Terry Pratchetts' The Colour of Magic ; Shown on Sky TV - A review

When I heard that Sky Television had made another Terry Pratchet book into a 4 hour spectacular for TV I was thrilled. Then I learned that the production was to be based on Terry’s debut Discworld novel; The Colour of Magic. Hmm, I thought, how are they going to get away with that one. The thing is, The Colour of magic is pretty low on plot, being a rather tenuously linked collection of short stories.
It turns out that Terry Pratchet, Sky and Director Vadim Jean also felt the same way. The answer was of course to weave the wonderful short stories contained in The Colour of Magic around the definite plot of Terry’s second novel, The Light Fantastic!

The Colour of Magic stars David Jason – who played Albert – Deaths sidekick, in Hogfather – as Rincewind, the hapless Wizzard, as well as Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee of LOTR) as Ankh Morpork’s first tourist, complete with phrasebook and demon operated box brownie. Tim Curry plays the evil Wizard, Trymon.
Jeremy Irons plays Lord Vetinary, The Patrician of Ankh Morpork, and plays the character faithfully.

The special effects were a little hit-and-miss. The Discworld itself was fantastic (Forgive the Pun) – but the luggage, (Valiantly played by Richard Costa) was a little wooden (yes… I know), which sadly robbed it of some personality. The Wyrmberg looked great, standing off in the distance like a giant ice cream cone, defying gravity. The Unseen University great hall was once again shot in the mediaeval Guild hall building in London. Ankh Morpork docks turned out to be Gloucester Docks, perfect for the scene, and the ship that Twoflower arrives at the dock is the ‘Matthew’, a replica of John Cabot’s ship on his 1496 voyage to Newfoundland.

There is plenty to enjoy about the production, and many enjoyable moments. David Jason ( Only Fools and Horses, Darling Buds of May) who did most of his own stunts, gets involved in an upside-down sword fight with Liessa in the Wyrmberg, spends two days in four feet of violently thrashing water in the pinewood tank, the biggest tank in Europe, to capture excellent images of the waterfall at the edge of the Discworld.

Readers who demand authenticity will be pleased to learn that the Director, Vadim Jean was criticised (by Terry Pratchet) only for the fact that he insisted, all the way through production, in trying to stay too faithful to the books.
The Verdict:
Well worth waiting for!