Sir Terry Pratchett has long been heralded as one of the world’s finest authors and a genius satirist.
Now, the late British author, who passed away in 2015 due to complications with Alzheimer’s disease, is set to live on through new TV adaptations of his famous ‘Discworld’ series of novels.
In a statement on the Narativia website, the independent company started by Pratchett in 2012 announced that it would be producing adaptations of the author’s beloved works in partnership with Motive Pictures and Endeavor Content.
Narrativia has been co-directed by Pratchett’s daughter, the writer Rhianna Pratchett, since his death, alongside managing director Rob Wilkins. The decision to work with Motive and Endeavor was, according to the statement, “forged from a shared love of the source material, and a commitment to creating an epic series, which will kick off with some of the most iconic titles in Sir Terry’s fiercely incisive and satirical universe.”
Motive Pictures is an independent company established last year (2019) by former Channel 4 Head of International Drama Simon Maxwell who currently serves as its CEO and Executive Producer. During his time at Channel 4, Maxwell has spearheaded such shows as Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, Humans and Born to Kill.
Motive Pictures is backed by Endeavor Content, a company that finances and sells television, movie, theatre, and audio content.
Narrativia is perhaps most famous for producing the adaptation for Good Omens, a novel co-written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. The company owns the exclusive multimedia and merchandising rights to Sir Terry’s work. Given that it is run by his daughter, we can expect the kind of faithful adaptations that it claims to be producing.
Previously, Pratchett’s Discworld stories have been adapted into both animated and live-action productions. This includes two animated series based on Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters developed by Cosgrove Studios in 1997. Then, there was the three ‘Sky One’ live-action adaptations Hogfather (2006), The Colour of Magic (2008), and Going Postal (2010) produced by The Mob, a production company based in Manchester, England.
Are you looking forward to seeing Terry Pratchett’s Discworld come to life on-screen once again? What novels do you want to see adapted the most? Let us know in the comments below.