Terry Pratchett's Hogfather

Retro News: Pratchett interview, in which he actually talks about things other than Alzheimer’s (29 November 2008)

28 December 2008 (19:57) Comment!

Deborah Orr at the Independent.co.uk interviewed Terry Pratchett late in November, and in doing so provides some insight into Terry Pratchett’s writing process.

The article gets the requisite Alzheimer’s questions done early. Terry Pratchett summed up the effect of his very public diagnosis:
(more…)

The Colour Of Magic finishes airing; early reviews good

25 March 2008 (8:10) Comment!

As you all know, The Colour Of Magic, the TV adaptation of the first two books in the Discworld series, finished airing for the first time March 24 in the U.K. The reaction fans so far has been excellent, and the early reviews so far have been similarly good. To quote a TimesOnline.co.uk article on The Colour Of Magic:

The two-parter was better than Sky’s previous Discworld adaptation, the story more clearly told (I could understand it) and David Jason happier as the hopeless wizard Rincewind than as Albert in The Hogfather [sic]. It also benefited from an excellent villain in Tim Curry. It looked good, in an over-glossy, Hallmark Productions kind of way …

Another article, from The Scotsman, said, “this was a good-looking production that proper fans probably appreciated.” However, criticisms were also evident in both articles:

Every now and again the budget (tight, it was implied, by the accompanying “Making of” documentary) looked stretched. If it could show characters falling off the edge of the world, make a trunk walk and blow up the Broken Drum Inn, why is it impossible for the skeleton Death to open its mouth when it speaks?

And:

The opening instalment, based on Pratchett’s first and possibly worst Discworld book, was far too long, dragging out its attempts at satire with leaden direction and script.

The Guardian.co.uk some preliminary viewing figures for the adaptation:

• The second part concluded with almost 1 million viewers last night, with an average of 967,000 viewers and a multichannel share of 4.7%. The viewer numbers peaked at 1.1 million viewers at 7:15.
• The first part (which aired Sunday March 23) attracted 1.5 million viewers and an 8% multichannel share.

Compare these numbers to Hogfather’s: 2.4 million for the first part (a record-breaking number) and 1.5 million for the second.

Update: Another highly enthusiastic review.

David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry, Terry Prachett on Colour Of Magic

22 March 2008 (14:41) 4 Comments

An extensive article from TimesOnline.co.uk includes quotes from David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry, and Terry Pratchett about the coming Colour Of Magic two part adaptation, which will be broadcast this Sunday and Monday at 6 p.m.  To quote Sean Astin in the article:

It’s a little weird…. Some guy has a brain fart and I’m wearing big furry feet for two years. Another guy has an acid tablet and I’m in a pond in the back of Pinewood…. Terry obviously loves Tolkien and fantasy but he also loves to … take the piss out of it.

Tim Curry, with some less colorful language, also speaks about the Discworld series:

Terry’s big on satire and drawing conclusions in his worlds that you can take into this one…. I don’t think class has passed him by, or the advancements of technology.  Trymon is such a wonderfully double-dealing slimeball–he’d be totally at home in Brussels.  I’ve had a lot of extremely uncomfortable pointy shoes to wear, and lots of great hats.

And finally, Terry Pratchett himself also speaks:

Hogfather was more serious; The Colour of Magic is about humour…. It’s a buddy movie except that one of the buddies [Rincewind] doesn’t want to be a buddy. It’s a road movie although roads are probably the last thing they manage to travel on most of the time.

[On signing over the rights to The Colour Of Magic and The Light Fantastic] I tried to conceal the fact that I really wanted them to do it but really would like to be paid a lot of money…. The nice thing is that The Colour of Magic really had no plot. It was a series of episodes and we could, like a smorgasbord, pick what we wanted. So it wasn’t quite the slaughter job that I thought it would have to be.

Terry Pratchett also addressed the concerns of many fans on the casting of David Jason as Rincewind, since many consider Rincewind to be younger and skinnier:

It was mainly the book cover illustrations that did that…. I’m very good at not describing characters. David Jason has got three amazingly good attributes. Firstly, he is an excellent actor. Secondly, he’s Sir David Jason, and that name counts for something. And thirdly he’s a Discworld fan and about 15 years ago he declared that he wanted to play Rincewind. I thought, ‘Wonderful!’ 

The article also has a set-report aspect to it, as it describes the filming of the scene where Rincewind is close to being swept over the edge of the Discworld.  To quote the article:

“I don’t want to leave this world!” gurgles David Jason. Britain’s Most Popular Actor [sic] is clinging to a log in the middle of a foaming torrent of water, which swirls through his red robes and greying beard and plasters his hair across his face. “DON’T MIND ME - I’VE GOT A BOOK TO READ,” deadpans a skeletal figure in a deckchair on a nearby rocky outcrop. Slowly, Jason’s grip relaxes on the log and he disappears beneath the surface.

