Farscape

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Farscape
Format Science Fiction
Created by Rockne S. O'Bannon
Starring Ben Browder
Claudia Black
Virginia Hey
Anthony Simcoe
Gigi Edgley
Paul Goddard
Lani Tupu
Wayne Pygram
Country of origin Flag of Australia Australia
Flag of the United States United States
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 88 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 50 minutes (Season 1)
44 minutes (Seasons 2–4)
Broadcast
Original channel Sci Fi Channel
Original run March 19, 1999 – March 21, 2003
Chronology
Followed by Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (Miniseries)
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Farscape is a science fiction television series, featuring a present-day astronaut who accidentally travels through a wormhole to a distant part of the universe. It was produced by the Jim Henson Company and Hallmark Entertainment, and filmed in Australia. Drawing on Henson's traditional expertise in puppetry, two of the main characters are animatronic puppets.

The show was abruptly canceled after it had completed production of its fourth season, with a fifth season contracted, effectively ending the series on a cliffhanger. A mini-series in 2004 wrapped up some of the show's hanging plot threads and new webisodes are being produced.

Contents

[edit] Production

Originally conceived in the early 1990s by Rockne S. O'Bannon and Brian Henson under the title Space Chase, the show's main character is present-day astronaut John Crichton (played by Ben Browder). Crichton accidentally travels through a wormhole to a distant part of the universe where he is caught in the middle of conflicts between planets, empires, and the incompatible personalities of the escaped prisoners with whom he has taken refuge. The series avoids rough language problems by introducing words like 'frell' and 'dren', the analogues of which become quite clear to those already familiar with the English versions.

Henson has traditionally specialized in puppetry (see Muppets), and Farscape is no exception. Two of the main characters are animatronic puppets: the miniature deposed Dominar Rygel XVI of Hyneria (voiced by Jonathan Hardy) and the ship's Pilot (voiced by Lani Tupu), a large multi-armed creature physically bonded to the living Leviathan ship, Moya.

Farscape first ran on the Canadian YTV channel[citation needed], then in the U.S. on the Sci-Fi Channel (which also financed the series); in Australia, first titled "Far Horizon"; the show was seen on free-to-air Channel Nine (which also co-produced the series - although as of 2007, the channel has yet to air Season Four or the Peacekeeper Wars miniseries). On Channel Nine the program was never given a stable timeslot, being shown in prime time, early afternoon (and edited severely to fit the ratings criteria) and most recently at 2am.

In September 2002, the Sci-Fi Channel, which was then owned by Vivendi Universal, unexpectedly opted to withdraw its funding of the fifth season, canceling the show. While there was much fan criticism of the cancellation, the Sci-Fi Channel decided that the show was too expensive to renew as the ratings had declined during the fourth season.

Fans mounted a massive letter, phone, e-mail, and advertisement campaign hoping to either pressure Sci-Fi into restoring the show or convince another network to take over the series. Early plans, to have the sets scrapped after production of the fourth season wrapped up, were quickly reversed after news of the cancellation broke, partly as a result of the fan campaign. The sets were instead put in storage pending a possible future revival of the show.[1]

The Farscape-themed FoxTrot strip
The Farscape-themed FoxTrot strip

Cartoonist Bill Amend, creator of the popular FoxTrot comic strip, focused on the Farscape cancellation in an October 8, 2002 strip wherein the character Jason Fox was getting a petition out to have the SFC renew Farscape. Amend conveyed that soon after the strip ran, it "generated more e-mails from readers than anything else I've done in the past. I had no idea that so many people owned computers, even. I shudder to think what the mail boxes at the Sci-Fi Channel must be like these days."[2]

The controversial Farscape cancellation did get major notice in the news media.[3][4] The SFC tried to tout the upcoming Tremors: The Series as a Farscape replacement, but it failed to work. In January 2003 at the TV News Press Tour in Los Angeles, where TV networks would be showing off their new mid-season TV shows, many TV critics wanted to ask SFC President Bonnie Hammer about her decision to cancel Farscape.[citation needed]

Thanks to the attention generated by the fan campaign, various financial backers in Europe offered their support to Brian Henson, and in 2003/2004, The Jim Henson Company produced a mini-series to wrap up the plot threads dangling at the cancellation of the regular TV series. The four-hour Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars aired on the Sci-Fi Channel in October 2004. Whilst a revival of the weekly series was unlikely, a feature film remained a possibility.

One of the stranger results of Farscape's cancellation was that Ben Browder and Claudia Black wound up as major characters in the later seasons of the long running SF series Stargate SG-1. A fantasy sequence in the Stargate episode "200" parodied Farscape, with Black reprising Aeryn, but with Browder playing Stark and other Stargate cast members playing Crichton, Chiana, and D'Argo (Crichton was played by Michael Shanks, due to an in joke with the cast and crew, that Browder and Shanks looked very much the same). This parody poked fun at the cult status of the show and its use of made up alien curse words. Coincidentally, the announcement of Stargate's own cancellation was made immediately after this episode ran.

