According to the BBC today, the new high-concept series from indie Kudos will be set in space and is to be called 'Outcasts'.
It is being written by 'Spooks' writer Ben Richards and tells the story of a doomed earth and a search for a new home.
In its announcement the BBC uses this Stephen Hawking quote, almost as a scene setter. "I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars."
In a script that sounds a little like it has borrowed from Arthur C Clarke's Rama series of books, a bunch of social misfits and criminals are sent out into the depths of space to colonise a new planet.These include a screwed-up genius and, of course, the petty thief. Hang on, that sounds like 'Blake's 7' (Avon and Villa), which, oddly enough, a production company has been trying to remake for years and recently launched a series of audio dramas, which are available on the Sci-Fi Channel's website (starring Daniela Nardini from 'This Life' as Servelan).The settlers will face a harsh time on the new earth colony and the series promises to be “dramatic and entertaining".With a massive hit on their hands in Russell T Davies’ smart and sassy Dr Who revival, the BBC seems to have caught the sci-fi bug, which has already proved a fertile ground for TV in the US, giving us the likes of the brilliantly realised 'Battlestar Galactica' (which still was name checked in an episode of the US version of 'The Office', in which someone says "You're not watching Battlestar Galactica? Then you're stupid") and is soon to give us a 'Terminator' TV spin-off, 'The Sarah Connor Chronicles', starring British actress Lena Headey, who played Queen Gorgo in the breathtaking '300', as Sarah Connors. A bit of a result I would say. Michael Grade, what are you doing about all this? Either start buying some half decent US drama or spend some cash on making some. 'Primeval' doesn't count, beign a poor 'Doctor Who' rip off with dinosaurs. Okay, that's all I have to say.
Gordon Macmillan
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