The Watch TV series

[CupofJoe]

I've seen the first four episodes. Once I got into my head that only the names and vague characters are taken from STP, then I began to enjoy them. They are not great, but they are entertaining. I thought the look of the Librarian was disappointing but acceptable. There doesn't seem to be the budget for lots of CGI.
I'm still looking forward to a more faithful rendition of any of the Discworld stories [apart from the short film Troll Bridge - which I liked] but that time may have come and gone.

 

[nixie]

OK, I decided to give this a whirl. There should be a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode.

ANY RESEMBLENCE TO TERRY PRATCHETT'S DISC WORLD IS COINCIDENTAL AND SHOULD BE IGNORED.

I didn't hate it, I disassociated from the books and viewed it as a show in its own right, chased away boredom for a while.

 

[althea]

I had a thorough review from my daughter in law and I definitely won't be watching it.

 

[Biskit]

This is now currently showing on BBC2. We tried watching the first episode today.
Forget that it bears no resemblance to actual Pratchett or Discworld...
Actually, just forget it. We got about five minutes in and gave up.

It's like cheap chocolate. It doesn't taste like chocolate, doesn't even taste very nice, and if you're going to have the calories, spend the extra on getting the decent stuff.

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

I haven't got around to watching it yet. From what I've read on here and elsewhere, it's best to forget it claims to have anything to do with PTerry, and just watch it as a bit of fantasy.
Mind you, I've heard even then it's not worth it, but I'll try anything once, except incest and folk-dancing*

* to paraphrase Thomas Beecham

 

[hitmouse]

Yeah, its just a mess. Really disappointing regardless of the Pratchett connection.

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

I found it refreshingly good.

Never been a fan of P's endings. I always got the feeling he gave up after 3/4 of the book and rushed to the end.

If you disregard any connection to the other stuff and accept it for what it is, then I think it works.

Better than the D.J. attempts IMO

 

[The Big Peat]

I tried watching the first one and gave up after ten minutes as bad television.

Then I tried watching the second one which I heard was better, and it was better television but it was still incredibly jarring to someone who hadn't divorced it from Pratchett.

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

@The Big Peat

Forget the P versions.

If this had just been made as a fantasy series you'd be lapping it up. It's like those "Spin offs" of LOR of which there have been many. Everyone compares it to LOR, but LOR wasn't the first "fantasy adventure land"

Take out Death (not a P original concept) and references to certain "goings on" and you're left with a fresh new fantasy series. If anyone can accept the defiling of Doctor True* of late, surely they can supress any similarities to one fantasy story has to another.

Before The Fellowship: 4 Fantasy Books Written BEFORE Lord Of The Rings - AmReading

By this time, most fans of epic fantasy novels have read J.R.R Tolkien’s classic Lord of The Rings trilogy. Published in the mid-20th century, The Lord of The Rings has become one of the most popular and influential fantasy trilogies of all time. Who can forget the fantastic journey of Frodo...

www.amreading.com

I bet when old T first published his door stopper, people were comparing it to what had gone before in a similar way to what happens with his books now.

I actually read "The Worm Ouroboros" in my youth and found it acceptable. I hadn't realised it was pre LOR at the time because I waded** through LOR years earlier. I did wonder why it didn't have the usual "best thing since LOR" tag that so often gets thrown into book reviews since the 60's but I was a student when I read it and such complicated double thoughts were of little import compared to the student bars and their "attractions".


I actually think "The Watch" it's better, certainly than any of the "endorsed" versions.

* By defiling I'm referencing the story content, not the cast members- perfectly happy there.
** I say waded through, but obviously anyone who actually reads every word therein needs to get out more IMO, or find a hobby-t. I'd say there's about 90% of the books that still remain a mystery to me. Such as who begat Gerimina, third son of King Dwaftferly. Let the Dwaftferly's rest in peace I say.

