History Series / TheWatch2021

* ActionGirl: Lady Sybil Ramkin is the best hands-to-hands fighter of the series, able to hold her own against multiple trained assassins.

** Cheery's range of knowledge and general savvyness is far wider than in the books, to the point that she is now TheSmartGuy of the Watch. She is the team healer, comes up with most strategies, usually has a piece of knowledge that will help them finding the next clue, and eventually [[spoiler:comes up with the way of defeating the Noble Dragon]].

** Vetinari seems far less on the top of things than in the books.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Lord Vetinari. Vimes is suspicious of her intentions in wanting control of the dragon, but she hasn't actually done anything outright evil, and in fact tacitly encourages Vimes' altruism and willingness to go against the status quo. In the finale, while the Watch are busy fighting the dragon, she hides in a lushly furnished prison cell.

* LoopholeAbuse: Used to avoid being murdered by the Assassins Guild, when The Watch [[spoiler:use their newly acquired Musician guild membership to grant themselves immunity from attack. When Dr. Cruces points out that Sybil, who wasn't there when they tried out for the Musicians Guild, is therefore fair game, they point out that as members they can give a tryout to whoever they want, and after some really terrible singing on Sybil's part, she's a member too.]]

* NaiveNewcomer: Constable Carrot, who is disgusted and surprised to learn the Ankh-Morpork Watch, far from doing any policework, are actually in cahoots with the criminal guilds of the city.

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Played with. Both Carrot and Cheery are dwarves, though Carrot only via adoption. Both are upwards of six foot tall, with Cheery's explanation that dwarves "come in all shapes and sizes". Carrot doesn't have a beard, and Cheery initially keeps hers shaved off, though later regrows it. Cheery presents as female with dresses and makeup. Cheery also has a phobia of the dark, making her ill suited for mines. Later, it is revealed [[spoiler: that her local Dwarven culture demands homogeneity to the point where they all wear beards, dress identically, and use he/him pronouns regardless of gender. The dwarves literally try to be all the same.]]

* PoliceAreUseless: This is a key premise of the story. The crime guilds in the city operate on a quota system and police themselves. The Watch has no jurisdiction over guild members which means that they have no jurisdiction over most crime in the city. In the first episode they are assigned the case of a ''missing library book'' and before this, Vimes was trying to arrest a stray dog for lack of anything better to do. Lady Ramkin detests the Watch because they were powerless to do anything after her parents were killed by an Assassin.

* SchizoTech: Ankh-Morpork has computers, electricity and security cameras, but on closer inspection these are often operated by imps, magic, or are pilfered wholesale from somewhere called "Round World". The Watch still use crossbows and assorted medieval weaponry.

* UsedFuture: Much of Ankh Morpork is a graffiti blazened, concrete slum.

''The Watch'' is a British fantasy, comedy, police procedural series, inspired by the [[Literature/{{Discworld}} Discworld]] novels of [[Creator/TerryPratchett Sir Terry Pratchett]]. The show depicts The Watch, an incompetent, ragtag, toothless police force, located in the city of Ankh-Morpork, in a parallel universe to our own. The Watch, lead by the depressed alcoholic Captain Vimes (Richard Dormer), is tasked with protecting the city from a mysterious new threat: a ginormous dragon, summoned by Vimes' former (and supposedly long dead) friend Carcer Dun (Sam Adewunmi). He is joined by dragon enthusiast and vigilante Lady Sybil Ramkin (Lara Rossi), and the rest of the Watch: Newbie Constable Carrot Ironfoundersson (Adam Hugill), the cynical werewolf Corporal Angua von Überwald (Marama Corlett), Troll Sergeant Detritus (Ralph Ineson), and the Dwarven forensic expert Corporal Cheery Littlebottom (Jo Eaton-Kent).

* BiggerBad: Carcer is merely a MookLieutenant working for a mysterious entity that is determined to destroy Ankh-Morpork.

* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:Detritus dies early in the series even though he survived through all the books]].

* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: In "Better to Light a Candle," the members of the Watch, performing as their band "The What," [[spoiler:play a version of the show's theme tune to summon the Noble Dragon. Prior to this, Lady Sybil's dragon Goodboy had been humming in several previous episodes. Sybil releases Goodboy, who then chitters the tune to the Noble Dragon, which then meets its end.]]

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Lord Vetinari. Vimes is suspicions of her intentions in wanting control of the dragon, but she hasn't actually done anything outright evil, and in fact tacitly encourages Vimes' altruism and willingness to go against the status quo. In the finale, while the Watch are busy fighting the dragon, she hides in a lushly furnished prison cell.

** Carrot is at one point thought to be [[spoiler:the rightful heir to the throne of Ankh-Morpork, although this is eventually disproved]]. In the books, most people suspect this to actually be the case, although it has never been explicitly confirmed (and Carrot did his best to keep it that way).

* AdaptationalSkill: Cheery's range of knowledge and general savvyness is far wider than in the books, to the point that she is now TheSmartGuy of the Watch. She is the team healer, comes up with most strategies, usually has a piece of knowledge that will help them finding the next clue, and eventually [[spoiler:comes up with the way of defeating the Noble Dragon]].

* AdaptationalSkill:
** Cheery's range of knowledge and general savvyness is far wider than in the books, to the point that she is now TheSmartGuy of the Watch. She is the team healer, comes up with most strategies, usually has a piece of knowledge that will help them finding the next clue, and eventually [[spoiler:comes up with the way of defeating the Noble Dragon]].

