DATE: Tuesday 16th November 2021
LADBROKE AUDIO PARTNERS WITH PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE TO PRODUCE ALL-NEW UNABRIDGED AUDIOBOOKS OF THE ENTIRE DISCWORLD SERIES
Penguin Random House has taken on a truly ambitious project to re-record all 40 audiobooks from Sir Terry Pratchett’s bestselling Discworld series, featuring a cast of leading names from British stage and screen, with the first subseries publishing in April 2022. The series will be divided up into sub-series, with a different main narrator for each, including INDIRA VARMA (Game of Thrones) for the WITCHES series, COLIN MORGAN (Merlin) for the RINCEWIND/WIZARDS series, SIAN CLIFFORD (Fleabag) for the DEATH series and ANDY SERKIS (Lord of the Rings) narrating the stand-alone SMALL GODS. The series will also feature BILL NIGHY as the voice of the footnotes (Terry’s infamous and beloved additions) and PETER SERAFINOWICZ as the voice of DEATH across all of the audiobooks.
To direct and produce the series, PRH have partnered with LADBROKE AUDIO, one of the UK’s leading audiobook production houses (who celebrated their 10th anniversary in 2021). All 40 titles will be directed and produced by multiple award-winning radio/audiobook writer/director NEIL GARDNER (managing director of Ladbroke Audio) and his key team.
Neil said of his love for Terry’s books:
“There are three authors who inspired my creative audio/radio career…Douglas Adams, Robert Rankin and, of course, Terry Pratchett. I’ve been buying his books since 1987, every year without fail, and am an unabashed super-fan. The beauty of his use of language, his inventiveness and humour have been revelatory, and unusually his written word translates perfectly to the spoken word…his novels are so easy and smooth to narrate.”
Of the opportunity to partner with PRH on this project, Neil said:
“This project is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and my team at Ladbroke Audio, and I am still pinching myself to ensure it is really happening. And whilst it is the greatest honour of my career to be the producer/director of the Discworld series, there is an immense pressure to do Terry and the fans justice. With characters appearing multiple times across the span of the books, means I need to track the voices/accents/characterisations so each of the different narrators is aware of what the others have done. The same is true of pronunciations. Terry invented many an exciting new word, place or creature, which on the page are always fun to discover, but in audio we need to agree on a pronunciation and then guarantee it is stuck to across the 40 titles.”
ALICE TWOMEY, PRH Audio Senior Commissioning Editor said:
“It has been a joy to cast and produce these audiobooks, breathing new life into this magical series in audio and working hand in hand with Terry’s estate to ensure the same care and attention to detail that Terry applied to his writing. It is a real labour of love and we hope that Discworld fans both old and new will enjoy listening to these audiobooks as much as we have enjoyed making them.”
Penguin Random House and the Terry Pratchett Estate have chosen today – 16th November – to make this exciting announcement to celebrate 50 years of Terry Pratchett, as we mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Pratchett’s very first book, The Carpet People.
Working across the entire series will be a 2 year process for the Ladbroke Audio team made up of Neil Gardner, Morrison Ellis, Steve Croft, Susan Omand and Ben Siegel. Working with a single producer/director and a small production team will be invaluable for the narrators.
COLIN MORGAN said:
“As a true adoring fan of Terry Pratchett and the sublime Discworld series, it’s a real dream to be deeply exploring and inhabiting Terry’s realms of imaginative brilliance in the audio arena; travelling across the Disc with him as our guide, giving voice to the host of iconic characters he birthed and appreciating even more fully the genius of the man along the way. With Penguin and Neil Gardner piloting me on this journey (a real dream-team!), and with so much love and care circulating this project from everyone involved I couldn’t feel more honoured to be a part of it. I hope we do Terry proud and that we bring great joy to Discworld fans – and indeed bring Discworld to a new audience who have yet to experience it.”
These new recordings will be published over the next two years as Discworld subseries: Witches (April 2022), Wizards (July 2022), Death (October 2022), Moist von Lipwig (February 2023) and City Watch and Tiffany Aching (April 2023). The standalone titles – Pyramids, Small Gods, The Truth, Moving Pictures, The Amazing Maurice and Monstrous Regiment – will also be published. A very special Christmas edition of The Hogfather read by Sian Clifford will publish early in December 2021.
Neil said:
“What an opportunity this is…the entire Discworld series in unabridged audio form! With audiobooks being such a popular medium now, this is the perfect time to bring Terry’s incredible world to audio life, and to share those fantastical adventures with old fans in a new way, and to unlock the magic for a whole new generation of listeners (soon to be fans!) These stories, told by talented narrators, will fire imaginations and open the doorway to the power of creativity and language. It is a long, meticulous process for all of us involved, but there is much laughter along the way…all thanks to the unique and truly magical Terry Pratchett!”
