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Post by fenris on Dec 17, 2006 21:01:24 GMT
Tomorrow (18/12/06) marks the first anniversary of the final episode of the second series of Hex being screened on Sky One. Although we didn't know it at the time, it turned out to be the last ever episode, and the end of Hex as we know it. Just thought I'd mark the occasion. One year... time truly flies.
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Post by orokiah on Dec 17, 2006 22:07:11 GMT
A whole Hexless year already? Seems like only yesterday I was thumbing through my TV guide wondering where the rest of episode thirteen was. I can't believe how much I still miss this show.
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Post by fenris on Dec 20, 2006 20:13:13 GMT
We all know that Hex was cancelled due to low audience figures, but a thought occurred to me today - even if the second series had captured and kept an impressive audience share, it's highly likely that it would have been cancelled anyway. Why? One word: Hogfather.
This two part mini-series based on one of Terry Pratchett's hugely successful Discworld novels has just aired on Sky One. Filmed entirely on specially-built, elaborate sets, with an all-star cast (David Jason, Ian Richardson, Mark Warren, Joss Ackland, Nigel Planer, etc) and packed to the gills with special effects, it apparently cost £6 million - and that's a hefty chunk of small change in anybody's language.
(Bear with me now, for it will look like I'm going off on a tangent, but trust me, it will turn out to be relevant.)
Depressingly, where genre TV shows and their fans are concerned, television executives adopt a particularly blinkered kind of linear thinking that they would would never dream of applying to mainstream drama series or sitcoms. Their logic says that sci-fi and horror fans will watch anything as long as it's got either aliens and spaceships or ghosts and vampires in it. An example: in the late Nineties, BBC1 produced a mini-series entitled Invasion Earth. An American co-production, it cost an absolute fortune, was extensively hyped and advertised - and hardly anybody watched it. For the next several years, every time a producer or writer approached the Beeb with a proposal for a sci-fi series, the BBC suits would roll their eyes, shake their heads, and turn them away. As far as the BBC was concerned, the public wasn't interested in science-fiction anymore - the failure of Invasion Earth was concrete proof.
In fact, anyone with an iota of common scene could have told the Beeb that the reason why Invasion Earth flopped was simply because it wasn't any good. But as far as the BBC were concerned, it was the genre that was at fault, not the product, because everybody knows that sci-fi fans will watch anything provided it's got aliens and spaceships in it.
It's an indication of the contempt that those in charge of British television had for genre programming at the time. If they'd commissioned a sitcom or sketch show that had fallen flat on it's face, would that have meant they wouldn't have bothered making any more comedy shows? Of course not.
Now, following the success of New Who, the Beeb think science-fiction is the bee's knees, and are merrily producing related magazine shows (Doctor Who Confidential) and assorted spin-offs. And ITV are getting in on the act, with the forthcoming Primeval.
And so that brings me somewhat longwindedly back to Hex and Hogfather. I imagine that to a Sky executive, a fantasy show is a fantasy show. He or she will believe that if you cancel one such series but start another, the audience will simply migrate across from the original show to the new one. Assuming that Sky have a set budget regarding the amount they spend each year on home-grown programming, then when the opportunity became available to film an adaptation of a extremely popular novel by a best-selling author, it was simply a matter of priorities - in order to accommodate the costly Hogfather, money had diverted from elsewhere, away from other projects.
Please don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to start any conspiracy theories that Hogfather killed Hex. Dismal audience figures did that. Hex was almost certainly dead and gone before any real serious consideration was probably given to filming Pratchett's novel. The point I'm trying to make is that even if season two of Hex had achieved healthy ratings, enough to make a third series viable, Hogfather probably wouldn't have made it possible anyway. Not only do I doubt that Sky would have thought it justifiable to make two fantasy shows, but it wouldn't have made financial sense for them to renew a little known cult series when Hogfather - the first live-action show based on the work of a hugely popular author - required considerable funding.
Therefore, I believe that even if a third series of Hex had been under serious consideration, it still would have been cancelled so that the money penciled in for it's production could be reallocated to Hogfather's budget.
Incidentally, I intended to video Hogfather, but events transpired against me, and now I'll have to wait for a repeat, or perhaps treat myself to the inevitable DVD. Opinions on other message boards have been extremely mixed regarding the series, regardless of whether people are familiar with Pratchett's work or not.
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Death
Hexen
SOUL REAVER
Posts: 159
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Post by Death on Dec 21, 2006 0:17:29 GMT
I watched it and LOVED it, although Hogfather aint one of my fave books of the Discworld series I have to say they did a top job at adapting it for the screen. My hat goes off to the cast and crew and well done to whoever was in charge of casting, Michelle Dockery didn’t just play the part of Susan, she WAS Susan. For sure, someone to watch out for in the future.
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Post by rwctlc1107 on Dec 23, 2006 12:30:25 GMT
I am so glad that I did find HEX this summer even thought by then we knew there would be no more. It actually rejuvenated my love for the genre. I hadnt watched any scifi/occult/fantasy stuff since Buffy went off the air unless you count LOST. I had watched charmed but stopped after shannon doherty left. I have real issues when leads leave shows which of course didnt bode well for me with HEX.
