adaptation. Which is what it is, and adaptation. Some of the skeleton of the books is there, a few characters, guilds etc. But the guys decided to do their own thing with it. They took some pretty big swings, and maybe some pretty big misses along with it but overall i enjoyed it enough, had a few laughs. I was just happy, as a fan, to see anything Pratchett related being worked on. If you really couldn't stand it that's ok, but 1 star ratings? That's just not honest and elitism in my view and a deliberate attempt to get something cancelled because it wasn't exactly what they wanted.
I loved the Sky adaptations and they were perfectly cast imo. The cast for some of the characters in The Watch I thought was also great, Carrot and Vimes particularly, even the very changed character of Cheery was played very well. The characters of Nobbs and Colon were sorely missed I won't lie and the casting of Lady Sybil was not well done.
Every episode has at least a few nods to the books or memorable quotes, such as Vimes talking about rich people and shoes. I will admit the differences can be a little jarring, but once you accept them it's really an alright show and worth a watch past the first couple of episodes if you love discworld as much as I do. If you are new to the world, then if this is your first experience of Pratchetts work then I would beg you to read the books which are far superior and funnier. Maybe this show will introduce a wave of new people to the books.
** FYI just because they put an actor in eyeliner does not mean they are ripping off Jack Sparrow :') there are no similarities between the characters other than they put eyeliner on a man.
Seeing these reviews makes me cringe to be a Discworld fan. 1/10,1/10,1/10 its disgusting and I finally made an account just to balance this out. I also have read all the books several times. And yes a lot has changed in this adaptation. Which is what it is, and adaptation. Some of the skeleton of the books is there, a few characters, guilds etc. But the guys decided to do their own thing with it. They took some pretty big swings, and maybe some pretty big misses along with it but overall i enjoyed it enough, had a few laughs. I was just happy, as a fan, to see anything Pratchett related being worked on. If you really couldn't stand it that's ok, but 1 star ratings? That's just not honest and elitism in my view and a deliberate attempt to get something cancelled because it wasn't exactly what they wanted.
I loved the Sky adaptations and they were perfectly cast imo. The cast for some of the characters in The Watch I thought was also great, Carrot and Vimes particularly, even the very changed character of Cheery was played very well. The characters of Nobbs and Colon were sorely missed I won't lie and the casting of Lady Sybil was not well done.
Every episode has at least a few nods to the books or memorable quotes, such as Vimes talking about rich people and shoes. I will admit the differences can be a little jarring, but once you accept them it's really an alright show and worth a watch past the first couple of episodes if you love discworld as much as I do. If you are new to the world, then if this is your first experience of Pratchetts work then I would beg you to read the books which are far superior and funnier. Maybe this show will introduce a wave of new people to the books.
** FYI just because they put an actor in eyeliner does not mean they are ripping off Jack Sparrow :') there are no similarities between the characters other than they put eyeliner on a man.
I give it 2 for trying
akshunhiro5 January 2021
I had no idea what I was watching and I'm a huge fan of the books. From the very first second it was confusing and horrible. All the characters were botched, storyline botched, script botched, editing botched. I liked the idea that Ankh Morpork was some sort of neo-punk medieval city, but that's all I liked because from the very first second, I was confused about what was happening (and this is from someone who has actually read the books several times).
This is a hard pass for any Pratchett fans as this will only make you angry. And I'm afraid that anyone else will have absolutely no clue what the hell is happening.
This is a hard pass for any Pratchett fans as this will only make you angry. And I'm afraid that anyone else will have absolutely no clue what the hell is happening.
THIS IS NOT PRATCHETT THIS IS GARBAGE!
aelthric4 January 2021
How dare BBC America create this abomination and declare it is based on anything Sir Terry Pratchett wrote, the screenplay for this was clearly written by some imbecile who had never seen a Discworld novel before let alone ever read one.
This is written, produced and directed by the same people that Terry Pratchett lampooned in the discworld series of books calling themselves the "CAMPAIGN FOR EQUAL HEIGHTS" a group of Humans who claim to be campaigning on behalf of the dwarves (Clearly because they felt so superior to dwarves that the dwarves themselves were incapable of campaigning on their own behalf) yet caring little to nothing what the dwarves themselves might have to say about it).
If this mention of Sir Terry was supposed to get Sir Terry Pratchett's millions of fans on board they have clearly missed the target by at least three Dimentions and a whole Universe.
