Heroes Returns To BBC

The troubled NBC show Heroes returned to British television last night with a sluggish double episode on BBC Two.

The science fiction show has been struggling with ratings figures for the past few seasons, it’s never been able to secure the large numbers of viewers the show boasted when it’s first season was broadcast back in 2006. Many blamed the departure of Bryan Fuller from writing and producing for the show’s downturn, but his return to the show for the second half of the third season did not seem to improve things.

Now in it’s fourth season the show is still plagued by poor ratings, many believe the show is on borrowed time and a cancellation is inevitable. But not cast member Greg Grunberg. Grunberg, who plays psychic cop Matt Parkman in the show gave an interview to Entertainment Weekly on Thursday and explained why he thinks the show will definitely be returning with a fifth season in the autumn.

“We wrapped yesterday, and the [final episode] is nowhere near a series finale,” Grunberg said.

“It is cliffhanger-y and exciting, but it is nowhere near an end to a series that people are so invested in.”

Grunberg also cited DVD and overseas sales as reasons the show will survive. The actor is right to point out that shows such as Heroes have a wider fan base than viewing figures represent. On top of DVD sales and international interest there is also merchandising to take into consideration, a show with the kind of cult status Heroes enjoys is still a viable investment for some television companies. Last year we saw how Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse was dragged back from the brink of cancellation due to the amount of DVD sales Fox could look forward to. Sadly Whedon’s reprieve was all too brief, the second season will be the last one, but at least there was opportunity to wrap things up properly which is what Grunberg hopes to see happen with Heroes.

“We will wrap it up properly in the next season and get to 100 episodes,” the Heroes actor says.

“At least that’s what I would like to see happen. They take so much care in writing the show that I would hope we get the chance to end it right.”

Last night’s two part opener lacked the pace of previous seasons, but did show promise as some of the new Carnival characters were introduced. Ray Park was one of the highlights, the ex-Sith Lord plays a super-fast, knife wielding assassin who manages to slice and dice a number of recurring characters from previous seasons.

The season premiere, Orientation/Jump, Push, Fall will be repeated on BBC Three tonight at 22:30 immediately followed by episode three Ink at 23:55.

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