Oh man I think I might of just wet myself a little, I totally missed this from the comic con this year.

Comic-Con 2007: Ripper BBC Movie Possible
Posted by Scott on 07/29 at 09:05 AM

Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon revealed yesterday that the long rumored Ripper project may be a reality as soon as 2008. Ripper, which will focus on Buffy character Rupert Giles, may be filmed as a 90-minute BBC movie, though Whedon stressed that it is not yet a done deal. Whedon first began discussing Ripper during Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s fifth season, but has been unable to reach a production deal. It is unclear how Ripper will tie into the canonical events of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight comic book.


Fingers crossed folks, I am dieing for some more Buffy verse and this looks like it may finally happen. Joss has been talking about this for several years now.
:yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

It's slightly surprising that the Beeb didn't take Ripper forward during 2009 when Doctor Who's taking its break from the screen.

Instead they're working on a Three Musketeers adaptation and a series themed around Pirates in the style of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Can't help but think both the BBC and Joss have missed the boat here.

To most people the Buffy/Angel universe is long-over (aside from the small fraction of people who are reading comic books), so something like this isn't going to be as successful as it could have been only 5 years ago; back when Buffy was still going and successful.

It would be interesting to know whether the BBC had any repeat rights for Buffy at the moment. If they do you can bet your bottom dollar that they'd schedule a run of Ripper after a Buffy repeat of some form.

I say this every time but they can't call it Ripper, Ripper is an in-joke that only real Buffy fans are going to get. :rolleyes: They should call it The Watcher oslt as at least people who weren't hard core fans have a basic idea of what that means and who Giles was.

I think Phillip makes a good point in that they might of missed the boat but on the other hand the tv climate over here is much more open to a fantasy show like this then it has been in years and as this is probably the only viable Buffy project thats ever gonna get made. Plus thanks to Little Britian, Doctor Who and everything else he's done Ash is much beter known to the general tv audience than he was when he was just ' that bloke from Buffy' 5 years ago.

All that other stuff aside, I just hope he makes the show, I've been waiting a really long time for this. And honestly wouldn't you all rather he makes it the same way he did Firefly and just start into it, and maybe not waste a bunch of time on back story?

I'd imagine he'd do it in a similar way to Serenity. A narrative that works equally well with newcomers as it does with people that were seasoned viewers of BtVS.

well they could also show the episodes (if the beeb still have the rights) where giles's nickname is mentionned (not that really help, it just show giles has a bad past): halloween, the dark age, ... :unsure: i suppose the TV film will develop the backstory more that what said in the serie :unsure:

Or you could do the much more sensible option and distance Ripper from Buffy completely; leaving any exposition to be filled in by the movie. Then at the same time you lose any stigma which will be associated with Buffy - not unlike how the new Doctor Who was distanced from the original series.

Expecting people to remember what happened in a few episodes of Buffy which were broadcast 10 years ago (to be honest I don't remember exactly what the whole Ripper malarkey is about, and I consider myself a fan) is a sure-fire recipe for disaster.

anyway i doubt they will do ripper with the action taking place after the end of season seven as they will need to bring some slayers

they will still need to (re)introduce the watcher council (oh the joy of quentin :rolleyes: ) unless the story take place at giles place (seen in the first half of season seven) without any connection to the buffyverse :unsure:

I reckon that it will be pretty self contained and stand alone.

It's far too long after the end of the series for there to be much direct continuation. I expect there will be a few in jokes/references included for fans of Buffy though :)

I am not sure how objective I am being but I always think Joss will make a supernatural House ie old genius leads impossibly attractive team against mystical perils.

For fanatics like prophecy girl, Joe and me continuity is nice but I agree with the general consensus that it has to be stand alone otherwise it would be impossibly alienating even baffling to a modern audience. sk

it would be great if they were to bring back ethan (flashback or else as he is one of giles old friend who know why/where/how he got his nickname) and olivia (well she knew about the nickname but didn't seem to know much about the origin of it)

I agree, I think Joss has always wanted this to be a look into Giles life before Buffy, still though there's no reason why they can't have a Slayer or perhaps some other cameo's of some sort.

:ponder: they could introduce india cohen (the slayer before buffy, according the book of four) but giles never met her.

but then again, giles seemed to know or have met a lot of watchers before his time (he knew about kendra watcher, .... ) and wesley kinda mention that there was a watcher academy or something near :unsure:

but if they have to do giles before buffy, they will have to explain/develop the curator at the/a british museum (unless it was just a cover story :ermm: )

Well if its true that this is only going to be ninety minute show then I hope Joss doesn't waste to much time with back story. I mean let's face it he would really only be doing this for hard core fans. So maybe your Idea about some thing from the watcher council or a previous Slayer story would work.

joss did a good job with serenity, i think he should be able to do similar for ripper

to make thing simpler, it could be a supernatural story without the involment (or mention) of slayer/council :unsure: :ponder:

That's exactly what I've thought from the beginning. Just make the show and we the fan's will get the references to all things Slayer. If they even include that part in there. Joss may have a completely different story in mind.

Speaking to CBR News at the 2007 Scream Awards, antony head gives an update on the status of 'Ripper'.

CBR