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Posted in: Amazon Studios, BBC, Hulu, TV | Tagged: bbc, Blue Lights, discworld, Richard Dormer, sam vimes, terry pratchett, the watch
Richard Dormer Was Better Sam Vimes in Blue Lights Than The Watch
BBC Studios' The Watch starred Richard Dormer as Captain Sam Vimes of the City Watch - and it was pretty disappointing all around.
The Watch was a fantasy police procedural TV show based on the Ankh-Morpork City Watch characters from the Discworld novels by the late Sir Terry Pratchett. The series, developed by BBC Studios for BBC America, lasted for one season before it was put out of its misery. It starred Richard Dormer as Captain Sam Vimes of the City Watch, and it was pretty disappointing all around.
Richard Dormer played Vimes in the fashion of a strung-out drug addict going through withdrawal, all twitches and tics, bulging eyes and jutting out jaws, a Tex Avery cartoon character more than the long-in-the-tooth-who-has-seen-it-all-but-is-fundamentally-decent Vimes of the Discworld books. That was pretty damn disappointing too. But how much was the actor's choice, and how much was direction?
Because the recent BBC drama Blue Lights, written by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson set in Dublin, saw Richard Dormer play… well, a long-in-the-tooth-who-has-seen-it-all-but-is-fundamentally-decent copper. No strung-out twitches, tics, or massive overreactions. He's fun, he smiles, he raises his eyebrows, his face still bounces, it's one of the reasons you hire this actor, but he's not a cartoon. This was Vimes. A perfect Vimes. He just happened to be playing him in the wrong show.
Blue Lights is a glorious show, it follows three probationary police officers in the Police Service of Northern Ireland assigned to Blackthorn Station in Belfast. Richard Dormer plays Constable Gerard Cliff, or Gerry, the training officer of one of the three. The show won audience and critic plaudits, with the Telegraph and the Guardian giving the series five stars. It's definitely worth catching, though be warned, it may break your heart. Something The Watch was never in danger of doing.
A few clips of Richard Dormer as Gerry in Blue Lights for flavour.
@twi5ta Had the best time filming in Belfast for this 🇮🇪 #bbc #bluelights #police #criminal #acting
And for comparison, Richard Dormer Sam Vimes from The Watch. See what I mean?
The Watch is available on Huliu in the US and on Amazon Prime Video in the UK. Blue Lights is available on the BBC iPlayer in the UK.
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