#THE NEW BUFFY TV SHOW
Paul David Degen, Facebook They should reboot the show as The Slayer, so every few seasons you get a new Slayer, Watcher, town, era and friends, in a kinda Doctor Who style, so it has more longevity.
Gary Pyke, email I want the new show to fit into the official continuity of the comics. I don’t care how, but everything that happened in those comics happened. Plus it would instantly differentiate itself from the original by the fact that the Slayers are considered to be a terrorist organisation and everyone knows about vampires (although admittedly that feels a little like True Blood).
Paul Eatherton, Facebook How about a massive academy of Slayers, with Scoobies running it? Now that I would watch.
Gary Mancini, Facebook I would have preferred to see where the original characters are in their lives now. An older Scooby Gang could have been very interesting, and a new cast could have been introduced along the way.
Ana Castanho, email Diversity should be one topic to address, but the “political monsters” that are rising could give some great storylines and big fights too, building a parallel to other points in history (dictators, purgers and the humanitarian catastrophes they stoke) through metaphors and mythology.
Keith Tudor, email The dusting effects should look similar but better. The issues, humour and drama should also be just as good as the original series too. Also, please have an Angel and Spike cameo.
Fiona Jane Hamilton, Facebook I absolutely loved this programme, but it had its time. Leave the Buffyverse alone to its comic book/novel continuation... Let’s have something original!
John Porter, Facebook The original was a series too long as it was...
Amanda Collin, Facebook When the show ended they gave all the girls in the world with potential Slayer powers the power to be a Slayer. Why can’t we follow on with this idea? I would be so excited to watch that show.
Belle Alice Lowndes, Facebook What made Buffy brilliant in the first place? For me it’s the juxtaposition of a normal teenage girl trying to live a normal life while also having this massive destiny and responsibility. It was the quirky yet relatable characters, with real-life problems
contrasting with the fantasy context, quotable dialogue and charismatic casting. So give me that again, with contemporary issues to deal with and great character writing – well-written female characters, which means they don’t all need to be kickass, though that’s obviously Buffy’s forte! Just avoid or subvert the clichés and stereotypes that make it generic.
Natasha Field, Facebook Why can’t Fray be televised? Or something like Tales Of The Slayers - looking at different Slayers from the past/present/future? SFX That’s a great idea, Natasha. There’s also serious mileage in a Spike anthology show, covering his adventures in WW2 and ’70s NYC. We still need to see that Billy Idol encounter…
Marisa Anne, Facebook I wouldn’t mind if it was set in another dimension like the “land without shrimp”, for example, where the characters and world are different and then Willow comes and visits. That’d be cool.
Roy Richards, Facebook As a fan obviously I’d love to see cameos from all the original cast. My OCD definitely wants Eliza Dushku back in the pilot to pass the torch on – even if Faith’s only dead for a couple of minutes and is resuscitated.
Tushar Sinha, Facebook I think Nina Dobrev from Vampire Diaries would have been a good replacement for Buffy. She did kick some ass on that show.
Nathan Paul Kennedy, Facebook I’d like to see Faith as a Watcher, using the ideas they would have used in her proposed spin-off series
Ryan R Bayne, internet It would need to be far darker. The Slayer needs to be more advanced after years of experience, like she has learned to use a long blade. She would also need to behave as if she has changed psychologically after everything she has been through. Not another squeaky-clean Buffy on a cheesy vamps series, no way.
