Truckers

Truckers

2018 illustrated edition cover by Mark Beech
Author	Terry Pratchett
Audio read by	Tony Robinson (abridged) Stephen Briggs (unabridged)
Illustrator	Mark Beech (illustrated edition only)
Cover artist	Josh Kirby (original) Mark Beech (current)
Country	UK
Language	English
Series	The Bromeliad
Release number	1
Genre	Fantasy
Publisher	Gollancz
Publication date	1989-09-25
Followed by	Diggers

Blurb

‘Outside! What's it like?’ Masklin looked blank. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘It's sort of big -‘

To the thousands of tiny Nomes who live under the floorboards of a large department store, there is no Outside. Things like Day and Night, Sun and Rain are just daft old legends.

Then a devastating piece of news shatters their existence: the Store - their whole world - is to be demolished. And it's up to Masklin, one of the last Nomes to come into the Store, to mastermind an unbelievable plan that will take all the Nomes into the danger of the great Outside...

Podcast episodes

Major appearances

These are episodes primarily devoted to discussing this book.

Date	Show	Episode	External link
2018-07-08	Pratchat	“Upscalator to Heaven”	pratchatpodcast.com
2022-02-07	The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret	“A Whoomph and a Whiff” (1/3)	thetruthshallmakeyefret.com
2023-03-13	Bookanieri - Libri & Rum	“Il piccolo popolo dei Grandi Magazzini con Dottor Pira!”	spreaker.com

Other appearances

These are episodes where there’s significant discussion of the book, but it’s not the main focus. For Truckers this includes episodes which discuss The Bromeliad trilogy as a whole.

Date	Show	Episode	External link
2020-11-15	Desert Island Discworld	“Marc Burrows and the Bromeliad”	desertislanddiscworld.com

Adaptations

• The first screen adaptation of Pratchett’s work was Truckers, a stop-motion animated version of Truckers made by Cosgrove Hall for ITV. It was adapted by Brian Trueman in 13 short episodes, first broadcast from January to April, 1992. It starred Joe McGann (brother of Paul McGann) as Masklin, Edward Kelsey as The Thing and Debra Gillett as Grimma.
• Two different picture book versions using stills from the television adaptation were produced in 1992, one from Pratchett’s regular publishers, Corgi, and one from Ladybird Books.
• It was adapted for the stage in 2002 by Bob Eaton, in a co-production between the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, the Harrogate Theatre and the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmonds. The production ran between April and June 2002, spending time at all three theatres. Humans were represented in pre-filmed segments projected at huge size, while the Nomes were performed by live actors. The cast included Matthew Bowyer as Masklin, Rosalind Paul as Grimma, Terry Burns as Angalo, Richard J Fletcher as Dorcas, Robin Johnson as Gurder, David Brett as Torrit, Kate Layden as Granny Morkie and Stephen Aintree as the Abbot and Duke of Haberdasheri. The voice of The Thing was performed by Sayan Kent, who also composed music for the production - she's shared a collection of music from the play on her Soundcloud. The script wasn’t published, but Pratchett’s notes for the programme were republished as “The Big Store” in Once More* *with Footnotes and A Slip of the Keyboard.

External links

• Truckers at the L-Space Wiki
• Truckers on Wikipedia