“Cut!” barks a voice through a megaphone. A bedraggled Jason re-emerges, and is shepherded by a squad of frogmen to the edge of Pinewood Studios’ 100-square metre water tank, as the huge compressed air generators that were creating the torrent wind down. It’s an overcast August afternoon near the end of the 11-week shoot for The Colour of Magic, Sky One’s multimillion- pound Easter adaptation of the first two books in Terry Pratchett’s supernaturally successful Discworld series…. In this scene [Rincewind] is attempting to avoid being swept over the Discworld’s oceanic rim and into space, which will be represented on the vast blue screen behind him. His travails are observed by the sardonic Death, whose vocal duties have passed from the late Ian Richardson to Christopher Lee, who voiced him in the Pratchett animations Wyrd Sisters and Soul Music.

The article also informs readers that the fight with Tim Curry has been filmed in addition to the upside-down fight in the Wyrmberg.

Don’t forget to watch The Colour of Magic on Sky One at 6 p.m. this Sunday and Monday!

Reminder: Hogfather DVD release in U.S.

4 March 2008 (18:46) Comment!

This is a reminder to fans in the United States that they can finally buy the Hogfather DVD anywhere–the general release date for the DVD is set for today, March 4, 2008. Remember that the DVD has been available, but only at Borders stores. Now is the time to stop watching your illegally downloaded versions and start supporting the franchise!

Reminder: Hogfather, Johnny and the Bomb rebroadcast in U.K.

24 December 2007 (13:08) Comment!

Another reminder for our U.K. fans: Sky One and HD are showing Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather tonight and tomorrow (December 24 and 25) at 8 p.m.

Also, the BBC dramatization of Johnny and the Bomb is being broadcast on CBBC January 3 at 4 p.m.

Hogfather 3rd U.S. re-airing

21 December 2007 (20:54) Comment!

Ion Television is re-airing Hogfather for the third time in the United States, as part of RHI Movie Weekend on Sunday, December 23 at 7/6c. This will be Hogfather’s third U.S. airing in less than a month since its U.S. debut November 25.

Reminder to our British fans: As we reported previously, Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather will also be airing in the U.K. December 24 and 25.

The DVD is already available in the U.S. at Borders. Its general release date is set for March 2008. It is already widely available in the U.K.

Hogfather to re-air; Pratchett interview

10 December 2007 (18:48) Comment!

Newsday.com is reporting that Ion Television will re-air the Discworld miniseries Hogfather tomorrow and the day after (Tuesday and Wednesday) at 9 p.m. The South Florida Sun-Sentinal is reporting the same along with an interview with Terry Pratchet, in which he tells them, “the nice thing about working with a television company is that .. you get more space — we had three hours of screen time with Hogfather…. Because there’s less money sloshing around, and money always gets in the way, I as the author had quite a lot of input into it.”

Hogfather to broadcast December 24, 25

9 December 2007 (14:43) Comment!

Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather will again be broadcast in England this year on 24th and 25th of December at 8 p.m. on channels 106 and 175 (SkyOne and HD). Here’s to hoping the miniseries proves wonderfully lucrative again! Thanks to Colin Smythe for the tip.

Hogfather U.S. DVD to be available March 4

7 December 2007 (18:44) Comment!

TVShowsOnDVD.com is now reporting that the general release date for the Hogfather United States DVD is set for March 4, 2008. Remember that the DVD is already available, but only at Borders stores.

Reminder: Hogfather airs tonight in U.S.

25 November 2007 (14:52) Comment!

This is a reminder for Discworld fans in the United States: Hogfather is being broadcast on Ion Television as part of RHI Movie Weekend. Watch the award-winning, four-hour film adaptation tonight, at 6 or 7 p.m. Use TitanTV’s guide to find the specific time and television channel in your area. The American TV spot is available on cinemablend.com (scroll down), and don’t forget that the American DVD of Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather is available now at Borders

National Book Festival webcast online

23 November 2007 (14:08) Comment!

Terry Pratchett’s appearance at the National Book Festival in September has been released online as a webcast on the Library of Congress website. In the half-hour speech and question-answer session, Pratchett talks about his coming books:
• Nation is “the book I’m working on now and don’t propose to tell you anything about,” a large part of which is written already. Interestingly, Pratchett describes the image that inspired the plot of the book: A boy, standing on a rainy beach, looking out to sea.
• I Shall Wear Midnight, the 4th Tiffany Aching book, is in the planning stage. Pratchett tells the audience, tongue-in-cheek, that Tiffany Aching will murder someone in the book.
• He’s interested in writing more children’s books after I Shall Wear Midnight, which will be the last Tiffany Aching children’s book.
He makes some general observations about writing:
• “Adult books give you money, children’s books give you prestige.”
• “The writing is some kind of big stainless steel bulldozer of some sort which just keeps going, and it drags me with it, usually banging my head on stones and things like that. Curiously enough, it’s a lot of fun.”
• “The way to describe a character is not with two pages about that character. The way to describe a character is to give them mannerisms, ways of talking and acting. Because we human beings have a lot in common about the way we judge people, remember people, [and] think about people, I put in the little triggers which will make you think subconsciously, ‘ah, that kind of guy.’ So the back-story tends to happen of its own accord.”
And he comments on the live-action adaptations of Hogfather and The Colour of Magic:
• “I loved the movie of Hogfather. What I really liked about it was the car chase. There wasn’t one…. [Hogfather] was true to the book. It was true to the soul of the book.”
• A scene in The Colour of Magic, where Rincewind and Twoflower escape from Death’s own dimension, pursued by Death on Binky, has been filmed.

