The Hogfather

area

...glingleglingleglingle...



Sky One has adapted The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett as a four-hour miniseries. It's going to air the 17th and 18th of December at 8p.m. in the UK.

The cast list, courtesy of wikipedia:

Michelle Dockery - Susan Sto Helit
David Jason - Albert
Marnix Van Den Broeke - Death
Ian Richardson - Death (voice)
Marc Warren - Jonathan Teatime
Joss Ackland - Mustrum Ridcully
David Warner - Lord Downey
Neil Pearson - The Raven (voice)
Nigel Planer - Mr Sideney
David Jason is the biggest name, and is generally a guaranteed success in the UK. Ian Richardson is probably about as good as they could get to voice someone who SPEAKS LIKE THIS. Terry Pratchett has a guest appearance as a toymaker, which you might want to watch out for.

I'm looking forward to it, and I'm really hoping they don't mess it up. The Hogfather is my second favourite Discworld book (after Thief of Time), so realistically it's likely that I'm going to be disappointed in at least a couple of respects. I'm keeping my mind open, though, and I'm definitely willing to give it a chance - I'm really happy with the look they've managed to get for Teatime's eyes, for example.

Is anyone else looking forward to it? It had flown under my personal radar until a few days ago, but now I can't wait. Has it been advertised much, or was I just in a university-based bubble?

tbloxham

I think the hogfather is actually by far the weakest of all the Discworld books, although I suppose it is the only one which could bear up to the cruel torture that is Christmasification.

Its not a bad book, its just that every other one is better. Well, except Monstrous Regiment. Why couldnt they make Going Postal, or Gaurds Gaurds. Now that I would like to see.

Ill still watch it, but I imagine it will be as disasterous as all previous attempts at Discworld movies have been.

Mahnmut

I liked the Hogfather.

Can I watch this in the US?

DanHibiki

DAMN! maybe I can use my vaccation time to travel to the UK and watch this.

RevenantDiesel

Can't get that channel, but I'm hoping to commandeer a friend's TV to watch it.

I'd love them to do the City Watch novels, Night Watch in particular (but you've got to build up to that, or it won't have the same resonance).

DevoutlyApathetic

tbloxham wrote:

I think the hogfather is actually by far the weakest of all the Discworld books, although I suppose it is the only one which could bear up to the cruel torture that is Christmasification.

Have you read all the Discworld books? The Light Fantastic, Sourcery or Equal Rites? Hogfather is no Going Postal but it is ages better than the very early stuff.

Curse you area! I was thinking of making a Pratchett thread today since one has been sorely lacking of late. Pah, I shall never make a thread.

Dear Hogfather, my friends all say you are really my mommy and daddy but just in case please make this special available by a massive downpour through a series of tubes.

Aroduc

Role Collection:

NORMAL
You are a minor noble of the XXXXXX Family

One thousand years ago, the First Son of the Phoenix established the Wang empire with the help of his three generals, Liu Hung, Sun Dong, and Cao Johnson. Your three families have served his ancestors honorably the entire time, but his final descendant has now joined his ancestors without leaving a clear successor to the throne.

It will take no small measure of cunning, courage, and wit to triumph over the other families and create the new XXXXXX Empire. Luckily, the other families are all full of inbred fools who were still wetting their beds while you were poisoning your brothers and seducing your cousins. On the other hand, they are numerous, and it will take time and concentrated effort to drive the Imperial Court to safely eliminate all your rivals, but you have faith that you will prevail and the XXXX Family will reign supreme.

---

SEER
You are the XXX Family's Lineage Historian.

Your branch of the family fell into ruin and your father spent his entire life turning nightsoil in the Emperor's stables. One thing about nightsoil though, is that it frees your mind to think about anything else. This freedom of thought gave your father a keen grasp of higher calculus which he then imparted onto you, his only progeny. This skill has made you eminently employable in untangling the gordian knots that are the family trees of your ancestors and you somehow managed to escape shovelling dung, only to find that paperwork is far worse.

