Last night, The Hub premiered its newest live action original series. And after watching the pilot, “Wizards vs. Aliens” is recommended as an excellent addition to family friendly genre television. It arrives at a perfect time to fill the emptiness that a hiatus can leave – our established favorites have ended their seasons, so what shall we watch on Saturday-Pizza-TV night? Just turn to the Hub on Saturdays at 7pm EST. Trust me.
I got a chance to ask show co-creator Phil Ford (“Doctor Who,” “Torchwood”) some questions about how the show came about and the way he keeps his sci-fi approachable but whimsy at the same time. I was also highly interested in the bold choice to combine sci-fi and fantasy, which we rarely see. Phil shared a wealth of information, and mentioned Star Wars immediately, so I know he is a force to watch closely as he brings more entertainment to our televisions. Check below for our spoiler free conversation.
Of most interest to me was the fact that we hardly ever see fantasy and sci-fi combined. It seems a rather gutsy move, and I asked Mr. Ford about his approach in several different aspects of the creation of such a show.
“You’re right about the sci-fi/fantasy mix – it’s something we don’t see often, although it’s not unknown. Star Wars of course is a big blend of sci-fi and fantasy with its mythic knights and their light sabres and, of course, the Force. But I don’t think we’ve ever seen a story that pitches wands against ray guns, in the way that Wizards vs Aliens does – and that was the attraction for us.
In terms of the influences or the archetypes, I think we’ve drawn on the best from both genres and made them our own. The Nekross have blasters and matter transporters, they are militaristic and, as every good invading force should, they have a wealth of nefarious plans that are all built around science. The wizards on the other hand, have a magical cave that’s accessed through a simple magical ritual, they have a cauldron, magic mirror, a hob goblin and protect a whole other hidden magical realm, the Neverside, where all sorts of magical creatures live.
Perhaps the clever part in mixing wizards and aliens here is the Nekross’ purpose in coming to Earth – they feed on the energy we call magic. I think that’s a very cool bridge between the sci-fi and the magical worlds. In our universe magic is a part of both genres – well, it was until the Nekross sucked it all up, which now leaves Earth as the only world in the universe left with magic.
Maybe that’s the reason we haven’t seen these worlds combined before – no-one thought of that bridge. It’s a simple but perfect key that unlocks both the sci-fi and magical universes and allows them to comfortably co-exist.”
My biggest curiosity had to be: Which came first? The wand or the ray-gun? When Ford and Davies sat down to create, how much of the writing process came from science, and how much from traditional fantasy tenets?
“In terms of writing the show – it’s a juggling act, because we have to make the sci-fi elements and the magical elements work just as well, to be true to both genres. It’s interesting because one of the themes of the show is the contrast between magic and science – Tom is a wizard; his friend Benny is a science nut. A key part of the first series is the different perspectives this means. So there are these discussions the boys have at times – for example, whether the entrance to the wizards’ Chamber of Mysteries is a different dimension, or a threshold of enchantment. The phraseology is very important, especially when there might be similar concepts in both the Nekross’ sci-fi world and the wizards’ magical world – things like matter transportation. The Nekross beam back and forth to their ship, and although it’s difficult for our wizards to transport themselves magically it can sometimes be done – but we would never talk about them “beaming” anywhere, they use a “passing charm”. So the language is very important in making sure the two worlds don’t get confused.”
Which brought me to production design. How is that balance met?
“Design-wise we’ve always been very conscious of defining both worlds – and of course, let’s not forget the third world, the real world, that’s caught in the middle. So the alien environment is very hard-edged, very blue and white, in some ways clinical. The magical world is softer, more irregular, with more earthy tones. We even designed whole alphabets for both the aliens, and the wizard language, stonescript, which reflect these design characteristics.”
In genre entertainment, television especially, it seems the key to success is finding characters with whom everyone can identify. How do you find and define that space between “everyone gets this” to “this is what makes him different”? Also, were the main characters always teenagers while in development? Why was this the age of choice?
“With so much that’s out of this world, in Wizards, though, it’s more important than ever to ground your characters, to make them believable and accessible and that’s why that third world, the real world is so important. So Tom might be a wizard, but that’s a secret, hidden side to him; most of the time he’s a regular 16 year old kid who goes to school and plays football, whose dad is a veterinarian, not a wizard, and whose mother died.
And Wizards vs Aliens isn’t just about fighting spacemen – a big part of it is about friendship. When we first meet Tom and Benny they’re not friends, at all, and the first season of the show is very much about them becoming friends, and what that friendship means to each of them – I think that among all the wizardry and alien madness that is hugely important because friendship is so massively important to our audience.
Tom and Benny were always aged around 16 in our heads; that was important for practical as well as dramatic reasons. Both Scott and Percy who play our leads are older than their screen age, and that means the production has more freedom legally in terms of scheduling than if we used child actors. The workload for our leads on this show would be just impossible and unfair if we were shooting with younger actors.
Dramatically, 16 is a really interesting age – there’s a lot going on for kids at that time of life, whether they’re fighting aliens, or not. It’s also a very accessible age for a broader age-range of viewers.”
It seems that the most successful genre shows of late have focused more on the stories than the FX. I asked at what point in development the decision is made on quantity/quality of special effects. Did this team value character over flash, or are they equally important?
“Obviously in developing a show like this we knew there would be a huge amount of FX – but in all honesty, it isn’t something you really worry about until you get into production – you just accept that it’s part of the deal, and make sure you have great people on board that will make that part of it happen, and happen well. Working out of BBC Wales, and having done Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures there, we had no worries on that score. So for us it was definitely always important that we got the characters and the sense of the stories right. Based on past experience, although you never take these things for granted, we always knew that the team would generally exceed our scripted imagination. There’s no doubt that spectacle is important in these shows, and there’s no question there are great visuals in Wizards vs Aliens, in terms of FX, prosthetics, and set design – but visuals alone don’t make a show: you need good stories, with great characters that you want to be with, that you care about, fear for and laugh with.”
It seems that there is a lot of division regarding the shows that Mr. Ford has worked on in regards to “family content.” I, for the record, firmly believe that “Doctor Who” and its spin-offs are absolutely family entertainment that sit on thrones as high as Star Trek and Star Wars, and history will remember them as such. I asked Mr. Ford if this show was always intended to remain in that vein, and how important the creation of new family friendly entertainment is.
“I love writing shows that a family can sit down and watch together. I think that’s very important to me and to Russell. There’s a bonding that happens when families do that. Additionally, writing good TV that works on that level is also hard to get right. You need to tell a story that doesn’t talk down to its youngest viewers, but is just as engaging for adults that sit down to watch with them. That’s why Wizards is primarily a roller-coaster fun ride of adventure, but alongside that has some real emotion in its stories; we love to thrill our audience, to make them laugh, to occasionally scare them – and we’ll also make them shed the odd tear.”
And then Mr. Ford closed with this little tidbit –
“Having said that, I also have a couple of shows in development on both sides of the Atlantic in both sci-fi and fantasy genres that are very much not family shows, they are much, much darker!”
At which point KMC1138 shivers with anticipation.
If you missed the pilot, the Hub will replay it on June 6 at 7pm, and the next episode airs on June 8. In the meantime, visit Hubworld for clips and more interactive show info.