7 posts tagged “david jason”
The Colour of Magic official site continues to expand. It now includes a gallery, where fans can browse through a film gallery (The Film >> Film Gallery), on set stills (Behind the Scenes >> On Set Stills and Gallery >> On Set Stills), and concept art (Behind the Scenes >> Concept Art and Gallery >> Concept Art). You can see Bethan (looking somewhat upset) being led toward the sacrificial altar, Cohen the Barbarian, Rincewind in the Patrician’s palace, Death’s Domain, Ankh-Morpork, the Forest of Skund, Twoflower, The Librarian (enjoying a banana!), and more (and more and more and more). Terry Pratchett figures largely in the on set stills gallery, as you see him interacting costumed actors and director Vadim Jean.
The official site can be found at thebrokendrum.net, www1.sky.com/colourofmagic/index.html, and www.sky.com/magic.
Jeremy Irons plays the Patrician in the adaptation in a guest appearance.
Plans are to air The Colour of Magic in two parts over Easter in the U.K. and sometime this summer in the U.S. More specific dates and times have yet to be announced.
For the trailer transcripts, pictures, and continuously updated news, visit www.FromRimToHub.com.
Four major characters in the forthcoming Color of Magic and Light Fantastic TV adaptations have been cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Sean Astin, who played Sam Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, is cast for Twoflower, confirming earlier speculation that David Jason (Rincewind) would c-star with an American actor. Says Astin in the article:
"I'm honored to be given the chance to make the part of Twoflower my own, starring in a fantasy tale that has captured the imagination of millions of people around the world."
Also cast is Tim Curry as Ymper Trymon, and Christopher Lee reprises his 1997 role as the voice of Death.
Things look hopeful for further adaptations, as Sky director of programs Richard Woolfe called Hogfather an “unparalleled success in every way we could have imagined” and the cast for The Color of Magic “unbelievable”—though expectations for the adaptations seem high.
The Color of Magic team, with Vadim Jean directing and RHI Entertainment, the Mob Film Co. and Sky One all on board, has stayed pretty constant from Hogfather, though David Jason is now also an executive producer.
Exciting news for American fans: Hogfather may make its U.S. debut as part of RHI Movie Weekend on Ion Television.
While Terry Pratchett has confirmed that one more Discworld TV dramatization is in the works, a Daily Mail article mentions that David Jason has “an existing commitment to appear in two more bigbudget Terry Pratchett dramatisations” (emphasis added). However exciting this news may be, readers should remember that the Daily Mail is a tabloid, and therefore can’t be wholly trusted.
Terry Pratchett has confirmed that he is now working on a TV script that combines stories from The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic.
If you live in the UK, you have the chance to win a free Hogfather DVD from DigitalSpy.co.uk. The simple competition merely involves answering a very simple question (scroll down for the question and feedback box). Even if you don’t win (or can’t), however, there’s an entertaining clip (showing Susan and Bilius’s visit to the Unseen University) online at the same site.
Several news sources are reporting this week that David Jason (who played Albert in Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather) is going to be in the new Discworld adaptation (purportedly The Colour of Magic) as none other than Rincewind. According to Digital Spy, David Jason prefers Colour of Magic over Hogfather, TheStage.co.uk reports a tentative release (“sometime next year”), and The Sun Online claims Jason will be “an executive producer” of the new adaptation. Be warned, though: many of these claims seem unlikely, and should be considered A Big Rumor for now.
Last night was a good night for Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather last night at BAFTA’s Craft and Television Awards ceremony in London. Gavin Finney of the Hogfather team lost to David Katznelson in the Photography and Lighting Fiction/Entertainment category, but Hogfather did not go unrepresented. Simon Thomas and Oliver Money Hogfather, special effects team) won a prestigious BAFTA Television Craft award for the innovative digital effects used in the feature. In addition, David Jason (Albert in Hogfather), as Fellow of the Academy, presented a Special Award to veteran producer Sydney Lotterby. Congratulations to the entire Hogfather team!
In a Sunday Times article that set off frenzied reactions in both the Harry Potter and Discworld fandoms, Terry Pratchett was asked his opinion on J. K. Rowling’s work and its supposed similarities with Discworld. To quote his response in the article:
“If my lawyer was here he’d say, ‘Do not open your mouth’,” laughs Pratchett, before making a visible effort to be conciliatory.
“Look, if Tolkien hadn’t written The Lord of the Rings I couldn’t have written the Discworld series. It’s how a genre works. Everyone makes their cake from the same ingredients.”
In response to further questioning, Pratchett stated, “I’m not answering that,” according to the article.
digitalspy.co.uk reports that the Sky One broadcast of the first part of Hogfather broke the record for highest rated multichannel commission. With 2.6 million viewers on Sunday, Hogfather beat out BBC Three’s Torchwood, which had held the record since October at 2.4 million viewers.
Originally broadcast on December 14, 2006, “I’m ready for my close-up” (a Resonance FM podcast) host Alex Fitch presents a Hogfather premiere report. The audio report includes interviews with Michelle Dockery, Vadim Jean, Nigel Planer, David Jason, and Terry Pratchett, in that order. To listen, click on this link, then click on the player about halfway down the page. The report begins about six and a half minutes in and lasts for another thirteen minutes.
Terry Pratchett will be visiting the following address in Australia February 12, 2007 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Village, Roadshow Theatrette
State Library of Victoria
Entry 3, La Trobe Street
Admission is by gold coin donation to a charity to be nominated by Terry Pratchett. For more information and to book seats, click here.
Sky One's official Hogfather website, www.skyone.co.uk/hogfather, has updated with an exclusive interview with Marc Warren, who plays Mr. Teatime in the adaptation. In the interview, he talks about his characterization of Mr. Teatime and working with Vadim Jean. To quote the Q&A:
With your eyes, how much can you actually see out of them?
The black eye, I could see very clearly out of, the other eye which is probably the one you would think I could see out of, was very cloudy and affected my sense of depth. Which is fine, but not great, if you have a sword and have to get a couple of inches from somebody's face. My sense of depth was a little bit out, but, I had a lady called Gemma who came along and put my eyes in every day and then took them out at the end. You could only keep them in for about three hours because you have to get oxygen to the eyes.Is it hard to play someone who you can't empathise with?
No, it is not hard to play somebody I don't have empathy with. No, I am sure there is a bit of psychopath in all of us.
sfx.co.uk released an article on Hogfather recently, which you can read here. To quote the article:
Largely eschewing big budget special effects shots – partly because of inclination, partly because of the limitations of TV budgets – Jean sticks close to his main players throughout. The result is a character-driven piece that offers these main players plenty of chances to shine. This gives you ample opportunity to admire, for instance, David Jason’s flawless timing as Death’s manservant, Albert, a performance made all the more impressive when you consider how often he has to be a comic foil for an expressionless skull.
Check Harper Collins’ site for Terry Pratchett, www.terrypratchettbooks.com, for a special audio message from Terry Pratchett about the phenomenal success of Wintersmith and his progress so far on Making Money, his latest, more light-hearted Discworld book. We learn that the “large number of characters” in the book will include, among others, dancing golems. The book attempts to “do to the banking business what The Truth did to newspapers.” Be sure to check it out, as it also includes considerable insight into the process of writing, at least for Terry Pratchett.
Wintersmith made it onto the list of BC Magazine Best Books of 2006. To quote Katy McNeill, one of the Blogcritics reviewers:
Wintersmith for me has already become an old favorite. It has everything I look for in a book; great characters, humor, interesting story, a touch of romance, and even a life lesson or two if you look closely enough.
