I have been a huge Terry Pratchett fan for over a decade now, and "Hogfather" would have to be one of my favourites of the Discworld series. So when I saw it was going to be aired for Christmas, I was really looking forward to watching it.
However, this rendition was pretty disappointing. Susan was portrayed terribly! She is meant to be a supremely self-confident person who is always in control. This version showed her as almost a meek woman who is ruled by either her charges or her family. Susan should not have been so easily manipulated by Teatime. She has always been one of my favourite characters for her strength, and she was shown *so* badly here.
Teatime was a blatant rip-off of Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka. There was none of the coldness that inspired such fear in the book. His appearance and accent were terribly annoying, and detracted from the story itself. Teatime needed to be approached completely differently in order to succeed.
The wizards were also portrayed appallingly. Ridcully should have been a far stronger figure, and been the focal point of his scenes. Instead, we were shown an old man who doddered around for his time on the screen.
However, I loved Albert and thought he was a fairly accurate representation of the character from the book. He also portrayed the humour that is so distinctive in Pratchett's work. I also appreciated how Death's love of humanity was shown. He was an interesting character, if not quite as sympathetic as in the books. The sets were also well-designed and complimented the story.
Overall, a good effort but required some recasting to be as spectacular as it deserved to be.
However, this rendition was pretty disappointing. Susan was portrayed terribly! She is meant to be a supremely self-confident person who is always in control. This version showed her as almost a meek woman who is ruled by either her charges or her family. Susan should not have been so easily manipulated by Teatime. She has always been one of my favourite characters for her strength, and she was shown *so* badly here.
Teatime was a blatant rip-off of Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka. There was none of the coldness that inspired such fear in the book. His appearance and accent were terribly annoying, and detracted from the story itself. Teatime needed to be approached completely differently in order to succeed.
The wizards were also portrayed appallingly. Ridcully should have been a far stronger figure, and been the focal point of his scenes. Instead, we were shown an old man who doddered around for his time on the screen.
However, I loved Albert and thought he was a fairly accurate representation of the character from the book. He also portrayed the humour that is so distinctive in Pratchett's work. I also appreciated how Death's love of humanity was shown. He was an interesting character, if not quite as sympathetic as in the books. The sets were also well-designed and complimented the story.
Overall, a good effort but required some recasting to be as spectacular as it deserved to be.