In 1999, the North American debut of Farscape on YTV garnered a reasonable amount of positive attention from Canadian sci-fi fans, but controversy arose in 2000 with YTV's decision to not acquire the rights to the show's second season and skip the cliffhanger finale to the first season. Apparently, the promotional materials from the Jim Henson company used to pitch the series to various networks misleadingly depicted it as being youth-oriented due to its use of Muppets. As such, the general direction of the series was a considerable contrast to YTV's expectations, and was ultimately deemed too "adult" for the network. This decision resulted in considerable fan outrage, and while the series eventually found a home on Space, many believe that the series was never able to attract its potential audience as a result of the initial cancellation there.[citation needed]

[edit] Plot summary

 The plot summary in this section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article.
Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot.
Main article: List of Farscape episodes

Season 1: Episodes 1 - 22

“ My name is John Crichton, an astronaut. A radiation wave hit and I got shot through a wormhole. Now I'm lost in some distant part of the universe on a ship, a living ship, full of strange alien life forms. Help me. Listen, please. Is anybody out there who can hear me? I'm being hunted... by an insane military commander. I'm doing everything I can. I'm just looking for a way home. ”

John Crichton is an IASA (fictional NASA analogue) astronaut working on the experimental Farscape project. During the Farscape-1 test flight, a wormhole appears, pulling John to a distant part of the universe. He arrives and finds himself in the middle of a space battle, and the Farscape One module is immediately clipped by a small craft, which then spins out of control, hits an asteroid, and explodes, killing the pilot. Crichton is then captured and brought aboard a large ship, which turns out to be a living ship of the Leviathan species, named Moya.

On board are Luxan warrior Ka D'Argo, exiled Hynerian Dominar Rygel XVI, and Delvian priestess Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan, three prisoners who have taken control of Moya and are escaping from the regime of the militaristic Peacekeepers. Eventually, the prisoners manage to remove Moya's control collar and Starburst away from the battle. Pursuing Peacekeeper Officer Aeryn Sun's Prowler is caught up in the Starburst and she is taken aboard soon after Crichton's arrival. Aboard the Peacekeeper ship, it is discovered that the pilot who hit Crichton's ship and was killed was Tauvo Crais, brother of the Peacekeeper captain Bialar Crais, who now vows revenge on the pilot of the "white death pod."

Catching Crichton, Crais declares he will dissect and kill him. Aeryn, however, declares she has spent enough time with Crichton that she now believes him incapable of purposefully killing Crais's brother. After he asks her, "exactly how long" and Aeryn has no answer and Crichton responds "Not very long at all," Crais declares her "irreversibly contaminated" due to prolonged contact with an unfamiliar species, which will result in her death. Having nowhere else to go, both she and John join the unlikely band of allies, and they escape from Crais.

Seeking to avenge his brother's death, Crais pursues Moya through the Uncharted Territories. As Moya attempts to evade the Peacekeepers, the renegades start to overcome their initial dislike and distrust of each other and come together as a working crew. During this time, the backgrounds of the three "criminals" on Moya are explored: D'Argo was falsely accused of murdering his Sebacean wife in a bout of Luxan hyper-rage; Rygel, the former ruler of the 600 billion subjects of the Hynerian empire, was deposed by his treacherous cousin Bishan and handed over to the Peacekeepers; and Zhaan killed her lover and mentor after he sold out their home planet to the Peacekeepers. Crichton, meanwhile, seeks a way to return to Earth; Aeryn, now exiled from her own people, must make a new life for herself. Their lives are further complicated by the discovery that Moya is pregnant as a result of D'Argo breaking a contraceptive shield installed by the Peacekeeper Leviathan expert Velorek, and by the arrival of Chiana, a Nebari female and fugitive from her own people.

Crichton comes into contact with a mysterious race known as the Ancients; they implant the equations and a sort of "sixth-sense" for wormhole travel in his subconscious mind. Oblivious to the existence of this knowledge, Crichton attempts to embrace his new life aboard Moya, but is captured by the Sebacean-Scarran hybrid Scorpius when he tries to sneak onto Scorpius' secret Gammak research base to steal medical supplies to treat Aeryn's otherwise fatal injury. Scorpius discovers Crichton's receipt of the wormhole knowledge using interrogation with the memory-scanning Aurora Chair, and secretly implants a neurochip inside Crichton's brain to attempt to unlock the knowledge for use in his own wormhole weapons project.

With the assistance of Chiana, Moya gives birth to a prototype leviathan hybrid gunship, which Aeryn names Talyn. The crew help Crichton and fellow prisoner Stark escape from Scorpius' clutches, but are then trapped on Moya, unable to evade the Peacekeepers hunting for them in the asteroid field around the Gammak base while the infant leviathan is slowing them down. After Rygel attempts to sell the others out to Crais, both the Hynerian and the Peacekeeper captain flee to Moya when Crais' command is usurped by Scorpius. John then formulates a plan to blow up the Gammak base (which is on a moon covered in oil), after which he and D'Argo, now shipless, will be rescued by Aeryn in her Prowler, and then they will return to Moya and starburst to safety while the Peacekeepers are too distracted by the explosion to track them. The plan goes awry when Crais steals Talyn, and Aeryn is unable to get to D'Argo and Crichton due to enemy presence. As the season ends, the Gammak base explodes spectacularly, but Talyn is missing, Aeryn is being menaced by enemy Prowlers, and the free-floating D'Argo has become unconscious from too much time without air.

