Sun Oct 26, 2008 — by Robert Greenberger

BBC Plans New Super-Hero Series

Series Inspired by Marvel Super-Heroes

The Stage is reporting that the BBC has asked Doctor Who director Joe Ahearne to create Superpower, a fresh take on heroes. Ahearne has previously written episodes of This Life, Ultraviolet and the forthcoming Apparitions.

The Beeb has commissioned stand-alone scripts and turned production chores over to Impossible Pictures, the people behind Primeval.

Ahearne told the paper he is a major fan of Marvel’s line of super-heroes which will no doubt be a heavy influence on the series. Having said that, he stressed the new show will be set apart from NBC’s Heroes or the BBC’s spoof No Heroics.

“It is a new and original super-hero idea which is not a send-up. All the super-hero stuff that is on TV in this country - ITV’s No Heroics, My Hero - British TV is happy to do if it is a send-up, but no one has done it for real. There is a particular gimmick in mine, which I won’t give away, but it means it will be refreshed every episode,” he told the paper.

The BBC is said to be arranging the production schedule to take advantage of the Saturday night prime time slot currently being used by Merlin and then followed by the third season of Robin Hood, meaning the new show would not be running until, most likely, the second half of 2009.

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