There was some concern that well, they were both characters from Farscape, and that could be problematic. We brought in Ben [as a regular] and then Claudia as the Vala character for a six episode arc. As it turned out, surprise, surprise [laughs] to everybody but the writers - even though Ben and Claudia had been on Farscape, their characters here were completely different, especially in the case of Claudia. As I pointed out on one of my blog entries, she was essentially the straight woman in Farscape. Here, she was the loose cannon, and once we'd finished the first six episode arc (which some fans call the 'mini-series'), where we introduced the new villain, the new characters, a new general in the form of General Landry - it just gelled so well. To use a bad TV term, it 'popped.' So we realized that we had to find a way to bring Claudia back [again].

Rob pitched out the idea for the Ori, and we discussed the new characters. Like any other season, we came in and pitched ideas and started writing. I describe it as, 'more of the same, but totally different.' It is essentially still Stargate SG-1. We are still in the same galaxy, the same story universe that we established and have been in for the past eight or more years. There were elements that wouldn't just disappear overnight. The Goa'uld still exist, the Jaffa are still an issue, we still have allies in the Asgard, as well. Obviously, the Jaffa had won their freedom, but on the other hand, they are still around. There was much celebration, but it's not a happily-ever-after ending.

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