Misfits Series Three: Writer Speaks

Creator Howard Overman drops some hints about where the most bizarre superhero show ever will be going next…

After one of the greatest cliffhangers on TV ever in its Christmas special, the phenomenon that is E4’s Misfits became one of the most talked about show ever on the SFX forum. Everybody wants to know, what happens next. In an all-new interview in the new SFX special, Best Of British (in shops today), creator/writer Howard Overman reveals some tantalising titbits about series three. Here’s a little taster:

Overman does tell us it’s likely he won’t be writing all of series three’s eight episodes ; no surprise considering he’s quickly becoming one of British sci-fi’s most in-demand writers with a regular gig on Merlin and the return of the Douglas Adams adaptation Dirk Gently (yes, it'll be coming back!).

First on the agenda: that jaw-dropping series finale. “The aim was to make people feel ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to know what happens next!’ American shows like Lost are prepared to end their series’ on huge, game-changing cliffhangers, which make the audience desperate for the new series. Too often on British TV we tie things up in a neat package, because quite often you don’t know whether you’re getting another series before you finish filming, but we were lucky that Channel Four had already commissioned the third series while I was writing the second.

“They’re all going to have brand new powers. Nobody will have the same powers as in the second series,” Overman reveals.

“It’s quite daunting because they’ve had their powers for two series, and you’ve got to come up with a whole new set of powers, and we’re very much constrained with the type of powers we can do because you have to think about what works in terms of the character and story, as well as what’s achievable on our budget. We set up the idea that the powers are always linked to personality, so even now the characters’ choices are influenced and reflect the characters’ personalities, or else it just
feels a bit arbitrary.”

And the jumpsuits will be back, despite the heroes’ apparently having finished their community service last series: “That’s the look of the show. They’re on community service and their jumpsuits are their de facto superhero costumes, so I will be finding a way to get them back in the jumpsuits fairly quickly.

“There’s one slightly bigger storyline towards the end of series three. I think there are two big stories in all because we’ve got eight episodes this year. One is a sort of mid-season break. It won’t become like other shows where they’re saving the world, although in one episode they kind of do save the world.”

Dave is a TV and film journalist who specializes in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He's written books about film posters and post-apocalypses, alongside writing for SFX Magazine for many years.