Season 2: Episodes 23 - 44

“ My name is John Crichton, an astronaut. A radiation wave hit and I got shot through a wormhole. Now I'm lost in some distant part of the universe on a ship, a living ship, full of strange alien life forms. Help me. Listen, please. Is anybody out there who can hear me? I'm being hunted... by an insane military commander. I'm doing everything I can. I'm just looking for a way home. ”

In addition to trying to survive in the Uncharted Territories, the crew of Moya must now concern themselves with eluding Scorpius, who has taken over Crais' Peacekeeper command. They also attempt to discover the truth about the Ancients and track down the renegade Crais and Talyn, who have fled from Moya and the Peacekeepers. These goals are further complicated when the neurochip implanted into Crichton's brain to extract the wormhole knowledge he possesses begins to manifest itself as hallucinations of Scorpius (whom he later names 'Harvey' in reference to the imaginary rabbit in the film of the same name starring James Stewart).

As their journeys continue, Zhaan returns to the Delvian Seek and finds comfort in continuing her spiritual training, D'Argo and Chiana grow closer and soon fall in love, while at the same time, Crichton and Aeryn battle their own complicated attraction towards each other. While relaxing on The Royal Planet, the crew comes into contact for the first time with the ruthless Scarrans, a cruel and power-hungry race, who soon learn of Scorpius' interest in Crichton. John is enlisted to marry the crown princess on the planet, being the only male who has DNA compatible with hers. After foiling plots against John by both Scorpius and the Scarrans, the crew leaves the planet, with the princess carrying Crichton's child.

Stark, the Stykera with whom Crichton was imprisoned while in Scorpius' custody, returns to Moya, becoming close to Zhaan and bringing D'Argo news that his son Jothee is alive and is a slave. The crew is divided. Do they go in search of Talyn? Do they try to rescue Jothee? Do they turn tail and try to get as far away from Scorpius as they can?

Stark suggests a plan to rescue Jothee, as well as a substantial number of his own people, from slavery. The crew will raid a shadow depository, a bank where thieves store their goods. The plan goes awry when the crew's stolen riches turn out to be metal-eating arachnids. As a last resort, the crew must start a fire inside Moya to destroy them, leaving the ship severely crippled. Scorpius purchases the lot of slaves containing Jothee and attempts to divide the crew by offering him in exchange for Crichton. Without currency to pay various hired mercenaries to rescue Jothee, Crichton secretly exchanges himself in the desperate hope that Scorpius can remove the neurochip and the accompanying hallucinations, which have since made him mentally unstable. During the intrigue at the shadow depository, Moya encounters her son Talyn once more.

The crew of Moya rescues Crichton before Scorpius can remove the chip and likely kill Crichton in the process, and they decide to seek out someone who can perform the removal without damaging Crichton, and keep the wormhole information away from Scorpius. They find a Diagnosan to help Crichton and heal the burnt-out Moya. He is located on an ice planet where millions of living subjects, frozen at the point of death, are held in stasis to be used as organ donors. Before they get a chance to perform the surgery on Crichton, the neural clone possesses him, sends out a distress signal to Scorpius, and kills Aeryn. After Aeryn's funeral, the real Scorpius arrives on the planet, reclaims the chip and leaves Crichton alive but with the speech center of his brain destroyed, condemned to suffer incoherently as payback for all the trouble he has caused. In addition, a remnant of the neural clone remains in Crichton's head — it can no longer control Crichton as the chip did, but it does speak to Crichton and give him advice.

Season 3: Episodes 45 - 66

“ My name is John Crichton (I'm lost), an astronaut, (shot through a wormhole) in some distant part of the universe (I'm trying to stay alive) aboard this ship (this living ship) of escaped prisoners (my friends). If you can hear me, (beware). If I make it back, (will they follow)? If I open a door, (are you ready)? Earth is unprepared (helpless) for the nightmares I've seen. Or should I stay, protect my home, not show them you exist. But then you will never know … the wonders I've seen. ”

The appropriately titled season opener (Season of Death) tells fans everything they need to know about what is to come in Farscape's third season.

The Diagnosan heals Crichton with a tissue graft taken from a compatible donor, but all is not well. The neural clone of Scorpius, Harvey, remains in Crichton's brain, but without the neurochip to strengthen it Crichton is able to re-assert himself as the dominant personality. Zhaan uses her spiritual energies to bring Aeryn back from the edge of death — the former Peacekeeper having been frozen in stasis before being fully dead. This revival leaves Zhaan incredibly weak and dying. Chiana's relationship with D'Argo also turns sour as she panics at the sedentary plans on a farm D'Argo has for their future. She begins a secret affair with his son Jothee. Moya and crew leave the ice planet with two frozen 'donors' in tow, the cousins of Crichton's brain tissue donor. Crichton feels guilt for having benefited from the loss of another's life, and hopes that they are related to humans and might have valuable information, and that their lives can later be saved, as Aeryn's was.