Tina
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Post by fenris on Dec 25, 2006 16:13:07 GMT
Well done to whoever was in charge of casting, Michelle Dockery didn’t just play the part of Susan, she WAS Susan. For sure, someone to watch out for in the future. Watched the repeat of the first part of Hogfather that was on Sky One earlier today (25/12/06), and I totally agree about Michelle Dockery. Not only is she talented, but also absolutely gorgeous (those cheekbones are to die for). Where has this girl been hiding herself?
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Death
Hexen
SOUL REAVER
Posts: 159
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Post by Death on Dec 26, 2006 16:28:45 GMT
She's been hiding on stage as far as i know.
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Post by scrumpty on Jan 3, 2007 22:50:58 GMT
I can't understand (other than low audiences) why hex has been cancelled. My fiance bought me series one and two for christmas, and i have just finished watching The last (ever) episode, there is still a malachi, and an ella (not to mention all of his succubi and incubi and leon and thelma). Not only that, but its a supernatural series, so they can bring back any of the characters that they want (unlike eastenders with dirty Den)!!!!!
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Post by Fassbender Fan on Jan 7, 2007 10:35:04 GMT
It's been a year? Dear lord that means I'm getting old...
I just bought series two off Play for £14, see all ya had to do was wait and year and it becomes cheap. haha
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Post by matt on Jan 7, 2007 11:02:32 GMT
I ain't bought series one yet.
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Post by Fassbender Fan on Jan 9, 2007 18:59:43 GMT
lol. Oh Matt....
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Post by fenris on Sept 22, 2007 17:20:34 GMT
Perhaps one of the most depressing aspects about Hex being gone is that (as far as I'm concerned) of all the various British telefantasy shows that have since debuted, none of them have come close to filling the void created by Hex's cancellation.
Torchwood seemed as though it would be The Great New Hope of UK science-fiction, and considering the amount of talent involved, it's amazing how badly flawed it turned out to be. The first season staggered about like a headless chicken, the tone of the series varying wildly from episode to episode, and character development progressed in fits and starts. There was a lack of continuity that was almost shocking in a modern-day TV show, and the gratuitous sex and swearing that was shoehorned in made Torchwood appear to be what a group of sniggering schoolboys would produce if asked to make an 'adult' series. Yet despite all that, I still liked it. There was clearly a good show in there somewhere, trying to get out. I remain hopeful that Torchwood will hit it's stride in the second season, with all the teething problems sorted out. Reading on the Hex scale: close, but no cigar.
Primeval was clearly colourful and entertaining, but it's attempts to be 'a family show' meant that action and CGI effects took preference over detailed storylines and characterisations. 'Don't have anything too complicated in case the kiddies don't understand it, and to make sure they don't start fidgeting, have plenty of dinosaurs chasing people' appears to be the show's mantra. And in a bizarre and annoying attempt to capture another key audience demographic, the producers made the perky Hannah Spearitt parade around wearing only a pair of skimpy knickers in almost every episode. Ho-hum. At least the cliffhanger ending that concluded the first season hinted at the possibility that Primeval might develop into a more interesting series upon it's return. Reading on the Hex scale: too lightweight.
Jekyll was a curious beast: well written by the ever-dependable Steven Moffatt, and populated by a great cast, all giving good performances. Yet it was ultimately unessential and rather soulless. A series that was easy to admire, but quite difficult to actually like. Reading on the Hex scale: distant.
The Sarah-Jane Adventures - a guilty pleasure? Nope, because there's no guilt involved. It may say on the tin that it's intended for a younger audience, but I don't care. The pilot episode 'Invasion of the Bane' was a lot of fun, and I'm hoping that the about-to-start series will provide more of the same. And it doesn't hurt that Elizabeth Sladen is still as foxy as hell. It's almost impossible to believe she's only two years away from her bus pass. Reading on the Hex scale: wait and see.
Cape Wrath. Another flawed show, the main weaknesses being that it was never as dark and twisted as the producers clearly wanted it to be, and the two main storylines just weren't particularly intriguing. But the first season still managed to successfully lay the foundations for what could have been a truly compelling series, and the character of Zoe had the potential to become a memorable heroine. Unfortunately, poor ratings have resulted in it's cancellation. More than any other show, Cape Wrath came closest to filling the Hex-shaped hole in my life. I'll just have to buy the boxset and think about what might have been... Reading on the Hex scale: a near miss.
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Post by fenris on Dec 18, 2007 0:16:54 GMT
Today (18/12/07) is the second anniversary of Hex's final episode being screened. Sigh. I still miss it.
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Post by orokiah on Dec 18, 2007 12:31:44 GMT
Two years already? Wow. There's been plenty of good TV since but, for me, nothing has really matched the magic of Hex at its finest.
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Post by DreamDangerously on Dec 18, 2007 19:47:39 GMT
bloody hell, doesn't time fly!
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