Craig Oxbrow, email Be brave. The original series was at its best when taking risks and doing the unexpected. SFX Let’s just run that past the brand team… #MAKE IT SO? Keith Tudor, email I’m amazed by the recent announcement of a new Star Trek series with Patrick Stewart returning as Jean-Luc Picard. I am a huge fan of The Next Generation and a large part of that was the captain. I loved how calm, considered and diplomatic he could be, and given today’s ever darker, grittier shows a series in the vein of TNG that actually shows some positivity and a better way to approach conflict than resorting to violence is well needed. Here’s hoping the new series isn’t Picard armed with a Bat’leth cutting his way through Borg drones on a personal vendetta, even though that does sound pretty cool... Helen Banks, email First we hear that Picard is back in his own show. Then we’re told Christopher Pike will feature in Star Trek: Discovery season two. Now Spock’s about to pop up too (played by a guy who looks like a catalogue model, not a Vulcan – I mean yum, but no). Say what you like about ’90s Star Trek – and I didn’t like all of it myself – but at least Rick Berman and co gave us new crews, new planets, new situations. These days it’s all about reheating the past, which is pretty ironic for a show that used to be about the future. Come on, Star Trek, get back to boldly going where no one has gone before. If I wanted Picard, Pike and Spock I’d boldly go to my DVD shelves. SFX Don’t they have catalogue models on Vulcan? That is… not logical. Let’s reserve judgement on Ethan Peck until we see him in the role – it’s a crucial part, and they’re not going to blow that particular piece of casting. I’m just weirded out by the idea of two screen Spocks existing concurrently. Isn’t there some kind of universal law against that? Maybe we should ask the Flash…
#NATIONAL DISGRACE
Paul Baker, email Re: that column about why homegrown TV SF deserves more support (SFX 303). Well, no, actually it doesn’t, and here’s why. It’s shit. It’s lowbudget, overly sincere talky bollocks that takes forever to go anywhere. Most of the shows Ian Berriman mentioned I watched once, so at least I gave them a try. In the case of Humans I thought how sick I am of actors doing the whole “Look at me, I’m a robot, but for budget reasons I look 100% human” thing. No. Sorry, just no. To be fair I thought Westworld was also crap for similar reasons, but at least it had decent production values. Quality, that’s the key to fiction. It’s either good or it isn’t and as Alexi Sayle once famously sang, “British films are shit” and that applies equally to Brit SF TV. SFX I’ve been thoroughly enjoying some “low-budget, overly sincere talky bollocks that takes forever to go anywhere” on iPlayer of late. It’s called Quatermass And The Pit. And it’s brilliant.
How about a massive academy of Slayers run by the Scoobies?
#THE FISHER QUEEN
Jonah Roche, email So good to hear that Mark Hamill will be back in Episode IX. Luke really deserves a better exit than the one he got in The Last Jedi, and given this is the film that completes the trilogy of trilogies it’s only fitting to involve the guy who was there right at the beginning. I’m less happy about
the idea of Carrie Fisher returning to the film via the medium of unseen footage. We all know what
Star Wars fans are like. We’ll all be sat in the cinema trying to work out which bits of The Force
Awakens the clips would have slotted into, and that’ll take us right out of the story.
SFX Be one with the Force and don’t think about it, Jonah. It’s a tough storytelling decision facing JJ Abrams but unseen footage has to be preferable to one of those spooky CGI resurrections we saw in Rogue One.
#THE KANE MUTINY
Mike Garner, email The treatment of Ruby Rose over being cast as Batwoman is beyond disgusting! A backlash saying the actress isn’t gay “enough” to play the role is mental to me. When does someone’s sexuality have any bearing on their acting ability? Where was the backlash from the casting of Jake and Heath when
Brokeback Mountain came out? Is it not more important to have the right actress play Batwoman and have a programme stay around for years representing the character in the right way with excellent performances, rather than having a woman with the “correct” sexuality play the part and only having five episodes before the show is cancelled because the actress and the part aren’t the right fit? I’d also like to know of all the people complaining about Ruby Rose’s casting, how many have read the Batwoman comic, or even have any plans whatsoever of watching the show? Surely complaints should have happened after the character appeared, not before.
SFX I’m retroactively outraged that Adam West was cast as Batman, given his parents weren’t senselessly gunned down in a dark alley.
#RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Richard Graves, email Re: Game Of
Thrones By Numbers (SFX 303) Number of religions in Westeros? Three? The Septon, the Old Gods, the Lord of Light, the Drowned God. Seems like at least four to be going on with for Westeros, not including all the other ones on Essos. Since the Iron Island ruled at one time, is it not reasonable to assume that the Drowned God is at least as legit as the Lord of Light? SFX That would be an ecumenical matter…
#BULLETPROOF
Tonia Small, email I was really starting to give up on the Netflix MCU series after Iron Fist (booooooring) and The Defenders (exciting... then booooooring). But then, much to my surprise, Luke Cage season two came along and blew my mind! Talk about restoring faith in the franchise. It was absolutely gripping from start to finish – and what a great series for female characters, despite the fact it’s ostensibly about a man. At certain points you could almost forget Luke was even in it, the supporting cast were so amazing. I don’t want to sell him short, though: this was probably his best performance yet, Mike Colter really has him nailed now. Well done to all concerned!