00:00Gosh.
00:11Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most significant differences
00:17between William Golding's classic 1954 novel, Lord of the Flies, and the 2026 BBC show of the same name.
00:24Major spoilers to come.
00:26It's the saddest story I ever read.
00:29That's what you wrote.
00:32Number 10. Multiple Perspectives
00:34William Golding's novel was written in third-person omniscient that mostly acts like third-person limited,
00:40even providing the thoughts of the one adult.
00:42This BBC series, created by Jack Thorne, structures its episodes by the perspectives of the main four boys stranded on
00:48the island,
00:49Piggy, Jack, Simon, and Ralph.
00:51Piggy is the smartest boy and the voice of reason.
00:54Ralph made this meeting to find out what we all know and decide what to do.
00:59Jack is the dangerous wildcard who forms his own faction.
01:03Simon is the sensitive and spiritual one.
01:05May they rejoice in your kingdom, where all our tears are wiped away.
01:10And Ralph is the well-rounded elected leader until Jack challenges his authority.
01:18It's a smart change, as these four represent the major themes of democracy vs. authoritarianism and civilization vs. brutality.
01:27Number 9. Expanded Cast
01:29For that matter, there is a more concrete ensemble for the TV series than the book.
01:33Although it's clear that a good number of boys are stranded on the island,
01:37Golding's novel doesn't give a solid number, only describing three groups.
01:40Ralph's boys, the Little'uns, and Jack's tribe, former choir boys.
01:45Isn't there a ship, then?
01:46Isn't there a man here?
01:48No, we're having a meeting.
01:50Go and join in!
01:51The series also includes names from the book, like Morris, Bill, and Robert,
01:55but makes the number of castaways a firm 30.
01:57You, Little'uns, you're all crybaby.
02:01You, you, especially you.
02:03This explicitly named and counted group better suits the medium of live-action television,
02:08and it allows for group dynamics to really come into play.
02:13I do love these meetings, Ralph.
02:15They make everyone feel better.
02:18Number 8. Character Backstories
02:20Upon the advice of his editor,
02:22Golding cut a first section of the novel that focused on the boys
02:25before they came to be stranded on the island.
02:27Thus, except for Ralph's dreams,
02:29we aren't ever given a complete picture
02:31of what the boys' lives were like before the incident.
02:34Would you mind if we stayed at home with Mother tomorrow?
02:36The series, by contrast, gives Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and Simon
02:40more concrete backstories.
02:41Piggy is actually named Nicholas or Nikki,
02:44and the death of his mother is recent.
02:46Simon confesses his father's abuse of his mother.
02:48He pulled her up by the hair,
02:50and he said,
02:51Do you hear that?
02:52Even your precious boy doesn't love you properly.
02:55Walked away and slammed the door,
02:56and she looked at me,
02:58and then shouted,
03:00and went after her,
03:01begging her for something.
03:02Jack also has an abusive father.
03:04This added layer gives context
03:06to the cruelty and persecution
03:08these kids inflict on each other,
03:09both the results of their circumstances,
03:12and their repeating the patterns of their previous lives.
03:14A test needs to be passed.
03:16My father and his friend passed their test.
03:19We need to pass this one.
03:21Number 7.
03:21Diverse Casting
03:22I can't sing C-sharp,
03:24but yes, I'd like to be chief.
03:27In the book,
03:28all the boys are heavily implied
03:29to be upper-class white English schoolchildren
03:31who attend private school.
03:33Golding wrote the novel as a critical response
03:35to R.M. Ballantyne's 1857 adventure novel,
03:38The Coral Island.
03:39The BBC series, however,
03:41decided to cast more diversely
03:42for both the main leads and the group.
03:44Including mixed-race Winston Sawyers as Ralph
03:46and David McKenna as an Irish piggy.
03:50Are you alright?
03:52I've just been...
03:55gone too fast.
03:57Your mileage may vary
03:58on exactly how it changes the story.
04:00But suffice it to say,
04:02the change does shift the thematic emphasis
04:04on youthful masculinity
04:05across color lines instead of class.
04:08Ralph's right, of course.
04:09There's no beast.
04:11But if there is,
04:12you have my word.
04:13The hunters will find it
04:15and kill it.
04:19As we've mentioned before,
04:21Golding was obliged to delete
04:22the first part of the novel.
04:23But this section actually explained
04:25how the boys got marooned
04:26on the island in the first place,
04:28which was essentially nuclear war.
04:32The boys were supposed to be evacuating
04:34from the imminent threat
04:35when the plane crashed on the island.
04:37Dark stuff indeed.
04:39This context is returned
04:40to the TV series,
04:41which does include a flashback
04:43to the boys escaping on the plane,
04:45experiencing turbulence.
04:49Golding writing this
04:50in the midst of the Cold War
04:51and the cruelty of the Holocaust
04:52is, unfortunately,
04:54still relevant for us.
05:02Number 5.
05:03Queer subtext with Simon
05:12In the novel,
05:14Simon is the sensitive,
05:15unconventional one of the group,
05:17one of Jack's choir boys
05:18who defects his side early.
05:20It's Simon who has
05:21that mystical encounter
05:22with a pig's head
05:23swarming with flies,
05:24whom he dubs
05:25the titular Lord of the Flies.
