Timebomb: Earth In Ruins

Title card

Rachel Salter (for Tiger Aspect; uncredited)

**Timebomb: Earth In Ruins** is the sequel to the original series Timebomb, or simply the second series of the show which aired on Toffa between 6 January and 10 February 2018. The sci-fi drama continued on from where the original series left off back in 2005

## History

### Development

While the original series was being commissioned in November 2004, it was planned that 12x30-minute episodes would be made when the series was announced early that year. However, Toffa showed interested in the general story and decided to go with a twelve-episode run. Instead, however, they announced that only six episodes would be made (but still producing twelve episodes secretly); the main excuse being that for an independent digital channel watched by a handful of people, it would cost too much to do just 12 episodes. Although this was, in fact, the case, the show was being produced by Tiger Aspect, yet Toffa wanted to be safe with the budget. Tiger Aspect handled the overall production with the post-production being made by Toffa in-house.

After the first half of episodes were complete, Toffa wanted to keep hold of the second half of the series until 2017, where both the show was set in and when it is set to return. However, many crew members, felt it was best to just do the entire series at once to avoid some aging issues and extra money being used for make-up. Also, with lead actor Todd Carlson being 13 years old at the time of filming, it was also best that it would save time in production in case any cast or crew members in the future either died or didn’t want to take part again.

As a result, the first half of the series was filmed for several weeks between February and May 2005, but to give cast and crew a break and to get the second half of the series prepared, it would be filmed in around late 2005 or early 2006 at the latest. The second half of the series began production in September 2005 and continued throughout the rest of the year. As Toffa was planning to air this in around 2017/18, the budget was increased slimly for filming, as they plan to do the visual effects before the series goes out in over a decade.

With the sequel, it would, for the most part, be set on the planet Life, home of the Timebomb civilians. In the last episode, they destroyed Henrick’s home planet Earth and tried to get him to join them where they are preparing with a war against the Letharjers, who serve as the main antagonists and have been mentioned but only seen a handful of times. Again, it would serve as a serialized show with plot and character arcs; the main two being the relationship between Timebomb, Henrick and the Letharjers. As Toffa was planning to air this in around 2017 or 2018, the budget was increased only slightly just for filming, as they plan to do the visual effects before the series goes out in over a decade.

### Returning to the plans

When it almost came for the show to return, talks began between the new Toffa chairman Riley Indigo, who took the seat in May 2017, and the show’s creators Tony Hoppings and Kevin Young to begin production again on the show; planning for it to air in early 2018. Toffa had become a surprise success by then, which led to more money being used and this gave the show a chance to visually look impressive. While Indigo admitted having not seen the series before the beginning of the discussions, he decided to watch all six episodes of Timebomb in one go, and he reviewed it as: ‘Surprisingly impressive for Toffa in the early days. Now it’s time for the story to begin again.’

Indigo, Hoppings, and Young got on well with the talks and by early June the Timebomb return was looking very likely, and just over two weeks later, on 16 June 2017, Toffa officially announced that Timebomb would return with a spin-off. Timebomb: Earth In Ruins (the name made by Hoppings) would continue the story from where the original series left off, with Earth destroyed and the spaceship leaving it in ruins.

There were a few departures behind the scenes; more importantly, a new director was needed. As initial director Graeme Harper left to return to *Doctor Who*, a new director had to be found within two months, taking on the helm for the remaining six episodes was Jim Shields who often directed several well-known soap operas and dramas in the UK such as *Byker Grove*, *EastEnders* and *The Bill*.

Also, to give the show a dramatic upgrade with the visuals, Toffa hired out Union VFX to work on the visual effects for the show as well as the new title sequence. Most of the rest of the cast and crew were all part of the filming crew from 2005 so they would also be credited. Other exceptions included post-production co-ordinators, incidental music and visual effects.

All that was needed between June and the penned January 2018 broadcast date was for not only the visual effects to be made, and the film recordings to be upgraded to HD, but also for the sound visuals (or music) to be made as well. This part would take the longest to do, even though it wouldn’t be heard much across the six episodes. Hired to do the music was Chris John, who had been part of the Toffa music crew since 2014 and was also working on the music for another drama to be aired in 2018: Long Gone.

John also was in charge of arranging the theme music; sampling the original theme composed by Julian Cox but made slower and more mysterious.

Additionally, behind the scenes, Toffa was hoping to fully own the Timebomb franchise due to the original 2005 series being co-produced and distributed by Tiger Aspect before Earth In Ruins was set to air. After a month of discussion in September 2017, the Timebomb franchise was now fully owned by Toffa. However, this meant that as a consequence, Earth In Ruins was seen to be a Toffa production, where Tiger Aspect weren't credited at all for the filming of the series. Shortly afterwards, the official Timebomb website was launched at timebomb.com.

Another thing that is gone from this series is that there is no narrator. Although the idea was interesting, choosing Microsoft Sam (a computerised voice) wasn’t really the best option for a sci-fi show but it was the best Toffa could do at the time. This was also initially planned from the offset.

In December 2017, the show was confirmed to air on 6 January 2018 and for the next six Saturdays; running until 10 February. The series' promotional material began in early December 2017 in the run-up to the launch and was heavily marketed.