TVSquad

Sky One plans to create a new version of the 70's BBC cult hit, Blake's 7. The original series was a creation of Terry Nation, who also created the famous Doctor Who aliens, the Daleks. The original concept centered around a group of rebels fighting against a totalitarian planetary Federation.

The original Blake's 7 was a great experiment and had two qualities that were unique for its time. First, it used a continuous storyline between episodes before such things were commonplace. Second, in its final episode the enemy seemingly killed all of the primary cast, including Roj Blake (the character for whom the show is named).

The program has far more of a cult status in England than America and the DVD set has yet to be released in Region 1.

Will the program be a continuation of the events of the 70's program or a complete reboot? In terms of quality, will it be more like Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica or more like Flash Gordon? I guess we'll see.

U.S. fans of Terry Pratchett would be please to know that the British-produced mini-series Hogfather will get its U.S. debut on ION this coming Sunday night. I don't get ION on my channel line-up, but if you do I recommend watching this mini-series.

Through the miracle of the Internet, I've managed to watch this series already and am a long-time fan of Pratchett's writing. Hogfather is one of my favorite novels of his. It's difficult to explain Terry Pratchett's Discworld in a paragraph, but here goes.

Lost fans in the UK could soon have more to complain about than slow plot development. A halt in Virgin Media's deal renewal with British Sky Broadcasting might prevent Virgin Media customers from getting the Sky One channel, which airs Lost.

If the Virgin Media group and Sky cannot agree on a renewal price, Virgin subscribers will lose access to popular shows like 24, Lost, and The Simpsons, when the current deal ends on March 1. This means that viewers would be cut off from the show midseason. To make matters worse, customers would pay the same amount for less programming should the channels be cut.

On the plus side, a deal between the two companies has already been made for Virgin Media to offer the first two seasons of Lost on demand. Customers also have the option of subscribing to Sky's television service.

If you live in the UK and have been enjoying Lost, get your TiVos ready: Channel 4, which has been airing the first two seasons of the American hit, has lost the rights to seasons three and four to Sky One, according to The Sun.

"The series has defined TV drama over the last two years. We are absolutely thrilled to bring it to Sky One," Sky One chief Richard Woolfe told the tabloid.

Of course, Lost is currently only in its third season, but even with its slipping ratings, chances of a fourth season are almost 100%. So Sky will likely get its money's worth. Unless half the country has downloaded season three's episodes already. Then Sky is toast.

Our fellow blogger and The Prisoner fan Michael Sciannamea will be happy to hear this!

The British satellite channel Sky One is giving a green light for a remake of the cult-classic The Prisoner, which aired on ITV from 1967 until early 1968. The new series would run for six episodes to be aired next year, which would be the 40th anniversary of the series.

There are unconfirmed reports that Number 6, the main character that was played by Patrick McGoohan, will be played by Christopher Eccleston. Eccleston is currently portraying The Doctor in the new series of Doctor Who episodes being broadcast in America on the Sci-Fi Channel. Eccleston lasted only one season on the show and was replaced by David Tennant in the series currently running on the BBC.

The remake of The Prisoner will stick to the original concept of the series: a government agent is drugged and sent to a prison called The Village after he resigns from service. While in prison people are referred to by their numbers rather than their names. This version of the series will probably have a modern shine to it. Perhaps it will take place in one of those secret CIA prisons we aren't supposed to know about.

Hex, the Sky One series which has been described as a cult favorite and a more "adult" alternative to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, will be coming to BBC America on June 8. The series focuses on Cassie, a high school girl with supernatural powers. The series ran in the UK for two seasons and a total of eighteen episodes. The first ten episodes will began airing on BBC America at 10 p.m. on June 8. There's no word on when the rest of the episodes will air. I hadn't heard of this show until recently, but it sounds like it could be pretty good. If anyone out there has seen it, I'd love to hear your take on it.