Each night, PM Aroduc the name of one player you wish to investigate. You will learn the family of that player the next day, even if you are killed during the night. Use this power wisely, for the other two families also have Historians who will be working against you and your family.

---

MASON
You and XXX are the YYY Family's Sworn Brothers.

10 years ago in the cherry blossom garden of the capitol, you and your brother swore a solemn oath.

"We two join in brotherhood here, combining strength and purpose, to relieve the present crisis. We will perform our duty to the Emperor and protect the common folk of the land. We dare not hope to be together always but hereby vow to die the selfsame day. Let shining heaven above and the fruitful land below bear witness to our resolve. May heaven and man scourge whosoever fails this vow."*

Then your eternal rivals, the Yellow Scarf Brats, threw water balloons at you and called you bed wetters. Nonetheless, this sacred promise has been held by the two of you to this day. Even if historians may later take your declarations that you shared a bed to mean something quite different, you have absolute trust that your sworn brother will never betray you. The two of you must work together to protect your family and destroy all other pretenders to the throne.

*PS, this is the Peach Garden Oath from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Consider yourself randomly assaulted by education. :P

---

CORRUPT OFFICIAL
You are the Accountant for the XXX Family

You are a bean counter, a number cruncher, and other terrible epithets that make your profession sound marginally better than it actually might be. For the most part though, your job is easy. The Wall prevents the Evil Spirts from entering the empire, and the peasants have long since been taxed of everything they may have had of value. These days, all you ever do of interest is tally votes when something of interest happens in the Imperial Court.

Once per game, you may alter the results of the public election and place the Imperial Seal into the hands of the player of your choice, including yourself. PM Aroduc when you wish to do this along with the player you want to be elected. Be aware, however, that the other two families have their own accountants handling the votes as well, and if two of you attempt to alter the votes on the same day, you will be publicly discovered and your attempts will fail, leaving the vote with its original result. Use your position to bring greater glory to your family and thwart the machinations of the rival families.

---

LOVERS
You are a noble of the XXX Family.

For the first 18 years of your life, you did the same thing that all nobles do... which mostly consisted of getting drunk and poisoning your relatives. Until the night of the Five Moons mixer. You were struck by the sudden appearance of YYYYY, and after you picked yourself up and offered them a drink, a certain set of circumstances led to the two of you ending up together in the barn with your pants on the inn's ceiling.

Since then, you and YYYYY have met many times and your pants have been discovered abandoned in all corners of the royal court. YYYY, however, is a member of the ZZZZZZZZ Family, and so your love can never be. The two of you have taken a solemn oath to end your lives if the other should ever die, but that shouldn't stop either of you from crushing the other's family and all that oppose your own. It may just be difficult to explain your chronic lack of pants to your parents.

---

MONKS
You are the Onmyouji Monk of the XXXX Family

Religion is a rather silly thing in the Empire. Everybody knows how to lead a good and servile life. Everybody knows how to pay the proper respects to their ancestors. Everybody knows that the only thing keeping Evil Vampire Ghosts from invading the kingdom is The Wall surrounding it. Consequentially, your life is fairly dull, aside from interacting occasionally with an Evil Vampire Ghost to trade for far away goods or help organize the annual Day of the Dead Festival.

During the Day of the Dead Festival, if you still number among the living, you can use your influence and connections with the Evil Vampire Ghosts from beyond the borders of the kingdom to protect all remaining members of your family for that day only. All attempts on their lives, be it by assassin or public execution will be prevented. It is in your, and your family's, best interest to survive until the day of the festival while simultaneously eliminating the other family as well as their monks so they will not be afforded the same protection as your own.