Chiana and Jothee's actions, upon discovery, destroy the relationship between themselves and D'Argo, and Jothee leaves Moya. The crew tries desperately to find a planet with the kind of soil Zhaan needs so she can heal and replenish her energies, but they may be too late: an accident involving a wormhole leaves Moya injuriously fused with another ship. Zhaan sacrifices her own life to free Moya and her crew from the wormhole that would have torn them apart, by piloting the doomed alien vessel and rematerializing it separated from Moya. She returns to her goddess and is at peace.

During the wormhole crisis, one of the sleeping aliens awakes but immediately dies. However, the female Joolushko Tunai Fenta Hovalis, known to her friends by her full name, and nicknamed 'Jool' by Crichton, awakens from her frozen stasis and makes her presence felt on Moya. An academic ingenue, kidnapped and frozen whilst taking a multi-civilization tour holiday, Jool is disgusted by her new surroundings and the inferiority of her traveling companions, but, having nowhere else to go, joins the crew.

During an encounter with a dying Leviathan that has been taken over by a mad scientist criminal, Crichton is 'twinned' — split into two completely identical Crichtons, both equal and original to each other. Crais and Talyn reappear, being pursued by a Peacekeeper retrieval squad, which results in the crew having to split up for the safety of the defenseless Moya. Crais, Aeryn, Rygel, Stark and one of the Crichtons escape aboard Talyn, leaving D'Argo, Chiana, Jool and the remaining Crichton aboard Moya.

Missing Aeryn, Moya's Crichton becomes obsessed with the wormhole studies that could get him home. D'Argo, still devastated by Chiana and Jothee's betrayal, finds solace in repairing a strange vessel of Luxan origin that he names Lo'La after his late wife. After an encounter with a strange energy rider creature, Chiana is left with extrasensory powers that leave her increasingly disoriented and blinded every time she uses them — she can sense the future, and slow down her perception of the present.

Aboard Talyn, Aeryn and the other Crichton begin a passionate relationship. But Aeryn's heart is broken when Crichton gives his life to keep wormhole technology out of the claws of the Scarrans. The suicidal Aeryn's distress is exacerbated by a painful reunion with her mother, Xhalax Sun, who commands the Peacekeeper retrieval squad assigned to capture Talyn and Crais. Whilst Aeryn lives a reclusive life on a strange planet of mystics to mourn Crichton and, she hopes, speak with the dead, Stark believes that he hears Zhaan's spirit calling to him and leaves Talyn to find her. Talyn meanwhile becomes increasingly wild and uncontrollable, unable to reconcile the peaceful Leviathan and the aggressive gunship sides of his nature.

Eventually the crew reunites aboard Moya. The crew's relationships are stressed; Aeryn has retreated into her Peacekeeper training, shutting herself off from emotions. She refuses to look at the other Crichton and will barely speak to him. The crew finds a semblance of unity in a new goal: aiding Crichton in destroying Scorpius' wormhole research, which they fear would otherwise give the Peacekeepers access to the known universe, including Earth, as well as access to vast new destructive powers. Rygel and D'Argo meet with Scorpius on a neutral planet and negotiate a deal to allow Crichton access to Scorpius' lab on his Command Carrier, allegedly so that he can assist in the furthering of wormhole technology, but really so that he can secretly sabotage the project. Scorpius grants them safe passage aboard his Command Carrier while Crichton continues his research; however Scorpius himself runs into problems when his careful plans are halted by Commandant Grayza, who is seeking to establish a peace treaty with the Scarrans. Realizing that they can only destroy the wormhole project by destroying Scorpius' Command Carrier, Crais and the mentally unstable Talyn decide to sacrifice themselves and die warriors' deaths. Talyn performs a final suicidal starburst inside the Command Carrier to blow up the ship, destroying both the wormhole technology research and Scorpius' career.

After Moya carries Talyn's remains to the Sacred Leviathan Burial Space, the crew splinters, pulled apart by the currents of their differing goals. Aeryn decides to leave Moya and join a group of renegade Peacekeeper assassins. She is too distressed by the complicated prospect of living alongside this surviving Crichton while having experienced a fully realized relationship with the other, deceased Crichton. Crichton tries to prevent her departure, and the two argue fiercely. Eventually, they decide to flip a coin to make the decision for them, as Crichton has said that it is fate that the two of them be together, and Aeryn wants to put that fate to the test. Crichton loses the coin toss, and Aeryn departs while Crichton watches in his Farscape module, hoping she will come back. While there, he thinks over what he has recently learned via a mysterious old woman, Noranti, a former prisoner rescued from the Command Carrier who has stayed on Moya to repay her "debt" to Crichton for saving her. Crichton realizes that his dreams of a quiet existence back on Earth with Aeryn as his wife are untenable. Then, with the intervention of Harvey, he realizes Noranti has left a latent message in his brain: Aeryn is pregnant. He has lost his home, he has lost his friends, and now he has lost Aeryn. Almost out of fuel, he turns to rejoin Moya in order that they may pursue Aeryn, refusing to let her go now that he knows about the baby. Suddenly, a wormhole opens up and swallows Moya whole, leaving Crichton stranded and alone in open space, out of fuel.