Terry Pratchett on filming Hogfather

22 November 2007 (15:13) Comment!

While not strictly news, Sci Fi Wire interviewed Terry Pratchett recently in preparation for the coming Hogfather television broadcast. Says Terry Pratchett of his cameo as the toymaker, “I was obviously terrified [about shooting the cameo] for two reasons: While I often do [public] talks, and I have a lot of fun doing that, it was my first time doing it in front of a movie camera. And the other thing was that Marnix [Van Den Broeke], who plays Death, or who we should say plays the figure of Death—because [the since-deceased] Ian Richardson played the voice of Death—at one point, out of camera shot, while I was looking at him during my scene, was giving me a thumbs up with his skeletal hand. It was beautifully articulated. The hand unfolded and the thumb came up, and I was thinking, ‘A man should not be so closely confronted with the products of his imagination.’” Terry Pratchett also commented on his close involvement with the production. To quote the article:

“Because I was so closely involved I saw bits of it all the time,” Pratchett said. “A DVD [containing dailies] would arrive every week. I was also on set. There was one stage where I was on the set, and I sort of spun around like Maria in The Sound of Music, because, A, they got this, and, B, got this right. It was a very nice feeling, I can assure you. And I had to keep telling myself that they were making it for other people and not just for me.”

The four-hour film will broadcast this weekend on November 25.

Hogfather DVD, book giveaway

18 November 2007 (17:42) Comment!

Screenhead is offering a Hogfather giveaway in celebration of the impending U.S. broadcast. Simply comment (with your email) on this article before November 24 to get a chance to win the Hogfather book and DVD, as well as three other extras.

Update: TVgasm is also offering a Hogfather giveaway, with the same prizes but slightly different requirements. Good luck to all!

Reminder: Hogfather on TV, DVD in U.S.

17 November 2007 (22:18) Comment!

This is a reminder for Discworld fans in the United States: Hogfather is being broadcast on Ion Television as part of RHI Movie Weekend. Watch the award-winning, four-hour film adaptation on November 25, at 6 or 7 p.m. Use TitanTV’s guide to find the specific time and television channel in your area. The American TV spot is available on YouTube. Also, don’t forget that the American DVD of Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather is available now at Borders.

Edit: A more complete video of the TV spot is available on cinemablend.com. (Scroll down.)

Hogfather, Color of Magic to air in U.S.

1 November 2007 (22:05) 3 Comments

As rumored earlier, Hogfather will make its US television debut on Sunday, November 25, during RHI Movie Weekend on Ion Television. Also confirmed by C21 Media is the American 2008 release of The Color of Magic, which is now being filmed.

TCOM casting, Hogfather to debut in U.S.?

11 August 2007 (12:48) Comment!

Four major characters in the forthcoming Color of Magic and Light Fantastic TV adaptations have been cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Sean Astin, who played Sam Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, is cast for Twoflower, confirming earlier speculation that David Jason (Rincewind) would co-star with an American actor. Says Astin in the article:

“I’m honored to be given the chance to make the part of Twoflower my own, starring in a fantasy tale that has captured the imagination of millions of people around the world.”

Also cast is Tim Curry as Ymper Trymon, and Christopher Lee reprises his 1997 role as the voice of Death.

Things look hopeful for further adaptations, as Sky director of programs Richard Woolfe called Hogfather an “unparalleled success in every way we could have imagined” and the cast for The Color of Magic “unbelievable”—though expectations for the adaptations seem high.

The Color of Magic team, with Vadim Jean directing and RHI Entertainment, the Mob Film Co. and Sky One all on board, has stayed pretty constant from Hogfather, though David Jason is now also an executive producer.

Exciting news for American fans: Hogfather may make its U.S. debut as part of RHI Movie Weekend on Ion Television.

Discworld Diary v. Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather: The British Fantasy Awards

12 June 2007 (17:23) Comment!

The British Fantasy Society has announced the nominees for its British Fantasy Awards 2007, and among the nominees are the Ankh-Morpork Post Office Handbook Discworld Diary 2007 (Pratchett, Briggs, Kidby) and Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather: The Illustrated Screenplay (Pratchett, Jean), both in the Best Non Fiction Category.

The awards are given to voters’ choice literature and artists first published in 2006. To vote, however, one must be a member of the British Fantasy Society, and voting concludes August 1.

Hogfather wins Best Interactivity BAFTA

23 May 2007 (20:57) Comment!

At the BAFTA Television awards three days ago, the Hogfather team was honored with a second prestigious award. Beating out Dispatches – War Torn: Stories of Separation, Meltdown and the Big Climate Change Experiment, and The Secret Policeman’s Ball, the Terry Pratchett adaptation won the Best Interactivity BAFTA award. Aidan Conway, Giles Pooley, Rod Brown, and Ian Sharples were recognized especially. Congrats to them and the entire Hogfather team!