"Director: Michael Shanks"

• Stargate S.G -1: Season 4 (Vol. 19) | DVD | (28/01/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  The 1994 movie Stargate was originally intended as the start of a franchise, but creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were distracted celebrating their Independence Day. Episodic TV treatment was the natural next step. In the roles of Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr Daniel Jackson respectively are Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks. They're joined by Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and guilt-stricken former alien baddie Teal'c (Christopher Judge) to form the teacher's-pet primary unit SG-1. With a seemingly endless network of Stargates found to exist on planets all across the known universe, their mission is to make first contact with as many friendly races as possible. Chasing their heels at almost every turn are the "overlord" Goa'uld--the ancient Egyptian Gods who are none too chummy after the events of the original film. There's something of The Time Tunnel to the show's premise, but Stargate has held its own with stories that put the science fiction back into TV sci-fi. On the DVD: Episodes: Double Jeopardy and Exodus. In "Double Jeopardy", SG-1 experiences a bogus journey when they're reunited with their robot doppelgangers (from "Tin Man"). Some welcome resolution is given to their separate story line, since they'd basically been left to fend for themselves. The split-screen effects are excellent allowing the actors to interact with themselves. This was the directorial debut of Michael Shanks (Dr Jackson). The big Season Four finale had a lot of continuity to pull together before allowing our heroes their "Exodus". Sam gets to spend more time with her Tokra father than has been possible while everything disintegrates around them. While Teal'c goes out of his way to avenge the death of an old lover (how many wives has he had?), the unveiling of Earth's most recently acquired piece of technology seems to turn the tide of battle against the Goa'uld. And then all is lost. Including them.--Paul Tonks