bearing in mind we are a bit behind in Australia

has their been any episodes which have explained Giles's RIPPER years ?

it's been hinted at but as far as i know no explanation has been made

WTF is a "Ripper" year?

Yeah, little hints here and there. and you'll probably find out all about the "Ripper" years since they're planning a spin-off and your pal Giles is the star (it's still not sure whether the show will be called "Watcher" or "Ripper)

--HN

I thought they'd covered his ripper years pretty extensively a couple of seasons ago when that one dude from his past showed up and started causing all the problems?

i remember that episode, that was only one of the hints!

nothing has been explained at all !

What sort of explanation are you looking for? Giles rejects his future as mapped out by his father (to be a watcher) He wants to be a rock star, goes to university, gets in with a wild crowd, magic, drugs, alcohol and nickname ripper. After bringing forth Eigon, some demon, realieses the error of his ways and goes home to be a watcher.

Exactly, there wasn't anything more to it than that. It was also not just 1 episode, the whole 'ripper' thing was spread throughout most of the season in small chunks. Not much of a story there, IMHO.

Is this true? What are they going to do with Giles on Buffy? I can't ever see this happening, he is not strong enough for his own show.

Joss Whedon is in talks with the BBC about this. The actor who plays Giles has his family in England and wants to be able to spend more time with them. This would allow him to. They say he'll still make appearances on Buffy, probably just not as often.

Anthony Head has been telling Joss this year that he'd love to move back to England. Joss has been in talks with the BBC about another spinoff series, called either Ripper or Watcher...

Yeah, storylines on Buffy would take a hit. For example, since they're keeping Dawn around, they NEED an adult figure near the center. What are they going to do -- have Dawn be homeless whenever Buff is temporarily gone?

If Ripper happens at all, it won't be immediate. But a BBC series in the Buffiverse would sure be cool...

[Edit: Kelric, you beat me to it! Damn I write slow...] :)

well the adult figure could be spike. in fact, ever since he got that chip in his head and gave up on trying to be evil i always assumed he would be joining buffy any episode now. yet they have dragged this on forever. they should hurry up and make him a "good guy" already. he already looks after dawn now basically.

i also think it would be cool if after a whole season of buffy and spike fighting side by side, something happens to make buffy doubt spike... like maybe she over hears part of a conversation that makes her think spike is still evil and trying to trick her all this time. then she finds out that spike had his chip secretely removed for a very long time already (liek since joyce died). then he would really seem like a nice guy.