This series is merely 'Inspired by the works of Sir Terry Pratchett' so don't expect a faithful adaptation of any story; there are plenty of familiar characters but some only keep the original's name and the plot seems to combine elements from several books rearranged in a way that means everything is quite different.
The series is centred on the City Watch, the police, in the city of Ankh-Morpork; it contains humans, a werewolf, a dwarf and even a troll. This is a place where magic is real and the strange is commonplace. Sam Vimes, the Watch captain has many concerns; most notably somebody he thought he saw die many years previously is back, and doesn't appear to have aged a day; there is also the small matter of the dragon this man is trying to summon.
As a fan of the books, who is currently half way through reading 'Guards! Guards!', I was rather horrified when I started watching episode one and saw all the changes that had been made; I decided that as the series is only eight episodes long I'd plough on... I'm glad that I did as I grew to enjoy it as something entirely separate from the books. There are plenty of funny moments in each episode; as well as some cringe inducing misfires such as times characters start singing and dancing. There are some character problems; Lady Sybil Ramkin is far too much of a 'Mary Sue' and Lord Vetinari really shouldn't have been gender-flipped. Early on I was unimpressed at the casting of a reasonably tall actor as Cheery the Dwarf; the character was entertaining enough if you can forget they are meant to be a dwarf. The cast is sold; most obviously Richard Dormer as Vimes and, despite looking nothing like how I imagine the character, Marama Corlett as Corporal Angua the werewolf. The look of the city may have been changed from the books but its punk aesthetic is suitably grungy for Ankh-Morpork. Overall I'd recommend giving this a go although I admit that many won't get past the changes, and I can understand that.
The series is centred on the City Watch, the police, in the city of Ankh-Morpork; it contains humans, a werewolf, a dwarf and even a troll. This is a place where magic is real and the strange is commonplace. Sam Vimes, the Watch captain has many concerns; most notably somebody he thought he saw die many years previously is back, and doesn't appear to have aged a day; there is also the small matter of the dragon this man is trying to summon.
As a fan of the books, who is currently half way through reading 'Guards! Guards!', I was rather horrified when I started watching episode one and saw all the changes that had been made; I decided that as the series is only eight episodes long I'd plough on... I'm glad that I did as I grew to enjoy it as something entirely separate from the books. There are plenty of funny moments in each episode; as well as some cringe inducing misfires such as times characters start singing and dancing. There are some character problems; Lady Sybil Ramkin is far too much of a 'Mary Sue' and Lord Vetinari really shouldn't have been gender-flipped. Early on I was unimpressed at the casting of a reasonably tall actor as Cheery the Dwarf; the character was entertaining enough if you can forget they are meant to be a dwarf. The cast is sold; most obviously Richard Dormer as Vimes and, despite looking nothing like how I imagine the character, Marama Corlett as Corporal Angua the werewolf. The look of the city may have been changed from the books but its punk aesthetic is suitably grungy for Ankh-Morpork. Overall I'd recommend giving this a go although I admit that many won't get past the changes, and I can understand that.