The Wheel of Time boss admits book fans will "hate" parts of Amazon series
Exclusive – Rafe Judkins says that the new adaptation of Robert Jordan’s classic fantasy can’t please everyone, but he’s proud of the changes he’s made.
New fantasy series The Wheel of Time already comes with a pretty dedicated fanbase, thanks to the original series of books (written by the late Robert Jordan) that have obsessed readers since 1990.
Now, these book fans are finally getting the chance to see their favourite characters in live-action as Amazon brings The Wheel of Time to screens – but series showrunner Rafe Judkins is coming in with realistic expectations, telling us that he fully expects the dedicated fans to “hate” some of the changes he’s made to the source material.
“I have come to accept that there will absolutely be things that they hate, and things that they wish we hadn’t done that way,” Judkins told RadioTimes.com.
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“I think it’s just the nature of making something like this that so many people love so much. I would be the same way if I was watching it.
“But I at least feel good about the decisions that we made to change for the adaptation that we’re doing, and that we’re trying to put to screen.
“So, you know, I constantly live crushed under the burden of the pressure of what the fans will think about it,” he laughed. “But I also just have to give us a little release valve of, you know, you’ve just realised that people will hate things, and people will love things, and that’s just the nature of doing something like this. You just have to do the best you can to tell the story the way you see to do it.”
Given this pressure, Judkins might have been forgiven for not taking on the Wheel of Time adaptation at all – but as it turns out, the only thing more stressful than making The Wheel of Time is NOT making The Wheel of Time, at least when you’re as big a fan as he is.
“I mean, the truth is, I just love the books so much that I actually got really stressed out about the idea of someone other than me doing it!” he told us. “Because you just don’t want someone to f**k it up.
“I just felt like, the worst thing I could ever see is knowing that these books are going to be adapted, and that I let someone else do it who didn’t know them and didn’t care about it, and they created something that doesn’t really honour what’s there.”
In other words, Judkins tried his best to honour the source material while also updating it – and in our review, we think he largely pulled it off. Hopefully the fans will forgive him...
Want to know more? See who stars in The Wheel of Time cast.
The Wheel of Time episodes 1-3 are streaming on Amazon Prime Video from Friday 19th November. For more, check out our dedicated Fantasy page or our full TV Guide.
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
