Terry Pratchett's 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.

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Plot Keywords:

boar | discworld | death | christmas | flying pig | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy | Thriller

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Arthur White, who plays the Tooth Fairy's driver Ernie, is the brother of Sir David Jason, who plays Death's manservant Albert.

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Goofs

Each time Violet gets a close up, you can see that her ribbon isn't in the same place.

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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 ...

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Crazy Credits

Terry Pratchett, the author of the "Hogfather" novel, is credited in the opening credits with the line "Mucked About by Terry Pratchett".

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Connections

Referenced in Movie Connections: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (2007)

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Soundtracks

Mr. Sandman
(uncredited)
By Pat Ballard

User Reviews

This was just awesome

By examining previous IMDb user comments I'm glad to see everyone else seems to have enjoyed this adaptation of what is, in my opinion, one of Terry Pratchett's best novels.

As a long-time Pratchett fan I was naturally apprehensive about this feature for several reasons:

1. The tremendous wealth of background knowledge and understanding required for a Discworld novel is so vast that translation to a TV feature (even if it is over 3 hours in length), is a dubious task.

2. It's a novel that many Discworld fans, such as myself, read some 10 years ago and nostalgia etc... have had an effect on our perception of the novel

3. Casting such distinct, unusual and downright fantastic characters could prove difficult - even on a Hollywood budget!

4. It was SKY that was responsible for the production... That's right SKY (I won't say any more in case Mr. Murdoch sues me!)

I am pleased to say, however, not one of these worries failed me. I found general production and direction to be as slick (not a great expression I know!), as any high-budget Hollywood feature. The feature played like a 'dark-pantomime,' for me with visual effects, wardrobe, makeup, lighting and sound being not only effective and atmospheric, but ultimately captivating for the viewer (and that was without HD!).

The casting was inspired, especially in the case of Michelle Dockery as 'Susan,' who I personally found to be the exact image and persona as that I had envisaged in all those Discworld novels over the years (She was really good looking as well).

Death was always going to be a challenge but I thought the costume was masterfully done. Not so scary as to send the kids to bed but still retaining a feeling of power and menace (as well as the doting-grandfather charm), to appeal to the hardened 'Discworlders.' I didn't think anyone could do a better job with THE VOICE than Christopher Lee in the 1990's cartoon series of "Soul Music," but I was proved wrong when Ian Richardson triumphed in both gravitas and endearment.

I felt Sky 'over-plugged' Sir David Jason as the role of Albert,and understandably so as he was the biggest name to this production. Don't get me wrong, I think David Jason is truly amazing as both an actor and entertainer, and his portrayal as Albert was no exception, however, I always envisioned Albert as more of a skinny, wry, Sir Ben Kingsley type character.

This leads on to my only one fault with the entire production: Mr. Teatime. Once again, this is in no disrespect to Marc Warren. I have seen much of his other work and he is a fantastic young British actor, I just did not care for the way he portrayed Mr Teatime with an unusual 'Johnny Depp in "Carlie and the Chocolate Factory" -kind of accent.' He certainly got the levels of cynicism and general creepiness right but something about his performance just felt forced.

As an entire production, though, if Hogfather doesn't 'clean out' the BAFTA awards this year then something is seriously wrong with the British public's viewing tastes (something I have suspected for years anyway!).

Well done Sky for proving it is actually capable of a truly enjoyable and memorable piece of television. And long may it continue!