Presumably the universality of the abstract concept of Death, combined with Susan’s deadpan delivery, has both visual and comic appeal to adaptors. It’s interesting that both TV adaptations of Discworld novels have chosen stories starring Death’s grand-daughter, Susan Sto Helit.
However, it works well enough – you don’t really need the backstory of Mortfor the story to be understandable, though of course it does spoil the plot of its predecessor (including a re-creation of the climax of that story).
Soul Music is a more surprising choice, as it’s a direct sequel to an earlier novel, Mort. The plot riffs on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, so it’s a great entry point for Discworld novices, as the familiar elements of the story can help people get into this fantastical world of witches, ghosts and anthropomorphic personifications. While Granny Weatherwax had appeared in an earlier novel ( E qual Rites), Wyrd Sisters is the story that introduces the Lancre coven of Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlick, so it requires no prior knowledge for the story to work. Wyrd Sisters is perfect for an independent Discworldstory. The studio made a solid choice of stories for their two stand-alone productions. Lee later voiced Death for Sky, after their first Death, Ian Richardson, passed away himself, but Lee was Cosgrove Hall’s first choice, and a more perfect match of voice and character is difficult to imagine. The series’ biggest casting coup, though, was an absolutely perfect bit of casting – Christopher Lee as Death. Soul Music features Graham Crowden, from Waiting For God, and Neil Morrissey, from Men Behaving Badly. You can see this in the casting, which represents the cream of British comedy crop in the mid-1990s – Wyrd Sisters stars two Absolutely Fabulous alumni (Jane Horrocks and June Whitfield) with Annette Crosbie, of One Foot In The Grave fame, as Granny Weatherwax. The series also enhanced jokes from the books with appropriate on-screen interpretations – for example the solemn chanting of the Fools’ Guild in Wyrd Sisters, which sounds like medieval monks, is especially inspired. The six-part stories (six 22-minute episodes) are fast-paced and preserve many of the jokes from the original books. One of the things these adaptations get really right is the comedy.
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