---

SPY
You are the XXXX Family's Eunuch of the Imperial Court

All in all, it's a relatively easy life. You get to lounge around in the royal harem, watch the royal concubines, and bathe with the royal backscrubbers. There are some downsides of course, but you just prefer to think that your position as lead soprano in the Imperial Chorus is forever safe.

Your active duties mostly consist of delivering documents requested by other members of the royal court, and by some fluke chance, you've noticed that the YYYY and ZZZZ family have been investigating various people as of late and have taken to looking over the documents that you're delivering. Unfortunately, since you never learned to read, the words on the pages mean little to you, but you do recognize the names of the people that they are investigating and hope to use this information to bring your family back to its royal seat of power while destroying your enemies, and maybe see if there isn't a way to promote yourself up to Permanent Keeper of the Harem.

---

VIGILANTE - EXTRA PM
You are the new Executor of XXXXX's Will

Through certain circumstances, the YYYYY royal blade has turned up at your doorstep. Your duty is as clear as day and you will finally get the chance to use the skills you've developed against your own kin on your family's rivals.

Each night, you will embark on your sacred quest to slay the enemies of your family. Choose one player that you suspect to be from a rival family and your underlings will slay him. Should you die, someone of your family will surely carry on your will, but it may take a day for the sword to find its way into the proper holder's hand. Use your power to eliminate your enemies and bring honor to your family.

---

One more thing. Dead men tell no tales. Once you have been killed, you are welcome to make the random ghostly wailing, but please do not try to influence the game in any way. Likewise, the random interjection about a joke someone makes or an aspect of the narration by random non-players is fine, but please don't share information or try to influence the players. Don't even think about trying to ask me for a cheat sheet. I can't really enforce this, but just go by the honor system here.

There -will- be a Day of the Dead at some point though (probably around day 6 or when a little over half the players have died), so there -will- be a chance for the dead to come back and share their information and guide their living allies or deceive their enemies, so be aware of that and realize that information you share once dead or the lies you tell while living could come back to haunt you.

Senjutsu

Susan looks weird.

And Hogfather was a great book, definitely not the weakest discworld ever. That's probably Sourcery, The Color of Magic, or the Light Fantastic

Casual Eddy

:?


When does it come out in the states!?

Jeedan

I'm skeptical this will be good.

I think that picture is a decent Susan look though.

Knuckle Dragger

Senjutsu wrote:

Susan looks weird.

It's the wig; it looks like an aquanet helmet.

EmperorSeth

Senjutsu wrote:

Susan looks weird.

I was just about to post that I'm not feeling that Susan at all. Isn't her point that she tries to look and live in normal reality and it just doesn't work out for her that way?

DevoutlyApathetic

EmperorSeth wrote:

Senjutsu wrote:

Susan looks weird.

I was just about to post that I'm not feeling that Susan at all. Isn't her point that she tries to look and live in normal reality and it just doesn't work out for her that way?

Her hair is what's described in the books (well, less blonde than in the picture.) I know I'd forgotten that she looks somewhat...strange.

chrono_traveller

DevoutlyApathetic wrote:

tbloxham wrote:

I think the hogfather is actually by far the weakest of all the Discworld books, although I suppose it is the only one which could bear up to the cruel torture that is Christmasification.

Have you read all the Discworld books? The Light Fantastic, Sourcery or Equal Rites? Hogfather is no Going Postal but it is ages better than the very early stuff.

Agreed, the first Pratchett I read was the color of magic, then Light Fantastic. After that I was about to write off Pratchett, but a friend of mine convinced me to read some of his more recent stuff, which I liked a lot more. I've tried reading Light Fantastic again, but I get about 50 pages in and I just stop. :P

Knuckle Dragger

DevoutlyApathetic wrote:

EmperorSeth wrote:

Senjutsu wrote:

Susan looks weird.

I was just about to post that I'm not feeling that Susan at all. Isn't her point that she tries to look and live in normal reality and it just doesn't work out for her that way?

Her hair is what's described in the books (well, less blonde than in the picture.) I know I'd forgotten that she looks somewhat...strange.

