The Witcher (TV series)


The Witcher is a Polish-American fantasy drama series produced by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich. It is based on the book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski.
Set on a fictional, medieval-inspired landmass known as "the Continent", The Witcher explores the legend of Geralt of Rivia and princess Ciri, who are linked to each other by destiny. It stars Henry Cavill, Freya Allan and Anya Chalotra. The show initially follows the three main protagonists at different points of time, exploring formative events that shaped their characters, before eventually merging into a single timeline.
The first season consisted of eight episodes and was released on Netflix in its entirety on December 20, 2019. It is based on The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, which are collections of short stories that precede the main Witcher saga. Before the first season had been released, Netflix announced a second eight-episode season, to be released in 2021.

Cast and characters

Main

The first season is based on The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny.
The timeline for the episodes, along with in-depth summaries of events, was later created by Netflix to further describe these episodes.

Production

Development

's The Witcher book series was almost adapted into a standalone Netflix film, but Kelly Luegenbiehl, Vice President of International Originals at Netflix, dissuaded the producers. She recalled asking them, "How can you take eight novels and just turn it into a film? There's so much material here. Through a number of conversations, the producers got really excited about the idea of using the source material for a longer-running series." In May 2017, Netflix announced the start of production on an English-language drama TV series based on the books.
In December 2017, it was reported that Lauren Schmidt Hissrich would serve as showrunner on the show. In April 2018, Schmidt Hissrich revealed that the script for the pilot episode was finished, and the first season would be eight episodes long. In 2017, it was reported that Andrzej Sapkowski would serve as a creative consultant on the show, but in January 2018, Sapkowski denied any direct involvement. However, he met with Schmidt Hissrich in April 2018 and in May 2018 she stated that Sapkowski was on the creative team of the project. In August, Andrew Laws was revealed as production designer. In December, Radio Times reported directors Alik Sakharov and Charlotte Brändström had joined the project.
Netflix announced a second season on November 13, 2019, subtitled "Mysterious Monsters", with production set to begin in London in early 2020, for a planned release in 2021.

Writing

The first season was told in a non-linear manner, spanning different time periods. Hissrich said this was inspired by Christopher Nolan's 2017 film Dunkirk. She pointed out that Yennefer's story covers around 70 years and Ciri's only about 2 weeks. Hissrich also said that Yennefer and Cirilla were given more prominence to allow the viewers to understand them better. By showing their backstories, along with Geralt's, "we get down to the soul of the story. It's the story of a broken family. It's a story of three people who are on their own in the world, really orphans all living in the margins of society who are determined to not need anyone, and yet of course they do."
Hissrich said the story for the second season will build on the foundations of the first season, becoming more focused; the characters will interact with each other more frequently. "When I talk about The Witcher, I always talk about how these three characters coming together — Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer — they come together as a family. It’s the most important part of the series for me," Hissrich said. "And when you start to imagine someone’s family, you also need to understand their family of origin. For Geralt, it’s his brothers, it’s the brotherhood of the witchers. So I’m really excited to get back in and meet Vesemir, his father figure, for the first time and all of these men that he was raised with since he was seven years old."

Casting

In September 2018, Netflix announced that Henry Cavill would play Geralt of Rivia. He was selected from more than 200 actors. In October 2018, Freya Allan and Anya Chalotra were cast as Princess Cirilla and Yennefer of Vengerberg respectively, while Jodhi May, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Adam Levy, MyAnna Buring, Mimi Ndiweni, and Therica Wilson-Read also joined. More casting was announced later that month, including Eamon Farren, Joey Batey, Lars Mikkelsen, Royce Pierreson, Maciej Musiał, Wilson Radjou-Pujalte, and Anna Shaffer.
In February 2020, Netflix announced Kim Bodnia had been cast as Vesemir, an experienced witcher and a mentor to Geralt. Other additions included Kristofer Hivju, Yasen Atour, Agnes Born, Paul Bullion, Thue Ersted Rasmussen, Aisha Fabienne Ross, and Mecia Simson.

