TV and Film:The Watch

The Watch
Series Poster
ASIN	[1]
IMDB	8080292
First Broadcast	31st December 2020
Broadcast Channel	AMC+
Director(s)	Craig Viveiros
Producer(s)	Rob Wilkins, Hilary Simon, Phil Collinson, Simon Allen
Writer(s)	{{{writer}}}
Starring	Richard Dormer, Marama Corlett, Adam Hugill, Sam Adewunmi
Duration	480 minutes
Episodes	8
Series	Watch Series
Annotations	Annotations for TV and Film:The Watch
Notes
Preceded by	Good Omens
Followed by	'
All data relates to the UK home release.

The Watch is an original series adapted from Terry Pratchett's books about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. Developed by BBC America in conjunction with Narrativia. It has been variously described as a "Pratchett-style CSI," "a punk rock thriller" and "cyberpunk."

Blurb

Set in the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork, where crime has been legalised, The Watch is a uniquely anarchic drama. The series centres on a group of misfit cops as they rise up from decades of helplessness to save their corrupt city from catastrophe. The Watch is an inclusive genre-bending series inspired by the legendary ‘City Watch’ subset of Sir Terry Pratchett’s bestselling “Discworld” novels and its many iconic characters.

Cast

• Samuel Vimes: Richard Dormer
• Carrot Ironfoundersson: Adam Hugill
• Sybil Ramkin: Lara Rossi
• Carcer Dun: Sam Adewunmi
• Cheery Littlebottom: Jo Eaton-Kent
• Angua von Überwald: Marama Corlett
• Detritus: Ralph Ineson (voice), Craig McRae (body)
• Lord Vetinari: Anna Chancellor
• John Keel: Hakeem Kae-Kazim
• Dr Cruces: Ingrid Oliver
• Archchancellor: James Fleet
• Throat Dibbler: Ruth Madeley
• Wonse: Bianca Simone Mannie
• Inigo Skimmer: Paul Kaye
• Urdo van Pew: Joe Vaz
• Alice Band: Jane de Wet
• The Librarian: Owen McRae (episode 2), Matthew Van Leeve (episode 4)
• Samuel Vimes (Teen): Trevor Frost
• Samuel Vimes (Child): Munro Lennon-Ritchie
• Death: Wendell Pierce (voice), Craig McRae (body)
• Gawain/Wayne: Matt Berry
• Jocasta Wiggs: Fiona Ramsey
• Sergeant Swires: Jonathan Pienaar
• Sybil Ramkin (Teen): Chanté Grainger
• Corporal Cuddy: Thabo Rametsi
• Igor: Riaz Solker
• Goblin #1: Mark Hyland
• Goblin #2: Shane Kruger
• Goblin #3: Shaun Verth
• Goblin #4/Spike: Natalie Walsh
• Skully Multoon: Michael Everson
• Carcer (Child): Joel Iyoka
• Angua (Child): Morgan Santo
• Serafine: Danieyella Rodin

Differences Between the Series and Novels

Spoiler Warning

'’The Watch’' is an original series and not directly based on any specific Discworld novel. Promotional photos and information, and the trailer and early clips, make it clear the show differs in multiple ways from the books. Some of the differences in series include:

• Angua, along with Detritus and Cheery, are members of the City Watch before Carrot, and is tasked with training him.
• Carcer has been described as “wounded and wronged” implying he may be a more sympathetic character.
• Carcer and Vimes were best friends, Carcer's gang saved Vimes from poverty at a young age.
• Cheery is now a non-binary person rather than an openly female dwarf. Cheery is also taller than several human characters and remarked by Carrot to be rather tall for a dwarf.
• Sybil Ramkin attempts to improve the city through “chaotic vigilantism”, including kidnapping criminals to re-educate them at the 'Sunshine Rescue Centre for Broken, Bedraggled Things.'
• Carrot has new origins, he was dropped down into a dwarf mine shaft as a baby and was sent to join the City Watch as it was feared by his parents that his height would put others in danger as he once knocked his head against a mine shaft support which nearly collapsed the mine.
• The technological level of Ankh-Morpork is far more advanced than in the books: the city has electricity and light bulbs, and some clothing has zippers.
• Goblins are much taller and are a similar size to humans.
• Imps inhabit security cameras and paint on tablets similar to their book counterparts. However the tablets act similar to touchscreen devices with scrolling images and zoom and video functionality.
• Throat Dibbler is female and is described as a “snitch” with “a gang of freelance henchmen”, quite a departure from sausage-inna-bun salesman and entrepreneur Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler.
• John Keel, mentor to Sam Vimes, is played by another actor, making it unlikely that the events of Night Watch have taken place (or will).
• Sergeant Swires is a human character present in the Watch even before Vimes.
• Slab is now a drug taken by humans instead of being exclusively for trolls, it is also used as an important ingredient in magical spells.
• Members of the Alchemists' Guild operate as drug dealers in a similar way that the Thieves' Guild operates.
• The Clacks are represented as ticker-tape like machines.
• Female Dwarfs do not have beards, as can be seen by Carrot's dwarf mother.
• Goodboy is a pocket sized dragon resembling a winged Armadillo girdled lizard, that Sybil uses as a handheld flamethrower.
• Wonse was a part of Carcer's old gang and works as a cleaner at Unseen University.
• Wizards wear hooded robes instead of pointed hats.
• The reason for the Librarian's transformation into an ape has been changed. The new reason behind it is that the Librarian has spent too long inside a magical room in the Library that allows people to read other people like books.
• Assassins use a code name in their work e.g. The Slash, Bad Steph, Sex Party Ben. Dr. Cruces and Alice Band seem to be exempt from this rule.
• Alice Band is a very young child member of the Assassin's Guild.
• Inigo Skimmer is still an Assassin but is not a Dark Clerk and does not end his sentences with "mhm-mph."
• The Assassin's Guild has its own cemetery plot where members are buried. Notable assassins are buried under their guild name while disgraced assassins are buried under their real names.
• Jocasta Wiggs is now an elderly former member of the Assassin's Guild living in Twilight Canyons.
• The Auditors are now called The Observers.

Gallery

Promotional Art by Paul Kidby

Series Poster

External Links

The Watch on Narrativia

Development history of The Watch by Discworld Monthly

The Watch Twitter Account

The Watch trailer and clips premiered at New York Comic-Con 2020