Eleventh Hour | |
---|---|
Genre | Crime drama Thriller |
Created by | Stephen Gallagher |
Starring | Patrick Stewart Ashley Jensen |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 4 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Andy Harries |
Producers | Ken Baker Stephen Smallwood |
Running time | 90 minutes |
Production company | Granada Television |
Original release | |
Network | ITV |
Release | 19 January – 9 February 2006 |
Related | |
Eleventh Hour |
Eleventh Hour (originally titled Dark Matter) is a four-part British television series developed by Granada Television for ITV, created by writer Stephen Gallagher.
The show follows the adventures of Professor Ian Hood (originally Alan Hood), played by Patrick Stewart, a Special Advisor to the government's Joint Sciences Committee, who troubleshoots threats stemming from or targeting "scientific endeavour." He is joined by Rachel Young, played by Ashley Jensen, a Special Branch operative who acts primarily as his bodyguard, as Hood has made powerful enemies through his work. The first episode was broadcast on 19 January 2006. [1]
When Eleventh Hour went into pre-production in April 2005, it raised considerable interest and media attention, both because of Stewart's involvement and the budget allocated to the series by ITV, which was reportedly around £4.5 million. Gallagher, himself a two-time writer for Doctor Who , made the distinction that Eleventh Hour will be "science-based," not science fiction or speculative fiction. [2]
Material was added to the scripts by producer Simon Stephenson after the early episodes went into production, and creator Stephen Gallagher left his role on the series because of it. Gallagher claimed that the reason behind his departure was because his essentially "science-based crime-drama" had unwanted sci-fi material written into it without his consent. [3] The subject matter and direction of the later stories appear to differ from synopses that were originally announced in April 2005. [4]
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Ratings (in millions) [5] Sourced by BARB. | Original airdate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Resurrection" | Terry McDonough | Stephen Gallagher & Simon Stephenson | 5.04 | 19 January 2006 | |
After the discovery of a large number of malformed fetuses in a field, Ian Hood (Patrick Stewart) and Rachel Young (Ashley Jensen) are called in to help with the police investigation to find the perpetrator. Hood thinks that the discovery is the latest act of 'Gepetto', an unidentified culprit responsible for a black market human cloning experiment across Eastern Europe. Young befriends a cocky DS, Doug Cook (Jack Pierce), who provides her and Hood with confidential information on the case. Hood interrogates the caretaker of the farm where the fetuses were found, and his questioning leads him to discover a makeshift laboratory and delivery suite on an industrial estate, being run by a doctor who was struck off from the medical register nine months ago for malpractice. As Hood suspects that a local businessman, Peter Gifford (Clive Wood), devastated at the death of his son, may be behind the operation, Cook receives a call to say that a 19-year-old mother, Kelly Fox (Joanna Horton), whom they suspect is the latest surrogate for Gepetto (Jane Lapotaire), has been admitted to a local hospital. Hood faces a race against time to save the young girl from harm, whilst bringing his prime suspect to justice. | ||||||
2 | "Containment" | Terry McDonough | Stephen Gallagher & Simon Stephenson | TBA | 26 January 2006 | |
The discovery of the decomposed body of excavator Christopher Fisher in a church construction site leads the police to suspect an outbreak of the plague, having stemmed from the rotten bodies discovered beneath the church floor. Hood, however, realises that it is something much more serious, and along with colleague Martin Callan (Nicholas Woodeson), orders a quarantine of the excavation staff working on the site. Junior staff member Ned (Michael Begley), desperate to attend his son's fifth birthday party, breaks out of the quarantine, forcing Hood and Young to give chase. Meanwhile, tests on the Fisher's body show that he was infected with a hybrid of both the Smallpox and Tanapox viruses. Hood realises that he was infected long before working on the site. Young discovers that Fisher was moonlighting at a funeral home, where he came into contact with a factory engineer who fell to his death while repairing a refrigeration system. Tests show the engineer was also infected with the virus. The trail leads the team to a hostel where a number of illegal Chinese workers from the factory are living. However, it soon transpires that factory owner Ellis Gibson (Jack Deam) is harbouring a dangerous secret. | ||||||
