The Hogfather on screen

An adaptation of Terry Pratchett's novel The Hogfather will premiere on Sky next week, written and directed by Vadim Jean. In The Times, James Jackson meets the best-selling author.

Pratchett reasons: “It’s remarkably easy to sell film rights. Selling film rights to someone who’s actually going to make the film is hard, selling to someone who’s going to make a good film is practically impossible. I’ve bought back the rights to two books that I sold, which wasn’t cheap.”

Pratchett — formerly a news journalist and a press officer answering for three nuclear power stations — is fiercely protective of his work. Perhaps having noted the animosity expressed by Philip Pullman or by the graphic novelist Alan Moore towards big-screen adaptations of their work, he sees television as a more accommodating medium for his intricate narratives — there is simply far too much going on in an average Discworld novel for a two-hour movie to do it justice.

“You can get more involved,” Pratchett agrees, comparing it with a boy being allowed to play with a father’s train set. “I went to see the wizards’ Hogswatch party some weeks ago and it looked so beautiful. The obscure corners of London are becoming the city of Ankh-Morpork.”