The Witcher TV series has been controversial in changing some of the important plot elements from the novel series. The show’s producers defended the move, saying that it is necessary to bring the live-action adaptation to life – but they didn’t enjoy making those decisions.
According to a report by Redanian Intelligence, executive producer Tomasz Bagiński said that it was “painful for us” to make changes to the source material. Bagiński said that the story for The Witcher could not be adapted directly from the Andrzej Sapkowski novels because it does not make for good TV.
“When a series is made for a huge mass of viewers, with different experiences, from different parts of the world, and a large part of them are Americans, these simplifications not only make sense, they are necessary,” Bagiński said.
“It’s painful for us, and for me too, but the higher level of nuance and complexity will have a smaller range; it won’t reach people. Sometimes it may go too far, but we have to make these decisions and accept them.”
“There are a lot of understandable reasons why controversial decisions are made, but the viewer does not have this context, so sometimes it hurts because something was better in the book.” Bagiński explained that the nature of making TV and having production deadlines also leads to other issues that result in changes to the source material.
“Sometimes the changes are the result of production chaos, because, for example, an actor fell ill and his plot needs to be edited and rewritten within a few hours so that it can be shot the next day, because this is not a plot for which the whole production machine will stop,” he said.
Fans have criticized The Witcher series for deviating significantly from the source material. The backlash was fueled by former producer Beau DeMayo who made claims that some staff members of the show “actively disliked” and mocked Sapkowski’s books.
Showrunner Lauren Hissrich denied the allegations and shared that she had a great relationship with author Andrzej Sapkowski. “I’ve never mocked the books,” Hissrich said. “The books are my entire livelihood. I have a great relationship with Mr. Sapkowski and writer’s rooms are sacred and safe and – more than anything – supportive spaces. Don’t believe everything you read.”
There was speculation that Henry Cavill left the series due to creative differences with writers. The actor is a big fan of The Witcher series and reportedly disliked the deviations that the writing team implemented for the TV show. Cavill has been replaced by Liam Hemsworth for the fourth and fifth seasons of The Witcher.
The Witcher is available for streaming on Netflix.