Season 4: Episodes 67 - 88

“ My name is John Crichton, an astronaut. Three years ago I got shot through a wormhole. I’m in a distant part of the universe aboard this living ship of escaped prisoners … my friends. I’ve made enemies … powerful, dangerous. Now all I want is to find a way home to warn Earth. Look upward and share the wonders I’ve seen. ”

Rescued from his module by a dying Leviathan, Elack, he has encountered in the Sacred Leviathan Burial Space, Crichton works on unlocking the wormhole knowledge and its mysteries in his head. He is interrupted by Sikozu, a highly intelligent but officious Kalish female who has travelled to the area to fulfill her contract with Grundeks, who butcher Leviathans for their valuable nerve tissue (toubray). The Grundeks, however, have decided to kill Sikozu to prevent her from sharing her valuable knowledge of the location of the burial grounds with their competitors. Chiana and Rygel also return to the region as the crew of Moya are being hunted by the Peacekeepers for the destruction of Scorpius' Command Carrier. After defeating the Grudeks, the four decide to search for Moya and their missing companions. They arrive at an archaeological dig on the planet Arnessk being run by Jool's people, the Interions. They are greeted there by D'Argo, Jool and Noranti. Jool and D'Argo seem to have begun a romantic relationship while there. Crichton wants to learn more about the mysterious wormhole that swallowed Moya and left him stranded, but none of the crew aboard Moya at the time seem able to explain or remember what happened after they were pulled through. The dig on Arnessk concerns a vanished group of priests, the Eidolons, with mysterious and great powers, and Crichton inadvertently learns something very important about them.

While on Arnessk, Peacekeepers arrive commanded by Commandant Grayza and seconded by the newly-promoted "Captain" Braca. Grayza periodically controls Braca's mind via heppel oil, which she produces from an implanted gland. Scorpius is now a prisoner of Grayza's, and after humiliating him, she uses the heppel oil to interrogate and rape Crichton. Noranti, with regret, tries to kill Crichton in order to safeguard the important information he knows about the Eidolons, willing to sacrifice Crichton for the greater good. She fails to kill him, though, and Crichton uses the information he has to bring the Eidolons back from 12,000 years of stasis. Elack helps the Moyans to escape by suicidally destroying the Peacekeeper ships. The Eidolons are potentially a great force for good, and Jool decides to stay behind on Arnessk: the priests that have awakened on the planet after thousands of cycles of sleep need her talents more than her friends do. After several more adventures, the group finds and reunites with Moya, and find Aeryn there. She has been rescued by a now renegade Scorpius from an attack of Sebacean heat delirium, and Aeryn has agreed to grant Scorpius asylum in exchange for his aid.

Both the Peacekeepers and the Scarrans desire Crichton’s knowledge, and are growing impatient. The crew quickly realizes that neither side should ever possess the knowledge in Crichton's brain: if it fell into the wrong hands it would mean death and destruction. Scorpius in turn remains on Moya, albeit under lock and key, with the stated intention of safeguarding Crichton's knowledge, and he forms an alliance with Sikozu. Crichton and Aeryn's relationship becomes more strained than ever before, due to Crichton's emotional distress about the rape, his preoccupation with wormholes, his anger that Aeryn did not trust him to tell him about the pregnancy, and to tell him that he (or the other Crichton) might not be the father. A stressed Crichton begins to inhale a substance called "distillate of laka," given him by Noranti, to keep Aeryn out of his thoughts — it is the same emotionally numbing substance that he used to escape from Grayza on Arnessk. It later emerges that he has also been taking it to prevent Scorpius discovering the depth of his feelings for Aeryn and using her, and the baby, as leverage to acquire the wormhole technology.

While observing a wormhole, Crichton is inadvertently pulled through and greeted by a member of the Ancient race, whom Crichton dubs Einstein. Einstein reveals that it was the Ancients who pulled Moya through the wormhole, to study her inhabitants and locate Crichton, in order to test Crichton's wormhole knowledge and satisfy themselves that Crichton's intentions are benevolent. After his encounter with Einstein, Crichton travels back through the wormhole, but emerges in Earth's orbit, at Halloween 1985. His presence in the past has altered history and he must fix it before leaving again. He is joined on the planet by Rygel, Aeryn, D'Argo, and Chiana, who help him to prevent his father from commanding the last launch of the Challenger Space Shuttle in 1986. Chiana, in disguise, also seduces Crichton's 16-year-old self, and adult Crichton is able to talk with his mother, who has been dead in Crichton's time for almost eight years. When leaving, the unstable wormhole then transports him to his own present, circa Christmas 2002. He has been followed by the others and his new friends are introduced to an unsuspecting planet. On Earth the 'aliens' are met with suspicion and fear. In addition, thanks to the machinations of Grayza, a Skreeth spying for the Peacekeepers has followed them. The Skreeth kills Crichton's friend D.K. and D.K.'s wife Laura, and after a failed assassination attempt on Crichton, he and the crew are forced to leave Earth. Crichton makes the difficult decision to go so as not to endanger his home planet if his pursuers manage to follow him to Earth again.

