The Witcher: Blood Origin was shortened to 4 episodes for optimum story flow

Originally expected to be a six episode series, The Witcher prequel The Witcher: Blood Origin will be “a four-part special event” when it reaches the Netflix streaming service on December 25th. Our own Alex Maidy already had the chance to watch the show, giving it an 8/10 review you can read HERE – and in his review he said, “The limited four-episode run is just long enough to build up the characters without overstaying its welcome. In fact, I would have enjoyed more episodes or even another standalone mini-series focused on this era.” During a recent interview with Netflix, showrunner Declan de Barra said the idea to cut the show down from six episodes to four came up in the editing room so the show could have “optimum story flow”.

The showrunner said, “This felt like a two-part movie. You never want to be watching a movie going, ‘I love this movie.’ And then you start to look at your watch going, ‘Oh, please end soon.’ I never wanted there to be any moment where we’re just stringing the audience along to have an episode. It always had to feel logical and right from a natural storytelling point of view and we of course had the advantage of not being a network show with no set rules for times or episode count. So, when we were in the edit room, that [four-episode structure] is what happened organically, the shaping into four episodes from all the footage we shot. Optimum story flow. I wanted it to be a punch in the face, so that you can’t take your eyes off it.“

Set in “an elven world” 1200 years before the events we saw in The Witcher, The Witcher: Blood Origin tells a story lost to time – the creation of the first prototype Witcher, and the events that lead to the pivotal “conjunction of the spheres,” when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one.

Blood Origin stars Laurence O’Fuarain as Fjall, who was born into a clan of warriors sworn to protect a King and is now on a quest for redemption; Sophia Brown as Éile, an elite warrior who left her clan to become a nomadic musician; Michelle Yeoh as Scían, the last from a tribe of sword-elves; Lenny Henry as a character named Balor; Mirren Mack as Merwyn; Nathaniel Curtis as Brían; Dylan Moran as Uthrok One-Nut; Jacob Collins Levy as Eredin; Lizzie Annis as Zacaré; Huw Novelli as Callan, a.k.a. “Brother Death”; Francesca Mills as Meldof; Amy Murray as Fenrik; Minnie Driver as shapeshifting storyteller Seanchaí; and Zach Wyatt as Syndril. Joey Batey also appears as his The Witcher character Jaskier.

The Witcher showrunner Lauren Hissrich and Blood Origin showrunner Declan De Barra serve as executive producers on The Witcher: Blood Origin, alongside Matt O’Toole, Hivemind’s Jason Brown and Sean Daniel, and Tomek Baginski and Jarek Sawko of Platige Films. Andrzej Sapkowski, author of the books The Witcher is inspired by, is involved as creative consultant.

Are you looking forward to The Witcher: Blood Origin? What do you think of the show being cut down from six episodes to four in the editing room? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.