3 | "Kryptos" | Roger Gartland | Stephen Gallagher, Simon Stephenson & Mike Cullen | TBA | 2 February 2006 | |
Hood is called upon to help an old friend, Richard Adams (Donald Sumpter), who has recently been fired from his job at the Institute of Environmental research due to his increasingly erratic behaviour. Company boss Destrano (Tom Mannion) is glad to see the back of Adams, worried that if his 'flawed' research were to be leaked, it could have a damning effect on the reputation of the institute. As Adams continues to try and get his research into print, Hood meets with one of his colleagues, Martin Godley, who claims that Adams' research was intriguing and possibly just the tip of a major environmental iceberg. When Adams later disappears, suspected of having committed suicide, Hood tries to decrypt a file sent to him by Adams, which contains an encoded file. Meanwhile, Godley is killed in a suspicious hit-and-run accident, and Hood suspects that a serial killer - linked to Destrano - is trying to silence anyone connected with Adams' research. As Hood begins to crack the code, Young follows a trail of clues which lead her to suspect that Adams is still alive. But with Destrano's hitmen now on the trail of both men, it becomes a race against time to get the research into print - before it is lost forever. | ||||||
4 | "Miracle" | Roger Gartland | Stephen Gallagher & Simon Stephenson | 4.27 | 9 February 2006 | |
Following the miraculous cure of a young boy who is suffering from cancer, Hood and Young travel to his home town to investigate claims that he has been cured by local spring water, just as the area becomes a focal point for cancer sufferers desperately seeking a cure. When these victims start to experience even worse symptoms, Hood becomes convinced that there must be something in the water. All of the tests prove to be negative, however, and it appears increasingly likely that the boy's surgeon, Dr. Williams (Clare Holman), has made the entire story up. But shortly after Hood reaches this conclusion, Williams is found dead in a nearby reservoir, having been the victim of an apparent suicide. A chance phrase in the suicide note referring to a Geiger Counter, a term Williams would never use due to Hans Geiger's known Nazi sympathies, leads Hood to begin an investigation into her death, and he uncovers a Government conspiracy to produce heavy water, which he is able to demonstrate is found in the spring. By blackmailing leading government figure Drake (Roy Marsden), Hood is able to clear Williams' name, but is not able to expose the secret service's involvement in the affair. |
The complete series was released on Region 1 DVD on 26 September 2006. [6] It was re-released on 24 May 2016 with new cover artwork, additional features and subtitles. [7]
An American remake, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Rufus Sewell as Hood (now known as Jacob Hood), aired on CBS from 2008 to 2009. [8] American actress Marley Shelton co-starred as FBI Special Agent Rachel Young. The series aired on Thursdays at 10 pm (ET/PT). [9] The remake was a joint venture between Jerry Bruckheimer Television, Granada Television International and Warner Bros. Television.
Charles William Mumy Jr. is an American actor, writer, and musician and a figure in the science-fiction community/comic book fandom. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a child actor whose work included television appearances on Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and a role in the film Dear Brigitte, followed by a three-season role as Will Robinson in the 1960s CBS sci-fi series Lost in Space.
Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. It originally aired from September 28, 1987, to May 23, 1994, in syndication, spanning 178 episodes over seven seasons. The third series in the Star Trek franchise, it was inspired by Star Trek: The Original Series. Set in the latter third of the 24th century, when Earth is part of the United Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of a Starfleet starship, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), in its exploration of the Alpha quadrant and Beta quadrant in the Milky Way galaxy.
Star Trek: Enterprise, originally titled simply Enterprise for its first two seasons, is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It originally aired from September 26, 2001 to May 13, 2005 on United Paramount Network (UPN). The sixth series in the Star Trek franchise, it is a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. Set in the 22nd century, a hundred years before the events of The Original Series, it follows the adventures of the Enterprise, Earth's first starship capable of traveling at warp five, as it explores the galaxy and encounters various alien species.
