By God it wore you down!

[Niemmy]

by JOE NAZZARO

Wayne Pygram had already gone on record as believing FARSCAPE was over when the original series was cancelled at Season Four’s end, so no one could have been more surprised when the call went out for a mini-series to tie things up. “I was very shocked,” says Pygram, “because it seemed extremely clear that the SCI FI Channel had washed their hands of the show, and there was little interest [elsewhere] aside from the FARSCAPE people and fans. There didn’t seem to be any driving force coming from the Hensons or anywhere for it to be concluded. I don’t expect there to be any more [after PEACEKEEPER WARS], but I feel satisfied that there’s closure.

“When I finished Season Four, I was quite upset. It took me a month just to get back to my life, but from the final day of finishing the mini-series, I’ve felt content about the whole thing, which celebrated the end in the best way possible. But in saying that, it seems obvious to me that there has to be a kick-off series. And it has to be about Scorpius running this world and Crichton’s child, and there may even be a notion of a second baby out there. It’s so obvious to me!”

That Face

Because PEACEKEEPER WARS went into production so quickly, there wasn’t much time for the actors to prepare, either physically or in terms of getting their characters up to speed. “Those feelings were magnified because we had such an extended time away,” says Pygram. “It was stressful when we left Season Four. People were tired, and the show was running out of steam in many ways, because of the lateness of the scripts and what that does to people. It begins to wear you down, and everyone was exhausted. And that’s how we started PEACEKEEPER WARS: We went back to what it was like [on the TV series]. It was like we had been away for a day, but not in a good way. We had a script that wasn’t ready to be shot. There was still a lot of negotiation going on, and loads of rewrites, so all of the last-minute drama that has always been associated with FARSCAPE, that’s how we began this mini-series. I imagine everyone was returning thinking just the opposite: that we were going back to this thing and everyone was up to speed, the sets were built and the script was in shape, but in fact, none of it was. It was exciting, but by God, it wore you down.”