Carson Beckett

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Carson Beckett
Paul McGillion as Carson Beckett in a promotional photograph for Stargate Atlantis Season 1.
First appearance"Rising" (Atlantis)
Created byRobert C. Cooper
Brad Wright
Portrayed byPaul McGillion
In-universe information
SpeciesHuman
OccupationMedical doctor
Familymother[1]
NationalityScottish

Dr. Carson Beckett is a fictional Scottish character in the 2004 Canadian-American science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis, a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1. He is portrayed by Scottish-born Canadian actor Paul McGillion, who previously played Dr. Ernest Littlefield in the first season of SG-1. The character's Scottish nationality was only decided after McGillion's audition.

Dr. Beckett's character arc begins in the pilot episode "

Sunday", but he returns as a clone
in season four and five.

The character's appearances were marked by positive reception. Despite being billed as a

Leo Award
for "Best Supporting Performance by a Male" for his role as Beckett.

Role in Stargate Atlantis

Character arc

Carson Beckett is stated to have been born in

Anubis in the Stargate SG-1 season seven finale, "Lost City".[3]

While in the Antarctic outpost in the pilot episode "Rising", Dr.

Runner".[8]

In "

Sunday", Beckett is killed while attempting to safely dispose an explosive tumor that he had removed from a patient. His body and personal effects are sent back to his family on Earth. McKay, who had developed a close friendship with Beckett, tells Beckett's mother himself. McKay later has a vision of Carson, brought on by his subconscious mind, which gives him the opportunity to say goodbye.[14]

Cloned Beckett

During Beckett's capture on the planet M8G-352 in season 3's "

Outsiders", cloned Beckett hopes to make up for the horrible deeds Michael performed using Beckett's research, and he begins to help humans in the Pegasus Galaxy who were infected with the Hoffan plague.[17] In the Atlantis series finale, Beckett flies the city from M35-117 back to Earth to defeat a super Wraith Hive Ship. Beckett pilots the city in battle against the hive ship, but is unable to defeat it. The city is nearly destroyed, but is saved at the last moment when Sheppard manages to destroy the hive ship from the inside with a nuclear weapon. Beckett is forced to land Atlantis, cloaked, outside San Francisco Bay and later stares at the view with the rest of the command staff.[18]

Characteristics and relationships

Producer

Laura Cadman, who at the time is trapped in McKay's consciousness. When Cadman learns of this, she shares a passionate kiss with Beckett through McKay's body.[23] Beckett and Cadman have an off-screen relationship until season 3; Beckett blames the difficulties of the relationship on their first kiss through McKay.[2] Although McKay often condescends Beckett as he usually does to all his colleagues, McKay considers him a close friend.[14] Martin Gero stated that Beckett and McKay often complement each other in a "wonderful" way. Although they have completely different personalities, they are the "everyday hero guys", and often share their thoughts after saving Atlantis or the galaxy from dire situations.[19] Paul McGillion and David Hewlett (McKay) are also good friends in real life.[19]
Despite their personality differences, Beckett and Ronon Dex get along fairly well. In their first meeting, Beckett removed Ronon's tracking device, effectively saving his life. When Ronon is about to be killed by a powerful Wraith, Beckett disobeys Ronon's wishes to let him fight alone and kills the Wraith himself, quipping "if he doesn't like it, he can sue me." Surprisingly, Ronon is grateful to Beckett for his assistance rather than angry. Ronon is later shown to be devastated by the real Beckett's death and admits its hard for him to see the cloned Beckett be forced into stasis to possibly never return.

Conceptual history

Paul McGillion, who portrayed Beckett at the Pegasus Three convention in London, 2008.

The Torment of Tantalus" in 1997. The Scottish-born Canadian actor did not return to Stargate until Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper held auditions for the spin-off series Stargate Atlantis in 2003–2004. Carson Beckett was originally meant to be an international character, but McGillion decided during his audition to play Beckett as a Scottish character. McGillion was in Portugal when his agent informed him that he got the part of Carson Beckett.[19]

According to writer-producer Martin Gero, Beckett was set to appear in only a handful of episodes after the Stargate Atlantis' pilot episode, "Rising", but the character had such a big connection to the fans that Gero labeled McGillion the "breakout star" in Stargate Atlantis.[19] The producers decided to give Beckett a larger role and made him a recurring character with a total of fifteen episode appearances in the first season, followed by a regular in season two.[19] Although McGillion was born in Scotland, he only put on a Scottish accent during filming. McGillion said in an interview with The Sci-Fi World, "We improv[ise] a lot after the scene's over, and sometimes they'll keep some of the material and sometimes they won't. I'll often throw in little things like 'Ya cheeky little bugger'."[24]

When the episode "

Scotty in a parody of Star Trek in the Stargate SG-1 episode "200", but producer-writer Brad Wright filled in for the part in the end.[25] (McGillion would later also audition for the part of Scotty in the upcoming eleventh Star Trek movie, but the role was given to Simon Pegg and McGillion was cast for a small part in the movie.)[26]

