20 new shows that could become the next Game of Thrones
LONDON – MARCH 03: Terry Pratchet tips his hat to the press at the premier of The Colour Of Magic at the Curzon Mayfair on March 03, 2008 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
The Watch/Discworld (BBC America)
In various forms of development since 2011, The Watch TV show appears to finally be becoming a reality under the umbrella of BBC Studios. Being developed as an eight-part series but designed as a “returnable franchise,” The Watch is based on the eight City Watch-related books in author Terry Pratchett’s prolific, brilliant and sometimes messy Discworld series.
The Ankh-morpork City Watch stories are mostly urban fantasy police procedurals where the fantasy culture of the Disc clashes with modern society and technology. The fledgling City Watch force grows from a handful of outsiders to a large, competent police department handling crimes often rooted in political or social issues.
LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 12: Actor Richard Dormer attends the premiere of HBO’s “Game Of Thrones” season 7 at Walt Disney Concert Hall on July 12, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
BBC America calls The Watch a “punk rock thriller” based on Pratchett’s works. British actor Adam Hugill has been cast as one of the leads, named Carrot Ironfoundersson. Book readers will also see other familiar characters in the series, including City Watch Captain Sam Vimes, Lady Sybil Ramkin, Angua, Cheri and Pratchett’s version of Death. Thrones veteran Richard Dormer (Beric Dondarrion) plays Vimes.
“The Watch has been startlingly re-imagined for television by writer Simon Allen, while still cleaving to the humor, heart and ingenuity of Terry Pratchett’s incomparably original work,” BBC America president Sarah Barnett stated. “BBC America embraces what’s fresh and exhilarating in TV; we believe The Watch will astonish audiences.” The series is planned for release in 2020.
Potential: This one sounds pretty cool, as long as BBC America can capture Pratchett’s particular brand of satire and humor. That’s not as easy as it sounds. Very few have been able to successfully adapt the offbeat and delicate sensibilities of sci-fi’ author Kurt Vonnegut’s novels to the screen, and one can argue that Pratchett’s perspectives are similarly as unique and difficult to translate onto film as Vonnegut’s.
