DVD review (region 2)
Starring Joe Flanigan, Tori Higginson, Amanda Tapping, Jason Momoa
Release date Out now

As the city floats lifeless in space following escape from the Replicator weapon, the crew battles to regain control. Meanwhile, Colonel Carter (Amanda Tapping) works on a way to locate them...

It’s a case of out with the new and in with the old as Stargate kicks off its fourth season. With SG-1 now only dialling into TV movies, Amanda Tapping joins the Atlantis team as the new base commander. But for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So, it’s time for a major character change for Doctor Weir (Tori Higginson) and an exit stage left as she tangles with the Replicators.

With that switch in place, there are some interesting comments to decipher in the cast and crew input on these discs. Conflicting accounts within the extra features have some claiming one character didn’t have to go because the other was joining, but it’s Wood and Gero’s commentary that sheds the most light. “Is she willing to come back?” they say over a shot of Weir lying on a table, questioning whether she was even going to return to filming following the decision. “Very thankfully she was…”

Not that Higginson should worry too much. After all, Carson Beckett was previously killed off but returns later in the series in a two-part episode. A fact you’ll be aware of even if these DVDs are the first time you’ve encountered Season 4, as oddly ‘The Doctor Is In’ featurette acts as a spoiler on his upcoming return. One DVD extra fans will welcome is the first ever blooper reel on a Stargate DVD! Gero might claim there’s still not enough fun stuff to justify it, but his mugging to camera in between shots makes this a fun addition.

As for the episodes, the CG-heavy opener steals the show, but regular foes are never far away in most of what’s on offer here. That makes two standouts: Travelers, which introduces feisty good girl/bad girl Jill Wagner (Blade); and Missing, which sees the primitive Bola Kai tribe’s first appearance. Matt Chapman

VERDICT: 7/10
A solid start that shows this series still has places to go after essentially 14 years on the air.

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