Farscape

Farscape
Season 4 title card
Genre	Science fiction
Created by	Rockne S. O'Bannon
Starring	Ben Browder Claudia Black Virginia Hey Anthony Simcoe Gigi Edgley Paul Goddard Lani Tupu Wayne Pygram Jonathan Hardy Tammy MacIntosh Raelee Hill Melissa Jaffer David Franklin Rebecca Riggs
Music by	Subvision (1999–2000) Guy Gross (2000–03)
Country of origin	Australia United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	88 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Rockne S. O'Bannon Brian Henson Kris Noble Robert Halmi Jr. David Kemper Rod Perth Richard Manning Naren Shankar Juliet Blake
Producers	Matt Carroll Sue Milliken Anthony Winley
Cinematography	Craig Barden
Editors	Mark Perry Neil Thumpston
Running time	50 minutes (season 1) 44 minutes (seasons 2–4)
Production companies	Hallmark Entertainment The Jim Henson Company
Original release
Network	Nine Network (Australia) Sci-Fi Channel
Release	19 March 1999 (1999-03-19) – 21 March 2003 (2003-03-21)
Related
Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (miniseries)

Farscape is an Australian-American

creations.

Although the series was planned for five seasons, it was abruptly cancelled after production had ended on its fourth season, ending the series on a cliffhanger. Co-producer Brian Henson later secured the rights to Farscape, paving the way for a three-hour miniseries to wrap up the cliffhanger, titled Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, which Henson directed. In 2007, it was announced that the creator was returning for a web-series^[2] but production has been repeatedly delayed. A comic book miniseries was released in December 2008 that was in continuity with both the series and the hoped-for webisodes.

Overview

Farscape features a diverse ensemble of characters who are initially escaping from corrupt authorities in the form of a militaristic organization called the Peacekeepers. The protagonists live inside a large bio-mechanical ship called

, beginning with their recapture by the Peacekeepers, followed by Crichton's search to find another wormhole back to Earth, and an eventual arms race for wormhole technology weapons. Secondary arcs explore the way in which the characters change due to their influences and adventures together, most notably Crichton and his obsession with wormhole technology, his relationship with Aeryn, and the neural clone of Scorpius in his brain that haunts him.

Production and broadcast

The series was originally conceived in the early 1990s by Rockne S. O'Bannon and Brian Henson under the title Space Chase.^[3] The series is told in a serialized format, with each episode involving a self-contained story while contributing to a larger storyline. Nearly the entire cast originates from Australia and New Zealand, except for Ben Browder, who is an American actor.

Farscape's characters frequently make use of slang such as "frell", "dren" and "hezmana" as a substitute for English expletives.^[4]

Farscape first ran on the Australian TV Channel Nine Network and the Canadian YTV channel, then in the US on the Sci-Fi Channel and on BBC Two in the United Kingdom. The series' original broadcast on Sci-Fi was noted for its erratic scheduling, with hiatuses lasting months often occurring mid-season. For example, the final four episodes of Season 1 aired beginning in January 2000, nearly four months after the broadcast of the preceding episode; the final four episodes of Season 3 were separated from the rest of the season by a gap of more than six months.^[5]

Plot

Season One

Earth astronaut

, fixates on Crichton as the murderer of the pilot—his brother—and begins a campaign to chase Crichton down.

The various crew have no common goal, each only wishing

. Unfortunately, to evade Crais' pursuit, they have to travel into the Uncharted Territories, and thus have no idea how to get home. The other crew also have little respect for Crichton, seeing him only as a "primitive hoo-man" who does not understand even the basic tenets of life in space.

Various episodes explore the characters' backstories. Aeryn, the fighter pilot,

after a Peacekeeper experiment is accidentally activated.

Meanwhile, Crichton continues to research the wormhole that brought him here. He is forced to sell what little progress he has made to

, who are testing to see if Earth is suitable for colonization.

Towards the end of the season,

that the Ancients placed specialized knowledge of wormholes in his subconscious mind—knowledge that Scorpius is particularly eager to access. The other Moya crew launch a rescue attempt.

Meanwhile, Moya gives birth to her baby, discovering that the child, named

to save himself, accepting along the way that Crichton had not meant to kill his brother. But this is only a cover to steal Talyn and escape on his own. Having grown much closer over the course of the season, the crew work together to escape Scorpius—a plan that ends with Crichton and D'Argo floating in space, running out of air.

