Who does he play in Pirates? I would be so unbelivingly happy if he's the guy who sings Modern Major General.

But I really liked that, "I just put on the glasses, and there he was"

redtenko | June 23, 16:09 CET

Yeah, always good to hear that the actors still have a fondness for their characters.

Should Ripper ever happen, be it a one off movie deal or, even better, a series i will be overjoyed. Can't wait to see what ideas Joss may have for that project.

Disciple of Spike | June 23, 16:32 CET

Pirates is over, sadly; my friends and I saw the last performance a few months back. Head played the Pirate King, all dumb grins and glinting teeth. He dances beautifully.

weds | June 23, 18:05 CET

Well, I hope something comes of this news. There's been so many times where we hear that things are still in the planning stages for Ripper and then no news at all. How long has there been talks about this anyway? Whether movie or series I hope it happens.

Firefly Flanatic | June 23, 18:17 CET

What I really want out of a Ripper story is a prequel type thing. A whole new series, a whole new young cast. Young Ripper, Young Ethan, Young Olivia (seen briefly in season 4 as a girlfriend of Giles from back in the day). Wrecking havoc. Watcher's Council of a bunch of old stiffs, plus a young Quentin Trevers and Wesley's dad. How does Ripper go from badass to Watcher? There can be demons, vampires, and slayers.

And of course everyone will be hot and British (or at least fake the British part decently).

randygiles | June 23, 19:40 CET

oh wow randy Giles! what an amazing concept I’ve seen shows over here in the uk that run like that. it could be Tony playing Giles in present day telling the story and us getting glimpses in flashback type format. what a great idea!

willowzbitch | June 23, 20:38 CET

A Ripper series would be WONDERFUL!!!!! I am going through Whedon withdrawal here.......no new whedonesque!!! I have to watch either a Buffy or an Angel DVD every day!!!
Am I hooked or what!!!!! LOL
Tony Head is such a great actor and the character of Giles is just "nifty"!! There are so many possibilities for this, I bet Joss' head is spinning with ideas ( not in an exorcist spinning way I hope heeheee).
I am ready and waiting for this show..... go for it!!!!!

Sevrina | June 23, 22:44 CET

Ripper would be hard to pull off, from what I gather about the original intent. BBC budgets are sometimes ... lacking. Also, it would be more of a draw if they included at least one other character from the Buffy/Angel series. Are you out of prison yet, Mr. Rayne?

While I believe that Whedon can pull off anything on a single-episode basis ("Hush," "Once More With Feeling," "Smile Time"), I hope for more than Giles in a sedate, tatty BBC TV movie. Here's hoping for at least a miniseries.

Ocular | June 23, 22:48 CET

For me the best idea would be a present day series, no point in the show happening if ASH didn't star in it. Flashbacks similar to those used in Angel would be interesting, maybe even the occasional episode set entirely in the past, but for the most part i want the show to feature the Giles we know and love.

I also have my doubts that involving the BBC is a wise idea given how they view Buffy as a series (either a massively censored kiddie show or late night fodder). I can't say that i would be happy if they were to ruin the show by trying to make it too family friendly for an early evening slot. Ripper needs to be dark, an after nine slot would be best. Only thing is i can't see the present BBC schedulers going for that.

Maybe Joss will give up on the BBC involvement altogether, it's not as if he has to go with them after all.

Disciple of Spike | June 23, 23:24 CET

Warlock, you need to check your facts. The BBC was very keen on the Ripper series, and had a 9.30 slot all ready for it - three years ago. It was Joss who walked away from the Ripper deal when Firefly was taken up.

whirligig | June 23, 23:43 CET

While I'm as curious as the next guy to see "Young Ripper", myself I much prefer the idea of Whedon dealing with truly grown-up concerns, a la one of the stated inspiration behind "Ripper,", "Cracker" the great quasi-detective series with Robbie Coltrane.

And, pray tell, do we really need a lot of sfx? The fact that London is NOT a Hellmouth might lead to other kinds of stories.

Look, Buffy is obviously about high school/college years. "Angel" has been touted as being about young adulthood. It's time for M/E to take on the dreaded middle years....

bobster | June 24, 00:00 CET

Whirligig, my facts are just fine, thanks for the concern though.

Notice i said "present" BBC schedulers, referring to the fact that the lady at the BBC who originally championed Ripper (her name escapes me right now) has now moved on and the current PTB are not necessarily as Joss friendly.

Unless Joss decides to write Ripper as a hospital or hairdressing drama it might not be welcome in a BBC evening slot anymore.

Disciple of Spike | June 24, 00:18 CET

I don't think I would be interested in a Ripper series without ASH, and I'm with bobster, here, on being interested in a series that might explore middle years. (Now that Joss is 40, maybe he'll consider this?) I would like to see some of the darkness of the Giles/Ethan Rayne relationship, and certainly there is a good deal of London history that is dark, which could provide its own kind of backstory. It would be interesting to me to see Wesley revived somehow, and have him join the cast, and have the darker Wesley (as opposed to Wesley the twit Watcher)interact with Giles. There might be an interesting transference of Wesley's relationship with his father coloring his relationship with the older Giles. Oops, perhaps getting a little too far into fanfic, sorry.

palehorse | June 24, 00:21 CET

No ASH no Ripper for me. Oh I'll watch it, but come on. Tony is Giles.

