<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Spartacus: Blood and Sand creator Steven S. DeKnight has revealed that John Hannah inspired new prequel series Gods of the Arena. Hannah&amp;#039;s character Batiatus was killed in the first season finale. DeKnight told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour that he had enjoyed working with the actor so much that he originally considered featuring Batiatus in a flashback sequence. &amp;quot;I was planning in episode five of season two to do a flashback episode where you saw some stuff with Batiatus,&amp;quot; explained DeKnight. &amp;quot;Because we all love John Hannah, and [he] expressed an interest in coming back and doing a little something.&amp;quot; However, DeKnight&amp;#039;s plans expanded when production on the second season of Blood and Sand was delayed due to star Andy Whitfield&amp;#039;s battle with cancer. He added: &amp;quot;Once we found out what was going on with Andy and we stopped production on season two, I thought... I [should] blow that up to a two-hour show and we air it in January while Andy&amp;#039;s recovering.&amp;quot; The six-part prequel, which will also star Australian actor Dustin Clare, will air on Starz in January. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/news/a258667/spartacus-exec-hannah-inspired-prequel/>