My attention was first drawn to the British series Eleventh Hour when I heard CBS is developing an American version of the series (that is unfortunately not starring Patrick Stewart as the British series did.) Patrick Stewart plays acerbic, hard-nosed scientist Ian Hood who is Special Advisor to the Joint Sciences Committee. He's like Dr. House meets Jack Bauer. He solves science-related crimes for the government with seemingly no regard for civil rights. He marches right past protests to see a warrant, and he learned the "art of persuasion" from the Jack Bauer School of Diplomacy. He is accompanied by a body guard played by Ashley Jensen (Ricky Gervais' comical pairing in Extras, another highly recommended British series.) It aired four 90-minute episodes in 2006.

Showrunner Stephen Gallagher made clear the show was "science-based" and not science fiction. With the success of educational entertainment such as House and Numbers, it is no surprise that Hollywood would be interested in adapting this series. I'm not one of those critics who moans that any Hollywood adaptation of a British series will ruin the series. I love The Office and am looking forward to the American version of Life on Mars. I do think something will be lost in translation of this series.

I've only seen the first episode, "Resurrection," of Eleventh Hour so far. It was the most disturbing 90 minutes I have ever watched. I'm not sure that the censors would allow that aspect of the series to be carried over to an American version. The episode opens with cops discovering twenty-seven human fetuses buried in a field, the carnage left by an unethical doctor's illegal attempt at human cloning. Yes, the bloody fetuses are shown on screen.

While Ian Hood was attempting to stop this illegal attempt at human cloning he described as monstrous before it could claim any further lives (and by lives he made clear he was referring to the young girls' lives the doctor was implanting with the cloned eggs), the episode was in no way pro-life. Ian Hood even corrects the police officer:

Quoted Text

Cop: I have twenty-seven deformed babies. My only witness won't stop babbling about the blood of Christ, and now some man from the government is mishandling my evidence.
Prof. Hood: Fetuses.
Cop: What:
Prof. Hood: They only become babies after they're born.

When explaining to his body guard why it's important they stop these illegal attempts at human cloning, he explains that human cloning is essentially what legitimate scientists studying embryonic stem cells are doing, but they kill the embryo before it can mature past fourteen days old as mandated by law. With embryonic stem cell research already on ethically shaky ground, he fears a human clone could cross the ethical line and turn popular opinion toward illegalizing embryonic stem cell research, which he says would not be bad but catastrophic.

While I have no problem with a TV series having a message (actually I think a good TV series must have a message), and I don't mind if that message differs from my own beliefs (I believe an embryo--even fourteen days or younger--is a human being and killing it is murder), I do mind when a series preaches to me. The trick is subtly working the message in without preaching to the audience. Additionally, preaching results in momentum-killing exposition. I applaud the series for tackling a serious issue like this, but Patrick Stewart's exposition on embryonic stem cell research becomes preachy. The series also uses a large chunk of exposition to explain the cloning process rather than explaining the science behind the episode in a more creative way (although watching Patrick Stewart explain the process with a seeded grape and tweezers was pretty funny.)

Favorite quote from the episode:

Quoted Text

Body Guard: Well, that was a waste of time.
Prof. Hood: In science a negative result is as important as a positive result. (beat) It was a bloody waste of time.

The American version will star Rufus Sewell as Jacob Hood (I guess Ian was too British). I'm sure Sewell is a great actor, but he's no Patrick Stewart.