I'd be interested what Giles is up to after Chosen. Is he now basically the head of their new council? How does he go about that? They can do a storyline that involves his past and cut back and forth or something. Not too long ago. Something that happened in between Buffy seasons/eps. Maybe show the time in S6 when he was in England?

There's plenty of possibilites. But please have Tony as Giles.

EdDantes | June 24, 00:54 CET

There's a reference to Giles in 'Hell's Bells' which got cut for time. Willow and Dawn are talking about the flowers that Giles sent, and Dawn wishes he was here and Willow says

"Me too. And I'm sure he'd be much rather be here than fighting that nasty demon-"

To which Dawn replies

"Da-e-mon. In England, it's daemon".

Simon | June 24, 01:04 CET

I agree. No ASH, No Ripper. ASH is Giles. I read once where Joss was considering Ripper as an exploration into Giles and lonliness, and the darkness that pervades from that. I also think Ethan Rayne would be a great character to interact with on a constant basis.

ladyforash | June 24, 01:17 CET

"There's a reference to Giles in 'Hell's Bells' which got cut for time. Willow and Dawn are talking about the flowers that Giles sent, and Dawn wishes he was here and Willow says

"Me too. And I'm sure he'd be much rather be here than fighting that nasty demon-"

To which Dawn replies

"Da-e-mon. In England, it's daemon". "

YES! THAT's what I'm talking about here. That's what they should do.

"I read once where Joss was considering Ripper as an exploration into Giles and lonliness, and the darkness that pervades from that."

And that. I love it already. Giles is a perfect character for something like that. I'll always remember the first time we see him and Ethan face each other in S2. "Hello, Ripper...." And then Giles calmly and ruthlessly pummeling the stuffing out of Ethan. That sense of 'woah, there's more to this guy'. Good stuff, hehe.

EdDantes | June 24, 03:27 CET

Of all the Buffy spin-offs, Ripper is the one that has the most interest to me. Giles brings such a different viewpoint to that universe and if the show were done in the style of a Cracker, Prime Suspect or Ultraviolet....well, I'd be a happy camper. Here is hoping this is Whedon's first project once he has Serenity in the can.

NOLA64 | June 24, 05:02 CET

"Giles brings such a different viewpoint to that universe and if the show were done in the style of a Cracker, Prime Suspect or Ultraviolet....well, I'd be a happy camper. "

Yeah absolutely. Ah, Cracker, that was a great show. Uhm, we are of course talking about the original british version with Robbie Coltrane right? Not the US version?

EdDantes | June 24, 05:09 CET

Yes, this is starting to sound like a broken record - No ASH, no "Ripper". I *do* like the idea of exploring the lonliness and the darker aspects of Giles as a character, though. And yes, "Ripper" needs to be darker. Someone once said, "A person only regrets the things he never did". Maybe THAT could be an aspect of the story... Giles thinking of the path not taken in addition to owning the decissions he had made and the pain and loneliness he'd known as a result.

And Tony had reportedly suggested setting it in the West Counties - particularly around Bath - since there are all those Ley Lines, history, ghosts, and the like. Who knows? There may even be a stone circle in that area they could use for a filming location. A bit of the supernatural as a metaphore for the personal "daemons" and ghosts that plague Giles would be interesting.

As for including the character of Ethan Rayne, I like the chemistry Robin Sachs and Tony Head have together. As a team, they make their characters' history very believable. And I'm sure Robin wouldn't be opposed to joining in on this project if he were asked... and if he were available.

I for one would gladly tune in to see the results.

dragonfly | June 24, 07:29 CET

EdDantes wrote:Yeah absolutely. Ah, Cracker, that was a great show. Uhm, we are of course talking about the original british version with Robbie Coltrane right? Not the US version?
Oh yeah. Of course, although as American remakes of British TV shows goes, this one didn't totally suck.
Of all the main Buffy characters Giles is the one with the most unanswered questions and the least explored of the Scooby Gang. I'd take a tele-film every 3 months or so and consider myself lucky.

NOLA64 | June 24, 07:42 CET

Warlock, you need to check your facts. The BBC was very keen on the Ripper series, and had a 9.30 slot all ready for it - three years ago. It was Joss who walked away from the Ripper deal when Firefly was taken up.


3 years ago Fireway wasn't thought up, it's ashame Ripper wasn't done 3 years ago.

BBC has a good cult thing going with Buffy, Angel on thier website, I'm sure Ripper will make it soon.

SeanValen | June 24, 07:57 CET

I have to say that the BBC's attitude towards Buffy, and most genre shows in fact, confuses me.

They go to all the trouble of having a large and varied cult website section and yet make no effort to actually show any of the series on their channels. The old cult slot is now gone the way of the dodo and any remaining genre series they have are either never shown (Star Trek) or shown at a time when they will only ever be seen by the most loyal fans willing to either stay up late or set the video (Buffy).

To be fair to them ITV is worse, their entire primetime schedule is packed with poorly acted soaps, dull cop dramas and reality dirge (how many shows about moving abroad to we need?). Not a decent U.S. show in sight, genre or otherwise.

If i ever had to go back to just having the five terrestrial channels i think i would be getting rid of the tv altogether. Really not worth the license fee!

Disciple of Spike | June 24, 13:49 CET