Hogfather (2006) (TV)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Vadim Jean

Writers:

Vadim Jean (adaptation)
Terry Pratchett (novel)

Release Date:

25 November 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

Plot:

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. |

Plot Keywords:

Discworld | Christmas | Death | Monster Under Bed | Weird Laughter

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

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	...	The Raven (voice)
Nicholas Tennant	...	Corporal Nobbs
Richard Katz	...	Constable Visit

Also Known As:

Terry Pratchett's Hogfather (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

185 min (2 parts) (DVD version) | 189 min (2 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

UK:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Romania

Company:

Mob Film Company, The

Trivia:

After filming, Hogfather author Terry Pratchett was stopped by customs at an airport in Australia. He had a large box of plastic teeth from the set, which distressed the officials. He explained the situation, and pointed out that they should probably be more concerned with the large box marked 'DEATH.' (Told to con-goers at MidSouthCon 2007 in Memphis, TN)

Goofs:

Factual errors: Most of the teeth in the Tooth Fairy's castle are molars with intact roots. But most of the teeth children lose are incisors and canines and the few molars they lose don't have roots attached.

Quotes:

Teatime: Do you have many friends, Mr Sydeney? I don't have many... Don't seem to have the knack... Then again, I don't seem to have any enemies either.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Movie Connections: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (#1.4)" (2007)

Hogswatch it! An excellent bit of whimsy

A very silly festive fairytale for children of all ages, with a no-nonsense (in the primmest, properest sense of the word), kick-ass heroine, set in a world that looks remarkably like ours, in a thaumaturgical, Victorian Gothic kind of way, considering it's actually a disc balanced on some elephants, which are balanced on a turtle.

'Tis the night before Hogswatch - a solar festival not dissimilar from our Christmas. But where is the Hogfather to deliver the presents? What on earth is Death doing? Just how DO you subdue the monsters in the basement with a poker? Not to mention those in the Tooth Fairy's castle. Who has been naughty and who has been nice? And can Susan save the Hogfather before it's too late? Like all the best 'children's' stories, there are a slew of adult jokes - from Ian Richardson's asides about House of Cards, to the 'Ant hill Inside' ('Intel Inside') visual jokes on the, er, 'computer' - modernity is folded subtly into this wonderfully alternate world of yore.

Good performances from the famous faces, but it is Michelle Dockery as Susan who is the highly pragmatic, utterly bewitching star of the show.

There are some nice unpatronising ruminations on the nature of belief, myth, right and wrong for those who like a moral but not entirely Christian worldview.

So - who's up for a bit of magic and believing?