Once back on the other side of the galaxy, Aeryn is kidnapped by the Scarrans, who hope to use her to get the wormhole knowledge from Crichton. Once the Scarrans learn that Aeryn is pregnant with Crichton's child, they proceed to take her to a secret Scarran base, Katratzi, thinking they might extract the wormhole knowledge from the child's DNA. After a daring rescue of Aeryn and later Scorpius, the crew of Moya decide to end the conflict once and for all by gatecrashing the Peacekeeper-Scarran peace talks. They arrive under the pretext of selling the wormhole technology to the highest bidder, but are really there to sabotage the wormhole efforts of both sides. Only with that goal accomplished can Crichton and the crew of Moya live out their lives peacefully. Crichton ends up blowing up the secret Scarran base with a nuclear weapon, in the process destroying a vital plant that the Scarrans need to boost their intelligence.

After leaving the base, Crichton realizes that he inadvertently revealed to the Scarrans that those same plants grow on Earth. Knowing that the Scarrans will send troops to conquer the planet, he realizes the wormhole must be destroyed. Doing that, however, not only means that he cannot return home, but also prevents humans from exploring the galaxy. Having no choice, however, Crichton goes through the Earth wormhole one last time in order to destroy it. He sends a goodbye message to his father from the Moon. He and Pilot then cause the wormhole to collapse on itself, destroying the Scarran ship commanded by Scarran War Minister Akhna's lover, as it is heading through the wormhole.

Once the Scarran threat appears gone, Scorpius and Sikozu are sent to return to the Peacekeepers and used to prevent Peacekeepers from following Moya. Stark, having been discovered as a prisoner on the Scarran secret base, rejoins Moya and the crew retire for a much deserved rest, taking refuge on a water planet, Qujaga. Alone on a boat, Aeryn tells Crichton that the embryo has been released from its stasis (she had it released at the medical bay while she was on the command carrier during the negotiations) and that he is the father. She accepts his marriage proposal, but their happiness is cut short when they are crystallised by an unknown split-faced being.

[edit] Cast

Main cast

Chiana, D'Argo, Rygel, Crichton and Aeryn (left-right)
Chiana, D'Argo, Rygel, Crichton and Aeryn (left-right)

Supporting cast

Recurring guest stars

[edit] Media

[edit] Miniseries

Main article: Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars

Production of a four-hour miniseries began in December 2003, written by creator Rockne S. O'Bannon and Executive Producer David Kemper and directed by Brian Henson.

In May 2004, the Sci-Fi Channel, now owned by NBC Universal, announced that it would run a two-episode conclusion titled Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars that was intended to wrap up the Season Four cliffhanger and additionally tie up some general elements of the series. The miniseries first aired on Sunday October 17, 2004.

Interestingly, Henson refers to the four hours as episodes 4.23-4.26, though the New South Wales Film Office refers to the production as a '2 x 2 hour telemovie.' Production of the miniseries ended in March 2004 and, in addition to the announced airing on the Sci-Fi Channel in the U.S., was also scheduled to be broadcast in the UK on Sky One on January 16 and 23, 2005, and by Five on March 8. The miniseries was not shown on BBC Two, as the BBC decided the acquisition cost would be too high. The Peacekeeper Wars earned a 1.7 household Nielsen rating, drawing 1.96 million viewers and making the Sci Fi channel the #1 non-sports cable network for people aged 25-54 and 18-49 for the time period over the two nights.[1]

Early fan speculation hoped that high Nielsen Ratings for The Peacekeeper Wars miniseries would prove the viability of renewing the series, however the continuation as a new weekly series seemed unlikely, though miniseries are possible, as are feature films. Brian Henson has stated on many occasions that he would like to bring the Farscape saga to the big screen. Fan efforts are now pointed in that direction. In October 2005, Farscape entered syndication in the U.S., airing on Superstation WGN and on a variety of local, cable, satellite and broadcast affiliates.

The miniseries has been released on DVD in the U.S. by Lions Gate Films and in the UK by Contender, as well as in Australia, and is available in many retail outlets and online. The U.S. version features both parts on one disc which are edited together to make it a three-hour movie while the UK version is a two-disc set with one episode per disc. Both versions contain a making-of documentary, and only the UK version has deleted scenes. The Australian version has one disc with no extra features at all.

[edit] Webisodes

On July 15, 2007 it was announced that Farscape would return in ten webisode installments. The episodes are expected to be a few minutes long each and may eventually be broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel. The webisodes were to have been launched as early as fall 2007.[5][6][6]

In an interview with TV Guide, Brian Henson stated that the webisodes will be 3-6 minutes long and may feature D'Argo Sun-Crichton. TV Guide also reported that Ben Browder is in talks to appear in the webisodes.[6] Sci-Fi Wire reported that Brian Henson and Rockne O'Bannon will pen the episodes.[7]

Several news sources have reported that the web series may lead to an on-air revival of the series,[8] but Sci Fi general manager Dave Howe says that there are currently no plans to revive the show.[9] Brian Henson has stated that he hopes the webisodes will lead to a TV sequel.[6]

At the Burbank 2007 Farscape Convention in November 2007, Rockne S. O'Bannon stated that the webisodes would likely be released in 2008.