Yeah, the peroxide blonde thing doesn't help; her hair is supposed to look somewhat supernatural, not somewhat unnatural.

Tube

I'd rather have had David Jason playing Mr Teatime.

Tube

Marc Warren would make a great Carcer though.

Jeedan

Doesent look that far from how Paul Kidby draws her to me.

Young

Old

Knuckle Dragger

Jeedan wrote:

That is how she should look, as that is a picture of her during her time as a governess (complete with fire poker). She shouldn't look like a Lord of the Rings extra with too many chemicals in her hair.

DanHibiki

Aroduc wrote:

I hope it's at least better than the cartoons they made for some of the books. Those were... horrid.

I got one of those. It's as if the people that made it forgot that it was a comedy and decided to make a tragedy.

Jandaru

area wrote:

Ian Richardson is probably about as good as they could get to voice someone who SPEAKS LIKE THIS.

Christopher Lee was pretty good in the animated Discworld miniseries they did a few years back. Ian Richardson isn't ringing any bells for me though.

DevoutlyApathetic

DanHibiki wrote:

Aroduc wrote:

I hope it's at least better than the cartoons they made for some of the books. Those were... horrid.

I got one of those. It's as if the people that made it forgot that it was a comedy and decided to make a tragedy.

The Wyrd Sister's one? It's like the forgot they weren't actually doing Hamlet.

Mahnmut

I haven't seen these comics, but I can imagine how they might not go over well. Discworld is often pretty serious, and at least half the humor comes exclusively from the diction. Going to any other format...like television... would lose that, and also make it easy to botch timing and even tone.

Sceptre

So, will there be any way to watch this in Canada?

Aroduc

DevoutlyApathetic wrote:

DanHibiki wrote:

Aroduc wrote:

I hope it's at least better than the cartoons they made for some of the books. Those were... horrid.

I got one of those. It's as if the people that made it forgot that it was a comedy and decided to make a tragedy.

The Wyrd Sister's one? It's like the forgot they weren't actually doing Hamlet.

My parents got me Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters for a birthday a few years back. I watched most of the former, and then basically just threw them away. I'm not sure they had a single redeeming quality at all.

Quirk

im comandeering a friends tv to watch this....and it shall be glorious even if its terrible. I think ive read every Pratchett book and hopefully now even more poeple will try reading the books, and the more poeple reading intelligent comedy (or anything other than crappy magazines) makes me happy

Dynagrip

tbloxham wrote:

I think the hogfather is actually by far the weakest of all the Discworld books, although I suppose it is the only one which could bear up to the cruel torture that is Christmasification.

Its not a bad book, its just that every other one is better. Well, except Monstrous Regiment. Why couldnt they make Going Postal, or Gaurds Gaurds. Now that I would like to see.

Ill still watch it, but I imagine it will be as disasterous as all previous attempts at Discworld movies have been.

People actually liked Going Postal? Why is that?

thorpe

Dynagrip wrote:

tbloxham wrote:

I think the hogfather is actually by far the weakest of all the Discworld books, although I suppose it is the only one which could bear up to the cruel torture that is Christmasification.

Its not a bad book, its just that every other one is better. Well, except Monstrous Regiment. Why couldnt they make Going Postal, or Gaurds Gaurds. Now that I would like to see.

Ill still watch it, but I imagine it will be as disasterous as all previous attempts at Discworld movies have been.

People actually liked Going Postal? Why is that?

I...


I don't know what to say to this.

Dynagrip

Please use your words and type them to me so that I may understand the as yet unknown appeal of Going Postal. I would appreciate it very much if you could do this for me. I want to like Pratchett, but I get the feeling that he is only a marginally more clever Piers Anthony.

FCD

Read the City Watch Discworld novels. They are rad.

FCD

Also, Moving Pictures is quite nice, and a character from it ties into the City Watch novels later on.