Season Two

The crew of Moya are now

for the crew.

Moya encounters an independent

. Aeryn, who has been growing attached to Crichton, finds herself jealous.

Despite various plots by Peacekeepers and an agent of their enemies the Scarrans, the Moya crew manage to wheedle their way out once again, although the Princess is indeed left pregnant. Meanwhile, D'Argo and Chiana begin a relationship based mostly on sex, and Zhaan is tasked with protecting Moya by the Leviathian's creator-gods. Crichton

to kill Scorpius, but finds himself unable to do it, blocked by some unknown cause.

That cause is revealed when Crichton is

and it begins to manifest as hallucinations to him.

The half-crazed mystic

. The crew put a plan into action, which is complicated when Scorpius arrives. Scorpius has captured the slaves, but promises to give them Jothee if Crichton will turn himself in. Under intense pressure from the neural clone, Crichton does so.

D'Argo is

of Crichton, seemingly killing Aeryn just as she admits her love for him. With Aeryn dead, Crichton wants the chip removed once and for all. At the same time, Scorpius catches up with them again, killing the doctor and announcing that the chip has completed its work and found the wormhole knowledge. He removes the chip and leaves Crichton incapacitated at the hospital.

Season Three

Having survived Scorpius' attack, the doctor

.

Investigating another wormhole, Moya

the last of her life to separate the ships, adding more guilt to Crichton's conscience. He also discovers that despite the chip's removal, the personality clone Harvey remains in his mind.

Due to a

, splitting the crew, with one Crichton on each ship.

On Moya, tensions rise over D'Argo's

tries to access

the wormhole data, but finds that the chip now contains a neural clone of Crichton, who refuses to allow Scorpius access.

On Talyn, Crais explains that Xhalax wants to recapture him as a renegade Peacekeeper, and to recapture Talyn as a powerful warship. After

dies in Aeryn's arms

.

When the two crews

Grayza

interferes, claiming that the Moya crew's continued freedom is an embarrassment and Scorpius' own obsession with wormhole tech does not outweigh their criminal record.

Crichton finally decides that the only way to end Scorpius' project is to

old woman

formerly imprisoned on the Command Carrier informs Crichton that Aeryn is pregnant, and Moya is sucked into a wormhole, leaving Crichton once again alone in space.

Season Four

Alone for months, Crichton has had

escapes

.

Crichton finds that Aeryn has made a deal with Scorpius to

invades Moya

, since the Scarrans and Peacekeepers are in an arms race to acquire Crichton's wormhole knowledge.

Crichton is instead

too paranoid and distrustful

to accept his alien friends due to 9/11 and the fact that the US government only wants to monopolize alien tech and knowledge for global domination. He has also been so affected by his experiences that he cannot relax there – a situation not helped when an agent of Grayza attacks and kills several of Crichton's friends. He decides the only thing he can do is leave again but he succeeds in convincing his father to make alien tech and knowledge to be shared equally globally much to the dismay of the US government.

The crew comes across a

infiltrate a Scarran base

and rescue Aeryn but Scorpius is captured in the attempt. Crichton is happy to leave him there but the neural clone Harvey informs them that Scorpius already has the wormhole tech and may reveal it to the Scarrans under torture. The crew of Moya are forced to launch yet another attempt to either rescue or kill Scorpius.

They

save his home world

is to destroy the wormhole that leads there, leaving him stranded in space forever. Before destroying the wormhole, he says goodbye to his father and reveals that he has put a recording on the Moon near the site of the first Moon landing, containing technological data necessary for humanity to reach the stars in the future and protect themselves against alien threat.

That done, Scorpius returns to the Peacekeepers and the Moya crew go to the ocean planet Qujaga to recover. While there, Aeryn reveals that the pregnancy – formerly kept in stasis – has now been released and they are going to have a baby. Crichton proposes to her and she accepts. At the last second they are attacked by random aliens, who appear to kill them both.

The Peacekeeper Wars

Thinking that Crichton is dead and the wormhole tech gone with him, Scorpius deliberately starts a war with the

in the hope that the element of surprise will be on their side. The tactic is unsuccessful, and the Scarrans are on the verge of overwhelming the Peacekeepers. When the Peacekeeper Grand Chancellor considers surrender, Grayza kills him and takes over to make sure the war continues.