05:27Described as queer,
05:29Simon is often viewed
05:30by critics as a Christ figure,
05:32with his biblical name
05:33and spirituality.
05:44The BBC series
05:46expands Simon's queerness
05:47to hints about his sexuality,
05:49as Simon gets upset
05:50when Jack steals his diary,
05:51revealing his feelings for him.
05:53He also confesses to Ralph
05:55that he and Jack
05:55were alone together
05:56in the long vacs,
05:58an interesting complication
05:59to the dynamic.
06:00We were alone alone
06:01in the long vacs.
06:04We were friendly
06:05when no one else was there.
06:06Then the others would come back
06:08and he'd drop me like a stone.
06:09Number 4.
06:10Finding the Pilot
06:11In both the novel
06:12and the series,
06:13the boys find a dead pilot,
06:15but the scene plays out
06:16differently in each.
06:17In the book,
06:18there is an air battle
06:19near the island.
06:20When a fighter pilot
06:21descends via parachute,
06:22the boys mistake it
06:23for the beast,
06:24causing a superstitious frenzy.
06:34In the show,
06:35the boys find the pilot
06:36of their own crashed airplane
06:38at the top of the mountain,
06:39throwing him off the edge.
06:41No!
06:41No!
06:42No!
06:46This is obvious foreshadowing
06:48for the savagery
06:49the boys will descend into.
06:51Either way,
06:51the event triggers
06:53superstitious fears
06:54of a beast.
06:55I bet a pilot,
06:56a better man,
06:57would not have made
06:58such a mistake.
06:59Number 3.
07:00Jack and Ralph fight.
07:02In the book,
07:03Ralph begins as the elected
07:04chief of the castaways,
07:06using a conch
07:06as a way to signal authority
07:08and permission to speak.
07:09It isn't long, however,
07:10before he clashes
07:11with hunter Jack,
07:12who gains popularity
07:13among the rest of the boys
07:15by saying he will kill the beast.
07:16The beast is a hunter,
07:17and there's only one thing
07:18to do with hunters.
07:20Hunt back!
07:21Kill be killed!
07:22The series follows
07:24this dynamic faithfully,
07:25but introduces
07:26the bifurcation early on,
07:27as Jack and his choir boys
07:29meet with Ralph
07:29and the rest of the survivors.
07:31The series also includes
07:32more detailed scenes
07:33of Jack and Ralph
07:34physically fighting.
07:35There's only one person
07:36who can protect you
07:37from the beast,
07:38and it isn't your chief.
07:39Ralph even tries
07:41to renounce his authority
07:42to Jack,
07:43something that does not
07:44happen in the book.
07:45Unfortunately,
07:46it doesn't save him
07:47from his fate.
07:48What do you want to do?
07:49You want me to call you chief?
07:51If you want that,
07:52I will,
07:53because I don't want
07:54to be chief of all this.
07:55Number 2.
07:56Piggy's death
07:56One of the most memorable
07:58and heart-wrenching scenes
07:59in the book
08:00is changed a little
08:01for the show.
08:01In the novel,
08:03Jack steals Piggy's glasses.
08:04Piggy!
08:05No!
08:05No glasses!
08:06Be careful!
08:07I need them!
08:08Come on,
08:09I'll be a chap.
08:10While Ralph and the rest
08:11demand their return,
08:12Roger drops a boulder
08:13on Piggy,
08:14who dies quickly.
08:15In the series,
08:16Roger throws a rock at Piggy,
08:18who, although mortally wounded,
08:20doesn't actually die
08:20until later.
08:25Ralph manages
08:26to escape with Piggy,
08:27caring for him
08:28until the latter
08:28finally perishes.
08:30It is a horrific scene,
08:31made all the more
08:32gut-wrenching
08:33when Piggy reveals
08:34that his mother
08:35had recently died.
08:36Well, now we're crying.
08:37It's all right.
08:39Ralph,
08:40it's all right.
08:40You wanted to know.
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08:58Gold by silence,
08:59guilt by his prayer.
09:02I am the echo,
09:04you can't outrun,
09:06the joke's on you.
09:12Number 1.
09:14The Ending
09:14In the ironic finale
09:16of Golding's novel,
09:17Jack and his tribe
09:18hunt Ralph,
09:19setting fire to the forest.
09:20While fleeing,
09:22Ralph falls at the feet
09:23of a recently arrived
09:23British naval officer,
09:25who is coldly embarrassed
09:26by the ragged looks
09:27and emotional sobs
09:28of the rescued children.
09:29You're British?
09:34This ironic reprieve
09:35from the horror
09:36is faithfully captured
09:37by the show,
09:38but with certain differences.
09:39While in the book,
09:40all the boys weep
09:41at their discovery,
09:42the series has only
09:43Ralph break down.
09:45I should have thought
09:45a pack of British boys.
09:47You're all British,
09:47aren't you?
09:48I would have thought
09:49you could put on
09:49a better show than that.
09:51I mean.
09:51It was like that at first.
09:53All things.
09:55The pilot in the series
09:57is also more emotionally
09:58disturbed by the scene
09:59he had just witnessed.
10:00Honestly,
10:01so are we.
10:02Let's get you boys
10:03out to the boat.
10:08What ways do you feel
10:09the BBC series
10:10does the novel justice
10:11or changes things up
10:13unnecessarily?
10:14Let us know in the comments.
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