Coldred

I'm guessing this will only be on Sky in the UK right? Looks like I'm going to miss this (at first at least) as I don't get home to my parent's wonderful Sky equipped TV until the 21st. Here's hoping for repeats.

Aroduc

Dynagrip wrote:

Please use your words and type them to me so that I may understand the as yet unknown appeal of Going Postal. I would appreciate it very much if you could do this for me. I want to like Pratchett, but I get the feeling that he is only a marginally more clever Piers Anthony.

It definitely wasn't his best, and was way too heavy with the attempts at internet lingo parody, but Moist was a pretty likeable guy and lots of the side-humor (the pin stuff, the hospital, all of Vetinari as usual, etc etc) was all entertaining enough. *shrug*

Jeedan

Hogfather is one of my favourites though, I love the "old gods do new jobs" part of it. Its not just a "hey I havent done a christmas themed Discworld yet," there is something interesting to be said.

DevoutlyApathetic

Aroduc wrote:

Dynagrip wrote:

Please use your words and type them to me so that I may understand the as yet unknown appeal of Going Postal. I would appreciate it very much if you could do this for me. I want to like Pratchett, but I get the feeling that he is only a marginally more clever Piers Anthony.

It definitely wasn't his best, and was way too heavy with the attempts at internet lingo parody, but Moist was a pretty likeable guy and lots of the side-humor (the pin stuff, the hospital, all of Vetinari as usual, etc etc) was all entertaining enough. *shrug*

I read it and it struck me as average for the modern discworld fare. Afterwards I heard an unabridged mp3 reading of it and it steadily rose in my opinion. I really should reread it to see if it comes across as good as I think it is now.

Dyna, have you taken the standard recommendation of Small Gods?

Torso Boy

Sceptre wrote:

So, will there be any way to watch this in Canada?

Fingers crossed for Space to pick it up. I mean, they did Gormenghast, so why not?

I'm only now becoming interested in Discworld...but it's pretty daunting to get into a series spanning 35 novels and then some. Call me crazy, but I think the miniseries would be a pretty good way to break in.

tbloxham

People don't like going postal? How is that even possible, it has such fun characters in it, and the fun characters is what Terry Pratchett is all about.

I mean, Om himself is why Small Gods is so fantastic, Carrot and Vimes make the City Watch books so perfect.

And I thought Sourcery, The Colour of Magic and Equal Rites were excellent. Although they were a bit early so they didnt quite have te feel of the rest.

I had forgotten about Teatime in Hogfather though, he was great. I shall read it again and see if it is how I remember it.

Dynagrip

Yes I have read Good Omens and many other Terry Pratchett books and although humorous I do not find him to be as skilled of an author as is generally thought of on the Penny-Arcade Forums. I think that if he was as talented and full of craft as people think he would not have over 27 books in print over 42 countries and also sired as many illegitimate children as I believe that he has sired.

Evil Multifarious

Dynagrip wrote:

Yes I have read Good Omens and many other Terry Pratchett books and although humorous I do not find him to be as skilled of an author as is generally thought of on the Penny-Arcade Forums. I think that if he was as talented and full of craft as people think he would not have over 27 books in print over 42 countries and also sired as many illegitimate children as I believe that he has sired.

So, writing lots of popular books, and fucking lots of women, means you're not talented? Are you being sarcastic?

Couscous

Dynagrip wrote:

Yes I have read Good Omens and many other Terry Pratchett books and although humorous I do not find him to be as skilled of an author as is generally thought of on the Penny-Arcade Forums. I think that if he was as talented and full of craft as people think he would not have over 27 books in print over 42 countries and also sired as many illegitimate children as I believe that he has sired.

You are basically saying he sucks because he is popular and has produced a lot of books people like.

Dynagrip

I am saying that because he has pumped out so many books in a relatively short period of time that it is obvious that he is not really a mastercraftsman of the written word.