The Ankh-Morpork City Watch novels have always been some of the most popular of Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. Now, we have The Watch series to look forward to, and they’ve finally given us a release date. Let’s hope it lives up to its expectations.

Vimes and Angua tracking a release date in "The Watch".
There you are, you bloody release date. You won’t be getting away this time!

Fabricati Diem Pvnc

To say that fan reactions to The Watch are divisive would be the understatement of the Century of the Fruit Bat. Some believe it’s an interesting take on the Ankh-Morpork City Watch books; a different leg of the trousers of time, so to speak. Others think that the producers have made so many changes from the source material that it’s no more Discworld than the sequel trilogy is Star Wars. Regardless though, The Watch is one of the most hotly anticipated Discworld series ever made, primarily because it’s the fourth live-action one after Hogfather, The Colour of Magic, and Going Postal. And now it seems, we have a release date courtesy of AMC Networks through BBC America: January 2021. BBC America has even released a new image to promote it.

The City Watch in a different trouser of time leg.
The Ankh-Morpork City Watch are here, but not quite as you remember them.

Going from left to right in this still image from The Watch, we have Cheery Littlebottom (played by Jo Eaton-Kent), Angua von Uberwald (played by Marama Corlett), Sybil Ramkin (played by Lara Rossi), Sam Vimes (played by Richard Dormer), Detritus (played by Craig MacRae), and Carrot Ironfoundersson (played by Adam Hugill). Of all of these Watch members, Detritus (the big rocky guy behind Vimes) is the only new face so far, and well, he looks more or less like what a Discworld troll should look like. His height and stature (or is that “statue”?) makes it pretty likely that he’ll be wielding his iconic Piecemaker crossbow/ballista in the series.

Detritus wielding his Piecemaker crossbow/ballista thing.
Because it makes pieces, you see.

Now hopefully, Detritus acts like he does in the books: slow, but not quite stupid. Okay, maybe a little stupid, but with a surprising amount of depth. And with a tendency to solve complex mathematical equations when stuck in freezers.

Conclusion

We’ll finally get to see The Watch on January 2021. We don’t know precisely when in January, but at least they’ve narrowed down the month. And all of you Discworld fans (me included) have to admit, even if you have doubts about this series, you’ll still watch it because, in the end, it’s still Discworld. Now let’s hope BBC America doesn’t disappoint the spirit of Sir Terry Pratchett. Especially not in the humor department.

"Always remember, that the crowd that applauds your coronation is the same crowd that will applaud your beheading. People like a show." Terry Pratchett
Ankh-Morpork crowds in a nutshell.

Because when all is said and done, Discworld lives and breathes humor.

Source: Bleeding Cool