Dollhouse

NBC Universal-owned channel Sci Fi has secured the rights to the remake of David Hasselhoff 1980s show Knight Rider and Dollhouse, the eagerly waited series from Buffy and Angel creator Joss Whedon.

The Sci Fi channel has secured the first run UK pay-TV rights to Knight Rider, the pilot of which features Val Kilmer as the voice of KITT, and Dollhouse as part of its new spring schedule.

The pilot for Knight Rider, which features the son of Hasselhoff’s 1980s character Michael Knight, featured a guest appearance from Hasselhoff – but there was no room for the Baywatch star in the main series.

"It’s like having Indiana Jones without Indiana Jones," a slightly perturbed Hasselhoff said last summer.

Dollhouse, which stars former Buffy and Angel actress Eliza Dushku as one of a group of "beautiful and seductive operatives" known as the Dolls, is the latest creation from Whedon.

Sci Fi has acquired the 13-part series, which debuted in the US on 13 February, from Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution. The series also stars Battlestar Galactica’s Tahmoh Penikett and Dichen Lachman from Neighbours.

"We’re dedicated to offering our audience the most exciting content available and are thrilled to become the UK home for two such highly anticipated series," said Jon Farrar, the programming director for NBC Universal Global Networks. "Knight Rider and Dollhouse both hail from fine pedigrees. The special effects in both series are genuinely show-stopping."

Last February a two-hour Knight Rider TV movie special was watched by 12.7 million viewers in the US. Newcomer Justin Bruening is now the star of the show, although cult favourite Hasselhoff made a guest appearance as Michael Knight. A black Ford Mustang has replaced the Pontiac Trans Am that featured in the original series.