Filming

In April 2018, Schmidt Hissrich revealed that the show would be filmed in Central and Eastern Europe.
Principal photography for the first season began on October 31, 2018, in Hungary. Much of the series was filmed at Mafilm Studios near Budapest; the outdoor set included the exterior of wizard Stregobor's household. The hall in Cintra was constructed at Origo Studios on the outskirts of Budapest. Fort Monostor, and the nearby forest was used for some exterior scenes in Cintra. The Battle of Marnadal was filmed in the hills of a village in Hungary, Csákberény. The village that was Yennefer's original home was filmed at the Skanzen Village Museum, an open-air site near Szentendre some north of Budapest; this location was also used in scenes with Ciri in an area with a windmill. The production used the exteriors of Burg Kreuzenstein, a castle near Leobendorf, Austria, for the abandoned fictional castle Vizima, but the interiors were filmed at Origo Studios.
In March 2019, production commenced on Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, Spain. Some scenes were to be shot on the islands of La Palma and La Gomera, as well. Scenes of the Sorcerers' Aretuza Academy were shot on Roque de Santo Domingo in Garafía, an islet, and enhanced with CGI. However, the interiors used for the graduation ball were at the Kiscelli Museum in Óbuda. The museum was a monastery in the 18th century. This location was also used for the conclave of the Northern Mages. The Barranco de Fataga area on Gran Canaria island was used for some scenes of arid landscapes. When Ciri was traveling in the desert, the actress was actually in the Natural Dune Reserve of Maspalomas on Gran Canaria. Most of episode six was filmed on La Palma island.
Filming of the first season concluded in Ogrodzieniec Castle in Poland. The ruins of this medieval castle, dating from the 1300s, were the backdrop for scenes including the fictional Vilgefortz of Roggeveen and Triss Merigold. The ruins were also included when shooting the Battle of Sodden Hill in the final episode of Season 1. Filming for the first season wrapped in May 2019.
Filming for the second season took place in London in early 2020, but was halted for two weeks in March due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, and actor Kristofer Hivju confirmed he tested positive for COVID-19. Then, in May 2020, film and television productions that were filming in the U.K. were given permission to resume filming, including season two of The Witcher. The show resumed pre-production in July and is set to resume filming on August 17, 2020.

Music

The original song "Toss a Coin to Your Witcher", composed by Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli and sung by Jaskier in the second episode, became a viral hit shortly after the series' release. Users have created mods to patch the song into the video game adaptions of The Witcher.

Release

In April 2019, Netflix's Ted Sarandos told investors in an earnings call that the series would be released in late 2019. The series premiered on December 20, 2019.

Marketing

Netflix released the first teaser for the series at San Diego Comic-Con on July 19, 2019. The first full trailer was revealed at Lucca Comics & Games on October 31, 2019. Netflix released a final trailer on December 12, 2019.

Reception

Critical reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 67% approval rating for the first season, with an average rating of 6.16/10, based on 87 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: "Though the world of The Witcher at times feels only half-formed, Henry Cavill brings brawny charisma to a series teeming with subversive fantasy elements and dark humor." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the season a score of 53 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the production values, action sequences, soundtrack, and Cavill's performance; criticism was mainly focused on the pacing and the lack of world-building.
In a positive review of the first season, Erik Kain of Forbes wrote, "If you're looking for an original dark fantasy with some horror elements, some bare skin and plenty of blood and gore look no further.", while James Whitbrook of io9 said, "if you are willing to sit through those trudging opening episodes, punctuated by a cool fight here or an intriguing character scene there, The Witcher slowly but surely finds itself a fantastical slice of bloody, schlocky fun." Conversely, Entertainment Weekly critic Darren Franich said, "my destiny is to never watch this borefest ever again", awarding the first season an F rating. Franich drew criticism when he confessed to watching only the first, second, and fifth episodes.
Author Andrzej Sapkowski, commenting favorably on the show, stated, "I was more than happy with Henry Cavill's appearance as The Witcher. He's a real professional. Just as Viggo Mortensen gave his face to Aragorn, so Henry gave his to Geralt — and it shall be forever so." Sapkowski added, "I shall be happy if the viewers — and readers — take anything away, anything that shall enrich them in some way. Also, I sincerely hope to leave the viewers — and readers — hot. In every sense. Not tepid, not lukewarm."

Audience viewership

According to Parrot Analytics, The Witcher, in its US debut, was the third most "in demand" original streaming series, behind Stranger Things and The Mandalorian. Parrot's process measures "demand expressions", which is "its globally standardized TV-demand measurement unit that reflects the desire, engagement, and viewership of a series weighted by importance." On December 31, 2019, Parrot Analytics reported that The Witcher became the most-in-demand TV series in the world, across all platforms.
On December 30, 2019, Netflix issued a number of official lists, including the Most Popular TV Shows of 2019. The series was among the most viewed in the U.S. market, where The Witcher was ranked second among series. On January 21, 2020, Netflix announced that the first season had been viewed by over 76 million viewers on its service within its first month of release. Netflix had recently changed its viewership metric, from 70% of an episode under the previous metric, down to two minutes under the new metric. The new metric gives viewing figures 35% higher on average than the previous one. The 76million views in its first month based on the new metric is the largest for a Netflix series launch since the introduction of the new viewership metric.
Sales of in December 2019 were 554% greater than those from December 2018, attributed to renewed interest in the series due to the show.

Spin-offs

In January 2020, Netflix announced an animated spin-off film titled The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, focusing on the origin story of Geralt's mentor and fellow witcher Vesemir. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and Beau DeMayo are working on the film, with production by Studio Mir.
A live-action prequel series, The Witcher: Blood Origins was announced by Netflix in July 2020, set 1200 years before Geralt's time to show the origin of the Witchers. The prequel is also being developed by Hissrich. She will executive produce and Declan de Barra will showrun.