Feature: Stargates

The Wright Man for Two Jobs

Not content with executive producing one hit show, Brad Wright (with some help from Robert C Cooper) is now taking on two Stargate shows, SG-1 and Atlantis. ‘How are you still anywhere near sane?’ we ask him

The words ‘tired but happy’ could be used to describe Brad Wright at the moment. Having taken a year away from his Stargate SG-1 desk to concentrate on developing the award-winning series’ spin off show, Stargate Atlantis, Wright is slaving away on the monumental task of executive producing both shows at the same time. Since delivering one show is a full-time job, attempting it with two is completely bonkers, but Wright seems to be thriving on the increased workload. “It’s insane,” he agrees, “but Robert Cooper [Atlantis co-creator and fellow executive producer] and I are surrounded by a fantastic group of writers, production team and cast, all of whom are doing their utmost to make sure everything that needs to be done gets done. It is insane and exciting and nerve-racking and exhausting but great. I have my fingers crossed the fans will appreciate our efforts.”

There is every possibility they will. Stargate SG-1 has sailed into the hearts and minds of fans the world over. It is one of the most popular shows in syndication with fan conventions taking place in far-flung corners of the globe. From the Middle East to Milton Keynes, people meet to cele-brate this show. All sorts of merchandise, including clothes, books and trading cards, are available. There are even theme park rides across the US and Europe and an Australian firm has created a spectacular video game. Wright is delighted. “I remember when we first set out Jonathan Glassner [Stargate SG-1’s co-creator] and I said we’d know we’d made it when the show had its first fan convention. Look at us now.”

Yes, just look. Right now they’re poised to carry the original series into a cracking eighth season whilst launching a brand new phase of the Stargate franchise. Wright explains, “We’ve always been proud of the high production values of Stargate SG-1 and the truth of the matter is that the only way we could afford to deliver that same quality for an eighth year was by producing both shows at the same time.

“One of the things we wanted to do was to bring together the loose ends we’d left at the end of Season Seven and tie them up in the story that would begin our first Atlantis journey. When we left Lost City, Jack O’Neill [Richard Dean Anderson] was locked in a state of suspended animation down in Antarctica, Dr Elizabeth Weir [Torri Higginson] was placed in charge of the SGC and the place we thought was the lost city of the Ancients wasn’t. So Stargate’s two-hour première, New Order, deals with the remaining members of SG-1, Sam Carter [Amanda Tapping], Daniel Jackson [Michael Shanks] and Teal’c [Christopher Judge] trying to get O’Neill unfrozen and retrieve the Ancients’ knowledge out of his head, thereby saving the world yet again. We find out just how good Dr Weir is re negotiating with Humans and Goa’uld respectively, and in Rising, Atlantis’s première episode, we actually discover the lost city and start a whole new set of adventures in a new galaxy. It’s pretty cool.”

by Thomasina Gibson

Get the full interview in
Cult Times Special #31

Photo © Sci-Fi Channel
Feature © Visual Imagination 2004. Not for reproduction

Taken from

Cult Times Special #31
Stargates 2004
ships from Sep 9 2004
News-stand Price
UK £4.99 / US $9.99

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