Hogfather


You’ve got to hand it to Terry Pratchett, he’s certainly managed to cut himself a huge slice of the literary fantasy pie without having to sell his soul to Hollywood. Being both prolific and popular has meant he is financially secure and does not need to whore his work to the studios of Babylon. While his legions of fans have demanded movies and offers have been made he has resisted. There were two animated Discworld stories (WYRD SISTERS and SOUL MUSIC) produced in the UK by the veritable Cosgrove Hall (of DANGER MOUSE fame) but, despite great voice talent, they didn’t really capture the spirit of the books.

The problem with adapting Pratchett’s work to a visual medium is you lose the words that set his books apart from other fantasy writers. Mixing fantasy, pop culture and Swiftian satire, Pratchett has created a universe filled with wonderful characters in stories that are filled with clever word plays that are very hard to translate to the screen. Of course they do work as audio books, but even there some of the puns get lost. But now Sky and The Mob Film Company have taken an appropriately seasonal tale and turned it into a four hour movie that will be shown on Sky One over two nights (December 17 and 18 and repeated on Christmas Day and Boxing Day).

Adapted and directed by Roger Vadim (LEON THE PIG FARMER), this is a stunning production that features the cream of Britain’s acting and comedy talent, including David Jason, David Warner, Ian Richardson, Joss Ackland, Marc Warren, Michelle Dockery, Neil Pearson, Nigel Planer and Tony Robinson. The latter two are responsible, between them, for voicing the majority of the Discworld audio books.

For those of you not familiar with the story; it’s the night before Hogswatch, usually a time of joy on Discworld. A night when overexcited children are kept awake by the thoughts of what presents they may find inside their stockings, once they are allowed to stop pretending to be asleep.

But this year, all is not right with the holiday season! There have been some worryingly suspicious goings-on involving Teatime (Marc Warren), a member of Ankh-Morpork’s Assassins’ Guild, and the town’s already bustling criminal underworld is abuzz with dodgy deeds. The beloved Hogfather – the jolly bearer of glee and pork-related gifts for children everywhere – has vanished.

Suddenly, the stability of the Discworld’s entire mythical system is under threat, for if the children stop believing in the Hogfather, the sun will not rise upon Discworld again!

The fate of this magical time rests in the hands of a very motley group: A band of wizards headed up by a mystical university president named Mustrum Ridcully (Joss Ackland); a loyal manservant who goes by the of Albert (David Jason); a level headed governess called Susan Sto Helit (Michelle Dockery); and her grandfather, who happens to be..well. Death (Ian Richardson).

It will take some very extreme measures: Plans must be made, trolls must be fought, fairies must be rescued, and DEATH must take up the reins at the helm of the Hogfather’s abandoned sleigh, if the Hogfather, and possibly more importantly, the holiday, is to be saved.

The production team have done a fantastic job of recreating Discworld for the screen. From the opening shot of Discworld balanced on the backs of four elephants, standing on a giant turtle to the hallowed halls of the Unseen University to the Tooth Fairy’s magical castle. Although the word play is not always transferable there are some fantastic visual gags, such as Hex, the Unseen University’s thinking machine, that has “Anthill Inside”, and the wizard who has “Born to Rune” on the back of his robes. There is also a running gag throughout the show, with Albert trying to roll and smoke a cigarette.

For Pratchett fans this is possibly the best present they could get this year, and Terry even makes a cameo appearance. For anyone who has not read any of the Discworld novels this is as good an introduction as any. It may be considered fantasy-lite by the hardcore swords and sorcery crowd but it was never meant to be serious, even though the books do manage to cover some very interesting philosophical arguments without being flippant.

For those of you without access to Sky One, you can be pretty sure it will be out on DVD in the new year. The preview DVD I saw already indicated surround sound options, and I am sure they will want to recoup their production costs. Whether they make any more is down to Mr Pratchett. He seems very happy with the results of this one, but he may not feel the need to commit to further adaptations. At least the audio books are enjoyable.

HOGFATHER is on Sky One on December 17 at 8pm (just before LOST) and concludes at the same time on December 18. It is repeated on Christmas and Boxing days.