Fringe and Lost - the tie-up episode

Whisper it quietly but Fringe and Lost are getting up close and personal.

We've already seen teasers in the first series of Fringe, and word from Hawaii is that some subtle hints are being dropped on the Lost set, too.

Both series, of course, are the brainchild of J J Abrams - and Anorak City has already speculated on a tie-up.

Now there's rumour that studio chiefs at arch-rivals Fox and ABC are in tentative talks about a one-off cross-over episode.

It's expected to be one of those infuriating Lost flashbacks or flash-forwards, and all the talk is of island exile Ben Linus having some sort of link with the Fringe team's barmy boffin Dr Walter Bishop.

There are already links between the series. In this week's episode of Fringe, about a man tormented by butterflies, you'll have spotted an Oceanic Airlines ticket - the same line, of course, that carried the Losties to their fate.

Shadowy special agent Phillip Broyles, the Homeland Security boss of the Fringies, is played by Lance Reddick - the same actor who plays shadowy Matthew Abaddon in Lost (and in very much the same manner).

Soundtrack effects, notably that rising note, are replicated in both series. And word reaches us from the Lost set that a poster advertising Massive Dynamic - the sinister Fringe firm - will be seen in an upcoming episode.

It's not the first time that Abrams has been such a tease.

During his Cloverfield monster movie, sharp-eyed fans spotted the Dharma logo.