Terry Pratchett’s beloved fantasy series Discworld is heading to the small screen, with Deadline reporting that BBC Studios is in development on a six-part limited series which is going by the working title of The Watch.
The site reports that Simon Allen (Strike Back, Das Boot) is scripting the series, and the BBC is said to be looking at the project as a major international co-production, and a returnable franchise. Pratchett’s production company, Narrativia, now run by his daughter Rhianna and former business manager Rob Wilkins, will prodeuce the series.
Discworld takes place on a flat disc, balanced on the back of four elephants who themselves stand on the shell of a giant turtle, the Great A’Tuin. In total, Pratchett published 41 Discworld novels before his death in 2015.
While details on the new show are being kept under wraps, it seems to be a revival of a project first announced back in 2011, which would tell stories about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch and was described by Pratchett himself as “Pratchett-style CSI.”
Before we get The Watch, another of Pratchett’s novels Good Omens – co-written with Neil Gaiman – heading to the small screen and slated to premiere in 2019, with a cast led by Michael Sheen and David Tennant.
