Anthony Head's Unmade Buffy The Vampire Slayer Spin-Off Would Have Been All About Giles

The great Anthony Stewart Head, who passed away at 72, was known to fans of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as Buffy's Watcher and mentor figure, Rupert Giles, and he almost got to embark on his own adventures in a spin-off series. Head first appeared as Giles on the very first episode of "Buffy," "Welcome to the Hellmouth," in 1997. He was introduced as both the librarian at Buffy Summers' school and the Watcher assigned to oversee her training as a Slayer. The character remained a core part of the series throughout the entirety of its seven-season run, but plans were also drawn up for Giles' story to be expanded beyond Head's role on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

To date, "Angel" has been the only spin-off series successfully launched by "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," but since "Buffy" debuted, several potential spin-offs have entered development, only to wind up unproduced. Among these was "Ripper," a series that would have followed Giles while he was living in London, throwing him into different ghost stories each episode.

Likening the planned series to the Robbie Coltrane crime drama "Cracker," which followed a burnt-out criminal psychologist, Head told a magazine in 2001 (via BBC), "The 'Buffy' writers are champing at the bit" to start work on the series. Six years later, at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, "Buffy" showrunner Joss Whedon confirmed "Ripper" was gearing up to enter production, albeit now as a 90-minute TV movie rather than a series. While talk surrounding "Ripper" persisted for several years, the project ultimately never materialized.

While it's disappointing that Anthony Head never got to take on a leading role in his own series as Giles, missing out on a great spin-off idea is sadly an all-too-familiar experience for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fans. Just this year, plans for a revival called "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale" were put on ice by Hulu, despite the planned return of Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy. Previously unrealized spin-offs include "Buffy: The Animated Series"; "Spike," a series following the vampire; and "Faith the Vampire Slayer," which would have followed the continuing adventures of Eliza Dushku's Faith Lehane.

After years in development, "Ripper" fell victim to complications around character rights and Whedon shifting his focus in 2009 to the sci-fi series "Dollhouse." According to Head in a 2009 interview with SciFi Wire (via Slice of SciFi), he had introduced Whedon to the BBC's Julie Gardner, who was known for her role in the 2005 revival of "Doctor Who" and was also producing the BBC's "Merlin," on which Head appeared. While Gardner was interested in the project, Head noted, "There are obviously complications with 'Ripper,' because there are lots of tie-ins. There's Fox, there's the Kuzuis [who own the rights to 'Buffy'], there's all sorts of stuff."

Head also expressed hopes that if "Ripper" were to be successful as a TV movie, the project might go on to launch a series. "It's a lovely, lovely story," Head said of the project, which he also called "fascinating" and "sad."