Monday 8 March 2010

Toby Whithouse teases Orphans

Monday 8 March 2010
Speaking to SFX, Being Human's creator Toby Whithouse gave a few hints about his latest project, superhero drama Orphans:

"I'm reluctant to go into too much detail about the actual show at this stage, quite simply because it hasn't been commissioned yet. But if I'm honest, I am a little surprised by the assumption that we are simply capitalising on a current trend."

"Orphans is a script I wrote in 2005. Then, as happens with exhausting regularity, there was a game of musical chairs at both the broadcaster we were developing it for and the production company I was working with. Literally everyone involved in the project was suddenly doing a different job in a different building. Consequently Orphans was... well, orphaned, and sat in a drawer for nearly five years, until I showed it to Matt [Bouch] and he suggested we make this our first Scoundrel project."

"I guess what's more important to address is any concern regarding a crossover between this and other existing superhero shows. Well, it is possible to have two dramas that exist in similar genres yet manage to be very different. That's something -– I hope –- we proved with Being Human. Even though it had vampires in it, it was still very different to Let The Right One In, True Blood, Interview With A Vampire and Ultraviolet, etc. Context is everything. The world Orphans takes place in is unlike anything you'll have seen before. It's not even the world of Being Human. Trust me. You'll love it. If it gets made."