io9: phoo action

British Television Pities, Cancels The Phoo

Graeme McMillan — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:20:00 PST

Bad news for fans of Phoo Action, the British television show based on Tank Girl and Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett's futuristic kung-fu Buddhist crimefighting comic strip Get The Freebies. The BBC have pulled the plug on a fully fledged series based on the pilot, just days before shooting was due to begin. Why did the action-comedy fall down so close to the starting line?

A BBC spokesperson explained to the British Guardian newspaper:

During the course of pre-production it became clear that creatively Phoo Action was struggling to fulfil its ambitions as a television drama so the decision was taken to cancel it. BBC3 is still very interested in Phoo Action as a concept however and is looking into whether or not it may come back in another form in the future.

This is not the first unexpected decision regarding the show; the BBC picked up the series before the pilot was broadcast, despite mixed reviews (and unimpressive ratings for the pilot). This last-minute cancellation of the series is, perhaps, an attempt at quietly correcting an earlier mistake - or maybe just a sign that the BBC likes to leave these things as late as possible.

BBC3 drops new drama Phoo Action [Media Guardian]

Numchuks Will Make Police Brutality Awesome In 2012

Graeme McMillan — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:20:17 PST

Even before the pilot episode of future-cop show Phoo Action aired, network heads at the BBC have decided to make the show into a six episode series. Action is about a bad-ass kung fu cop who teams up with a surly teenage girl to fight the criminal Freebies Gang. Adapted from Tank Girl creator Jamie Hewlett's 1990s strip Get The Freebies, the show will have its full mini-season later this year.

Rumor has it the BBC's decision was based as much based on contractual obligations and deadlines than anything else. The pilot's ratings were almost a third lower than usual for its timeslot on the same channel (Network spokespeople point out that show was simulcast online, which may account for the lower TV audience). Nonetheless, the announcement should please those who seemed to think that the trailer showed some promise. Now all we need to do is get BBC America to show this instead of more reruns of Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares. [Digital Spy.co.uk]

Buddhist Kung-Fu Cops Fight Crime in 2012 London

Graeme McMillan — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:40:12 PST

In the year 2012, buddhist kung-fu cops team up with teenage anarchist daughters of the establishment to fight supercrime! Or, at least, that's the concept behind Phoo Action, a new BBC pilot adapted by Doctor Who director Euros Lyn from a semi-forgotten strip by Tank Girl co-creator Jamie Hewlett. Influenced by the sixties Batman TV show, the odd Buddhist-futurist series just might be the next cult hit or, if nothing else, an interesting televisual oddity. Learn more about just what Phoo Action is and see a clip below.

Adapted from Hewlett's 1990s strip Get the Freebies, the 60-minute pilot follows the story of Terry Phoo, buddhist kung-fu policeman, and his mission to try and save future London from the unstoppable crime rampage of superpowered bad guys the Freebies. This being Hewlett, of course, he can't do it without the help of Whitey Action, red-haired daughter of the local Chief of Police, as played by Weathers. It may be more than ten years since Hewlett came up with the idea, but he's apparently loving the adaptation:

It's exciting, it really does look great and it is so good to see the comic strip turned into a TV drama. The costumes, the sets, the creatures are all really faithful to my original stuff... [It's] a little bit more crazy than Doctor Who but I know my sons, who are 11 and seven, will love it. I really hope it will inspire people.

Admittedly, the trailer looks more than a little off-kilter thanks to music that doesn't quite fit and a mix of actors in awesome outfits, party scenes that seem taken straight from an updated version of Head and glimpses of British comedy icons Terry Thomas and Les Dawson, but with a script co-written by one of the writers of Spaced and early reviews calling it "the goofiest thing that's been on TV for years," and comparisons to the Banana Splits and The Young Ones, it's certainly something to look out for when it premieres in the UK next Tuesday.

Phoo Action [MySpace.com]