Farscape star Ben Browder told SCI FI Wire that he looks forward to reprising the role of astronaut John Crichton in the much-talked-about proposed Web revival of his critically acclaimed SF series, which originally aired on SCI FI Channel.

Executive producer Brian Henson and creator Rockne O'Bannon are currently in talks about how to revive Farscape on the Web for the series of 10 webisodes.

"At the moment, that's Rockne and Brian's job, and I'm aware that they're figuring out what they're going to do with it, but I don't know how far along in the process they are," Browder said.

The recently settled writers' strike put a damper on the plans, and Browder said that it's too early to figure out to what extent he would be involved. Browder said that he had a brief discussion with Henson about the Web series at last year's Comic-Con International in San Diego.

"They haven't come to me with any specifics yet, and I don't read anything into that," Browder said. "But at Comic-Con, Brian discussed it and said, 'Yeah, we're still figuring it out.' The writers' strike happened immediately after that, ... and a lot of things went on hold, and it will take a little while before a number of things get going again."

Browder was heavily involved in the creation and writing of Farscape early on. "I had the freedom on Farscape, [and] I was in the writing room on a regular basis, virtually all the time when I wasn't on set," Browder said. "And so I had ... as much [input] as I could."

[edit] Books

Scott Andrews' Uncharted Territory: An Unauthorised and Unofficial Guide To Farscape (Virgin Publishing 2002, ISBN 0-7535-0704-8) covered Farscape's first three seasons exhaustively. Paul Simpson wrote The Illustrated Farscape Companion series for Titan Books, one book per season (Book 1 with David Hughes; Books 2 and 3 with photographer Ruth Thomas) with exclusive official content.

Boxtree in the UK and Tor Books in the U.S. published three Farscape novels: House of Cards by Keith R.A. DeCandido, Dark Side of the Sun by Andrew Dymond, and Ghost Ship by David Bischoff. DeCandido was in talks to do a fourth novel, to be published by Tor, but negotiations between Henson and Tor broke down, and then the show was cancelled.

Jes Battis, author of Blood Relations: Chosen Families in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel[2], is publishing the first book of critical essays on Farscape: Investigating Farscape (2007) through UK publisher Taurus Press. The book examines Farscape from a post-colonial, Marxist, gender studies, and queer theory perspective.

"The Creatures of Farscape: inside Jim Hensons Creature Shop" released in 2004 offered a colorful look inside the famous creature shop that created the stunning array of creatures and make up effects. Previously unseen and behind the sceen images; it includes exclusive contributions from the show's stars and make-up artists, and a foreword by executive producer Brian Henson.

There is an "Illustrated Companion" for each season 1-4, a total of four, by Paul Simpson

AEG released The Farscape Role Playing Game which included creatures not appearing in the established television universe

"Farscape Forever!: Sex, Drugs and Killer Muppets" released September 28, 2005; in which Science fiction and fantasy authors analyze every aspect of the innovative, action-packed, and always surprising science fiction tv series in this innovative - irreverent essay collection. Contributors include Martha Wells on characters Crichton and D'Argo's buddy relationship, P. N. Elrod on the villains she loves to hate, and Justina Robson on sex, pleasure, and feminism. Topics range from a look at how Moya was designed and an examination of vulgarity and bodily functions to a tourist's budget guide to the Farscape universe. Included is an "expert's" advice to the Peacekeepers who, despite their viciousness, yet never quite seem to pull it off.

[edit] Magazines

Shortly after season 3 began airing, Titan Magazines released a Farscape magazine. Available bi-monthly, the magazine ran from its April/May 2001 issue through to its 12th issue, April/May 2003. The magazine had a lot of in-depth material, including interviews with the cast and crew, behind the scenes information on many episodes, original fiction (by O'Bannon, DeCandido, Greg Cox, John Kenneth Muir, and others), and a regular column by David Kemper. There were two versions of the magazine produced each issue, with the only difference being the front cover, and the magazine also had two special issues - a season 3 special (issue 7), and the final issue (issue 12) containing an episode guide for the four seasons to date, as well as sketches for ideas and the Horizons fiction.

[edit] "Horizons" fiction

In the final issue of its run, the Farscape magazine published a piece of fiction written by series creator Rockne S. O'Bannon. Set a long time after the end of the fourth season, this details some of the adventures the Moya crew has had since and what has happened to them all. Since "Horizons" was written before the Peacekeeper Wars miniseries, there are some plot inconsistencies between the two.

[edit] Comics

During 2002, Wildstorm Productions produced a two-part Farscape comic entitled "War Torn", with the first part available in April and the second in May. The comics featured two stories, each spanning both issues. "War Torn", the main story, featured the Moya crew becoming ensnared in a war between two planets over a third, and took up roughly three quarters of the comic. "The Forth Horseman - featuring Chiana" was a Chiana-only story as she came across old friends and foes on the run from the Nebari. Both stories seem to have been set during Season 2. The second issue also included a double-page spread of some of the preliminary sketches.

