“I don’t think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I’m an optimist. We will reach out to the stars.”
– Stephen Hawking

BBC Drama today announces that Outcasts – a brand new high concept series from Kudos Film and Television and Ben Richards (Spooks, Party Animals) – is in development by BBC Wales for BBC One.

Set in space with the future of earth looking increasingly precarious, the race is on in Outcasts to find an alternative home in the universe.

In return for their “liberty”, a group of social misfits and criminals are sent to be the pioneers of a large new settlement on a near planet.

They contain a variety of different types – from the brilliant deviant to the petty thief. They are the “outcasts”, fascinating but ultimately dispensable who must build the conditions for a new life.

Outcasts is a tense and fast-paced series about co-operation and conflict, idealism and power, sexual competition and love. Most of all it is about our life’s big imperatives – cheating death, seeking suitable mates and surviving as a species.

Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction, says: “Following the unique success of time travel in Life On Mars, I’m naturally extremely excited about the dynamic duo of Kudos and Ben Richards joining forces to create a further dimension in BBC Drama.”

Jane Featherstone, Joint MD, Kudos Film and Television, says: “The colonisation of space by humans is only a matter of time, and we think that Ben Richards’ brilliant vision of what life will be like when that happens will offer audiences a dramatic, original and entertaining new drama arena.”

Ordinary Joe is about: “life and the ramifications of decisions you make and what determines your destiny. It follows one man’s life in four different ways but each narrative takes place in the same timescale. It will use the same cast to tell the different stories. It explores to what extent you can shape your own future.”

Bizarrely this isn’t a completely new idea – it sounds very similar to range of films including Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Blind Chance (1987), Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run (1998) and the underrated 11:14 (2003) – oh and all right Sliding Doors (1998). But the genius of Kudos’ other work has been distilling a range of influences to create something that still feels fresh and new.

The real story here is probably that ITV1 are going out on a limb and actually commissioning something with such an experimental concept. It’s not clear from the description the extent to which the fantasy elements will lead the story, but the channel’s recent flirtations with genre have been mixed. The Eleventh Hour with Patrick Stewart and Ashley Jenson was dulled by bizarre directorial choices, imagery and a publicity campaign that tried to describe the series as speculative drama rather than science fiction (oh really, and the difference is?). After Life with Lesley Sharp and Andrew Lincoln is better and currently enjoying a second series.

The real trick for Ordinary Joe will be selecting the correct time slot – let’s just hope they don’t do something silly, like play it opposite Life On Mars as a spoiler…