|
Post by WarrenWitchesRule on May 30, 2007 0:00:39 GMT
Have you read his book Coraline? I really enjoyed it.
|
|
|
Post by fenris on Aug 15, 2007 19:16:05 GMT
Neverwhere has actual plot and consistency and, well good writing. I'd be nervous of a big budget Hollywood remake in case it trampled over all the subtleties of the story, which is a possibility if the movie of Stardust goes down well in the summer. I've read that Stardust had a disappointing opening weekend in America, but apparently a big budget movie version of Neverwhere is being seriously discussed, with Gaiman writing the script. Here's a link to more info; moviesblog.mtv.com/2007/08/13/hard-candy-director-to-tackle-gaimans-neverwhere/
|
|
|
Post by Maria on Aug 20, 2007 18:58:36 GMT
I think charmed, point pleasent and also Buffy and angel, cross over with Hex. That would be really cool to see
|
|
|
Post by fenris on Sept 19, 2007 19:53:46 GMT
Ever since 'Everything Changes', the opening episode of Torchwood, in which Captain Jack described Torchwood 2 in Scotland as being run by "a strange little man", I've liked to think (being the sad little geek that I am) that he was talking about John Strange from Strange. If I let my imagination take flight, then ideally I'd want the rest of his team to consist of Ella and Thelma, Dr. Liz Asher from Darkplace (I find the idea of taking a character from a comedy spoof and playing her straight immensely appealing), and ex-intelligence operative Frances from Ultraviolet.
|
|
|
Post by fenris on Jun 10, 2008 16:29:47 GMT
Have recently bought and watched the Series I & II boxset of Urban Gothic. For anyone unfamiliar with this show, it was a half-hour British horror series that was originally shown on Channel Five. The first series of thirteen episodes was screened in 2000, while the second series consisted of nine episodes and was broadcast in 2001 (the combined total of 22 episodes - the length of a standard American season - would indicate that the producers hoped to sell the show overseas). Intended for post-watershed viewing, it contained a frequent amount of blood and gore, plus a fair smattering of sex and nudity. Zone Horror screened both series about a year ago, usually just after 04:00 in the morning.
At first glance, Urban Gothic was an anthology series of self-contained stories, the only link between the various episodes being that they were all set in modern-day London (the show's very first episode 'Dead Meat' will be of particular interest to Hex fans - not only does it feature Jemima Rooper, but the plot centres on a ritual to raise the dead, written by John Dee).
However, the last episode of the first series revealed that all the stories took place in the same shared continuity, and in the second series an ongoing storyline gradually emerged, involving a covert branch of British Intelligence called C-TEC which investigates unusual events; a centuries-old secret society known as The Institute; and 'The Heart' - an ancient and powerful supernatural entity that serves as the lifeforce of the city of London, and feeds on the pain, fear and misery of the inhabitants. Several characters - some of which had debuted in the first series - also began to make recurring appearances, including Jude Redfield, a failed journalist who had been chosen by The Heart to become The Storyteller - the chronicler of the city's secret history; Josef Severin, the leader of the Institute; inexperienced C-TEC agent Sean Bendix; Jude's snide zombie sidekick Milton; lesbian police detective Rachel Winter; teenage border-line sociopath Kali Cunningham; autistic savant Loki Brown, who had memorised the scientific formula of Creation; and Jude's missing girlfriend Cora - transformed into the conduit for The Heart.
Urban Gothic was made on a low budget and shot on video, and on occasion the ideas and themes contained in the scripts are beyond the reach of the show's meager finances to be visualized successfully. Also, once you take away the commercials each episode is just over twenty minutes in length, and many of the stories feel rushed as a result, with several clearly needing a longer running time to do themselves justice.
Like most anthology series, Urban Gothic is hit and miss, with some episodes working better than others. But it scores a complete or partial bullseye more often than not. Sadly, the ongoing storyline involving The Heart ends with an unresolved cliffhanger in the final episode, but the entire series is still worth watching.
EDIT: had to write this post in two instalments, due to being interupted.
|
|
|
Post by orokiah on Feb 1, 2009 16:57:09 GMT
We surely have to add Demons to the list of potential Hex crossovers. Especially as last night's episode of the former, 'Smitten', gave us concrete proof they're set in the same universe: the first shot of the episode, of the hospital Galvin and Mina arrive at to check the body in the mortuary, showed the same hospital Cassie and Thelma pay a late-night visit to in the first episode of Hex season two. Okay...so it's a stock shot that Shine just reused, and not a real crossover. But I'd still love to see Galvin and gang arriving to grade and smite Malachi, since Ella, Thelma and Leon have so far been unable to manage it.
|
|
|
Post by fenris on Feb 1, 2009 20:31:00 GMT
As I've written elsewhere on the forum, as Demons is a Shine production with several ex-Hex personnel on both sides of the camera, I consider it to be the closest thing to a follow-up/sequel/spin-off of Hex that we're ever likely to see.
