Life on Mars producers head for space

UK TV trade magazine Broadcast has reported that BBC1 aims to repeat the success of Life on Mars with a new high-concept series from Kudos set in space.

In Outcasts, penned by Spooks writer Ben Richards (the series is known as MI5 in the US - he also wrote the BBC's Party Animals and Channel 4's No Angels.), the future of Earth looks increasingly precarious and the race is on to find an alternative home in the universe.

In return for their liberty a group of social misfits and criminals -- ranging from a "brilliant deviant" to a "petty thief" -- are sent into space to be the pioneers of a large new settlement on a nearby planet and tasked with building the conditions for a new life.

"The colonisation of space is only a matter of time," feels Kudos joint managing director Jane Featherstone. "Ben Richards' brilliant vision of what life will be like when that happens offers a dramatic, original and entertaining new drama arena."

The series is currently in development with BBC Wales boss Julie Gardner, whose department is responsible for Doctor Who.

This looks promising - let's just hope it isn't treated like Phillip Hinchcliffe was on Star Cops, the BBC's last big attempt at a SF mainstream show not linked with Doctor Who, way back in 1987!