An hour's worth of material could've easily been cut and we would've all been the better for it. It would be a hard slog for many younger children to get through. As such the pace is very leisurely, often vying on boring. In order to flesh out its contracted three-hour running time, there is very little that has been removed from the book. For starters, the running time is far too long. This adaptation is not without it's flaws. Lies like justice, mercy, a universal order or a reason for being.Īs death so eloquently puts it in his all-caps turn of phrase 'YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. You have to 'practice' believing in the little lies like the Hogfather so that you can believe in the big ones when you're old.

The nature of belief in this universe - and to a lesser extent in ours - is a running theme throughout the two-episode miniseries. It gets a bit overly complex, so much so that you may be completely lost if you are unfamiliar with Pratchett's work.

Where these fantasy creatures would cease to exist if they are no A man named Teatime (pronounced Tee-Ah-Tee-May) has been assigned the task, choosing to take control of the tooth-fairy's castle full of teeth to control the children's belief system (the Discworld has a complicated relationship between belief and reality, Meanwhile, the Assassin's Guild have been visited by a mysterious spirit asking for the death of the Hogfather. She also is a deft hand at dispatching boogeymen. Susan is attempting to live a 'normal' life in Ankh-Morpork, the centre of the Disc, and has found a job as the Governess of these children. The tale tells us how Jack got away with stealing from the giants leaving his giant sons orphans, but it's OK, it proves that 'you can be excused for just about anything if you are a hero'. We begin with Susan, Death's granddaughter and the story's heroine, reading two children a fairy tale - Jack and the Beanstalk. The story sees Death take over Hogswatch, Discworld's version of Christmas, after an assassination attempt on their Santa-with-a-snout Hogfather. The Hogfather.Īiring in December 2006 on Sky1, The Hogfather was the big Christmas event that year. In the second of our week-long tribute to Terry Pratchett, we take a look at the first live-action adaptation of Pratchett's work.

Hogfather episode 2