So as far as I'm concerned, the events and characters in Demons all definitely exist in the Hexverse. I've got all kinds of ideas for crossover short stories bouncing around in my head. Whether I ever get around to writing them is another matter entirely.
|
|
|
Post by fenris on Apr 14, 2009 19:21:46 GMT
Loosely based on a popular comic book series, Witchblade debuted in 2000 as a made-for cable movie. It was a ratings winner, and so a series followed in 2001. Yancy Butler played NYC police detective Sara Pezzini, who becomes the reluctant and unwilling owner of an extremely powerful, ancient, paranormal weapon called the Witchblade. When not in use the Witchblade appears to be a simple bracelet, but when activated it changes into various metal gauntlets, from which assorted blades and swords emerge. If this wasn't enough for her to deal with, Sara's best friend and partner Danny is killed in a shootout, but proceeds to appear as a ghost (sound familiar?), offering sage advice. The series proved successful, and returned for a second season on 2002. However, there were delays throughout production due to Yancy Butler having to go into rehab for her self-confessed drink problem. Despite healthy ratings, the show didn't return for a third season. The final episode provides a resolution of sorts, while still leaving many questions unanswered. Zone Horror are screening Witchblade, starting next Monday (20/04/09) and continuing every weekday at 14:00 and 18:00. Here's an article about the show on Zone Horror's website; www.zonehorror.tv/News/Features.aspx?Id=23If you've never seen this series, I recommend you give it a try. It has a unique gritty-yet-mystical quality that sets it apart from most of the female-fronted fantasy shows that followed in the wake of Xena and Buffy.
|
|
|
Post by chentse on Jun 2, 2009 22:40:03 GMT
There are plenty of great crossover ideas in this thread so far.
As far as what i would like to see : I would love to see a Hex and Buffy/Angel crossover. The characters from those shows would fit good together.
After that I think Hex would crossover good with the following shows :
- Demons - Being Human - Vampire High - Charmed - Supernatural
I wish there was more shows on TV like the above shows.
|
|
|
Post by fenris on Jun 4, 2009 22:54:15 GMT
Nice selection, chentse. Of all the TV shows mentioned in this thread and elsewhere, my choice of the ones that I believe most easily lend themselves to having crossovers with Hex are;
Demons. Naturally.
Strange. Screened in the two years (2002 & 2003) before Hex debuted, this brief series is all but forgotten now (despite being broadcast on BBC1 at prime time on Saturdays) and bizarrely has never been released on DVD. It had a similar look and feel to Hex – so much so that if a Hex fan who had never heard of Strange stumbled across an episode while channel-hopping one night, they could be forgiven for mistakenly believing that it was an unheralded Hex spin-off.
Point Pleasant. If you’ve ever wondered what an American version of Hex would be like, Point Pleasant is probably a pretty good indication. Created by several ex-Buffy production staffers, it’s the story of Christina Nickson, a teenage blonde who washes up (literally) in a quiet resort town on the East coast (the title location), and over the course of the series she and several of the inhabitants gradually realise that she’s the Anti-Christ. It was screened in the U.S. in early 2005 (right in-between the first and second seasons of Hex being broadcast in the UK) and was cancelled after only eight episodes, although thirteen episodes were produced in total. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but I’ve long had an idea for a crossover story in which Ella Dee arrives in Point Pleasant (after the events of the series’ final episode) to take charge, bang various characters’ heads together, clear up the mess they’ve caused, and ultimately salvage the situation by confronting Christina for a royal smack-down.
Neverwhere. Most of the non-human characters in Hex (and especially Demons) would feel right at home in London Below.
Murder in Suburbia. Unlike the other shows I've mentioned, this wasn’t a fantasy/horror series but a mainstream detective show that lasted two seasons and was broadcast on ITV (now ITV1) in 2004 – 2005. Caroline Catz and Lisa Faulkner played DI Kate Ashhurst and DS Emma Scribbins (aka Ash & Scribbs), investigating murders in the suburban town of Middleford in the London overspill. The reason why I’ve always liked the idea of a Hex/Murder in Suburbia crossover is that the opening episode of Suburbia’s second season is called ‘Witches’, and concerns the fatal nocturnal stabbing of a teenage girl in a graveyard. Ash and Scribbs’ enquiries centre on the private school that the victim attended, and they soon discover she was a practising witch. The local vicar offers his services to the detectives, revealing that he’s an expert on the occult and Middleford has been a hotbed of paranormal activity for centuries. Ash & Scribbs soon find themselves up to their eyeballs in assorted spookiness. I watched ‘Witches’ when it was first shown, and was half-convinced it was a deliberate Hex homage – but broadcasting dates make that impossible (‘Witches’ must have been scripted, filmed and was probably halfway through post-production when Hex first debuted). But I’ve been extremely keen on the idea of Ash & Scribbs entering the Hexverse proper even since.
|
|
|
Post by chentse on Jun 5, 2009 0:14:35 GMT
I can't believe I forgot Point Pleasant. Great pick there.