On Qujaga the aliens, called

, realise that killing Crichton and Aeryn was a mistake and reanimate them. Scorpius instantly realizes this and abandons the war to track him down, hoping to acquire the wormhole tech once and for all as the only way of stopping the Scarrans. Crichton again refuses. Meanwhile, the crew discover that the Eidolons are in fact a lost colony of the people of Arnessk, and have an innate ability to bring peace to others. If they can find more of their people, they will be able to stop the war.

Moya, with Scorpius and Sikozu in tow, heads back to Arnessk, where the ancient people have been revived and are working with Jool. They agree to help, but Scarran

attacks, destroying the base and killing Jool. Staleek doesn't want peace – he wants victory. Only one Eidolon remains, who is able to transmit the ability to Stark, and the crew escape the Scarrans with the help of D'Argo's son Jothee.

They return to Qujaga to find that the Peacekeeper-Scarran war has reached the planet. Crichton and the others must get through the battle to reach the remaining Eidolons on the planet and pass the techniques of peace to them, all while both sides are still after him for wormhole technology. Once there, Crichton and Aeryn are finally able to marry and Aeryn gives birth, but D'Argo is fatally wounded in the escape and dies offscreen.

Realising that neither side will take no for an answer, Crichton returns to Einstein and convinces him to unlock the knowledge, which Crichton then uses to launch a wormhole weapon – a black hole that will grow and grow until it destroys everything in the universe. Both Grayza and Staleek finally realise that this weapon is too dangerous for anyone to possess, and they agree to a ceasefire. Crichton is able to stop the black hole, but falls into a coma as a result.

With the war finally over, the Eidolons help broker a peace treaty between the two sides, but Crichton is still in a coma. He is finally brought out of it when Aeryn places his new baby in his arms. The new family looks out onto the now peaceful galaxy, naming the baby D'Argo in honour of their friend, and promising the universe belongs to him.

Characters

Main characters

• Ben Browder as John Crichton – An astronaut from present-day Earth. At the start of the series, a test flight involving an experimental spacecraft of his own design dubbed Farscape I goes awry, propelling Crichton through a wormhole to a distant part of the universe. He quickly runs afoul of the Peacekeepers and is recovered by the crew of Moya, a living ship which is the main setting for Farscape.
• Peacekeeper
  officer. At the start of the series, she is stripped of her rank and marked for death for spending too much time near a (culturally) "contaminated" being. This decision is further backed later after she protects Crichton. Trained as a soldier since birth, she initially seems to lack any emotions or empathy. Her severance from the Peacekeepers allows Aeryn to discover her compassionate nature.
• rifle
  .
• Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan (Main seasons 1–3; guest season 4) – A bald, blue-skinned female who belongs to a plant species, named Delvians. Once a Priestess of her religious order, Zhaan murdered her lover after discovering he was a Peacekeeper collaborator. Regarded as an anarchist by her captors, she was jailed along with D'Argo and Rygel. Like other members of her species, Zhaan is an empath
  ; she can share "unity" with other beings (two minds in one body, they can share thoughts, sensations...) and also, as a Pa'u, she is able to share pain with another being.
• Moya
  – Moya is a Leviathan, the fifth generation of these living ships. She was born in freedom, captured by Leviathan Hunters and sold to the Peacekeepers for them to use as a prison transport. She is a great and powerful ship, with no weapons. In communication with and taken care of by Pilot, the enormous living entity that is symbiotically fused to her, Moya has adjusted to her new inhabitants and has been able to trust them enough to become their home. Like Pilot, she is anxious to serve her crew, but not at the expense of her own agenda. Her natural instincts to protect all life, however, do override her personal fear of pain and suffering.
• deposed
  by his treacherous cousin and handed over to the Peacekeepers. Rygel is one of two puppet characters who regularly appear on Farscape. When nervous, Rygel flatulates helium – often causing his annoyed crew mates to complain in high-pitched voices.
• Pilot (operated by John Eccleston, Matthew McCoy, Dave Collins, Sean Masterson, Graeme Haddon and Tim Mieville, voiced by Lani Tupu
  ) – A multi-limbed creature who acts as the ship's pilot. He is biologically connected to Moya's nervous system and also serves as her voice to the crew. Pilot is portrayed by an animatronic puppet.
• Nebari, a grey/blue-skinned species whose society is heavily regimented by a governmental body called "The Establishment". Chiana's rebellious nature made her a leading candidate for reprogramming
  (euphemistically known as "cleansing").
• Stark
  (Main season 3; Recurring seasons 1–2, 4) – A Stykera, a specialized subrace of the Banik, who was first encountered by Crichton at the end of the first season. Stark wears a half-mask – strapped to his head by two buckles – of an unidentified metal, covering an incorporeal area that glows dark orange when uncovered, on the right side of his face. He only reveals his face when he is taking away someone's pain or "crossing over" a soul – aiding or comforting a person prior to their death. He is also mentally unbalanced, a trait that gets on the nerves of many on Moya.
• prowler
  pilot who accidentally collided with Crichton's ship when it exited the wormhole. At the end of the first season, Crais is usurped by Scorpius. Crais mentally bonds with Moya's offspring Talyn and becomes something of an ally to the crew in later seasons.
• Scorpius (Main seasons 3–4; Recurring seasons 1–2) – A commander of the Peacekeeper forces. Scorpius is a hybrid
  created from the forced mating of a human-like Sebacean woman and a reptilian Scarran male. He is obsessed with extracting the secret of wormhole technology from Crichton, believing it to be crucial to an unavoidable war between the Peacekeeper and Scarran races.

Recurring characters

As the series progressed, a revolving cast of characters joined the crew of Moya.

• Captain
  Meeklo Braca (David Franklin
  ) – Captain Meeklo Braca usually serves as a subordinate to most of the series' villains, acting as second-in-command for Crais, Scorpius, and Grayza at various times. As once described by Crais (although it was clearly intended as an insult), Braca is "a consummate Peacekeeper", performing his duties to the very best of his abilities for whoever his commanding officer is, although his loyalties remain with Scorpius due to a shared view of relations with the Scarrans and contempt for Grayza's misplaced hopes for peace with them.
• Commandant
  Mele-on Grayza (Rebecca Riggs
  ) – A new antagonist that debuts in Season 3. She is a manipulative Peacekeeper who aims to put an end to Scorpius' wormhole research. Ruthless and ambitious, she has a gland implanted in her chest that secretes a substance which bends men to her will.
• Jool (Tammy MacIntosh
  ) – Jool is an orange-haired academic who appears sporadically throughout seasons three and four. When frightened or enraged, her hair becomes red and her screams can melt metal.
• Sikozu (Raelee Hill
  ) – Sikozu is a brilliant Kalish who joins the crew at the beginning of the fourth season. Hard-edged and dangerous, she gradually allies herself with Scorpius. In "The Peacekeeper Wars" she is discovered to be collaborating with the Scarrans.
• Noranti (played by
  herbalist. Although her skills are sometimes not quite as successful as she would like, she does manage to come to the crew's rescue with odd potions and powders on many occasions. At times, she seems to have her own agenda, although what that agenda may be is never quite made clear. At 293 cycles (years) old, she sometimes appears to the others as being slightly senile, and is often referred to as "Grandma" by Crichton. She was featured throughout Season 4 of Farscape, as well as being in "The Peacekeeper Wars", where she realizes the existence of more Eidolons and convinces Crichton to seek to reawaken their powers to help end the war. An alternative reality version of Noranti appeared in the Season 4 episode, "Unrealized Reality", and was portrayed by Gigi Edgley
  .

Reception

Awards and distinctions

Between 2000 and 2002, Farscape won three

).

On 14 July 2005, Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special. In 2004 and 2007, Farscape was ranked #4 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever.^[6]

In 2012, Entertainment Weekly listed the show at #22 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years," calling it "one of the trippiest space sagas ever, with portions of some episodes taking place in Crichton's subconscious" and remarking, "Before Battlestar Galactica popularized frak as geek slang, there was Farscape's very liberal use of frell."^[7]

EmpireOnline ranked it #45 of "the 50 greatest TV shows of all time" in February 2013.^[8]

Cancellation

In September 2002, the Sci-Fi Channel (then-owned by

Furthermore, The Jim Henson Company had been acquired by EM.TV & Merchandising AG in 2000 and by 2002 they were experiencing significant financial difficulties.^[10] According to the DVD featurette "Save Farscape", Henson, Kemper, and Ben Browder announced the cancellation during an online chat with fans, and within hours fans had mounted a campaign to restore the show or transfer it to another network.^[11] Early plans to scrap the sets after production were postponed after news of the cancellation broke, partly as a result of the fan campaign. The sets were put in storage pending a possible future revival of the show.^[9][12]

Cartoonist Bill Amend, creator of the syndicated comic strip FoxTrot, addressed the series' cancellation in an 8 October 2002 strip wherein the character Jason Fox petitioned to have the Sci-Fi channel renew Farscape. Soon after the strip ran, Amend remarked that it "generated more e-mails from readers than anything else I've done in the past. I had no idea that so many people owned computers, even I shudder to think what the mail boxes at the Sci-Fi Channel must be like these days."^[13]

The 2010 DVD release of the series on A&E Home Video includes footage of producer David Kemper addressing the cast on the final day of shooting, in which he read a draft of a column for TV Guide by critic Matt Roush, who wrote that, in his opinion, the premature cancellation of Farscape will be looked upon by future generations in the same light as science fiction fans look upon NBC's cancellation of the original Star Trek in 1969.^[14]

Farscape's cancellation received considerable notice by news media.

.

Analysis

Farscape aired at a time when

James Gunn has credited Farscape as an inspiration for his Guardians of the Galaxy films.^[20]

Stargate SG-1 parody/homage

Following the series' cancellation, Ben Browder and Claudia Black were both cast as series regulars on Stargate SG-1 during its final two seasons.^[21] At the start of season nine, when Black's character (Vala Mal Doran) first meets Browder's character (Cameron Mitchell), she tells him "I know we haven't met. That I'm sure I would remember."^[22]

In the 200th episode of the series, which was entitled "

used in the show. The producer recognises all the stories that Black's character proposes, until she pitches the Farscape pastiche. As an in-joke, he says "Okay. You got me. I have no idea what that is."

Multimedia

DVD releases

For

box sets

. They later re-released the series in larger four-disc volumes under the "Starburst Edition" moniker, three volumes per season with additional extras not available on the original volume sets. All of these sets are long out of print.

]

A&E Home Video released a Farscape Complete Series Collection and individual season sets.^[24] It includes a two-disc collection of featurettes, most of which were recycled from ADV's old DVD sets but notably adding Farscape Undressed, a Farscape special that was created between the second and third seasons to catch up fans on the events that had happened up to that point.^[25] The Peacekeeper Wars is not included in the complete series set because Lions Gate still retains the rights to the miniseries^[26] although upon its release, US retailer Best Buy

had a limited number of complete series sets which did include The Peacekeeper Wars as a store exclusive. The two miniseries discs were identical to those of the normal Lions Gate release and were included in the last DVD case along with the two discs of bonus material that normally come with the complete series set.

The Region 2 and Region 4 box sets contain Seasons 1–4 as well as the Peacekeeper Wars television film.

Blu-ray release

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

All four seasons were released on Blu-ray in North America and Europe on 15 November 2011 by New Video/A&E. The four seasons were released in a choice of complete boxed set or individual seasons in North America, and as a boxed set only in Europe. As the original 35mm prints used to create the series are missing, 576i/25 frames per second PAL master videotapes were used as the source material to create the transfer. Software algorithms were used to upscale the standard definition image to Blu-ray's 1080p resolution specification. The audio on the Blu-ray release is uncompressed DTS Master Audio, improving on the previous compressed Dolby Digital tracks on DVD.

Like the previous DVD release, owing to licensing issues, the set does not include Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars.

As with the U.S. DVD reissue in 2009, there are 31 commentary tracks and all the special features were carried over from the previously released DVD editions. The Blu-ray release also includes a recently filmed exclusive HD featurette, "Memories of Moya", featuring interviews with the cast and production staff as they reminisce about their time on Farscape.

On November 5, 2013, a 15th anniversary set was released on Blu-ray.^[27]

On November 19, 2019, a second Blu-ray set was released, this time by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and this time, it included Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, but excluding the comic included in A&E's 2013 Blu-ray release.^[28]

On November 21, 2023, a third Blu-ray set was released, this time by

Shout! Studios.^[29]

Other releases

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

In January 2008, seasons 1 and 2 were made available for download through Apple's iTunes Store for customers in the United States. Season 3 was added in March 2008, with Season 4 following in May. The episodes can be purchased individually or as entire seasons. The Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars miniseries has yet to be made available through iTunes.

