After eleven years on the Stargate franchise as a regular cast member, actress Amanda Tapping is leaving her role on Stargate Atlantis to focus on the new series Sanctuary, which was just picked up by the SCI FI channel for 13 episodes (related article here).
GateWorld spoke with executive producer Joseph Mallozzi and show-runner (shared title with Paul Mullie) about the news:
“We love the Samantha Carter character and have always enjoyed writing for her,” Mallozzi said. “She was a great addition to Atlantis’s fourth season and, while she will be missed, it’s not as if we’re closing the door on her. Carter will remain a major player in the Stargate universe as well as a guest star on Atlantis’s fifth season.”
In fact, Tapping will appear in the season five premiere, “Search and Rescue.”
To fill in for the departure of Tapping’s character, Mallozzi said that they’ll be a new commanding officer character on the show:
“Carter will be one of a number of familiar faces that will be popping up in the Pegasus Galaxy in Season Five — including a new commander. Remember way back, when I said we had considered a handful of possible candidates for the command position at the beginning of Season Four? Well, this person made that short list then, and we’re very excited about his/her/its(?) addition to our cast of regulars.”
Though a press release was originally expected today (Monday), Mallozzi has posted on his blog that a release won’t be expected until Tuesday.
Source: GateWorld
