An executive producer at Netflix has said making changes to The Witcher books is “necessary” but “painful for us” too following fan criticism of the show.
Speaking to Polish outlet Wyborcza, as translated by Redanian Intelligence, executive producer Tomasz Bagiński said the Witcher’s story can’t be pulled directly from Andrzej Sapkowski’s books because it wouldn’t make for good TV, and having to make changes is difficult for the writers too.
“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.”
Changes don’t just come as a result of these “simplifications”, however, as Bagiński explained the nature of making TV and sticking to production deadlines causes other issues.
“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.
“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.”
Changes made in the show have brought a wealth of criticism from fans of the source material, bolstered by former producer Beau DeMayo saying some staff “actively disliked” and even mocked Sapkowski’s books.
Showrunner Lauren Hissrich refuted this though, alongside executive producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach who said the team often starts with a direct translation before adapting it for TV.
The Witcher Season 3 has just wrapped alongside Henry Cavill’s role as Geralt of Rivia, with Liam Hemsworth taking over in Season 4. Though the writers are remaining vague, this seemingly won’t be a simple recast but instead a “meta” transition that’s true to the books.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.