Hogfather (2006)

It's Hogswatch (equivalent to Christmas) on the Discworld and the Hogfather has gone missing, requiring Death to take his place while his granddaughter Susan endeavors to find out what has happened.

Director:

Vadim Jean

Writers:

Vadim Jean (adaptation), Terry Pratchett (novel)

Stars:

David Jason, Marc Warren, Michelle Dockery

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Jason	...	Albert
Marc Warren	...	Teatime
Michelle Dockery	...	Susan / Death of Rats
David Warner	...	Lord Downey
Tony Robinson	...	Vernon Crumley
Nigel Planer	...	Mr. Sideney
Peter Guinness	...	Medium Dave
Stephen Marcus	...	Banjo
Craig Conway	...	Chickenwire
Rhodri Meilir	...	Bilious
Sinead Matthews	...	Violet
Ian Richardson	...	Death / Narrator (voice)
Neil Pearson	...	Quoth the Raven (voice)
Nicholas Tennant	...	Corporal Nobbs
Richard Katz	...	Constable Visit

Storyline

It's Hogswatch (equivalent to Christmas) on the Discworld and the Hogfather has gone missing, requiring Death to take his place while his granddaughter Susan endeavors to find out what has happened.

---

Plot Keywords:

boar | discworld | death | christmas | flying pig | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy

---

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Hogfather" author Terry Pratchett appears as the toymaker Death visits at the end. The toymaker had no name in the original book or the script, so Pratchett decided the toymaker was named Joshua Isme, and his shop was called Toys Is Me (a play on Toys R Us, as well as the name "Isme").

---

Goofs

Most of the teeth in the Tooth Fairy's castle are molars with intact roots. But most of the teeth children lose are incisors and canines and the few molars they lose don't have roots attached.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Everything starts somewhere, although many physicists disagree. There is the constant desire to find out where - where is the point where it all began. But much, much later than that, the Discworld was formed. Drifting onwards through space, atop four elephants on the shell of a giant turtle, the Great A'Tuin. It was some time after its creation when most people forgot that the very oldest stories of the beginning are, sooner or later, about blood. At least, that's one theory. The ...

---

Crazy Credits

The Death of Rats is credited to "Dorckey Hellmice". This is an anagram of the Death of Rats' voice actor Michelle Dockery.

---

Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Depictions of the Grim Reaper in TV (2014)

---

Soundtracks

Men of Harlech
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

As good as it could be....

Adapting Terry Pratchett's work for TV is a difficult task. Sure, he is a great writer and I had much fun reading all his novels at least 3-5 times but his writing style lacks a certain TV-compatibility. He uses much narrating and footnotes which is very hard (if not impossible) to transform into a movie. Having said this, I must admit, this adaption with real actors is probably as good as it can be. Sure, I missed a few funny character conversations (Like the "Give-the-Dean-a-bag-of-money-gnome" or the Cheerful Fairy), it also lacked certain elements of the book, including the YMPA, Igor's Bar or the Death of Rats (who is much more important in the book) but you cannot include everything from a 300 page novel into a say 100 page movie script. The producers did the best they could and they did a really great job. The characters looked almost as if Paul Kidby drew them into life and the acting was good. The only minor problem with the movie (which couldn't be prevented I guess) is that it's hard to follow for someone not knowing Pratchett's work before. If you never read his novels and watched this movie, I recommend you do so now. Trust me, the movie is great but the books are even better ;-)

Details

Official Sites:

Sky One

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 November 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Terry Pratchett's Hogfather

Filming Locations:

UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Mob Film Company, RHI Entertainment, British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

185 min (2 parts) (DVD) 189 min (2 parts)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1