Terry Pratchett's Discworld to become six-part TV series

The series is expected to centre around the Ankh-Morpork City Watch and its struggles with modern technology vs. traditional magic

Terry Pratchett (Getty Images)

Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld is returning to TV.

Although the author's long-running fantasy series has been notoriously difficult to adapt in the past; a few iterations have made it to screen: Sky has aired productions of The Hogfather (2006), The Colour of Magic (2008), and Going Postal (2010).

However, it's BBC Studios that's now looking to have a slice of the pie, with Deadline reporting they're developing a six-part series based on the epic universe - imagined as a flat disc, balanced on the backs of four elephants, who in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle.

With a current working title of The Watch, the series appears to be reviving a 2011 project which took its basis from Pratchett's stories surrounding the Ankh-Morpork City Watch: Guards! Guards! (1989), Theatre of Cruelty (1993) (a short story), Men at Arms (1993), Feet of Clay (1996), Jingo (1997), The Fifth Elephant (1999), Night Watch (2002), Thud! (2005) and Snuff (2011).

Their narrative tracks the growth of the City Watch from a hapless trio of individuals to a fully-functioning police force; all while facing the clash between modern technology versus traditional magic. Not only would the series have a vast amount of material to adapt from, but its battles with the supernatural (trolls, zombies etc.) sets up the perfect procedural structure.

Simon Allen, who is penning Sky's remake of Das Boot, is currently onboard to write the series. It also will involve co-production with Narrativia, the production company founded by Pratchett in 2012, run by his daughter Rhianna and former business manager Rob Wilkins since his death.

The BBC is also set to air Good Omens on BBC Two in 2019, a six-part series fronted by David Tennant and Michael Sheen which adapts the book co-authored by Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, following an angel and a demon attempting to sabotage the Apocalypse.

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