Ronald D. Moore is keeping "Virtuality," his new series planned for Fox, under such wraps, you would almost think the recipe to Coca-Cola and the identity of the last Cylon were tucked away in script pages.
SciFi Wire recently had a chance to visit the set of Moore's backdoor pilot at Bridge Studios in Vancouver, B.C., the home of the Stargate series as well as "Dead Like Me." While overall story details were kept under wraps, the site -- which is associated with the SciFi Channel, which airs Moore's other popular series, "Battlestar Galactica" -- had a chance to learn more about some of the characters.
The show, of course, is centered around what is described as the first interstellar space ship from Earth. Its 12-member crew is on a voyage twice as long as Capt. Kirk's first venture with the Enterprise, and everyone has a chance to experience a holodeck-like virtual reality program to keep them entertained.
Reporter John Sullivan did have some interesting tidbits about the crew itself, however, including Frank Pike, played by former "New Amsterdam" star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
Pike is the mission commander who can't seem to let go of his military days. So much, his favorite "virt module" is a Civil War battle complete with its own historical puzzle.
James D'Arcy plays a psychiatrist named Roger Fallon, the producer of the virtual reality program as well as a "gifted therapist." His character's wife is named Rika Godard, and is played by Sienna Guillory, a botanist who also seems to be interested in more than just her flowers and her husband.
Although Moore has been asked by fans in the past to include more gay characters in shows like "Battlestar Galactica" (with those fans having to settle on a lesbian outing by Adm. Cain and some of the Cylons), he will have a gay couple on board the ship. The two involved in the relationship are Manny Rodriguez, played by Jose Pablo Cantillo, and Valentin Orlovsky, played by Gene Farber. Rodriguez is a mathematician while Orlovsky is a geologist.
Nelson Lee plays Kenji Yamamoto, an exo-biologist, married to Alice Thibadeau, played by Joy Bryant. They are joined by Jimmy Johnson -- not the former Dallas Cowboys coach or NASCAR driver -- played by Ritchie Coster who is a wheelchair-bound inventor of matter/anti-matter weapons technology, which somehow is what propels the ship to other stars.
The show also features actors Erik Jensen, Omar Metwally, Kerry Bishe and Clea DuVall, who worked on another Moore project, "Carnivale."
Fox hasn't announced when it would air the two-hour movie, but it's expected to happen sometime in 2009, and could lead into a series the next fall.
For more details on SciFi Wire's set visit, click here.
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About the Author:
Michael Hinman is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha and the entire BlipNetwork. He owns Quantum Global Media Inc., the parent corporation of the BlipNetwork. He's a print journalist by day, and lives in Tampa, Fla.
