We wanted our baby back, and we got her. God's gift to sci-fi, Claudia Black enters the Stargate.
By all rights a TV show that has been around for nearly a decade should have run its course. Yet "Stargate SG-1", the hugely popular series about a team of explorers who hop across the galaxy using an ancient artefact unearthed in Egypt, displays no signs of winding up operations. Its ninth year, the first volume of which is released on DVD this month, offers something of a creative re-set: gone is leading man Richard Dean Anderson, while newcomers Ben Browder and Claudia Black offer some fresh blood.
Browder and Black: remember them? They were the star-crossed lovers John Crichton and Aeryn Sun in the much-missed epic sci-fi series "Farscape", but now they've moved over to a rival franchise, playing very different characters. And it's Black who has all the fun as Vala Mal Doran, a thief and sexy seductress whose past often comes back to haunt the SG-1 team.
"The crew has been so energized and enthusiastic," Black tells us. "I can no longer count the number of crew who caught some dallies and would say to me, ‘Wow, the chemistry between everyone is fantastic'. For me it's been terrific for me finding another sparring partner in Michael Shanks."
Vala initially made a one-off appearance in Season Eight's Prometheus Unbound, a jolly romp in which the petty crook abducted Shanks Dr. Daniel Jackson and took something of a shine to him as well. Having spent four years on "Farcape", how did Black adapt to her new Outer Space surroundings?
"I was obviously aware of the show and the concept," she says, "and I watched as many episodes as I could before filming started. But Prometheus Unbound happened with just two days' notice so there were only a certain number of episodes I could watch before I got to the set."
That one-off appearance later developed into a six-episode recurring role at the start of the ninth season, essentially to cover maternity leave for cast member Amanda Tapping. In the season's first episode, Vala arrives at SG-1 and offers to lead the team to a treasure hunt, one that will unwittingly unearth a deadly new nemesis. Thrown together by necessity, Vala becomes a temporary member of the team.
"Vala doesn't fit in, and that's what's so wonderful about her," beams Claudia. "She's the diametric opposition to anything military and protocol. She's charming and she does stand out like a sore thumb, and we've made the most of that. Michael would constantly look around to find where I was and find me chewing scenery. I really was trying to make the most of it. I was conscious of it in even simple things: the boardroom scenes, having a briefing, why would Vala sit on a chair and keep her mouth shut?"
She's certainly a character who knows how to get attention, making her entrance in black fetish gear that the show's costume designer has described as ‘a dominatrix outfit'. It's not far removed from Claudia's fashions in "Farscape", for which she wore skin-tight leather.
"The first outfit when she arrives is pretty wild - not how I envisaged Vala to be," admits Claudia. "But we all mutually decided that Vala is a space Barbie doll and she was never in one outfit for more than two or three minutes. And as she is chameleon-like it was about shifting and adapting."
And, as Claudia explains, those qualities go to the core of the character.
"It's an important part of her fabric that she speaks in part truths. Whatever web she's spinning, for whatever end, there's always a bit of truth in anything she says. There's truth at the core in Vala but she just manipulates people and circumstances when the need be."
"It's a difficult line to tread. They wrote her so beautifully and I felt very spoiled, but one runs the risk of being a one note if you don't become an integral part of moving the story forward. I was very fortunate to be very much part of those stories while I was there."
Having spent four years flirting with and finally settling with Browder's character on "Farscape", it's Dr. Daniel Jackson who becomes the object of her affection on "Stargate SG-1." The result is some of the freshest and funniest scenes in the show for some time, and Claudia reveals she is delighted with her new sparring partner.
"Michael Shanks has got such a great sense of humour and such a fantastic work ethic. He really is such a professional actor. I'm twice lucky."
Talk to some directors, and they insist that sexual chemistry on screen is down to just hard work between two actors. Others claim it is sheer serendipity; the collision of two talents that happen to complement each other. Claudia chooses the later option.
"Sadly, in this day and age, you're lucky to come across someone who takes his or her work seriously," she sighs. "I mean there are a lot of people in the business who aren't happy with the job that they're doing, who aren't serious storytellers. And Ben and Michael and myself, we prioritise the story. I think that people have been encouraged, particularly in America, to promote themselves as a package and they focus on that when they are on set, and they don't focus on the story.
"I will instantly have chemistry with someone who catches a ball that I throw them. On "Farscape", I don't think Ben was expecting me to be technically adept because often it's something actresses don't care about, but when he could see that I could keep up with him he knew that he could trust me. We would constantly be challenging each other."
"I think chemistry is about being present, it's about trust."
After Browder and Black's move to "Stargate SG-1", one might assume that the brilliant universe of "Farscape" has closed forever - but the actress is keen to point out that this is not the case.
"Oh goodness no," she exclaims. "I think it would be tough to convince people to get the television show up and running again, but Brian Henson's agenda is feature films. He's very keen to keep the franchise alive and they're looking closely at the Serenity (Firefly) model."
Timing, however, could be a problem. Claudia's recurring appearances in "Stargate SG-1" proved so popular that the actress has now been signed up as a series regular for season ten. It seems she will not be coming down to Earth any time soon.