Sir Patrick Stewart is an English actor whose career has spanned seven decades in theatre, film, television and video games. He has received accolades throughout his career including two Laurence Olivier Awards and a Grammy Award, as well as nominations for a Tony Award, three Golden Globe Awards, four Emmy Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama in 2010.
Star Trek: Nemesis is a 2002 American science fiction film directed by Stuart Baird. It is the tenth film in the Star Trek franchise, as well as the fourth and final film to star the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was written by John Logan from a story developed by Logan, Brent Spiner, and producer Rick Berman. In the film, which is set in the 24th century, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E are forced to deal with a threat to the United Federation of Planets from a clone of Captain Picard named Shinzon, who has taken control of the Romulan Star Empire in a coup d'état.
CTV Sci-Fi Channel is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcasts speculative fiction and related programming.
Stephen Gallagher is an English screenwriter and novelist. Gallagher was born in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Families is a daytime soap opera, which was on ITV from 1990 to 1993 and created by Kay Mellor. It followed two families; the Thompsons, based in Cheshire, England, and the Stevens, living in Sydney. It was produced and recorded at Studio 6 at Granada Studios in Manchester.
Extras is a British sitcom about extras working in television, film, and theatre. The series was co-produced by the BBC and HBO, and written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, both of whom starred in it. It follows the lives of Andy Millman (Gervais), his friend Maggie Jacobs and Andy's substandard agent and part-time retail employee Darren Lamb (Merchant) as Millman muddles through life as an anonymous "background performer" who eventually finds success as a B-list sitcom star.
Ashley Jensen is a Scottish actress best known for her roles as Maggie Jacobs in Extras, Christina McKinney in Ugly Betty (2006–2010), Agatha Raisin in Agatha Raisin (2014–present), and DI Ruth Calder in Shetland (2023–present).
Matthew Graham is a British television writer, and the co-creator of the BBC/Kudos Film and Television science fiction series Life on Mars, which debuted in 2006 on BBC One and has received international critical acclaim.
Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. Since its creation, the franchise has expanded into various films, television series, video games, novels, and comic books, and it has become one of the most recognizable and highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
Eleventh Hour is an American science-based drama television series, which is based on the 2006 British series of the same name. The series was a joint venture between Jerry Bruckheimer Television, Granada America and Warner Bros. Television. The series ran on CBS for one season from October 9, 2008 to April 2, 2009.
Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise, most often seen as the captain of the Federation starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D). Played by Patrick Stewart, Picard has appeared in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) and the premiere episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as well as the feature films Star Trek Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). He is also featured as the central character in the show Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023).
The Prisoner is a 2009 six-part television miniseries based on the 1960s TV series The Prisoner. The series concerned a man who awakens in a mysterious, picturesque, but escape-proof village, and stars Jim Caviezel, Sir Ian McKellen, Ruth Wilson, and Hayley Atwell. It was co-produced by American cable network AMC with British channel ITV, which now holds the rights to the original series. It received mixed reviews, with critics feeling that the remake was not as compelling as the original series.
Jerry Bruckheimer Films Inc. (JBF) is an American independent film production company of Jerry Bruckheimer, formed in 1995, after cutting his ties with film producer Don Simpson before his death in 1996. It produced blockbuster films such as the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Series was an Emmy award given to television programming aimed towards children. Children's television had been recognized at the Emmys since the inaugural year. In 1995, a separate award for pre-school children's television was created, and the two categories had been recognized since then. Starting in 2018, a distinction between children's series and educational series was created, resulting in two separate categories. In November 2021, it was announced that all Daytime Emmy categories honoring children's programming would be retired in favor of a separate Children's & Family Emmy Awards ceremony that was held starting in 2022.
Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris are American screenwriters and producers. They are known for their work in both feature films and television.
Star Trek: Picard is an American science fiction television series created by Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer, and Alex Kurtzman for the streaming service CBS All Access. It is the eighth Star Trek series and was released from 2020 to 2023 as part of Kurtzman's expanded Star Trek Universe. The series focuses on retired Starfleet Admiral Jean-Luc Picard. It begins at the end of the 24th century, 20 years after the character's last appearance in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002).
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)