Discworld Adaptations

I have question for all those on the forums from the main editors of the guide:

Has anyone here seen Sky 1's adaptations of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels and do they count as comedies?

I'm asking this because Sky have made adaptations - "Hogfather" and "The Colour of Magic" - and they have just announced the cast of their next adaptation, which is of "Going Postal". Richard Coyle is playing the lead role of Moist Von Lipwig, and it will also star David Suchet, Charles Dance, Claire Foy, Steve Pemberton, Andrew Sachs and Tamsin Greig.

However, while some of the editors have read some of the books, we haven't seen the adaptations and therefore don't know if they count as comedy dramas or just straight dramas. If you have seen them, please tell us if we should include these shows in the BCG.

I think they were supposed to be funny. The scripts would probably have made you laugh, but the finished products were a bit on the dull side. Does that help?

I quite liked them. I guess there were a few funny bits in them but really not much that made you laugh out loud.

A lot of Pratchett's humour is in his wording and descriptions rather than the situations themselves.

I'd say they were nearer to drama but set in a slightly silly world. Both far superior and less funny than Krod Mandoon.

They were lifeless and grossly inferior to the animated versions.

I thought they were funny, but I've never read the books.

Whether they were funny or not is not the issue here. What I need to know is was it a comedy or not. Just because something wasn't funny doesn't mean it's NOT comedy - it means it's BAD comedy.

Hard to tell really. Bad comedy normally comes across as trying to be funny but failing, the Discworld adaptations didn't really seem like they were trying to be funny.

Yes definitely comedy. And Elaine Pyke Executive Producer is lovely!

Just to clarify; Top Gear is hilarious. Even EastEnders, I am lead to believe, can be funny. But they're obviously not comedies in so much as something we can, or would want to, include on the BCG.

Top Gear's a sitcom.

A gay sitcom.
It's more like an English Will and Grace.

A gay sitcom.
It's more like an English Will and Grace.

The BCG's article on "Going Postal" is online.

https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/terry_pratchett_going_postal/

Also, for those interested, Radio 7 is repeating a few radio adaptations of some of the Discworld novels. Amongst them include Mort, Wyrd Sisters and Guards! Guards!.

I've seen a couple of pictures on Sky's website. Richard Coyle looks cool.

I've just learned that BBC Radio 7 are also repeating an adaption of Small Gods as well.

For those interested, Terry Pratchett is appearing as a guest on the new series of The Museum of Curiosity.

http://shows.external.bbc.co.uk/help/shows/museum_of_curiosity