Patrick Duffy confirms Dallas revival

Actor Patrick Duffy has confirmed the 1980s super-soap Dallas is being revived with a pilot episode being filmed next year.

Actor Patrick Duffy has confirmed the 1980s super-soap Dallas is being revived with a pilot episode being filmed next year. The actor played heartthrob Bobby Ewing and was memorably killed off in 1986 before his character was resurrected from the dead just a season later to revive flagging ratings. Producers explained Bobby’s return from the dead in the now notorious ‘it was all a dream’ revelation.

“They’re going to do a pilot. It will be centred on the younger generation but they have been in conversation with Larry Hagman, Linda Gray and myself to sort of anchor and add a pedigree to it. I’ve read scripts when they’ve tried to do films of it and they were absolutely horrendous and this is actually a brilliant script. It’ll be surreal if we actually end up playing those parts and going back to Texas and South Fork. I’m 60 years old now and I started Bobby when I was 28. It’ll be surreal but it’ll also be enjoyable, Larry and Linda are my dearest friends ever in the world” – Patrick Duffy speaking to PA

Dallas ran on CBS between 1978 and 1991 and also spawned the successful spin-off Knots Landing. Actor Larry Hagman played JR Ewing in the series and quickly became one of the most popular characters in the drama despite all of his schemes and nasty deeds. The Who Shot JR storyline was one of Dallas’ biggest and millions of viewers around the world were left wondering which Dallas resident had shot the scheming businessman.

The success of the storyline has been replicated many times since, with slight variations, such as the Who Shot Phil? storyline in EastEnders and Who Pushed Claire storyline in Hollyoaks. Actress Linda Gray played the long-suffering wife of JR, Sue Ellen who battled with alcoholism, JR’s womanising ways and a string of disastrous affairs during her time in the drama.

While Dallas ended in 1991 several television movies were produced in the 1990s reuniting the cast and several documentaries were also produced. A Hollywood film version of the series was in development for some years but has yet amounted to nothing. Rumours of a television revival of Dallas – centring on the next generation of the Ewing family – surfaced earlier this year with cable broadcaster TNT reportedly involved with the revival. Actor Patrick Duffy currently appears in the CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful in the recurring role of Stephen Logan and between 2004/2005 his Dallas co-star Linda Gray guest-starred in the role of Priscilla Kelly

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