Dollhouse

NBC Universal-owned UK channel Sci Fi has secured the rights to sword and sorcery series Legend of the Seeker, executive produced by Spider-Man director Sam Raimi, and the second series of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse.

Sci Fi has acquired the first-run UK pay-TV rights to the first two series of Legend of the Seeker, the fantasy epic produced by the team behind TV hits Hercules and Xena Warrior Princess.

The show, based on fantasy author Terry Goodkind’s best-selling series of books The Sword of Truth, has been acquired from Disney-ABC-ESPN Television. Each series consists of 22 hour-long episodes.

Sci Fi has also acquired the first run pay-TV rights to the second season of Dollhouse, created by Whedon, which stars former Buffy and Angel actress Eliza Dushku as one of a group of "beautiful and seductive operatives" known as the Dolls.

Earlier this year Sci Fi acquired the rights to the first season. In the US the first series ran to 12 episodes with the 13th, a "post-apocalyptic instalment", reserved for release in the US on DVD-only later this month.

However, Sci Fi in the UK has reached a deal to air as the US DVD-only season finale on 11 August.