"I have to tell ya, hon," Davis begins in his smooth southern drawl, "One of the things I'm looking forward to most is working with Michael Shanks again on a regular basis. We missed Michael. I've said many times at conventions and the like that the dynamic of the show - and this has nothing in any way to do with the sterling performance by Corin Nemec, who is a great kid and a wonderful actor - but the dynamic of the show from its initial production to the time Daniel Jackson left was that Daniel's was the voice of morality, of humane consideration on the show. Whereas everybody else was military and they were there to achieve a goal, reach a target and destroy an enemy, Daniel's voice was constantly saying, 'But we still have to honour our principles'."

Davis offers his view - one shared by many of those who watch and enjoy Stargate SG-1 - that, "When we didn't have that voice, the others tried to play the voice in different episodes and it always put them out of character. Even to the extent that, ridiculously, in a couple of episodes, Jack O'Neill undertook that role, and for me it just didn't work. So far as I'm concerned, other than the fact that Michael is a wonderful actor and a nice guy, I think Daniel's return will make the storylines richer. I think it will allow for storylines that don't go away from the initial thrust of the show, because we can then have those stories, and I'm sure there will be many of them, that will centre on our main aims of exploring the galaxy, saving the Earth, fighting the Goa'uld and building upon the friendships and trusts we forged in Season One."

"In my humble opinion, developing Jonas's storyline somewhat took us away from the spine of the show, which is what I believe a lot of people want to see."

Encouraged to give up any ideas about what's in store for General Hammond in the coming year, Davis insists, "To be absolutely honest, hon, I have none. No ideas whatsoever. All I've been told is that in some of the first few episodes he's very, very heavily featured. Really, I'm just grateful to be coming back. I didn't expect there to be a Season Seven and I really thought if there was a Season Seven that I wouldn't have a major presence in it. So I'm very grateful to be afforded this opportunity."

Davis was characteristically gentlemanly when it came to helping the powers that be come to a decision [on Season Seven]. Knowing that one of the main sticking points was the fact that one of those Davis calls "the core members" was unable to commit to a full season at the time the negotiations were in progress, he actually volunteered to come out of the show. Asked what possessed him to make such a generous offer, Davis shrugs, "It just seemed logical given Richard's [Dean Anderson] hesitation on wanting to commit to a full season. It just seemed to me that the sensible thing to do would be to retire Hammond and have O'Neill assume command. Of course," he laughs, "I didn't actually want to retire, so this extra year is wonderful."

© Cult Times, Visimag 2003. All rights recognised. No copyright infringement intended. Extracts from published interviews and features appear with permission.

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