Here's the character The Wheel Of Time's showrunner is dying to get on screen

Rafe Judkins isn't just a showrunner and a former Survivor contestant. He's also a long-time Wheel Of Time superfan

By Marah Eakin  |  November 17, 2021 | 5:00pm
TV Features Wheel Of Time
Here's the character The Wheel Of Time's showrunner is dying to get on screen
The cast of The Wheel Of Time Photo: Jan Thijs

For almost 25 years, The Wheel Of Time was in motion. The book series created by Robert Jordan published 14 books over its almost 23 year run, making it a prime candidate for a TV adaptation. Now, it’s finally come to fruition, with Amazon Prime’s new series launching this weekend.

Along for much of that 20-odd year ride was Rafe Judkins, who serves as showrunner on the new series. A fan of the show since he was a boy, Judkins was thrilled to get to bring it to life, even if that meant taking script notes from another Wheel diehard: His mom.

Judkins was first given the books by his mother, telling us in the video interview above that “I think it speaks really highly of the series that a young gay teenager and his middle aged mom could read the book together and both find things that they both love in it.”

When he got the call for the show, his mom started calling him with her thoughts, something he says extended beyond even his immediate family. “My brother had a friend at work who heard that I was doing the show and sent me a preemptive set of notes of what I should do and what I might be doing wrong and how I should fix it.”

Judkins, of course, has his own thoughts on all of those issues, plus a few hopes and dreams for the series as it goes forward into subsequent seasons. When asked which of Wheel Of Time’s 2700-plus named characters he’d like to someday get on screen, he named Aviendha, who’s one of the world’s strongest living female channelers. “I’m really excited to see that character get to screen,” says Judkins. “She was one of my favorites when I was reading.”

The Wheel Of Time premieres on Amazon Prime Video this Friday, November 19.

 
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