Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon told SCI FI Wire that most of his related projects are on hold as he regroups in anticipation of the UPN series’ imminent end. "Apart from Angel, no spinoff [is] in the works right now," Whedon said in an interview. "I think it’s a very likely possibility, but there isn’t anything happening right now. We all just kind of want to bask and relax."

The projects include an animated Buffy TV series, a BBC show based on the character of Giles (tentatively called Ripper) and a Buffy spinoff series for UPN or another network.

With regard to Ripper, Whedon said, "I wanted to do something on the BBC. We talked about a two-hour pilot. We talked about some episodes. We talked about a two-hour movie. It’s gone through a lot of things. But the one conclusion I’ve come to, if I do something, I’ll do it not as a setup so much as a story about Giles. I realize that, like Angel, you can use it as a premise, perhaps, to build something about ghost stories, and that would be fine. What I’m interested in is the character that Tony [Anthony Stewart Head] plays, not some mystery he might solve. And that’s sort of a paradigm shift in what I might do with it. But I’m still very invested in the Ripper story."

As far as the animated show, "I still like the idea," Whedon said. "We still have a bunch of really good scripts. But I won’t do it at a price. That’s a show that has to look wonderful. It has to be as good as it can be. And a lot of animation houses just can’t contain that. So the money isn’t there right now. So right now, I’m not planning on it."

For his part, Head said in an interview that he remains game for Ripper. "Yeah, we talked about it," he said. Whedon "came up with a beautiful idea for it the other day, actually."