Whilst Spike seemed like a fun idea, Joss Whedon wasn't quite as committed to exploring that particular classic Buffy character in detail the same way he did Rupert Giles. Episodes of the Vampire Slayer's show frequently hinted at her fuddy-duddy Watcher's life before he pulled the tweed jacket on, during which tiem he was a London-based demon hunter nicknamed The Ripper. Basically, he was like John Constantine from the comic Hellblazer (and short-lived TV adaptation of such). Except he would be played by the guy from the eighties Nescafe adverts you knew better as the bespectacled, book-learned character played by Anthony Steward Head. How cool would that have been? After plans to make it either as a miniseries or TV movie with the BBC, Whedon and co set their sights on a proper cinematic release. Updates came through every so often, over the course of a decade or so. At this point, ten years after the show finished, Head's probably a bit too old to convincingly play a younger version of Giles, and it's been a while since any announcement.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
