Discworld The Watch TV Series Cast Announced

Discworld fans (including this one) have been clamouring for cast announcements since the minute the show was greenlit, and finally we can put some names to faces. Not only that, but the cast list gives us a hint of one of the stories that might be making its way into the show.

Richard Dormer, most recently seen dying heroically on screen as Beric Dondarrion in Game of Thronesm takes the main role of Sam Vimes, the grizzled police commander and reluctant aristocrat. Dormer will please a lot of fans; he looks like a guy who could have spent his life patrolling on the streets, and he’s proved himself over the years as an actor who plays hard as nails and soft with equal greatness. Vimes is undeniably going to be the glue that holds the series together, and Dormer is a very safe pair of hands.

Lara Rossi will play his wife, Lady Sybil, and she is the answer to a lot of fans’ prayers, who had been hoping for a POC actor. Rossi doesn’t have a massive filmography in the same way Dormer does but she’s been steadily appearing more on the screen in the last couple of years, and has roles in big budget productions such as Robin Hood under her belt. I am very much looking forward to what she brings to the role of Sybil, who is easily the best part of any Watch novel.

We don’t yet know the casting for all the members of the Watch, but relative newcomer Adam Hugill has already been announced as Captain Carrot, Vimes’ right hand man. He is very much an actor who looks the part if nothing else, and that’s going to put him in good stead. Angua will be played by Marama Corlett, an accomplished television actor who also acted in the Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014. Rounding out the Watch casting is Jo Eaton-Kent as Cheery the dwarf. This casting is very exciting; Eaton-Kent is a non-binary actor, and the character of Cheery goes through some very interesting explorations of their gender and the gender roles of the dwarf community. Eaton-Kent’s presence all but confirms this important aspect of the character will not be understated. All three of these young actors are relatively unknown and it feels very fresh, especially as the characters are so beloved by fans. I hope that they are really given the chance to make these characters their own.

The last announcement is Sam Adewunmi as Carcer, and this is the first hint we’ve had as to what the show could be about. Carcer is the villain in the most popular Watch book, Night Watch, and as that is the only one he appears in, there’s a good chance that some of that storyline might make it into the show.

We have a while to wait before we know for sure – filming hasn’t even started yet – and there will surely be a lot more announcements to come, such as Fred, Nobby and Lord Vetinari, all key Watch characters. But this is a great start, and one that is only bound to leave fans wanting more.