This abomination stands as testiment that the people who have assumed the mantle of "GUARDIANS OF ENTERTAINMENT" for themselves in the discworld they would be "THE CAMPAIGN FOR EQUAL HEIGHTS" have any sense of humour or even a base knowledge of IRONY (No it doesn't mean having the properties of IRON).
The title and the line "Based on the characters from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels" promises the Pratchett fan a cornucopia of Discworld feasts (See Nanny Oggs Cookbook) but delivers a dogsh__ sandwich.
This is written, produced and directed by the same people that Terry Pratchett lampooned in the discworld series of books calling themselves the "CAMPAIGN FOR EQUAL HEIGHTS" a group of Humans who claim to be campaigning on behalf of the dwarves (Clearly because they felt so superior to dwarves that the dwarves themselves were incapable of campaigning on their own behalf) yet caring little to nothing what the dwarves themselves might have to say about it).
If this mention of Sir Terry was supposed to get Sir Terry Pratchett's millions of fans on board they have clearly missed the target by at least three Dimentions and a whole Universe.
This abomination stands as testiment that the people who have assumed the mantle of "GUARDIANS OF ENTERTAINMENT" for themselves in the discworld they would be "THE CAMPAIGN FOR EQUAL HEIGHTS" have any sense of humour or even a base knowledge of IRONY (No it doesn't mean having the properties of IRON).
The title and the line "Based on the characters from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels" promises the Pratchett fan a cornucopia of Discworld feasts (See Nanny Oggs Cookbook) but delivers a dogsh__ sandwich.
The BBC ruined things for all of us.
ZEROspawn4 January 2021
In some way I have to blame the British as a whole, as they are funding this, not because they want to mind you they are forced to support it. And that is the problem, the show knows it never has to worry about money, or be able to sell the show in other countries, so they can go the low effort way instead. This seems to be made by people who was told about DW in passing, and just filled in the blanks with fan fiction from twitter. It's sad to see people defending the show, because "Hey, look they gender swap a character, how funny", when said thing because a mockery of the original story and are just done to hide the failure of all involved in understanding the source material. I now see why the estate of Terry Pratchett and his daughter have washed their hands of this project, and said it shares nothing with the stories he made, other that the theft of the names of those involved. In a time with so much pain and hopelessness I don't see why we have to add more into it, the original stories where fun, innovating and self critic in a way, this this is just sad really.
In short all things you loved from the books are gone, change or dumbed down. If you want to see DW in moving picture from, look up the movies and animations, even though the budget was smaller and they are older they are still light years ahead from even the goal of this series.
I really enjoy it!!
panosol7 January 2021
Just saw the first two episodes. The show is very funny, near parody, and all actors seems to enjoy it. But all the money is Richard Dormer!! He is a great actor and here seems to enjoy it obviously very much, and this is shown on his great performance!! Keep it that way folks!!
Could have been great
JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies9 February 2021
I've read some of the Pratchett books and enjoyed them, but I really couldn't care less whether the series bears any particular resemblance to the books. I'm fine letting the show be its own thing. My issues with the series have nothing to do with any departure from the books.
I like the world we've been set in here. I like the characters and for the most part I like the actors chosen to portray these characters--in some cases the actors are among the series' biggest assets. They have admirable chemistry. The production design is quite good. The absurdist tone is right up my alley, and often enough The Watch can be laugh out loud funny. At its best it can come across like a steam-punky, neo-noirish Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The problem, unfortunately is the story and the scripts. There's a stream-of-consciousness, random, attention deficit disorder feel to the story, where it feels like not only every episode, but more or less every scene is making things up as it goes, a la pulling brainstormed ideas out of a hat, only to get rather bored with it shortly thereafter, in a way that robs the show of narrative drive, suspense, or any clear long-term goals. It's not that tasks rooted in conflicts are not completed--each episode moves forward and advances the plot in a number of ways. It's rather that there are just so many ideas here, far too many, where a few scenes later, none of them particularly seem to matter. Tons of ideas are simply dropped from episode to episode, and insofar as anything is remembered, there never seems to be any weight or import to it. It's on to the next set of ideas, most of which seem arbitrarily rooted to anything that came before, and all of which remain underdeveloped and disengaging because of this.
It's too bad. The assets are strong enough that I still enjoyed each episode to some extent. I never stopped rooting for it to succeed. This could have been a great series with a strong cult following--it's weird enough to good effect that a cult following was there for the taking. But the disconnect of the overarching plot due to the tens if not hundreds of stream of consciousness mini-plots, where an overarching plot was never very clear in the first place, tended to instead put me in a stupor where I'd forget set-ups and objectives from just a couple scenes ago. That's no way to become absorbed in a show.
