Richard Dormer to headline new Terry Pratchett show The Watch

Terry Pratchett, the beloved fantasy author best known for his 41 Discworld novels, died in 2015. But in the modern fantasy boom, his work has been enjoying a renaissance, with an adaption of his Good Omens (which he cowrote with Neil Gaiman) making a splash on Amazon earlier this year.

Now, Deadline reports that Game of Thrones star Richard Dormer (Beric Dondarrion) will head up a new series from BBC America called The Watch, a “punk rock” drama about a police force working in the city of Ankh-Morpork, where crime has been legalized, which must make a police officer’s job pretty difficult.

Pratchett wrote eight novels (and one short story) about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, starting with Guards! Guards! in 1989 through Snuff in 2011. The Watch is an eight-part series, so we imagine they’ll drill down on one of the books, but they’ll have plenty of draw from for supplementary material.

Dormer will star as Sam Vimes, Captain of The Watch. In the books, Vimes is a hard-scrabble type who learned plenty of dirty tricks during his time as a street cop, and now brings them to his new role as captain. He’s also married to Lady Sybil (Lara Rossi), the richest woman in the city, who on the show is trying to right the wrongs of the city with her “chaotic vigilantism.”

“I’m so thrilled to be part of this brilliant madness and mayhem,” Dormer said. “I was immediately drawn to the multitude of layers to Sam Vimes, and I find the dynamic between him and his band of disenfranchised comrades very compelling.”

That band of disenfranchised comrades consists of Constable Cheery (Jo Eaton-Kent), a non-binary forensics expert ostracized by their kin; Constable Carrot (Adam Hugill), an idealistic human recruit raised by dwarves; Corporal Angua (Marama Corlette), who’s dedicated to training Carrot and keeping him alive; and Carcer Dun (Sam Adewunmi), the villain of the piece.

RELATED PRODUCT

Start a 7-day free trial of Disney+

Buy Now!

Buy Now!

“The Watch will be a very BBC America show,” said executive Sarah Barnett. “As with Killing Eve, we don’t go straight at an adaptation – we blur genres, undercut with humor, and hire the most genius writers and actors to create stories and characters that are both entertaining and very contemporary, that say something new. Richard Dormer will kill it as Sam Vines, not your everyday male anti-hero. [Writer Simon Allen and executive producer Rob Wilkins] approach this adaptation with the kind of iconoclastic energy and open-hearted love that will truly honor the indelible legacy of Sir Terry.”

Allen sounds pretty psyched about the project, too:

"Sir Terry Pratchett is in the bloodstream of popular culture. He has a distinctly British kind of literary heart and humor, but his ideas are defiantly human and universal. It’s been such a privilege to work with our world-class director, producers and writers on building a television show that honors his legacy while striking out on its own in his name and spirit. Like the man whose genius inspired it, The Watch is a hopeful show that believes it’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness. I can’t wait for everybody to see our joyously brilliant cast light candles and, of course, flamethrowers."

Filming on the watch kicks off in Cape Town, South Africa at the end of this month. The show will air in 2020.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels