If you're a fan of the geektastic UK series Spaced, then this was a holy week for you, between the release of the Region 1 DVD (finally!), events around the country, and the trinity itself--creators Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes (née Stevenson), and Edgar Wright--appearing at Comic-Con.After a kick-ass clip package that tied into today's Star Wars-themed day at the convention (which featured many of the series' trademark sci-fi/action/pop culture homages and allusions), the trio appeared to rapturous applause and dove right into a discussion about the US release of Spaced on DVD.
While there wasn't a lot of new information given away at this Spaced panel, part of BBC America's big push at the convention, it was bloody fantastic to see Pegg, Hynes, and Wright on stage together. This being a Spaced event, it was only a matter of time before the dreaded question--about a third season--reared its head. Pegg, speaking frankly about the future of Spaced, said simply, "We don't know... We definitely had another series in us." He and Hynes envisioned a three-part story for Spaced's Tim and Daisy and a third season would have worked towards that end. (Those of us lucky enough to have the DVD boxset--and its feature-length documentary--can watch a sort of imagined valentine to the not-quite-a-couple and a possible ending for Tim and Daisy.)
Still, Pegg doesn't exactly have high expectations about another season. "There's a sort of fear, going back ten years later," said Pegg, "that it would be our own Phantom Menace, with CGI backgrounds, flat dialogue, and unfunny comedy characters." (Fans will of course remember Tim's depression and anger after the release of The Phantom Menace. Obviously, Pegg's hasn't subsided all these years later.)
Meanwhile, however, Pegg is working on a number of projects. He'd like to write something with Hynes again and, following a project that Pegg is currently writing, he'll reteam with Wright on The World's End, the third film in their colliquially known "Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy" of films, which includes Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Wright meanwhile wouldn't talk about his upcoming Ant-Man feature--based on the Marvel superhero--but would only say that the script is being written.
But one fan asked the ultimate geek question: would Pegg--who appeared in Doctor Who as The Editor during Season One's "The Long Game"--take over for David Tennant as the Doctor, should the opportunity arise? Pegg was extremely diplomatic, calling David Tennant's performance "brilliant and enigmatic" and going on to say that Tennant was "the best Doctor since Tom Baker" and it would extremely hard to fill his shoes.
Still, the unofficial crossovers between Spaced and Doctor Who seem to be continuing. Wright revealed that executive producer Russell T. Davies offered him the opportunity to direct the first episode of the Christopher Eccleston-starring first season, as he knew that Wright was a fan. And longtime Doctor Who fans will remember Hynes' recent turn during Season Three's two-parter "Human Nature" and "Family of Blood," where she played Mr. Smith's widowed schoolteacher paramour Joan Redfern and got to kiss Tennant.
Wright said that Hynes "made [the Doctor] regenerate in his pants." Pegg wondered if every time the Doctor regenerated, he looked in his pants to see if anything had, er, changed in his latest incarnation.
Ten years may have passed since the launch of Spaced, but not much has changed, has it? And, surprisingly, I wouldn't have it any other way.
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