I like the world we've been set in here. I like the characters and for the most part I like the actors chosen to portray these characters--in some cases the actors are among the series' biggest assets. They have admirable chemistry. The production design is quite good. The absurdist tone is right up my alley, and often enough The Watch can be laugh out loud funny. At its best it can come across like a steam-punky, neo-noirish Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The problem, unfortunately is the story and the scripts. There's a stream-of-consciousness, random, attention deficit disorder feel to the story, where it feels like not only every episode, but more or less every scene is making things up as it goes, a la pulling brainstormed ideas out of a hat, only to get rather bored with it shortly thereafter, in a way that robs the show of narrative drive, suspense, or any clear long-term goals. It's not that tasks rooted in conflicts are not completed--each episode moves forward and advances the plot in a number of ways. It's rather that there are just so many ideas here, far too many, where a few scenes later, none of them particularly seem to matter. Tons of ideas are simply dropped from episode to episode, and insofar as anything is remembered, there never seems to be any weight or import to it. It's on to the next set of ideas, most of which seem arbitrarily rooted to anything that came before, and all of which remain underdeveloped and disengaging because of this.
It's too bad. The assets are strong enough that I still enjoyed each episode to some extent. I never stopped rooting for it to succeed. This could have been a great series with a strong cult following--it's weird enough to good effect that a cult following was there for the taking. But the disconnect of the overarching plot due to the tens if not hundreds of stream of consciousness mini-plots, where an overarching plot was never very clear in the first place, tended to instead put me in a stupor where I'd forget set-ups and objectives from just a couple scenes ago. That's no way to become absorbed in a show.
Designed to give you an aneurism
hjalsayegh5 January 2021
After watching some good discworld adaptations like Hogfather and Going Postal I figured... yeah lets give this one a chance.
The word for this thing is "NO"
No discworld is not some weird steampunk land No that's not this character No that not this character either No that's not what this character wears or does you're confusing them with... No, No, NO!
And that's BEFORE you get to gender swap mess they have. The aesthetics are ugly. The characters are that in name only. Their actions make no sense UNLESS you've read the books. If you've read the books your head will start throbbing because again these actions make no sense for this character in the current context.
The people who've made this clearly have no love for Pratchett's work or any consideration for the fanbase.
In The books we are introduced to Vimes piss drunk in the gutter. Literally that's his intro and yet that was far more dignified an introduction than what he got here.
The word for this thing is "NO"
No discworld is not some weird steampunk land No that's not this character No that not this character either No that's not what this character wears or does you're confusing them with... No, No, NO!
And that's BEFORE you get to gender swap mess they have. The aesthetics are ugly. The characters are that in name only. Their actions make no sense UNLESS you've read the books. If you've read the books your head will start throbbing because again these actions make no sense for this character in the current context.
The people who've made this clearly have no love for Pratchett's work or any consideration for the fanbase.
In The books we are introduced to Vimes piss drunk in the gutter. Literally that's his intro and yet that was far more dignified an introduction than what he got here.
Laughed, enjoyed, enthralled... Finally something to watch
redstoneman4 January 2021
I'm not a fan coming from the books. Just saw the show when flipping through on demand. The writing is funny, little things that add to a scene. It just makes the show enjoyable. Were you a fan of firefly/serenity? You know how you watched that and thought "this is diffrent, idk what I'm watching but this is cool". I finally found another show that makes me feel that way. 2 shows in and it's awesome
Massive DW fan, and this is still okay
MaccLadd3 January 2021
So, it's not really Pratchett. I would consider myself a huge Pratchett fan and I know the Discworld as well as any reader of the books. The Watch stories are also my favourite and I regularly read through them sequentially.
I watched the first episode today and consider Rihanna Pratchett's comment about this series sharing no DNA with her dad's Discworld to be mainly on the money. However, I did enjoy it. It's a version of Pratchett's world and there's a lot going on that I think a fan can appreciate. I've noticed lots of one star reviews because it's so different, but I recommend people give it a fair go. There's some interesting world building and story telling happening.
I watched the first episode today and consider Rihanna Pratchett's comment about this series sharing no DNA with her dad's Discworld to be mainly on the money. However, I did enjoy it. It's a version of Pratchett's world and there's a lot going on that I think a fan can appreciate. I've noticed lots of one star reviews because it's so different, but I recommend people give it a fair go. There's some interesting world building and story telling happening.
