Written by Rhianna Pratchett Original language(s) English | Country of origin United Kingdom Production company(s) Narrativia | |
Genre Fantasy
Police procedural | ||
The Watch is a British fantasy police procedural television series under development since 2011. It is to be based on the stories about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch from the Discworld series of fantasy novels by Terry Pratchett.
Contents
Development
The Watch was announced in 2011 as being developed by Prime Focus Productions, which previously created three two-part television adaptations of Discworld novels. It was later reported to be produced by Pratchett's own TV production company, Narrativia, which he founded in 2012 and which was led by Rod Brown, the erstwhile head of Prime Focus.
The series has been variously reported to be written − under Pratchett's oversight − by either Terry Jones and Gavin Scott or by Guy Burt, and to have a budget of either £13 to £15 million or £26 million for its projected run of thirteen 60-minutes episodes. Pratchett's daughter Rhianna will be a co-writer. No broadcast date has been announced. In September 2014, Pratchett's agent Colin Smythe informed in Prague that the script is in development and shooting was to commence in 2015.
Following Pratchett's death in 2015, his assistant Rob Wilkins said that pre-production was still ongoing, but that no further announcements would be made until filming had begun. In October 2016, Rhianna Pratchett said in an interview that the project was still ongoing.
Setting and plot
Set in the fictional Discworld's principal city of Ankh-Morpork, The Watch has been described by Terry Pratchett as a "Pratchett-style CSI". It is to have an episodic storyline, following the format of a "crime of the week" as tackled by the city's police force under the command of Sam Vimes.