 

[Elckerlyc]

The Watch is "Inspired by characters created by Sir Terry Pratchett." And that is the problem.
It aren't just the characters who are (a tad more than just) 'inspired by', it is also the plot, which is more 'based on' than it is 'inspired by.'
That makes it almost impossible to watch The Watch totally disconnected from our beloved Discworld. It is jarring. It doesn't has the feel as a homage, more like abuse.

Taken on its own it could have been a fantastical fantastic new series. But for people who know and appreciate Discworld it is jarring. And for people who are unfamiliar with the setting and characters it's just weirdness all around, because without the foreknowledge of Discworld many elements remain just that, weird.

 

[The Big Peat]

@The Big Peat

Forget the P versions.

If this had just been made as a fantasy series you'd be lapping it up. It's like those "Spin offs" of LOR of which there have been many. Everyone compares it to LOR, but LOR wasn't the first "fantasy adventure land"

You know, I think when I say something is just bad TV, I know my tastes better than you. So no, I wouldn't have been lapping it up. Without the Pratchett connection I wouldn't have watched beyond ten minutes if I'd ever watched at all.

 

[paranoid marvin]

The Watch is "Inspired by characters created by Sir Terry Pratchett." And that is the problem.
It aren't just the characters who are (a tad more than just) 'inspired by', it is also the plot, which is more 'based on' than it is 'inspired by.'
That makes it almost impossible to watch The Watch totally disconnected from our beloved Discworld. It is jarring. It doesn't has the feel as a homage, more like abuse.

Taken on its own it could have been a fantastical fantastic new series. But for people who know and appreciate Discworld it is jarring. And for people who are unfamiliar with the setting and characters it's just weirdness all around, because without the foreknowledge of Discworld many elements remain just that, weird.

Yes it feels like a tv series that was originally based on Pratchett's Discworld; but when the final article was shown to the relevant parties, the makers were forced to change it to 'inspired by' so that those in control of Pratchett's IP could disassociate themselves as much as possible from it.

It's the same characters in the same roles in an amalgamation of a couple of TP's books (Guards! Guards! and Night Watch). That (imho) isn't a description of 'inspired by'. For me the reason that the story doesn't make much sense is that you are combining two completely different books, and characters at very different stages of their development.

Also whilst TP could be quite hit and miss at times, none of his style of humour is present in this tv show. And (for me) it just wasn't funny at all.

As I've mentioned previously, I just wish they'd stuck with the Guards! Guards! storyline (which is a perfectly good story and doesn't need embroidering), and developed the characters. With incorporating Night Watch into the story, it really leaves the series nowhere to go in terms of character or team development.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Imagine a tv show 'inspired' by Tolkien's Middle-earth, where a drunken old wizard called Gandalf (who has a powerful ring) takes a bunch of teenagers on a quest to kill a dragon. Along the way Sauron turns up and tries to take his ring back. That's what this tv show feels like to me.

Also I do wonder if anyone unfamiliar with Discworld would have a clue what was going on?

 

[Biskit]

You know, I think when I say something is just bad TV, I know my tastes better than you. So no, I wouldn't have been lapping it up. Without the Pratchett connection I wouldn't have watched beyond ten minutes if I'd ever watched at all.

This was our problem with it. Whoever put the script together was doing it by the numbers, adding one stereotype after another but unlike Pratchett, had no idea how to use stereotypes well.

I also noticed that there was humour, which is a bad thing. I'm suppose to laugh, or at least chuckle, not think "oh look, it's a joke."

When we gave up it wasn't because it was such an awful adaptation of Pratchett but because it was just tedious.

 

[.matthew.]

As I've mentioned previously, I just wish they'd stuck with the Guards! Guards! storyline (which is a perfectly good story and doesn't need embroidering), and developed the characters. With incorporating Night Watch into the story, it really leaves the series nowhere to go in terms of character or team development.

Yes, they should have done it book by book and introduced characters over the seasons rather than including them all in a mashup right off the bat.

 

[HareBrain]

I'm not a Pratchett fan, so I like to think I gave it a fair go, free of expectation or prejudice. And I was really keen to find a series to fill a few hours. But though it showed snatches of promise in the first fifteen minutes, it just wasn't good enough.