Britain’s Sky One network recently broadcast their live-action adaptations of Terry Pratchett’s first two Discworld novels, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. Until very recently, I would have considered novels with such a breadth of imagination to require visual work that could well run into the tens of millions of dollars. Fortunately, our modern world is much kinder on the screen-artist, and it should be possible to do justice to the Disc. With further thanks to modern technology, I’ve gotten a chance to screen the pair of ninety-minute adaptations myself.

For those unfamiliar with the subject matter, I will neither humor you nor belabor the point. If you can’t be arsed to run to the local bookshop and pick up a few Pratchett novels, then you can very well knock off right now. Or at least visit the Wikipedia entry, which should really only be a precursor to performing the very act described one run-on sentence ago.

All read up? Good.

The first thing to note about Sky One’s presentation is that it is truly and lovingly crafted with reverence and care taken towards the source material. While it’s been a few years since I’ve read the books in question, everything seemed quite in-place and matched up with recalled descriptions of events and personalities. No expense is seemingly spared on costumes, with a richly varied and deliciously distinctive wardrobe provided for each of the characters. The sets are, likewise, lusciously lavish, and the oh-so-required CG generally blending well into the live-action portions of the stage. The whole thing is shot in 1080i HD, which looked quite beautiful on my laptop screen.

Another great surprise for this television adaptation lies in the cast, particularly the leading roles. The chemistry between Sean Astin (yes, the Samwise Gamgee Sean Astin) as Twoflower and Sir David Jason (he’s a notable British actor I’ve not heard of prior) as Rincewind is astounding. Astin’s American accent and affect set him beautifully apart from the absurdly British Ankh-Morporkians, while David Jason is incredible at bouncing between exasperation, resignation and pants-wetting terror. I’m honestly surprised to have not encountered someone of Sir Jason’s caliber before.

The supporting cast is also excellent. Tim Curry stands out as the devilishly ambitious Trymon, and Jeremy Irons is visually well-placed as Lord Vetinari, although I might suggest he work on the accent a bit. Lisping does not quite project the cold, calculating, hard-assed image I’d expect from the Patrician. The CG Death was pretty good, although I still prefer the cartoon Death from the old animated Soul Music adaptation to this one; it was a bit too “realistic” and tended to look like a man in a plastic mask at times. You can also spot cameos from Pratchett himself - he’s a bald, white-bearded astronomer whose appearances bookend the broadcast.

There were a few omissions from the novels - I noticed was the absence of Ysabelle and the Dungeon Dimensions - but on the whole it was an immensely enjoyable three-hour package. I’ll have to pick up some more Discworld novels for the flight to Atlanta. On the whole, though, I have no serious complaints.

Recommendation: See it now. Difficult, yes, but I do hope Sky One hurries along the release of a DVD or, better yet, some form of HD media. And also hurry along with more Discworld adaptations. I hear they’ve done Hogfather in the past and will be doing Going Postal for 2009. Adapt Mort and Reaper Man while you’re at it.