If you were watching CBS on Thursday nights back in 2008, you probably remember a show that felt like a fever dream mashup of CSI and The X-Files. It was called Eleventh Hour. It had Rufus Sewell looking perpetually intense and Marley Shelton carrying a Glock while trying to keep him from walking into traffic.
Honestly, it’s one of those shows people vaguely recall but can't quite place. Was it about ghosts? No. Aliens? Nope. It was about science—specifically, the kind of science that goes horribly wrong when people get greedy or crazy.
The premise was pretty straightforward: Dr. Jacob Hood is a brilliant biophysicist who works as a special advisor to the FBI. He’s the guy they call when 19 identical human clones show up in Seattle or when a weird virus starts liquefying people in a basement. He’s essentially the "last line of defense" before scientific breakthroughs turn into global catastrophes.
The Weird History of Eleventh Hour
Most people don't realize that the American version was actually a remake. The original was a 2006 British miniseries starring Sir Patrick Stewart as Professor Ian Hood. It only lasted four episodes on ITV, but Jerry Bruckheimer—the king of the procedural drama—saw potential in it.
He dumped a ton of money into a US version. We're talking a $4 million pilot. That was huge for 2008.
The show followed a "Monster of the Week" format, but the monsters were always grounded in biology, chemistry, or physics. It didn't have the supernatural flair of Fringe, which actually premiered around the same time. While Fringe went off the rails with parallel universes and shapeshifters, Eleventh Hour tried to stay in the realm of "this could actually happen next Tuesday."
Rufus Sewell vs. Patrick Stewart
It's kinda funny to compare the two leads. Patrick Stewart played Hood with that Shakespearean gravity he brings to everything. He was older, more cynical, and felt like a man who had seen too many lab accidents.
Rufus Sewell, on the other hand, brought a twitchy, frantic energy to the role. His Jacob Hood was the kind of guy who forgot to eat because he was busy calculating the decay rate of a toxin. He was socially awkward, couldn't drive a car worth a lick, and had zero sense of self-preservation.
That’s where Rachel Young came in.
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Played by Marley Shelton, Agent Young was the "handler." Her entire job was to make sure Hood didn't get shot while he was busy staring at a petri dish. Their dynamic wasn't really romantic, which was refreshing for the time. It was more like a highly trained bodyguard trying to babysit a toddler who happened to have a PhD in biophysics.
Why it Disappeared So Fast
So, why did it only last 18 episodes?
The ratings weren't even that bad. It averaged about 12 million viewers, which would be a massive hit today. But in 2009, CBS had massive standards. It followed CSI, which was a juggernaut, and it just didn't hold onto enough of that audience.
Plus, it was expensive.
Each episode cost about $2 million. When the Great Recession hit, networks started tightening their belts. Procedurals that required heavy special effects and location shooting were the first on the chopping block.
Key Episodes You Might Remember
- Resurrection: The pilot. Nineteen clones. It set the tone for the series—creepy, clinical, and fast-paced.
- Cardiac: Healthy 11-year-old boys dying of heart attacks in Georgia. It was a dark look at experimental medical testing.
- Frozen: A woman found frozen solid on a beach during a heatwave. This one felt the most like The X-Files.
- Medea: A mother who believes her child is being replaced. This episode delved into the ethics of genetic engineering and psychological warfare.
The Science: Fact or Fiction?
One thing the show did well was the "explanation" scene. You know the one. Every procedural has that moment where the lead scientist explains a complex concept using a kitchen metaphor.
Eleventh Hour actually tried to use real terminology. They talked about CRISPR before it was a household name. They dove into the ethics of stem cell research and the dangers of agro-terrorism.
Of course, they took liberties. You can't actually identify a complex neurotoxin by just smelling a handkerchief, but hey, it's TV.
Where Can You Watch it Now?
Tracking down Eleventh Hour today is a bit of a chore. It’s not consistently on the major streaming platforms like Netflix or Hulu. You can sometimes find it for purchase on Apple TV or Amazon, and the DVD sets are still floating around on eBay.
If you're a fan of Rufus Sewell—especially after his work in The Man in the High Castle or The Diplomat—it’s worth digging up. It shows a different side of his acting range. He's less of a villain and more of a flawed, obsessive hero.
Actionable Steps for Fans of Science Procedurals
If you miss this specific era of television, there are a few things you can do to scratch that itch:
- Check out the UK Original: If you can find the four-part Patrick Stewart version, it’s a much tighter, grittier experience. It feels more like a thriller and less like a slick CBS drama.
- Look into Stephen Gallagher: He’s the creator of the original series. He’s an accomplished novelist and screenwriter. His books often carry that same "science-gone-wrong" tension.
- Revisit "Fringe" or "Strange World": If you liked the "FBI meets science" vibe, these are the closest cousins. Strange World was a short-lived series from 1999 that dealt with similar themes of environmental and biological threats.
- Support the Archive: Many of these mid-2000s shows are becoming "lost media" because of licensing issues. If you find a physical copy at a thrift store, grab it. Digital rights for these shows often expire, leaving them in a legal limbo where they aren't available to stream anywhere.
Eleventh Hour wasn't a perfect show. It was sometimes a bit too formulaic, and it struggled to find its own voice in a sea of CSI clones. But at its best, it was a smart, provocative look at the dangers of the modern world. It asked what happens when our curiosity outpaces our morality.
In a world of AI and gene editing, those questions are more relevant now than they were in 2008.