Beginning in January 2011, seasons one through four were also available on the

online streaming

. The miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars is also available from Netflix on DVD. As of February 2, 2014^[update], Hulu offered two of the four seasons on their streaming service as well.

As of August 2023, all four seasons as well as Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars are available on the Peacock streaming platform. They are also continually broadcast on the Farscape channel on Sling TV.

The running order of the first half of the first season on Netflix is different from the DVD release. While there are times when shows are broadcast in a different order from what was intended and they then try to correct many years later for the sake of building up stories and characters, but for continuity, it would seem that the DVD releases are proper as opposed to Netflix. One specific instance is that D'Argo's Qualta blade is transformed as a munitions weapon by the second or third episode from the Netflix release, yet several episodes later, that was revealed for the first time that it had that ability.

Webisodes

On 15 July 2007, it was announced that Farscape would return in ten

Sci-Fi Wire

reported that Brian Henson and Rockne O'Bannon would pen the episodes.

Several news sources have reported that the web series may lead to an on-air revival of the series,^[31] but Sci Fi general manager Dave Howe said that there were no plans to revive the show.^[32] Brian Henson has stated that he hopes the webisodes would lead to a TV sequel.

At the Farscape Convention in November 2007,

Comic-Con International

in San Diego:

They haven't come to me with any specifics yet, and I don't read anything into that. But at Comic-Con, Brian discussed it and said, 'Yeah, we're still figuring it out.' The writers' strike happened immediately after that, ... and a lot of things went on hold, and it will take a little while before a number of things get going again.^[34]

At Comic-Con 2008,^[35] Rockne O'Bannon announced that the ongoing Farscape comic series would tie into the upcoming webisodes. The first comic was scheduled for release in November 2008. On 4 December 2008, O'Bannon told MTV "There's a new character that you'll meet in the very first comic book who ends up a significant player in the webisodes. Villain or hero? I'm not saying!"

On 10 June 2009, Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune announced via Twitter, "Farscape webisodes are 'still in play.' they're still being developed but not yet at script stage."^[36]

At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con,^{[citation needed]} Brian Henson stated that the webisodes were "ready to go" but that they were still looking for financing on the project.

At the 10th Anniversary Farscape Convention in Los Angeles, 2009, Brian Henson again stated that they are still waiting for funding. Ben Browder was asked how the fans could help with funding, and said he wasn't sure what could be done.^{[citation needed]}

The "Final Frelling Farscape Convention", was held on 17 November 2011 at the Marriott LAX hotel in Los Angeles.^[37][38]

Minisodes

The Nerdist Podcast announced in March 2012 that The Nerdist YouTube channel would host re-cut Farscape episodes in the form of minisodes.^{[clarification needed][39]} The first minisode, hosted by Ben Browder, went online on 14 July 2012.^[40]

Literature

Boxtree in the UK and

Keith R.A. DeCandido, Dark Side of the Sun by Andrew Dymond, and Ship of Ghosts by David Bischoff

. A fourth novel was commissioned to be written by DeCandido but did not surface after the show's cancellation.

ISBN 0-7535-0704-8

) covered Farscape's first three seasons exhaustively. Paul Simpson wrote The Illustrated Farscape Companion series for Titan Books, one book per season (Book 1 with David Hughes; Books 2 and 3 with photographer Ruth Thomas) with exclusive official content.

The Creatures of Farscape: Inside Jim Henson's Creature Shop, released in 2004, offered a colorful look inside the famous creature shop that created the stunning array of creatures and make-up effects. It includes previously unseen and behind the scenes images, exclusive contributions from the show's stars and make-up artists, and a foreword by executive producer Brian Henson.

Farscape Forever! Sex, Drugs and Killer Muppets released 28 September 2005; in which Science fiction and fantasy authors analyse several aspects of the TV series. Contributors include Martha Wells on characters Crichton and D'Argo's buddy relationship, P. N. Elrod on the villains she loves to hate, and Justina Robson on sex, pleasure, and feminism. Topics range from a look at how Moya was designed and an examination of vulgarity and bodily functions to a tourist's budget guide to the Farscape universe.

