NOTE: This article contains references to the plotlines of the two Stargate movies and casting information for Season Four of Stargate Atlantis.
Dreamwatch’s Bryan Cairns has posted an interview with Christopher Judge on the Total Sci Fi website. Judge talks about the finale of Stargate SG-1, about Teal’c’s future within the franchise, and about another script project he’s working on (see our previous article on Judge’s other script, Rage of Angels).
Concerning the two Stargate direct-to-DVD movies, Judge said:
The thing that was the most exciting was seeing the scripts. All the things we previously had to cut because of constraints – be it budgetary or time – we were now able to do. The writers were excited about the prospect of being able to write an episode and not have to immediately look at the financial reality of it and start dissecting it.
As someone who has written stuff, it is so freeing. It brings you up creatively to see their scripts and go, “Wow! They really took the ball and ran with it.”
The Ark of Truth
Robert C. Cooper’s Stargate: The Ark of Truth ends the Ori storyline that was started in Season Nine. The movie is a compressed version of the story arc that was originally intended to last throughout Season Eleven.
I liked it because it was done correctly. Sometimes more isn’t better. If the story has to be watered down to make it last for 20 episodes, that is not good either. The Arc of Truth is such a bang but also logical. It is not a huge leap of faith that this happens in one contained story. Looking where we went with it, I’m not sure we could have sustained it, so I like the way it ended.
Continuum
The Goa’uld Ba’al makes a return to the stories of SG-1 in Brad Wright’s Stargate: Continuum. Directed by Martin Wood, this movie is the first of the stand-alone stories presented in the franchise’s new format. Already there is talk of more films to be done in this manner.
Because Ba’al goes back in time and alters the timeline, Teal’c is no longer a Free Jaffa, but the First Prime of a Goa’uld System Lord. It just so happens that this System Lord is not Apophis, but Ba’al himself.
What is it like being a Ba’al supporter? [Laughs] It was very interesting to revisit where Teal’c initially started from. That is the good thing about the alternative reality aspect of it. You can be in the same situation but your reality can be altered. I really took enjoyment in finding little moments where Teal’c, as we know him, would have reacted in certain ways but this Teal’c, who is in the same predicament of being a slave to the Gou’ald, reacts completely differently.
I really liked that entire concept and let me tell you, the stuff they did in Continuum like going to the Arctic, is incredible. It is incredible that we were able to do the amount of things we are doing in 18 days. I really think our next step is to do features. Certainly, their imaginations are limitless when it comes to different avenues to take the show.
Stargate Atlantis
The date of the interview is not known, so at the time, Judge addressed the possibility of reprising his role as Teal’c in the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis. Since this time, he has been confirmed by executive producer Joseph Mallozzi to be in the third episode, “Reunion”, and at least one more episode in the second half. Currently, the assumption is that this second-half season episode is the sixteenth on the schedule, “Midway”.
Judge’s New Projects
Not only is Judge pursuing a leading role in his own TV pilot script Rage of Angels, but he has also written a movie script:
I am writing on a horror movie. It is called The Hole and is based on a true story. In Washington State, there is a hole that, by their estimates, is at least 10,000 feet deep. The stuff that is happening around this hole….. The U.S. government has taken over this area and made it like another Area 51.
Even from satellite imagery, they have obscured it. It is a very interesting story. Some of the stuff is unbelievable, but it is so well documented and so many people that have previously worked in government circles have come forward and talked about it.
To read the full interview, visit Dreamwatch’s Total Sci Fi: Christopher judges Stargate.