WTF
tdavis-570824 January 2021
What is wrong with you people?
purple-mug4 January 2021
How utterly predictable that we would get a raft of reviews, mostly written long before the actual show even screened from what I can see, bemoaning the gall of the producers in departing even so much as by a hair's breadth from every jot and tittle of the text of the "beloved" Discworld series. The worst of it is that these complaints are not even based on the books at all but on how the reviewers imagine the books to be. There's even a review praising past BBC adaptations despite the fact that they were all produced by Sky!
Sam Vimes isn't Sam Vimes? Really? Which Sam Vimes isn't he? In the books the character goes through a long redemptive arc which means that he is an entirely different character more or less every time we see him. Lord Vetinari can't be a woman? Whyever not? I've long suspected that Terry Pratchett himself was holding open the possibility that she was all along.
What counts is only whether this is a good watch (see what I did there?) in itself. Forget the books. Forget other adaptations (which you've conveniently forgotten that you also criticised at the time for failure to follow the plot or portray your favourite character as you imagine them to be). If this landed, unheralded, free of preconceptions, would it be worth the screen time? For me, being a bear of sufficient brain to treat the show on its own terms despite having read the books and seen the other TV versions, the answer was a very firm yes. Visually it's a treat with the very best of cute but deadly dragons as a bonus. Richard Dormer's hammed up Vimes is never dull and Lara Rossi's kick-ass Lady Sybil is great fun. And the first episode ends on a proper old-school cliffhanger. I was much entertained and I don't know that you can ask for much more from 40 minutes of TV.
Sam Vimes isn't Sam Vimes? Really? Which Sam Vimes isn't he? In the books the character goes through a long redemptive arc which means that he is an entirely different character more or less every time we see him. Lord Vetinari can't be a woman? Whyever not? I've long suspected that Terry Pratchett himself was holding open the possibility that she was all along.
What counts is only whether this is a good watch (see what I did there?) in itself. Forget the books. Forget other adaptations (which you've conveniently forgotten that you also criticised at the time for failure to follow the plot or portray your favourite character as you imagine them to be). If this landed, unheralded, free of preconceptions, would it be worth the screen time? For me, being a bear of sufficient brain to treat the show on its own terms despite having read the books and seen the other TV versions, the answer was a very firm yes. Visually it's a treat with the very best of cute but deadly dragons as a bonus. Richard Dormer's hammed up Vimes is never dull and Lara Rossi's kick-ass Lady Sybil is great fun. And the first episode ends on a proper old-school cliffhanger. I was much entertained and I don't know that you can ask for much more from 40 minutes of TV.
Enjoyed it
dyvanna31 May 2021
After reading reviews I was expecting to hate it, I came with low expectations and am enjoying it. I am a Pratchett fan.
The vetinari and cruce characters were disappointing. The Angua, Vimes, Carcer, and Ramkin characters were great.
This is totally different from other Pratchett novels so as long as you don't come with those expectations, you should enjoy it.
The vetinari and cruce characters were disappointing. The Angua, Vimes, Carcer, and Ramkin characters were great.
This is totally different from other Pratchett novels so as long as you don't come with those expectations, you should enjoy it.
This isn't even discworld adjacent.
cmansell-299763 January 2021
One of the things I keep hearing about this show is that it is not a direct interpretation of Sir Terry's phenomenal discworld, but it is inspired by it.
I don't buy it. I think someone somewhere decided that they would cash in on one of Pratchett's most fleshed out segments of the novels, the city watch, in name and name alone, and totally missed the mark. I didn't expect it to be a love letter to Pratchett or fan service, but I did expect the characters to still at least have the same core that made them such treasures to read. Sam Vines is not Sam Vimes, it's true..."That's not my cow." At least not after the first episode. Same goes for each and every character from Angua to Detritus to Carrot to good old Dog botherer. I don't even care about the gender swap. Just give me the impression that there's a Machiavellian mind that's twelve steps ahead of everyone else working its magic behind the scenes, and I'll be happy.
But here is where it really stings. You can tell that everyone really is trying. The performances for the most part are committed, albeit misinformed, the production value is decent, aside from Detritus's distracting appearance. And the punk vibe could have actually made for an interesting twist, but it just comes off as forced and therefore, pointless and shallow.
I can only hope it gets better.
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