NOTES FOR EDITORS
About Ladbroke Audio Ltd
Ladbroke Audio was formed in 2011 and is one of the UK’s leading and best known audiobook production houses. Based in Croydon with its own studios, the company produces between 150-200 titles every year for the likes of PRH, Audible, BBC Audio, Harper Audio, Little Brown, Bonnier Books, Orion and SPCK/IVP. The company works with a wide variety of narrators, from A-list celebrities to first-timers and author narrators. It also has its own independent audiobook publishing division, Spokenworld Audio. The company is the production partner with BBC Audio for the ongoing Doctor Who audiobook range.
www.ladbrokeaudio.com
www.spokenworldaudio.com
About Neil Gardner
Neil Gardner has worked in professional radio and audio production for 30 years, starting in local BBC and commercial radio as a technician and working his way up to head of music and then programme controller. He has worked in local, regional, national and international radio stations. He then spent over 10 years working as an independent producer for the national BBC radio networks and World Service. He is a multiple award-winning radio writer & director, with a love of sci-fi and comedy. He has been the Chair of the Radio Independents Group (now known as AudioUK), as well as a trustee for both the Radio Academy and Gateway School of Audio Engineering. He is the company’s lead producer as well as a highly experienced editor, with over 1500 audiobook titles to his name (and 50+ as a narrator), plus numerous readings series for the national BBC Radio networks. Neil also works as a sound designer for hire, working on series such as Doctor Who, Survivors and Dorian Gray for Big Finish, and is the founder of the Audiobook Creators Alliance.
About Sir Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett was the acclaimed creator of the global bestselling Discworld series, the first of which, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. In all, he was the author of over fifty bestselling books.
His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, as well as being awarded a knighthood for services to literature. He died in March 2015.
www.terrypratchettbooks.com
Awards won:
• Knighthood for services to literature
• OBE
• Carnegie Medal
• Ten honorary doctorates
• Honorary professor at Trinity College Dublin
• British Book Awards Outstanding Achievement Award 2010
• British Book Awards Services to Bookselling Award 2000
• British Book Awards Fantasy & Science Fiction Author of the Year 1994
Two documentaries:
• Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimer’s
• BAFTA award winning Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die
• Published in 37 languages
• Global lifetime sales of over 85 million
About Discworld
Discworld is a world very much like our own. It may be flat, ride on the back of a giant star turtle and be populated with all manner of species from trolls and dwarves to werewolves and vampires, but the characters face struggles and triumphs that are all too human. The Discworld books can be read and enjoyed in any order, but can be categorised according to these sub-series:
WITCHES
‘It’s still magic, even if you know how it’s done.’
Whether fighting back against fairy-tale tropes come to life, bloodthirsty vampires or a phantom loose in the opera house, Pratchett’s trio of witches prove that common sense can be more powerful than any sorcery. Featuring fan favourite character Granny Weatherwax.
Books: Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade, Carpe Jugulum + The Tiffany Aching series for Young Adults
Perfect for fans of: Katherine Arden and Naomi Novik
WIZARDS
Any ignorant fool can fail to turn someone else into a frog. You have to be clever to refrain from doing it when you know how easy it is.
On the Discworld, an eighth son of an eighth son will automatically become a wizard and likely make his way to the Unseen University, the most magical building in the city of Ankh-Morpork. This subseries follows the misadventures and experiments of university residents, starting with Rincewind – the most spectacularly inept wizard on the Disc.
Books: The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Sourcery, Eric, Interesting Times, The Last Continent, The Last Hero, Unseen Academicals
Perfect for fans of: Patrick Rothfuss and Ursula K. Le Guin
DEATH
I? KILL? PEOPLE GET KILLED, BUT THAT’S THEIR BUSINESS. I JUST TAKE OVER FROM THEN ON.
Scythe? Check. Hooded black cloak? Check. Fondness for cats and curry? Check. The character of Death appears in nearly every Discworld book – his presence is required for near-death experiences – and in this subseries Death’s sympathy for humanity leads him to interfere in the mortal realm, with mixed results.
Books: Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music, Hogfather, Thief of Time
Perfect for fans of: Neil Gaiman and Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief
MOIST
‘I am a liar for the purpose of amusement, publicity, trivial oneupmanship, personal profit and the gaiety of nations, but I’m not lying to you now.’
Moist Von Lipwig is a con artist, a fraud and a man faced with a life choice: be hanged, or get the city of Ankh-Morpork’s ailing government services back on their feet. It’s a tough decision. The industrial revolution series sees this loveable rogue put his considerable charm to work in saving the city. Getting a date with Adora Bell Dearheart would be nice too.
Books: Going Postal, Making Money, Raising Steam
Perfect for fans of: Robin Hobb and Erin Morgenstern
CITY WATCH
When people are trying to kill you, it means you’re doing something right.
Fantasy meets police procedural in these gripping mystery novels as a motley crew of officers uphold justice at the expense of the rich and powerful. Throughout this subseries we see the City Watch evolve from a ragged gang of three to a fully equipped police force led by fan favourite Sam Vimes.
Books: Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud!, Snuff
Perfect for fans of: Ben Aaronovich and V. E. Schwab
STANDALONE NOVELS set on the Discworld can be a great entry point for new readers, and include Pyramids, Moving Pictures, The Truth, Small Gods, The Amazing Maurice and Monstrous Regiment.
-NOTES FOR EDITORS ENDS-
