There's another gloriously menacing cameo from Ronny Cox as Senator Kinsey who's desperately trying to dismantle the Stargate programme. All of which makes the "A-plot" about a new ally somewhat insignificant. But as always with newcomers on the show, the Aschen may not be all they appear to be. -Paul Tonks.

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" pharaohnic 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. Following straight on from Vol. 10, "Politics" sees Jackson banging his head against a brick wall when Senator Kinsey (a powerful cameo from Ronnie Cox) threatens to exercise his hold over the Stargate programme. This is what's known in TV as a "clips episode", but the flashbacks are cleverly incorporated to continue building suspense toward the finale. And "Within the Serpent's Grasp" is the pay-off. The SG-1 team ignore orders and follow Jackson's warning about an attack. It's a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire however; when their disobedience leads them to the one place they really shouldn't be-aboard the lead attack ship headed to destroy Earth! -Paul Tonks.

"Proving Ground" is all about who can make the grade, and in particular they have their eyes on the brilliant Jennifer (from Prodigy) and headstrong Elliot. The tension is really piled on in this show as layers of reality build to confuse the audience as to what's really happening to them. -Paul Tonks.

"The Ties That Blind". A dual reference to aspects of faith, on the one hand there's Rev's devout following of The Way, which unwittingly obscures certain truths from him; on the other hand there's the belief that blood is thicker than water which severely confuses the relationship Beka has with the her long-lost con-artist brother Rafe (Cameron Daddo). There's a lot of art imitating life in this episode, with The Restorian's tactics clearly mirroring contemporary religious conflicts. "The Banks of the Lethe". Proving that all's fair in love and war this episode demonstrates the familial possibilities of syndicated TV. Firstly, Sorbo's real-life wife plays Dylan's fiancée Sara. Secondly, the story was originally touted to Star Trek: Voyager. It's another time travel quickie (told you they were important), in which a touching reunion for the Sorbos is made possible thanks to a botched experiment in Harper's lab. This instalment is also distinguished for featuring some of the most surreal humour in dealing with time travel since Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure!-Paul Tonks.

Sound familiar? It sure does to the SGC, and when Jack and company investigate they discover dear old Willie Garson (Martin Lloyd from Season 4's Point of No Return) has become a whole new form of security problem. This is the show's 100th episode, and was created as a sort of Galaxy Quest parody. Full of crew-member cameos and in-jokes, it's definitely the best fun fans and cast have had amid the more dramatically serious story arc over the year. -Paul Tonks.