Three Bags Full to The Sheep Detectives: Book to Screen Done Right

Back in February, I was browsing the shelves of Bodies In The Bookshop, a specialist crime fiction bookshop in Cambridge. One of their fantastic members of staff recommended a book called ‘Three Bags Full’, and excitedly told me it was hitting the big screen. I’m a big fan of detective stories, and I was very intrigued about the concept of sheep solving the murder of their Shepard. I presumed it was going to be turned into a little indie film, so I was really shocked to see Amazon was taking this little book and turning it into a blockbuster. 

‘Three Bags Full’ was originally published by Leonie Swann in 2005. It was published in her native German, before being translated to English by Anthea Bell. It is set in the fictional Irish village of Glenkill, and completely absorbs you in the world of George Glenn’s flock. For the first chapter or so it does feel absolutely mad to be reading a novel being told from the perspective of a sheep, but Swann completely absorbs you in their world. With immaculate detail, Swann lets the reader get to know all of the individual sheep in the story properly. They all have a distinct personality and their own skills to bring to the mystery of who killed George. The mystery itself is very well constructed and engaging. This isn’t a case of coming up with a funny concept but not being able to tell a proper story. While the sheep are absolutely integral to the story and how it unfolds, the actual mystery would make a perfectly good plot line in any murder mystery. It’s also got some edge to it. I wouldn’t call the book ‘cosy’ crime, and it certainly doesn’t have any of the saccharine cliches that so many crime books fall into. The sheep are witty, and this categorically isn’t a kids book. I thoroughly recommend it, and I will definitely be reading the next books in the series. 

Now, the film is very different. Firstly, it’s set in England not Ireland. Obviously the references and quirks specific to Ireland are gone, but they’re almost like for like subbed out with jokes about rural England. Secondly, the cast of sheep is different. This was a little heartbreaking as I’d grown so fond of the flock from the book, but the film has some fun new additions and renames a few characters (Lily is Miss Maple in the book, and Sebastian is Othello). 

Fundamentally though, it’s not the same story and that’s ok. As I read the book, I became increasingly unsure how on earth they were going to tell this story as a PG. What I think is clear is that they’ve taken Swann’s idea of sheep solving the murder of their Shepard and turned it into a more family friendly but still entertaining story. Unlike ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ film which ruined the book’s cannon while claiming to be a faithful book to screen adaptation, The Sheep Detectives has the confidence to take a clever idea and tell it in a different but equally entertaining way. 

The film itself is laugh out loud funny, literally from the first moment. I’m completely in awe of how good the sheep looked, and at times I really didn’t remember they were CGI. I grew up next to a (very noisy) sheep field, and the film really took me back to my childhood. The winter lamb in particular was so lifelike, and I just wanted to stroke them. The human characters were also all well acted and engaging. To say the acting is no better than a Midsomer Murders may seem like a criticism, but it's absolutely a compliment. All of the characters were perfect additions to the fake version of the English countryside where our one regional detective solves 5 brutal homicides a month, and has time to stop for cake. One of my fears going into the film was that it was going to be told through an ‘American’ lens, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. Sure, that’s not what England looks like nor is it an accurate representation of the British police system but honestly who cares? If you can accept that sheep are solving a murder then you can get over the liberties taken in film making. 

‘Three Bags Full’ and ‘The Sheep Detectives’ are the best sheep based media I’ve consumed this year, and I can absolutely say that with confidence. Now that the film is on Amazon Prime, I fully recommend giving it a watch. If you have kids to watch it with then I think they’ll enjoy it, but it isn’t just a kids film. The book is also a great read, and I’ve now seen it around in lots of bookshops. 

Written by, Eleanor Patamia