Sadly I haven't seen any of the other shows you mentioned. Neverwhere and Strange are two that I have been wanting to see for a while now. Murder in Suburbia was another one that I had my eye on, but since there was no supernatural element to it I never got around to watching it.
With me being from the U.S. I have to wait until I can find the shows on dvd before I can watch them. It makes it hard to find some shows. I can watch things on BBCAmerica, but that channel is so far behind its ridiculous.
Thats one reason why I love this thread, cause it gives me a lot of ideas of shows to look for.
|
|
|
Post by fenris on Jul 24, 2009 18:52:25 GMT
Zone Horror are screening Witchblade, starting next Monday (20/04/09) and continuing every weekday at 14:00 and 18:00. This coming Saturday and Sunday (25th and 26th July 2009) is Witchblade Weekend on the Zone Horror channel. They're screening seven hours of episodes on both days, from 14:00 to 21:00.
|
|
|
Post by fenris on Nov 5, 2009 1:19:14 GMT
While watching University Challenge last week, I suddenly thought how great it would be to see Medenham versus Trinity on that show. I think the two teams should be;
Medenham: Roxy (captain), Ella, Leon and Alex.
Trinity: Rosalind (captain), Charlotte, Raj and Angus (yes, the latter two are stupid, but I bet they both soak up information like a sponge).
And the winners? Medenham with an overwhelmingly high score, mostly because they've got Thelma standing behind Paxman, reading the answers over his shoulder and yelling them out to Ella.
|
|
|
Post by fenris on Mar 13, 2010 18:55:21 GMT
One show that I believe to be ideally suited for a crossover with Hex is The Devil's Whore, the four part historical drama that was screened on Channel 4 in late 2008. Andrea Riseborough (Annie in the original pilot for Being Human) played the series' title character Angelica Fanshawe, a fictitious heroine who becomes a close friend, confidant and/or lover to several of the real-life individuals who were of key importance in the events before, during and after the English Civil War. There is already a Hex connection, as Michael Fassbender had a major role as Cromwell's ally-turned-rival Thomas Rainsborough, but The Devil's Whore also contained some strong fantasy elements - so much so that I remember a letter being printed in SFX magazine in which the sender argued that SFX should have had coverage of The Devils' Whore due to it's genre content (SFX replied that they had considered covering the series as being border-line fantasy, before eventually deciding it was the thin end of the wedge). For example, although 'The Devil's Whore' is the name given to Angelica during a brief spell as an assassin and highway robber, she actually does have periodic visitations of the Devil, with the cloven-hoofed Horned One turning up at key moments (usually traumatic ones) throughout her life. It's never suggested that these visitations are imaginary, or that Angelica is deluded or emotionally disturbed - it appears she really is (for reasons unknown) the Devil's property. By series' end, she actually seems to welcome his appearances, perhaps finding his continuing presence and interest in her comforting. And then there's Edward Sexby (played by John Simm), the mercenary who becomes Angelica's steadfast protector and companion. As that letter writer to SFX put it, Sexby 'sees dead people. A lot.' Indeed he does. One final, quasi-fantasy component was the fact that mid-way through the series Angelica survives her own hanging (due to some timely intervention from Sexby), and spends the remaining episodes always wearing a scarf to hide the sizable scar that the noose has left around her neck. In one scene she absent-mindedly removes it in hot weather, and bystanders stare at her in horror - they're seeing a dead woman walking. Angelica has to rapidly leave to avoid being lynched by the God-fearing locals, who believe that her continuing survival after dancing at the end of a rope is proof that she's in league with the Devil. Ironically, they're right - sort of.
I would love to read a period-set tale of Ella Dee crossing paths with Angelica: God's Assassin meets the Devil's Whore. Or alternatively Angelica encountering Azazeal. Perhaps even a story taking place in the present, with Angelica revealed as having been rendered immortal, due to either (1.) being the Devil's favourite, or (2.) her death was literal instead of merely symbolic, and like Lazarus before her, she cannot die a second time.
|
|
|
Post by fenris on Nov 22, 2010 15:07:23 GMT
Don't know if it was deliberate or just pure coincidence, but today's episode of Doctors on BBC1 (22/11/10) was entitled 'Hex', and the main storyline concerned a feud between a 14 year old girl and her step-mother. The two characters' names? Cassie and Ella.
|
|