I got a few Farscape questions

[Coco Pops]

Anyone know how much of the show was actually done in Australia or had Australian backing?

Also I always got the impression from the pilot episode that it could have been longer and had more depth but due to production was kept the length it was. Just gave me the feeling it could have gone longer and had more details here and there.

One thing people always argue with me about, and I'll stand my ground on this is the notion that it was no mere fluke John got sucked into that wormhole in the pilot episode. I still think somehow it was planned and that he was born with the wormhole stuff in his head. Hence why those weird aliens might have created the wormhole to bring him to Moya.. That's my stand on that and I argue with people all the time despite the fact. Because that's how I took the show, and how I interpreted it.

Also when John is there on Moya has he traveled into the past or the future becaue they do make it back to Earth but it's not the same time period John left at is it?

Anyway any thoughts and stuff would be nice.

[LeaE]

All four series and PKW were shot in Australia. You can tell by the landscape when they are on "alien" planets. I think it was only the first two series which Channel 9 put money into it. I'm actually surprised that they even bothered for that long because Channel 9 really does not have a sci-fi demographic and never has and sadly, most likely never will.

I think with the pilot episode they definitely could have made it longer. However, it also depends on which version you are watching. The UK and Australian versions are different than the US version because back then UK and Australia had 50min viewing time and US only had 40min. Or something like that.

I don't think John was born with the wormhole information in his head. I think it was nothing but a fluke that he got sucked in. The alien race implanted him with the wormhole knowledge. They wouldn't have gone to the trouble of hiding the memory if they didn't. That would just take too much time.

I never really thought that he travelled in time either way when he went through the wormhole. That one time they ended up in a different time period there was something different about the wormhole. I forget what, it's been a long time since I've seen the episode. All other times he has travelled back to Earth via wormhole it's been around the same timeframe. I always took it that he just travelled really far from Earth and therefore everything was so different and so much more advanced.

[Coco Pops]

All four series and PKW were shot in Australia. You can tell by the landscape when they are on "alien" planets. I think it was only the first two series which Channel 9 put money into it. I'm actually surprised that they even bothered for that long because Channel 9 really does not have a sci-fi demographic and never has and sadly, most likely never will.

I think with the pilot episode they definitely could have made it longer. However, it also depends on which version you are watching. The UK and Australian versions are different than the US version because back then UK and Australia had 50min viewing time and US only had 40min. Or something like that.

I don't think John was born with the wormhole information in his head. I think it was nothing but a fluke that he got sucked in. The alien race implanted him with the wormhole knowledge. They wouldn't have gone to the trouble of hiding the memory if they didn't. That would just take too much time.

I never really thought that he travelled in time either way when he went through the wormhole. That one time they ended up in a different time period there was something different about the wormhole. I forget what, it's been a long time since I've seen the episode. All other times he has travelled back to Earth via wormhole it's been around the same timeframe. I always took it that he just travelled really far from Earth and therefore everything was so different and so much more advanced.

Well that was just my take on the series to make it make more sense to me that maybe it wasn't pure fluke about him meeting Moya and co.

OH tell me about channel 9.... But in the very beginning they did try to make publicity out of the fact it was an australian production. But that never lasted long.

BTW did you see the post for Farscape Beauties? And mention of "look at the princess" with the lovely Tina Bursell

[LeaE]

I did. I love Tina Bursill. The lady is all class.

[Ladyinred]

Farscape was not only filmed in Australia, but also directed by Australian directors - Rowan Woods, Peter Andrikidis, Andrew Prowse, Geoff Bennett, Tony Tilse and several episodes were written by Aussie writers - Justin Monjo for example.
With the exception of Ben Browder and perhaps one or two guest actors, also almost all actors in Farscape are Australians.
They were filming Season 1 in Fox Studios in Sydney, but had to go somewhere else when Lucas was filming the new Star Wars movies. Seasons 2 - 4 and PKW were filmed in Homebush Bay, also in Sydney.

[SylvreWolfe]

Overall, Farscape was a TriLateral production. It had American financial backing, UK stuff and was shot in Australia. I think Ben was the only American regular, with Kent McCord making guest shots as Cricthon's dad/Ancient Jack.

It was abruptly ended by an unexpected and premature cancelation that the fans still have yet to forgive...

The show was suppose to be real time, as in it was occurring in the same timeline as we were watching it. Crichton did not travel back or forth in time for the actual episodes. He did for various episodes, but not the overall story arc. The episode he travelled back in time for was Kansas, but that was part of the wormhole stuff he was suppose to be learning about and he had to put the time line back on track since something was amiss. There was also time travel in Different Destinations, but that was a totally different scenario. The episode Terra Firma put the viewing timeline back on track.

As for your theory that it was no accident, well I sometimes speculated that it wasn't an accident or coincidence that he got sucked down the wormhole, that the Ancients had something planned for him. But, I am not sure the writers and producers had that same idea.

[Coco Pops]

Overall, Farscape was a TriLateral production. It had American financial backing, UK stuff and was shot in Australia. I think Ben was the only American regular, with Kent McCord making guest shots as Cricthon's dad/Ancient Jack.

It was abruptly ended by an unexpected and premature cancelation that the fans still have yet to forgive...