Shortly after season 3 began airing,

Titan Magazines released a Farscape magazine. Available bi-monthly, the magazine was published from April/May 2001 through the 12th issue of April/May 2003. The magazine had a in-depth material, including interviews with the cast and crew, behind the scenes information on many episodes, original fiction (by O'Bannon, DeCandido, Greg Cox, John Kenneth Muir

, and others), and a regular column by David Kemper. There were two versions of the magazine produced each issue, with the only difference being the front cover, and the magazine also had two special issues—a season 3 special (issue 7), and the final issue (issue 12) containing an episode guide for the four seasons to date, as well as sketches for ideas and the Horizons fiction.

"Horizons" fiction

In the final issue of its run, the Farscape magazine published a piece of fiction written by series creator

.

Comics

Wildstorm Productions

During 2002,

produced a two-part Farscape comic entitled "War Torn", with the first part available in April and the second in May. The comics featured two stories, each spanning both issues. "War Torn", the main story, featured the Moya crew becoming ensnared in a war between two planets over a third, and took up roughly three quarters of the comic. "Fourth Horseman – featuring Chiana" was a Chiana-only story as she came across old friends and foes on the run from the Nebari. Both stories seem to have been set during Season 2. The second issue also included a double-page spread of some of the preliminary sketches.

BOOM! Studios

Farscape returned to the comic form in 2008 through a partnership between The Jim Henson Company and

In addition to the main series, BOOM! also published three 4-issue miniseries between April 2009 and March 2010 under the Farscape: Uncharted Tales title. D'Argo's Lament took place during the third season of the television series while D'Argo's Trial and D'Argo's Quest took place between the third and fourth seasons.[43]

Following the conclusion of Uncharted Tales, BOOM! published an 8-issue miniseries titled Farscape: Scorpius from April 2010 through November 2010 which takes place concurrently with the main comic series and ends with a crossover between the two titles.^[44]

The 4-issue story arc series were published in a hardcover format in 2009.^[45] Later stories were published in a softcover format in 2011.^[46]

Games

A video game based on the television series was produced by Red Lemon Studios and released mid-2002 for Microsoft Windows. Set during the first season, the game featured voice acting by the original cast of the television series. Reviews of the game, however, were generally negative, with many reviewers citing poor

A Farscape table-top

Continuation

In February 2014, it was reported that a screenplay for a new Farscape film was in development.[49]^[50] At WonderCon in April 2014, Rockne S. O'Bannon confirmed to Nerdacy^[51] that a Farscape film is in development but in very early stages. In an interview with The Paley Center for Media in late 2017, O'Bannon confirmed that work on a film is still ongoing.^[52]

In August 2018, in an interview by Den of Geek, Brian Henson talked about what's holding up the return of Farscape. "I've been trying really hard with Farscape. And I'm going to keep trying. It's just not quite right still." He added, "It's one of those instances where it's us, the creators, who need to keep working on it. And feeling no: that didn't work that time. No, it's still not quite working. It's really down to us."^[53]

At the 2018 Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge Live!, Brian Henson said:

The fan interest has been huge, but it's a little harder to sell. BUT—I've been trying to make it as a movie for a long time, and everybody is tired—OK I'm tired—of hearing me say that I really want to make a feature film of Farscape. I'm just coming off of making this movie [The Happytime Murders] and it really took all of my attention for 16 months. I'm reconsidering that, and it may be that the movie length is too short to tell the story. So that might mean, I may consider doing something on TV instead. Sort of exactly like what we're doing in London right now with Dark Crystal [The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance].... So there is the potential of doing something like that with Farscape. Honestly? I'm still very enthusiastic about Farscape, and I have been trying to make it into a movie, but I'm not sure I'll be able to succeed.^[54]

See also

• List of Farscape characters

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Farscape.

Look up Appendix:Farscape in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Farscape.

• "Official website". Jim Henson Company. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
• "Official website". Syfy. Archived from the original on 5 December 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
• Farscape at
  IMDb
• "Farscape World". Fan site. 29 April 2011.
• Farscape at
  Curlie
• Conejos, Antonio (14 September 2011). "Analysis of Farscape". Lit React. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)