Stargate SG-1 - Season 8 [DVD]

For a science-fiction show in its eight season, Stargate SG-1 clearly still has a lot of gas left in the tank. It’s especially surprising, considering that this is a season that effectively was never meant to be, as spin-off series Stargate: Atlantis was due to take the reigns. Yet someone in power relented, and the further adventures of Jack O’Neill and his team are the result.

Accepting that there are one or two bumps across the season, the standard though remains steadfastly high for the bulk of the episodes here. You’ll find no spoilers here, short of to say that some of Stargate SG-1’s long-running narratives are developed satisfyingly well.

What’s also pleasing is that there’s a nice cocktail going on here. A gentle, welcome sprinkling of laugh-out loud moments compete with a good mystery or two, and some terrific action. Granted, sometimes you feel you’ve seen bits before, and it’s a shame that the series ends on arguably some of its weaker episodes. But this is countered nonetheless by some terrific individual programmes, with plenty you’ll find yourself rewinding back to once you’ve reach the end.

What’s most pleasing though is that for a mature show of any genre, it’s tricky to keep producing good quality TV. In the sci-fi genre in particular, there’s a veritable graveyard of shows that never made it this far. Thus, to see Stargate SG-1 is such confident form is much to its credit. --Jon Foster