** Vetinari seems far less on the top of things than the books.
** Death is far more bumbling than in the book, even when he is doing his job. He seems more interested in being part of a band than actually reaping.

* MythologyGag: A lot of references to the books appear as FreezeFrameBonus or FunnyBackgroundEvent, e.g. there are advertisements from Throat for dragon detectors - a piece of wood.

** Angua is even more resentful of her werewolf heritage, especially since her family staged for her to [[spoiler:kill her human friend while in wolf form to prove that humans and werewolves could not live together]].

** Sally behaves mostly as a stereotypical vampire, while in the book she was reformed and ultimately a decent addition to the Watch.

** Death is far more bumbling than in the book, even when he is doing his job. He seems more interesting in being part of a band than actually reaping.

* AristocratsAreEvil: Dr Cruces, the head of the Assassin's Guild, who wants control of the dragon for dubious reasons. Lady Sybil is a rare exception, being one of the few nobles with an ambition to reform Ankh-Morpork for the better.

* MirrorUniverse: In episode 7, Vimes is swapped with his counterpart from another universe, where he is a cowardly prisoner while Carcer is a benevolent head of the Watch and Carrot a sadistic warden.

* ShoutOut: The visual effect of [[spoiler:Carcer being erased from existence]] is identical to [[spoiler:people [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar getting snapped]]]].

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Played with. Both Carrot and Cheery are dwarves, though Carrot only via adoption. Both are upwards of six foot tall, with Cheery's explanation that dwarfs, "come in all shapes and sizes". Carrot doesn't have a beard, and Cheery initially keeps hers shaved off, though later regrows it. Cheery presents as female with dresses and makeup. Cheery also has a phobia of the dark, making her ill suited for mines. Later, it is revealed [[spoiler: that her local Dwarven culture demands homogeneity to the point where they all wear beards, dress identically, and use he/him pronouns regardless of gender. The dwarves literally try to be all the same.]]

* MythologyGag: A lot of references to the books appear as FreezeFrameBonus or FunnyBackgroundEvent:
** There are advertisements from Throat for dragon detectors - a piece of wood.

* AdaptationDeviation: Season 1 is based on ''Literature/GuardsGuards'' but uses many characters and plot elements from ''Literature/MenAtArms'' and ''[[Literature/NightWatchDiscworld Night Watch]]''.

* DontFearTheReaper: Death is a curmudgeon who just wants to get on with the job, and resents how people perceive him. Characters are generally polite to him when they see him. After the members of the Watch get to know him better, he mostly takes the times he runs into them to talk about his music

** Lady Sybil Ramkin witnessed [[spoiler:her parents assassination]] as a child and it still haunts her. Nothing on the sort happened in the books.

** Cheery's range of knowledge and general savvyness is far wider than in the books, to the point that she is now TheSmartGuy of the Watch. She is the team healer, comes up with most strategies, has usually a piece of knowledge that will help them finding the next clue, and eventually [[spoiler:comes up with the way of defeating the Noble Dragon]].

** Vetinari seems far less on the top of things as in the books.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Lord Ventinari. Vimes is suspicions of her intentions in wanting control of the dragon, but she hasn't actually done anything outright evil, and in fact tacitly encourages Vimes' altruism and willingness to go against the status quo. In the finale, while the Watch are busy fighting the dragon, she hides in a lushly furnished prison cell.

** {{ZigZagg|ingTrope}}ed. Lord Vetinari's gender is ambiguous within the show, with one character even remarking that "He is a man of her word".

* Cliffhanger: The first season ends with [[spoiler:Vimes being abducted to the Observers' realm, with Wonse announcing that she will destroy him]].

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Played with. Both Carrot and Cheery are dwarves, though Carrot only via adoption. Both are upwards of six foot tall, with Cheery's explanation that dwarfs, "come in all shapes and sizes". Carrot doesn't have a beard, and Cheery initially keeps hers shaved off, though later regrows it. Cheery presents as female with dresses and makeup. Cheery also has a phobia of the dark, making her ill suited for mines. Later, it is revealed [[spoiler: that her local Dwarven culture demands homogeneity to the point where they all wear beards, dress identically, and use he/him pronouns regardless of gender. The dwarves literally try to be all the same.[[/spoiler]]

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Played with. Both Carrot and Cheery are dwarves, though Carrot only via adoption. Both are upwards of six foot tall, with Cheery's explanation that dwarfs, "come in all shapes and sizes". Carrot doesn't have a beard, and Cheery initially keeps hers shaved off, though later regrows it. Cheery presents as female with dresses and makeup. Cheery also has a phobia of the dark, making her ill suited for mines.

** {{ZigZagg|ingTrope}}ed. For whatever reason, Vetinari is either a cis woman, gender fluid, or FTM trans man (they aren't consistent on which, with one character even remarking that "He is a man of her word" at one point") in this adaptation.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Lord Ventinari. Vimes is suspicions of her intentions in wanting control of the dragon, but she hasn't actually done anything outright evil, and in fact tacitly encourages Vimes' altruism and willingness to go against the status quo.

* UsedFuture: Much of Ankh Morpork is a grafitti blazened, concrete slum.

* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: In "Better to Light a Candle," the members of the Watch, performing as their band "The What," play a version of the show's theme tune to summon the Noble Dragon. Prior to this, Lady Sybil's dragon Goodboy had been humming in several previous episodes. Sybil releases Goodboy, who then chitters the tune to the Noble Dragon, which then meets its end.

[[redirect:Series/TheWatch]]