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Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Buffyverse : Whatever happened to Ripper ?

Keith McDuffee

Tuesday 22 November 2005, by Webmaster

I was watching some old episodes of Buffy recently, and I realized once again how much I miss having something in the "Buffy Universe" on television. Joss Whedon mentioned recently that we haven’t seen the end of his Buffyverse creations, likely refering to the Spike TV movie we’ve heard about. While I was watching those old episodes, it suddenly hit me: what the heck happened to the Ripper series, once planned to air on BBC? It seems the idea of the series just simply vanished.

No "pre-production" status on Anthony Head’s IMDb entry. No status reports from Joss. Nothing. Maybe Anthony Head decided he was too old for the series. If that’s the case, I’d love to see the series reimagined as a flash-back to Ripper’s younger days with Ethan Rayne — we all know there’s a goldmine there. Has anyone heard the final word?


6 Forum messages

  • > Buffyverse : Whatever happened to Ripper ?

    22 November 2005 23:11, by darthxander
    Joss Wrote A rough script for it, & Anthony stewart was interested,But with Josses movie & Anthony going for the Doctor Who Role, It got put on the back burner,simmering. Its suppose to be a TV Movie which would go into a Hour long show weekly. Also I believe the BBC had some Problems with the content in the script which put things in a bind also.

  • > Buffyverse : Whatever happened to Ripper ?

    23 November 2005 00:43, by MJ

    tv.com lists this under "Ripper":

    on BBC-2 (60 mins)

    Status: On Hiatus / TBD

    Welcome to the Ripper guide at TV Tome.

    This spin-off series from Buffy the Vampire Slayer will follow Rupert Giles, formerly Buffy Summers’ Watcher, as he returns to his native England to find a course for his life in working with the Watchers Council in their quests to protect the world from evil. The show was scheduled to have a September 2002 premiere, and then a July 2003 premiere. These dates were false, however and production of the show hasn’t even started yet. Joss Whedon assures us though that Ripper is not cancelled, but it’s the farthest project from his mind at the moment. The most we know about his style for the show is that it will roughly have six episodes per season and the show might premiere with a two hour TV Movie. All of this has yet to be written in stone though.

    Note: In one of the Season 7 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Watcher’s Council was blown up. So, the plot for this show is very well subject to change. The only thing that is known about the show for sure is that it will be a story strictly about Giles.

    Note #2: I thought I would also note that in Season 5 of Angel (the season that followed Buffy’s last season) the Watcher’s Council was rebuilt. Also, we receive word from Angel that Buffy is in Europe. Perhaps she’s helping with the rebuilding of the council?

    See online : Ripper

  • > Buffyverse : Whatever happened to Ripper ?

    23 November 2005 06:59, by SUSAN
    I never even heard of tony being in a series called"Ripper"?...is he talking about "Jack the Ripper"..and what part was Tony going to play?....Either way could of been interesting!!....But maybe people just wasnt interested in bringing "The Ripper to life"..Well to say ,he wasnt the most like-able character.Reading about the old historical Ripper..I dont think they would be talking about the modern "Ripper" Peter Sutcliffe...

    See online : >buffyverse: What ever happened to Ripper?

  • > Buffyverse : Whatever happened to Ripper ?

    23 November 2005 16:35, by Vyce3

    I think it’s because a Spike DVD movie would be an automatic success. While a Ripper TV show would suffer the same problem as the Angel series. It took a long time to build a fan base.

    Although whatever they do, as long as it is set in the Buffyverse it will probably attract both Angel, Buffy and Firefly fans at this point as everyone is missing a Whedonverse show.

  • Yeah, Me Too!!!

    23 November 2005 16:40, by evil_silence
    Yeah, I waz wondering what happened to that as well, it sounded like a great show idea. Too bad.

  • > Buffyverse : Whatever happened to Ripper ?

    9 December 2005 22:18, by Anonymous
    SUSAN, Ripper was the nickname that the character Giles went by back before he was a watcher. It was the name that Ethan Rayne called him when he was on the show. When they talk about the series "Ripper" they are referring to a further story about Giles and hopefully the rest of the gang, whether it be a backstory on Giles or a story following the series finale.