Ripper is still a potential project and Eliza Dushku will get to stretch her acting skills in Dollhouse, reveals Joss Whedon in an exclusive interview in SFX 166 (on sale 16 January).

Dushku will be starring in Whedon’s new show, Dollhouse (strikes permitting) as a secret agent, Echo, who can be programmed with the skills and knowledge for any assignment she’s given. The twist is, after each assignment, her memory of it is wiped, and she spends her downtime in a "doll house" with other agents, all unaware of who or what they are.

So, Whedon’s writing for a strong, all-action leading female again, but Echo won’t be another Buffy, he assures us: "Well, for one thing, it’s Eliza effin’ Dushku. What’s funtastic is that she'll be playing a host of different personalities – including a total, childlike naïf – and that's not something she's been given the opportunity to do.”

Of Ripper, the long-gestating series starring Anthony Head once again as Giles (but this time fighting dark forces in the UK and produced by the BBC) Whedon’s reveals: "Ripper – or whatever Tony [Head] and I get to make – isn’t imminent, but it’s absolutely on the slate. The Beeb has been grand about it."

Read more in SFX166, on sale Wednesday 16 January.