The show was suppose to be real time, as in it was occurring in the same timeline as we were watching it. Crichton did not travel back or forth in time for the actual episodes. He did for various episodes, but not the overall story arc. The episode he travelled back in time for was Kansas, but that was part of the wormhole stuff he was suppose to be learning about and he had to put the time line back on track since something was amiss. There was also time travel in Different Destinations, but that was a totally different scenario. The episode Terra Firma put the viewing timeline back on track.

As for your theory that it was no accident, well I sometimes speculated that it wasn't an accident or coincidence that he got sucked down the wormhole, that the Ancients had something planned for him. But, I am not sure the writers and producers had that same idea.

So true...... But maybe they left a little bit of room for fans to speculate about whether or not it was an accident.

At any time in the series was Earth ever in danger?

And getting back to production Channel Nine's name was in the end credits of season 1 but later on it disappeared from the credits. Did they officially pull out of production because the Jim Henson company seemed to take prominence in the end credits ...

[./freelancer]

At any time in the series was Earth ever in danger?

Well...yes. (spoilers ahead, obviously) A big Scarran ship (can't remember the name) was about to travel to Earth through the wormhole, which is why Crichton had to permanently close it. This happened in Bad Timing iirc.

[SunKrux]

So true...... But maybe they left a little bit of room for fans to speculate about whether or not it was an accident.

At any time in the series was Earth ever in danger?

And getting back to production Channel Nine's name was in the end credits of season 1 but later on it disappeared from the credits. Did they officially pull out of production because the Jim Henson company seemed to take prominence in the end credits ...

Don't know anything about the Channel Nine disappearing but the cancelation was more complicated than the show being yanked too soon. Yes it was yanked too soon, but part of the reasoning behind it (and I think a BIG part) is that Vivendi and the company at the time which owned Jim Henson Productions (it was a German company and I can't remember the name. SylverWolfe, do you remember the name?) were both hurting for money. Viviendi owned SciFi and USA at the time. Viviendi/SciFi wanted more money from the company that owned JHP or the company that owned JHP wanted more money to produce the show. Neither parent company had the money to do it. The whole "ratings reason" was part of (what I think) how SciFi justified the cancelation to the fans and suits of the world (suits meaning executive producers). SciFi tried to keep the cancelation under wraps but they didn't realize that David Kemper and company knew the fans would make a lot of noise, so the day they got the word of the cancelation, a special chat was held with David, Richard Manning and Ben Browder. David point blank asked the fans to make some noise. That noise is what got us PKWars. Backers approached Brian Henson and wanted to back the mini.

[Coco Pops]

Well...yes. (spoilers ahead, obviously) A big Scarran ship (can't remember the name) was about to travel to Earth through the wormhole, which is why Crichton had to permanently close it. This happened in Bad Timing iirc.

And that would have been very bad for Earth.... They'd want our girls and we know what they do to women. We saw that in an episode where Scorpy told of his birth. His "mother" basically tied to a frame thing and raped by the look of it.

Interesting that technology in Farscape borders on magical. We had a spaceship powered by a furnace in what looked like steam power and they use ordinary blades of grass for fuel. Also something Earth has tons of.

[TameFarrar]

I have a question to ask CoCo Pops... Have you watched the Entire Series as well as Peace Keeper Wars?

[Coco Pops]

I have a question to ask CoCo Pops... Have you watched the Entire Series as well as Peace Keeper Wars?

I've watched most of season 1 and 2 but beyond that it's been sketchy because channel 9 kept showing episodes at what seemed like random times and often in the graveyard hours after midnight.

[THe KiKO peRsON]

I'm from Australia, around Sydney. Most scenes at beaches seem to have been shot at Bondi Beach. I know that the (S4 Spoilers)

Spoiler:

scenes in John's head, at the beach with Aeryn, was shot at Bondi. a. I recognised it when it shows Aeryn's head and the buildings and strip of grass, and b. When I was watching the commentary they mentioned Bondi.

You see the Harbour Bridge in A Human Reaction, and some of the scenes in Won't Get Fooled Again were filmed at a place associated with the 2000 Sydney Olympics. My dad recognised it.

[LeaE]

The studios they filmed the later series and PKW were out in Homebush so I think a lot of stuff was filmed near where the Olympics where. The freaky thing is that before Farscape I never realised how similar the entire east coast of Australia looked. I'm from Brisbane and there is a scene in I, ET which looks like it was filmed at Tallebudgera Creek, which is between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Despite knowing that it was filmed in Sydney my sister and I were staring at the screen going "that's Tallebudgera Creek. That so looks like Tallebudgera Creek".

Also, the beaches in A Human Reaction look like so many beaches on the Sunshine Coast. I'd never realised the Queensland and New South Wales were so freakishly similar. Scary.

[Coco Pops]

The studios they filmed the later series and PKW were out in Homebush so I think a lot of stuff was filmed near where the Olympics where. The freaky thing is that before Farscape I never realised how similar the entire east coast of Australia looked. I'm from Brisbane and there is a scene in I, ET which looks like it was filmed at Tallebudgera Creek, which is between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Despite knowing that it was filmed in Sydney my sister and I were staring at the screen going "that's Tallebudgera Creek. That so looks like Tallebudgera Creek".

Also, the beaches in A Human Reaction look like so many beaches on the Sunshine Coast. I'd never realised the Queensland and New South Wales were so freakishly similar. Scary.

LOL maybe filming in these parts of Australis is like filming in British Columbia in Canada


Hey if the red dirt of SA near Coober Peedy can be Mars why not?