This is a great episode for seeing the friends disagree over personal principles, and features some stunning FX. "Beneath the Surface" refers to several things at once. The team are literally in an underground environment; enforced slave labour is taking place without the general government's knowledge; memories have been suppressed. But most tellingly for this season's story arc, Jack and Sam are free to express their secret love for one another. -Paul Tonks.

Carter meanwhile is whisked away by Thor to come up with her best "stupid idea" to save the Asgard homeworld. Then the show respectfully broaches the subject of racial tolerance found on a planet at war on "The Other Side". The material is handled superbly by guest star Rene Auberjonois (formerly Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Odo). A little comic relief is provided in "Upgrades". When Tok'ra scientist Anise/Freya (Vanessa Angel) shows off some fabled technology the team are initially cautious. But the armbands give the wearer increased strength and speed, and in no time at all Jack, Sam and Daniel are abusing them. The fun of seeing them at a local restaurant ordering multiple rare steaks gives way to practical use when it's revealed that arch-enemy Apophis is constructing a new battleship. If the Tok'ra's duplicity is off-putting to the SGC this time, it's nothing compared to seeing Anise/Freya again in "Crossroads". O'Neill notices the "sparkage" between Teal 'c and visiting Jaffa-babe Sho'nac. When she states she has a way for the Tok'ra to obtain information about the Goa'uld from her placid symbiote, it's just bound to go bad. -Paul Tonks.

This episode becomes a claustrophobic showcase for the actors to display distrust for one another. "Window of Opportunity" is the now mandatory Groundhog Day scenario episode that all franchise series must attempt. Typically the SG-1 writers make more of the material than in other shows, with O'Neill and Teal'c growing to enjoy having 10 hours to live repeatedly. Ultimately, though, there's a lesson to be learned about the fruitlessness of trying to recapture the past. -Paul Tonks.

After seven successful seasons, "All Good Things" finally came to an end. Until Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, that is. -Paul Tonks.

Carter meanwhile is whisked away by Thor to come up with her best "stupid idea" to save the Asgard homeworld. Then the show respectfully broaches the subject o f racial tolerance found on a planet at war on "The Other Side". The material is handled superbly by guest star Rene Auberjonois (formerly Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Odo). -Paul Tonks.

"The First Ones" is a warm variant on the Lion and the Mouse fable when Daniel establishes a relationship with a primitive alien creature. The planet is the original homeworld of the Goa'uld parasites, meaning that the SG Team's rescue mission turns into a dangerous period of paranoid suspicion. Who has been compromised and what does Chaka really want with Daniel? -Paul Tonks.

It's a chance for the team to interact with the real world for a change and leads to several hotel room luxuries, like sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still for Jack and a vibrating bed for Teal'c. "Tangent" puts Jack and Teal'c in the worst kind of danger. Two years on from the capture of Goa'uld gliders (The Serpent's Lair), Earth scientists have developed their own. But it all goes horribly wrong through a trap laid by old nemesis Apophis, and strands the two men in space without enough oxygen to reach safe harbour. -Paul Tonks.

"Fire and Water" takes Daniel Jackson on a journey into Earth's fabled past. On planet Oannes it's thought he's been burned alive, but in fact the amphibious Nem kidnapped him to find out what happened to his wife 4000 years ago in Babylon! Mythology is explored in a very different way by "Hathor"-the Egyptian Goddess no man can resist. A lot of the fun is watching the girls (including Dr. Frasier doing more than just find a vaccine for once) despair at the guys' schoolboyish behaviour. -Paul Tonks.

Perhaps Sisko summed up the real heart of things: "Bajor doesn't need a man, it needs a legend". A future vision that retains a place for religion and spirituality turned out to be Deep Space Nine's first best destiny. -Paul Tonks.

Oscar-winning special effects and violent action propel the twisting plot, in which Arnold manipulates his manipulators in a world of dazzling high technology. Verhoeven (Robocop, Starship Troopers) indulges his usual penchant for gratuitous bloodshed, but the film has enough cleverness to rise above its excesses. -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

It's one year after the events of the original motion picture. We find that Colonel O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson replacing Kurt Russell) has retired from the military, thinking he can forget about the Stargate and those who were left behind. Events conspire to re-commission him alongside old faces and new when it's discovered there's more than one Gate in the galaxy. A lot more! Although it assumes familiarity with the preceding movie, "Children of the Gods" is still an excellent pilot show. Characters are introduced sensibly, the expanded premise is engaging, and there's clearly a healthy sense of never taking itself too seriously. -Paul Tonks The 1994 movie Stargate was originally intended as the start of a franchise, but creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were distracted celebrating their Independence Day. Episodic TV treatment was the natural next step. Replacing the Kurt Russell and James Spader roles of Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr Daniel Jackson respectively are Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks. They are joined by Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and guilt-stricken former alien baddie Teal'c (Christopher Judge) to form the teacher's pet primary unit SG-1 With a seemingly endless network of Stargates found to exist on planets all across the known universe, their mission is to make first contact with as many friendly races as possible. Chasing their heels at almost every turn are the "overlord" pharaoh-like Goa'uld-the ancient Egyptian Gods who are none too chummy after the events of the original film. The welcome notion of a continued plot thread sees offshoots that follow the reincarnation of Daniel's wife; Sam's father literally joining a renegade faction of the Goa'uld; and Jack in an unending quest to out-sarcasm everyone. There's something of The Time Tunnel to the show's premise, but amid a dearth of derivative look-a-likes, Stargate has held its own with stories that put the science fiction back into TV sci-fi. The episodes are not always properly sequenced on the tapes, making the order of events potentially confusing, something that ought to be taken into account when viewing. One of the most affecting stand-alone episodes, "Singularity" presents a little girl-Cassandra-as a cruelly devised Trojan Horse. The Goa'uld have made her a walking time bomb, and the team's heartstrings are pulled unbearably. Amanda Tapping gives a remarkable performance as her motherly instincts take over. The emotions of "Cor-Ai" are a little less full of impact however, when Teal'c is put on trial for crimes of the past. Every TV show seems to go through this story line with one of its characters. The resolution is just as predictable. -Paul Tonks.