At the New York Comic-Con 2008 it was announced that Farscape would return to the comic form through a partnership between The Jim Henson Company and BOOM! Studios. BOOM! is set to publish a series of four-issue mini-series that will expand and explore the Farscape universe, which will later be collected into trade paperbacks. The creative team for this upcoming project has yet to be announced. The series is expected to be released in late 2008.

[edit] Merchandising

- - Though trading cards for Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, respectively 'Farscape In Motion' (lenticular cards) and "Through the Wormhole' series cards are no longer produced by Rittenhouse they are still considered still highly collectible, successful titles that included cast and guest artist autographs,including dual star autographs, original artist sketches, costume piece cards, and lenticular: "moving" image cards. A line of action figures, photographs, tshirts and more were quite popular at annual conventions and by mail order.

Original Farscape props, costumes and original Farscape prototype merchandise were auctioned by MiamiSciFi.com. The response was so popular a new "Life Size" Rygel plush figure was licensed in 2008 complementing the previous smaller Rygel and DRD (Diagnostic Repair Drone) plush figures, in addition to the smaller plastic 'action figures' previously released, thus supporting the longevity and popularity of the series despite its cancellation. Providing the success of these items, more are scheduled for future release.

2007 marked the Farscape Farewell convention which was so popular, it became the "'first' Annual Farewell Convention with another scheduled for November 2008.

[edit] Games

See also: Farscape: The Game and Farscape (role-playing game)

A PC game based on the television series was produced by Red Lemon Studios, released mid-2002. The plot of the game is set during the first season. A Farscape role-playing game was released by Alderac Entertainment Group. It uses the d20 System and is set after Season 2.

[edit] Podcasts

In 2006, a group of Farscape fans began producing the roughly hour-long podcast The ScapeCast, which is produced every two weeks.

[edit] Stargate SG-1: Episode 200

See also: Stargate SG-1 episode 200

The 200th episode of Stargate SG-1 featured a parody scene of Farscape. By that episode, both Ben Browder and Claudia Black had joined the cast of Stargate SG-1. In the scene, Browder portrayed Stark and Black returned as Aeryn Sun.

The parody was one of several movie pitches made by Claudia Black's character, Vala, after Martin Lloyd returns asking for help with his new Wormhole Xtreme movie script. When her first pitches for new movies, including Stargate themed versions of Gilligan's Island and the Wizard of Oz, are rejected for being too easily recognizable, she proposes one based on Farscape. After the parody ends, Martin tells her that he has not heard of it before, but dismisses it anyway.

[edit] Awards

In 2000, 2001 and 2002, Farscape won two Saturn Awards for Best Syndicated/Cable TV Series and Best TV Actor (Browder). Additionally, in 2002, it received nominations for Best TV Actress (Claudia Black as former soldier Aeryn Sun) and Best Supporting TV Actor (Anthony Simcoe as the Luxan warrior Ka D'Argo) and Best Supporting TV Actress (Gigi Edgley as the pixieish rogue Chiana). The other main actors are Virginia Hey (playing Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan) and Wayne Pygram (playing Scorpius). All these actors are from Australia and New Zealand, with the exception of Ben Browder, who is from the USA.

On July 14, 2005, Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars received an Emmy Nomination for "Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special."

[edit] Availability

 This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can (March 2008).

[edit] Region 1 (North America) by ADV Films

[edit] Original Farscape DVDs

AD Vision issued Farscape in volumes that they later combined in box sets. These are known as ADV's Original Farscape DVDs. Currently seasons 1 to 4 are available in this format.

[edit] Starburst

This release is split up into 12 volumes, three discs per season. The covers all share a distinctive yellow 'Starburst Edition' bar on the bottom of the front cover.

[edit] Peacekeeper Wars by Lionsgate

[edit] Region 2 (European Union) by Contender Entertainment Group

All seasons of Farscape plus Peackeeper Wars are available in individual volumes and box sets. A 'Complete Series' box set is available which contains Seasons 1-4, including the Peacekeeper Wars.

[edit] Region 4 (Australia and New Zealand) by Universal

  • All four seasons of Farscape.
  • Farscape: Peacekeeper War by Magna Pacific

[edit] Apple iTunes

In January 2008, seasons 1 and 2 were made available for download through Apple's iTunes Store. Season 3 was added in March 2008, with Season 4 following in May. The episodes can be purchased individually or as entire seasons.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Farscape cult Web site, 08 January 2003 from article "Farscape cancellation facts".
  2. ^ Sun, December 08, 2002 from article "Sci-Fi Network vs. the "Scapers"" By JULIO OJEDA-ZAPATA, Pioneer Press Newspaper
  3. ^ Web support for 'Farscape' out of this world. CNN. Retrieved on 4 February, 2007.
  4. ^ Fans Rally as "Farscape" Flames Out. E!News. Retrieved on 4 February, 2007.
  5. ^ SciFi Channel Press Release.
  6. ^ a b c d SciFi Channel Press Release.
  7. ^ www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=42833.
  8. ^ www.post-gazette.com/pg/07198/802139-237.stm.
  9. ^ www.azcentral.com/ent/tv/articles/0716farscape0716.html.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
v • d • e
Farscape