For Buffy fans there was some solace in the belief that when the show finished it’s run at the end of the season, it would likely be replaced by a spin-off starring actress Eliza Dushku as redeemed slayer Faith.

"I had come up with a pitch," explains Angel exec producer and occasional director Tim Minear. "Eliza was gracious, kind and wonderful, but she felt like she wanted to do something new. There is no hard feelings there. But the show was basically going to be Faith Meets Kung Fu. It would have been Faith, probably on a motorcycle, crossing the earth, trying to find her place in the world. I’m sure it would get an arc at some point, but the idea of her rooted somewhere seemed wrong to me. The idea of her constantly on the move seemed right to be. And she broke out of prison (on Angel) so there would have been some people after her."

Well, in the case of Dushku, it was the Fox network who was after her. They pursued her for a pilot called Heroine, which she ultimately signed up for. Pleased with the concept, the network already ordered additional scripts before a frame of the film had been shot.

Did you hear the scream of the Buffy fans around the world after it was announced that you were signed to a different pilot rather than a Faith spin-off?

ED: I feel kind of bad, but I also need to get something else going. We created this character five years ago and it’s the kind of thing where I want to be standing on my own two feet a little bit and not be following in Buffy’s footsteps. I love the show and have so much respect for the writers and everyone, but it was going to be the kind of commitment - which God knows these kind of things are - it needed to be something new.

Had they pitched you their concept of the Faith series?

ED: I had a lot of conversations with (creator) Joss Whedon, (consulting producer) Marti Noxon and Tim Minear, and I realized what amazing writers they were and what amazing concepts they were able to come up with if it was to happen. For me, I never wanted to be locked down to television commitments - it’s six years - and I’m a severe sufferer of ADD (laughs). What if I don’t want to do this anymore and I’ve signed on the bottom line? But when this pilot came up, it was such a cool story and character.

I have a lot of similarities with Faith, but this new character (on Heroine) has more room for growth and different directions that I feel are closer to me. Something about being it really affected abd grabbed me when I first read it. It felt like more of a coming-of-age role, in that age of 22, 23 or 24, which hasn’t been done before. I think it’s an important time for girls because my best friends and I for the past year or two have been having all these indentity crisis problems where we’re getting to this age. We used to play this flip, sassy, tough-girl routine, but when you get to your mid-20s and you start to feel responsibilities for the things that you do and the people around you that you wouldn’t have even thought about before. It’s a cool age; it’s a cool kind of psychology to look into, and that’s what interested me in the role.