What wonder is this – Bank Holiday viewing that’s fun, original, beautifully put together and has us glued to the screen for two hours on two consecutive nights?
It can only be Mister Pratchett.
Last night, my son dozed off on my shoulder and I sat, my arm going to sleep, absolutely bloody riveted. If I have a complaint, it’s that there were too many sodding adverts, thank you Sky!
But! A flawlessly paced and solid narrative, a charismatic performance by Richard Coyle as Lipwig, ably supported by the stern schoolmistress sexiness (it’s a cheap shot but, hell, it works) of Miss Dearheart. We fell in love with Stanley and his pins – the moment of his perforation genius brought twitter tears to many, I think. Stanley is the geek in us all, we decided – and it’s pure comic insight that takes a single, recognisable quality and turns it into loveable character with which we can all empathise.
Charles Dance made a beautifully austere Vetinari – but all were utterly upstaged by the outrageous ‘Evil Genius’ overacting of David Suchet as Reacher. He was bad, he was glorious – and he was kind of hot (sorry, that might just be me)…
The thing at which Sir Terry has always excelled is taking modern clichés and referencing them in a Discworld context – so the three ‘x-files’ geeks who bust the code of the Clacks, the industrial regulations of the Golems, the media and corporate wars that made up a strong part of the story – and not forgetting ‘Extreme Pins’ magazine – all of these draw us in and bring the Discworld to vibrant life. We can identify with it, because it’s so close to our own experience.
Gorgeous set, snappy dialogue, perfect timing – and a wonderful cameo by the Man Himself at the end – what else is there to say?
One thing.
The final race sees the triumph of a book (more than one, if you include the ledger) over technology.
Perhaps Going Postal was making a point?
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