Given the paucity of strong Pratchett adaptations, this is arguably a sensible approach. The creative team behind The Watch (written by Simon Allen and produced by Johann Knobel) has made it clear that while the series was “inspired” by Pratchett’s work, it isn’t beholden to it. In and of itself, that isn’t not necessarily a problem.

Very little of his work could be described as self-consciously edgy.

The books’ mix of tones holds together thanks to Pratchett’s clear, comfortable voice and his strong grasp of story and pacing. The comedy is broad and clever, with Groucho Marx absurdism sitting cheek-to-jowl with Abbott and Costello slapstick, which fumbles over Swiftian wit. Pratchett’s Discworld novels are the fantasy equivalent of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - dry, farcical humor that winks at the audience - except that they have more warmth, better world-building, and a deep, pervasive humanism. Some of the jokes land, while many of them don’t, but that style feels directly at odds with the series’ source of inspiration. Exhaustingly so, really, full of rapid-fire cuts, incongruous music choices, and a sense of humor that should be familiar to anyone who’s seen an animated movie in the past 10 years. Instead, they keep both - and while it’s not a major flaw, it’s indicative of a muddled production where the team can’t decide whether they want to adapt Pratchett’s work, riff on it, or just use it for window dressing. Eaton is fine in the role, and when the creative team decided to cast them, they could’ve easily skipped this particular part of Carrot’s backstory. That means Carrot’s size isn’t actually unusual, which ruins the gag. In this series, she’s about as tall as Carrot, and she’s an actual dwarf.

īut soon after, Carrot meets forensics expert Constable Cheery (Jo Eaton).

(See also: Will Ferrell in Elf.) It’s a decent gag, and it shows up fairly early on in The Watch, BBC America’s latest take on Pratchett’s work. The joke being, he’s tall for a dwarf, which led to considerable tensions down in the mine. Pratchett’s Discworld novels explain that Carrot is human, but was raised by dwarves after his birth parents abandoned him. Take his character Constable Carrot (Adam Hugill), a well-meaning young man looking to make his name in law enforcement. To bestselling fantasy author Terry Pratchett, there was no such thing as a too-obvious joke.

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