''Wyrd Sisters'' is a six-part animated

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

adaptation of the book of the same name by Terry Pratchett, produced by Cosgrove Hall Films, and first broadcast on 18 May 1997. It was the second film adaptation of an entire '' Discworld'' novel (following the ''

Welcome to the Discworld A welcome is a kind of greeting designed to introduce a person to a new place or situation, and to make them feel at ease. The term can similarly be used to describe the feeling of being accepted on the part of the new person. In some contexts ...

'' short, which was based on a fragment of the 1991 novel ''

Reaper Man ''Reaper Man'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett. Published in 1991, it is the 11th ''Discworld'' novel and the second to focus on Death. The title is a reference to Alex Cox's movie '' Repo Man''. Plot The Auditors of Reali ...

'', and the ''

Soul Music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

'' series).

Plot

''Wyrd Sisters'', the 6-episode television animated fantasy-comedy series closely follows the plot of the novel, which features three

witches Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have use ...

Granny Weatherwax Esmerelda "Esme" Weatherwax (also Granny Weatherwax or Mistress Weatherwax) is a fictional character from Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series. She is a witch and member of the Lancre coven. She is the self-appointed guardian of her small cou ...

; Nanny Ogg, matriarch of a large tribe of Oggs, who owns the most evil cat in the world, (Greebo); and

Magrat Garlick A major subset of the ''Discworld'' novels of Terry Pratchett involves the witches of Lancre. The three main witches introduced in 1988's ''Wyrd Sisters'' — crone Esme Weatherwax, mother Nanny Ogg and maiden Magrat Garlick — are a spoof on t ...

, the junior witch, who firmly believes in occult jewellery, even though none of it works. King Verence I of Lancre is murdered by his cousin, Duke Felmet, and the King's crown and a baby are given by an escaping servant to the three witches. The witches hand the crown and the child to a troupe of travelling actors, acknowledging that destiny will eventually take its course and Tomjon will grow up to defeat Duke Felmet. However, the kingdom is angry and doesn't want to wait 18 years so the witches move it forward in time. Meanwhile, the duke has decided to get a play written and performed that is favourable to him so he sends the court jester to Ankh-Morpork to recruit the same travelling (now stationary) company that Tomjon is in. The only problem is that Tomjon does not want to be king.

Cast and characters

Main

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

Jane Horrocks Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed the roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in th ...

June Whitfield Dame June Rosemary Whitfield (11 November 1925 – 29 December 2018) was an English radio, television, and film actress. Her big break was a lead in the radio comedy ''Take It from Here'', which aired on the BBC Light Programme in 1953. ...

as Nanny Ogg *

Annette Crosbie Annette Crosbie (born 12 February 1934) is a Scottish actor.Annette Crosbie fil ...

Eleanor Bron Eleanor Bron (born 14 March 1938) is an English stage, film and television actress, and an author. Her film roles include Ahme in the Beatles musical ''Help!'' (1965), the Doctor in ''Alfie'' (1966), Margaret Spencer in '' Bedazzled'' (1967), an ...

as Duchess Felmet * Les Dennis as The Fool (King Verence II) and Tomjon *

Andy Hockley Andy Hockley is a Welsh actor and singer born in 1959 in Pontypridd, South Wales. He has performed extensively in theatres around the UK for nearly 40 years. Internationally his work has taken him to Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, Poland, Irela ...

* David Holt *

Jimmy Hibbert James Christian Hibbert is an English actor and writer. He is best known for his voice work with the animation studio Cosgrove Hall Films. Early life James Christian Hibbert was born as the eldest of three children of author Christopher Hibbe ...

as Verence I of Lancre * Rob Rackstraw as Duke Felmet *Melissa Sinden *Taff Girdlestone

Episodes

Production

Development

The series is based on Terry Pratchett's book '' Wyrd Sisters'' in his novel series '' Discworld''. The first episode was released on 18 May 1997, and further episodes were released weekly until the sixth and final one has aired on 22 June. ''Wyrd Sisters'' was also broadcast as a film that ran for two hours and 20 minutes.

References

External links

* 1997 British television series debuts 1997 British television series endings 1990s British animated television series Discworld films and television series 1990s British television miniseries British children's animated comedy television series British children's animated fantasy television series English-language television shows Television series by Cosgrove Hall Films {{Animation-tv-prog-stub