Sci-Fi Storm

A Canadian spin-off of the ITV series Primeval was announced some time ago called Primeval: New World, but there hasn’t been much about it lately, until now. We’re hearing that SPACE in Canada (which is producing, and aired the original) will air the show later this year, along with Watch in the U.K. No U.S. outlet has been named yet (although I think it will be a toss-up between BBC America, which aired the original, and Syfy). Crossovers with the original cast are possible, but no one has said if they will happen, only that it is set in the same “universe”, so it’s not a reboot/remake like was done with Being Human.

And now we know at least one cast member. Niall Matter, who plays Zane on Eureka and was also recently on 90210, announced on Twitter today that he has signed on to play one of the leads. (Reports that the show was already “in the can” were wrong). Depending on the time it takes to deal with the visual effects, airing this Fall could be a challenge.

The 13-episode series is described as “darker and scarier” than the original, with a “younger and sexier” cast.

As for the original, no 6th series has been announced, despite being left with a bit of a teaser at the end…

The CW has cast the two leads for it’s loose remake of the 1980s modern romantic take on the Beauty and the Beast tale, with Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) playing the Beauty part to Jay Ryan’s (Go Girls, Terra Nova) Beast. In this version, Catherine is a NYPD homicide detective, who nine years previously witnessed her mother’s murder, and then the killer’s death at the hands of the Beast, and who has been searching for the Beast since.

I only learned today that ABC also has a Beauty And The Beast pilot in the works and has named their leads, but this one is keeping more to the fantasy roots. Irish actress Ruth Bradley (Primeval) plays Grace, a princess who finds she has a connection to a mysterious beast Shiro, played by Scottish singer Darius Campbell.

In next Monday’s Lost Girl, Lauren examines Bo and they begin having a conversation about her sex life and things heat up when Bo is asked if she’s had any luck, sexually with humans. She responds by stating that there’s no rush and that she should take her time with experimenting with humans, though exposes her relationship with another fae. Catch the sneak peek to see who she might be referring to, and tune in Monday, March 5th at 10/9c on Syfy.
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It’s been a full year since production started on Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, Syfy’s announced prequel to Battlestar Galactica. But over the last several months, Syfy has been very, very quiet about it’s status, which moved from an originally planned web series to full pilot. Questions about why it was taking so long, would it ever be seen, etc. abound. What little Syfy did say wasn’t encouraging either, with how long it would take to do the visual effects for a full series – and they hadn’t even decided to pick it up yet.

Well, our friends over at Airlock Alpha report that Composer Bear McCreary, who did the music for Battlestar Galactica, told a panel at the EMP Science Fiction Hall of Fame’s Galactibash celebration on February 17th that he completed the score for the pilot…and that’s a very good sign that it will at least see the light of day in some form, at least.

Blood & Chrome is a “near-prequel” to the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, taking place at the beginning of the first Cylon War (later than the previous prequel effort, Caprica). As the battle between humans and their creation, the sentient robotic Cylons, rages across the 12 colonial worlds, a young, talented fighter pilot, William Adama (Luke Pasqualino), finds himself assigned to one of the most powerful Battlestars in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica. David Eick is executive producing.

Forget the Oscars – the 2012 Saturn Award nominees were announced today by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, and the complete, long list of nominees are below. Hugo and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 each received 10 nominations to lead in the movie nominations, while AMC’s Breaking Bad led the TV categories with six nominations, one ahead of Fox’s American Horror Story.
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In next Monday’s Being Human, Sally explains to Aidan that she is worried about the black fog, that she claims is a reaper, that killed her friend Danny. It appears that it is now out to kill her but is offering her his job in return. Aidan suggests that the only way destroy this reaper might be to kill him before he gets to her. Tune in to an all-new episode Monday, March 5th at 9/8c to find out how Sally plans to face this monster.
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In this week’s Merlin, Morgana visits the Dochraid who advises her to visit the Pool of Nemhain, and to cast her magical coin in the depths of the still water for her wish would be granted. Morgana does what she is told and soon after, the water begins to bubble and out emerges a man who claims he is at her service. Catch the all-new sneak peek to see who has returned from the dead. Tune in Friday, March 2nd, at 10/9c on Syfy…
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If you were to pick a current British actor who could appropriately play the part of the Master as part of Doctor Who‘s 50th Anniversary episode opposite the young Matt Smith, who would you choose?

Seems my own choice may be right: Rumors suggest that Benedict Cumberbatch, who has played Sherlock Holmes for Who producer Steven Moffat’s other hit show, Sherlock, is being lined up for the role. Although I could see Cumberbatch playing the Doctor himself, I think that would be too close to his Holmes role, so flipping it and playing the villain instead, especially one that was very Moriarty-esque, especially when originated with the late actor Roger Delgado, could be an interesting twist.

Cumberbatch is currently filming Star Trek 2 in the role of an unnamed villain, originally rumored to be Khan Noonian Singh.

Update 2/29: Matt Smith denies any knowledge of the matter…

Syfy has announced that Jack Bender, who directed many episodes of Lost (and exec produced) as well as the pilot for Alphas and most recently several episodes of Alcatraz has been hired to direct the pilot for Syfy‘s upcoming pilot Rewind, which was ordered just last month. Rewind is a joint production of BermanBraun and Universal Cable Productions, who also produce Alphas.

According to Michael Ausiello in his “Ask Ausiello” column, nothing has been decided yet on the stuck-on-the-bubble Fringe coming back for a fifth season, but there are several scenarios still in play – and one possibility is that it does come back, but for a 15-episode final season. This would give it 102 episodes – over the magic “100” number that the syndicated world likes to see, and should also provide plenty of time to answer questions and wrap things up. So there is still hope, Fringe fans!