After the second season of Stargate Atlantis, cast and crew members hinted that McGillion might depart from the series. Reports in November 2006 confirmed that Beckett would "disappear" somewhere in the second half of the third season, and would only appear in several episodes in the fourth season. Jewel Staite was announced to play Dr. Keller, the new doctor of the Atlantis expedition.[27] McGillion learned of the writers' exact plans for Beckett's departure in "Sunday" two months before the episode was filmed.[28] He said that he cried when reading the episode's script.[29] Producer Joseph Mallozzi regretted killing off Dr. Beckett after seeing the fans' reactions, and claimed there was a 'clue' in a late-season 3 episode that hinted at Beckett's re-introduction.[30] After Beckett's reappearance in the fourth-season episode "The Kindred", Mallozzi confirmed that Beckett had not ascended upon his death, that McKay had only imagined Beckett at the end of "Sunday", and that the character in "The Kindred" was Beckett in the flesh instead of a version from an alternate universe or from the past.[31] A press release for season 5 mentioned that Beckett would return for at least five episodes in the new season.[32]

Reception

Carson Beckett is often described by fans as the "Heart of Atlantis".

San Diego Comic-Con International on July 27, 2007.[28]

References

  1. ^
    Sci Fi Channel
    .
  2. ^
    Sci Fi Channel
    .
    • Beckett: "Oh, please. I’m from a family of seven, our home was never this clean."
    • Sheppard: "You should call her." / Beckett: "Who, Cadman?" / Weir: "You guys did make a cute couple." / Beckett: "It didn't work out. May have something to do with our first kiss being through Rodney."
  3. Sci Fi Channel
    .
  4. Sci Fi Channel
    .
    • Beckett: "We believe ATA, or Ancient Technology Activation, is caused by a single gene that's always on, instructing various cells in the body to produce a series of proteins and enzymes that interact with the skin, the nervous system and the brain. In this case we're using a mouse retrovirus to deliver the missing gene to your cells."
  5. Sci Fi Channel
    .
    • Zelenka: "I've already been given the gene weeks ago, it didn't take. [...] The gene therapy is only effective in 48 percent of recipients."
  6. ^
    Sci Fi Channel
    .
  7. Sci Fi Channel
    .
    • Beckett: "You have some Wraith DNA in your genetic make-up."
  8. Sci Fi Channel
    .
  9. Sci Fi Channel
    .
    • Beckett: "We're working on a retrovirus that would alter Wraith DNA, essentially stripping out the iratus bug elements of the genetic code and leaving only the human aspects behind." / Sheppard: "A drug that turns Wraith into humans?" / Beckett: "Effectively, yes. But so far we haven't had much success, partly because we lacked the living tissue and blood samples we need to test it."
  10. Sci Fi Channel
    .
  11. Sci Fi Channel
    .
  12. Sci Fi Channel
    .
  13. ^
    Sci Fi Channel
    .
    • Beckett: "He [Michael] wanted me to help with his research, combining Wraith and human DNA of course. I refused at first, but then one day he brought another prisoner into my cell. A young lady, couldn't have been more than 20 years of age, and he killed her in cold blood right in front of my eyes. He said every day I refused to help, he'd kill another just like her. From that moment on, I co-operated."
    • Keller: "You can forget parallel universes. He's a clone."
  14. ^
    Sci Fi Channel
    .
    • McKay: "You were the closest thing to a best friend I ever had."
  15. Sci Fi Channel
    .
  16. Sci Fi Channel
    .
  17. Sci Fi Channel
    .
  18. Sci Fi Channel
    .
  19. ^
    MGM
    .
  20. Sci Fi Channel
    .
  21. Sci Fi Channel
    .
  22. Sci Fi Channel
    .
    • Beckett: "I can barely make it to the main land and back without crashing. For the last time, I'm a doctor, not a bloody fighter pilot!"
  23. Sci Fi Channel
    .
    • Beckett: "Oh. Well, yes, then, she [Cadman] seems like a lovely lady."
  24. GateWorld
    . Retrieved March 8, 2006.
  25. MGM
    .
  26. GateWorld
    . Retrieved December 15, 2007.
  27. ^ a b Sumner, Darren (November 26, 2006). "Atlantis cast member to depart". Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  28. ^ a b c Wilson, Mark (2007). "Carson Beckett: Don't Kill Off the Fan Favorites". About.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  29. MGM
    .
  30. ^ "Exclusive: Carson to Resurface on Atlantis". savecarsonbeckett.com. April 9, 2007. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  31. GateWorld
    . Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  32. ^ Kim, Lana (February 5, 2008). "People's Choice Winner 'Stargate Atlantis' Begins Production on Season 5". NBC Universal. Retrieved March 14, 2009. [dead link]
  33. GateWorld (April 15, 2007). "After Sunday: An interview with Paul McGillion"
    . Retrieved January 2, 2009.
  34. GateWorld
    . Retrieved March 15, 2009.
  35. ^ "Leo Awards 2005 winners". Leoawards.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved March 15, 2009.
  36. ^ Ryan, Maureen (June 21, 2007). "Time's not on the side of 'Stargate SG-1,' which ends Friday". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 24, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  37. ^
    MGM
    .
  38. GateWorld
    . Retrieved March 1, 2007.

External links

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