Christopher Judge Gives His Perspective Of Season Seven
Source Sci Fi Pulse
26 October 2003
The game is very much afoot when it comes to Stargate SG-1, and one person that couldn't be happier with the way things have been going is Christopher Judge who is best known for his portrayal of Teal'c.
While talking to Ian Spelling for Dreamwatch magazine Judge talked about some of his favourite things about the seventh season of Stargate, and shared his enthusiasm about the show and its potential spin off show Atlantis.
In relation to season seven though the actor is beaming, when he describes what to him has made the 7th year so successful thus far.
"We've had some great villains, some amazing special effects, and some great character development and interaction. We've had this race of super Jaffa, and that's been interesting. It's added a whole different level to the danger of Anubis. I love that kind of stuff.
"Having Michael Shanks back as Daniel Jackson has been great for the show and great for Teal'c, too. It was just so obvious when his presence wasn't here. We missed that voice of dissent, if you will; the voice of a more moral position, a more moral consciousness that often created conflict between Jackson and O'Neill. It was so sorely missed and it was great to have that dynamic back. On a whole lot of different levels it's been a great year."
Of course season seven has seen a few more changes other than the re-introduction of Dr Jackson. The show's Star Richard Dean Anderson has cut back on his screen time in order to spend more time with his family. With Andersons lack of Screen time, has come opportunities for Judge and the remaining two principal actors Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping to have more meatier parts this year. Judge as a rule is pretty happy with that situation.
"You've got episodes that Rick, [Richard Dean Anderson] frankly isn't in very much, so in those cases we get to carry the ball a lot more." Judge says. "Creatively that's been fantastic. You get to stretch the boundaries that have been created for you character because scenes that Rick might have played are now, in some cases, being given to the other actors."
Like his co star Michael Shanks, Christopher Judge has tried his hand at writing an episode for the seventh season, and the actor had a great time starring alongside none other than Enterprise Actress Jolene Blalock in the episode that he penned which was titled Birthright.
"I was definitely happy with that episode," Judge says. "It was something that I originally pitched a couple of years ago, but it kind of got pre - empted by 'The Warrior and The Changeling'. This year that was the one I kind of wanted to do.
"I enjoyed the casting of that and the actual performances were fantastic. Getting Jolene Blalock to guest star as our lead in that episode was a big coup for us. She was great as the leader of our Amazonian band of females. It was great working with her and she was just a real professional. I was very pleased with 'Birthright'."
One episode that there has been much talk about over the last year is 'Heroes' which will show in the second half of the season and airs in January on the Sci Fi Channel. This happens to be a favourite episode for Judge and the production crew because of the emotional departure of Dr Frasier, [Teryl Rotherly] who has been a recurring character since the series first aired in 1997.
Judge was quiet happy to reveal a little more about 'Heroes' and he described it as a huge emotional episode which features some of the biggest battle sequences that have ever been shot in the history of the series. "Heroes is what our show is all about. Someone who is very loved will not be with us any more and the writers have done such a good job of showing what this person has meant to all of the characters. The performances are just so heartbreaking and so touching. Let me tell you, Don Davies [General Hammond] does some of his best work I've ever seen him do on any of the million shows he's done in his career. He's just heartbreaking."
"This show is absolutely fantastic. Everybody was bawling at the end of it. It's a show that everyone on Stargate - from an acting standpoint, from a production standpoint and from a writing standpoint - can hang his of her hat on. It may be our finest episode."
Not to many people will know that Christopher Judge very nearly quit Stargate SG - 1 during the third season, because he was not too happy with where his character was going. However judging by the amount of input he has had since then, he is pretty happy with the way things our going, and is hoping to write further episodes for the show's now confirmed 8th season. Apparently Judge also pointed out that he had no doubts as to whether there would be an 8th year. However Judge is in two minds about doing an 8th series. Part of him thinks it is time to move on, and the other part of him wants to hang in there with friends and collect a steady salary.
"I've gotton to write on Stargate, and I'm looking foreword to a career as a writer and producer after the show ends," he says. "This gives me another year to write some more scripts, under the protective umbrella of my friends in the cast and on the writing/producing staff. It's a cruel world out there. Doing Stargate I can be with my friends and write for this show while also having some time at home to develop other projects. Because of time constraints I only wrote one episode this year, but I'm looking foreword to doing a few for next season.
"I'm also going to start getting in [producer] Brad Wright's ear about Stargate: Atlantis," he reveals, referring to Stargate SG -1's planned spin - off series. "As soon as that comes together I'll be calling every day to convince him to let me write an episode of that, too."
The full version of this interview is available to read in issue 110 of Dreamwatch
magazine.