Comic Con 2009: Begbie comes to San Diego

Published on Saturday 25 July 2009 11:08

Scottish actor Robert Carlyle was star of the show at the unveiling of the latest Stargate series today, when SG: Universe hit San Diego Comic Con.

Well known for grittier, non-genre roles, Carlyle is the lead of the latest of the long-running scifi franchise, and joined six other cast members and SG creators Brad Wright and Robert Cooper to showcase the series to fans.

Carlyle gave an insight into why he'd signed for the show, which has already filmed 12 episodes and includes cameos from other Stargate favourites including Richard Dean Anderson and Amanda Tapping: "Last year I came to LA. The film industry in the UK is struggling, so I was looking for something different. When this came up it was, to use an American phrase, completely out of left field.

"I didn't know much Stargate and my first reaction was 'why would they want me to do this?' But it's very much a character driven piece, and when I met Brad and Robert they told me they were looking for someone who could make dislikeable things quite likeable. When they said that I thought, 'yup, I'm your man for that'."

With some of the die-hard fans worried that the show would be grittier and darker than the previous incarnations, creators Wright and Cooper were keen to reassure that it was in the same friendly, accessible style, although with a more hand-held shooting style similar to Battlestar Galactica.

Brad Wright told fans: "We've been doing Stargate for 16 seasons and a couple of movies. For us to get this excited about it at this point in our careers, I think, shows it's something special. You're not going to be disappointed."

The trailer they showed, which is also available online here, gives a lot of time to Jonah (David Blue) a gamer who has Robert Carlyle and Richard Dean Anderson pitch up on his doorstep and recruit him after he completes a fiendishly difficult computer game. The tone of it - and the premise, which sees a range of different people from non military and military backgrounds, including Blue and Camille Wray (Ming Na), who will be an out lesbian - still unusual for US scifi purposes.

Marooned on a ship trying to find home - feels like stuff we've seen before, but the humour (including an Empire Strikes Back joke which went down especially well with the assembled geeks) is quintessentially Stargate.

And following the fan outcry at the death of Dr Beckett in Stargate: Atlantis the creators thought they'd best get one thing out of the way early.

Robert Cooper said: "We kill the doctor right away in this one." Brad Wright added: "He's not kidding."

Fans will be able to find out whether he was or not when the show starts in October in the US. It has yet to be sold to a UK channel.

• Comic Con 2009 - live!