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Stargate has had its share of popular characters in various films and series, from SG-1 Samantha Carter and Jack O’Neil, Rodney McKay Atlantis, Ronald Greer in Universeand honestly, countless others, but none quite like the bureaucratic Richard Woolsey, who went from being annoying in one episode to being a hero as a team leader. He plays Star Trek: Voyager’s Robert Picardo, fans actually have another series to thank for bringing him into the franchise: Outer limits. If not for the sci-fi anthology series filming so close Stargate SG-1 home studio in Vancouver, Picardo would never be part of another successful sci-fi franchise.
A one-off skin for the series leader
Outer limitsscience fiction version Twilight Zonefirst aired in 1963 but returned for an extended run in 1995 and ended in 2002. Stargate SG-1 shooting schedule allowed Robert Picardo take a quick trip to the studio while filming an episode of Sarcophagus, in which he plays a man who looks to the financial value of a rare alien discovery to justify betrayal. It’s also different from his role as Woolsey, which has more to do with his performance as The Doctor on Voyager.
Even though the Doctor has settled into a very different character after several seasons of personal growth and plenty of episodes dealing with the ethics and rights of his existence as a hologram, if you watched Richard Woolsey’s debut, you’d never think years later that Robert Picardo would return as the leader Stargate: Atlantis expedition. Woolsey was brought back several times during SG-1’s run to be an intentionally annoying bump in the road for the team and a recurring annoyance for viewers. As Picardo said in an interview with Gateworld in 2008, he “basically came across as a conflicted character.”
Evolution of Woolsey
Richard Woolsey’s second appearance in “The Inauguration” brought an important change to the character by adding a new dimension, as described by Robert Picardo himself. Stargate SG-1 episode, “started the rehabilitation of Woolsey’s character by showing that he really meant well and had a passion for the importance of having civilian oversight of covert military operations.” This was an important moment for the character and planted the seeds for how the character would grow , though surprisingly, he stayed true to himself throughout the rest of his performances. Only the world around him has changed.
By time Stargate: Atlantis after Amanda Tapping’s decision to leave, she was going through a very short list of potential stars to replace her, with Robert Picard at the top, which proved to be a moment of brilliance. From a bureaucrat questioning the need for the SG-1 program to a leader who understands it’s okay to throw out the book for the good of the men and women under his command. Woolsey, who violates several security protocols in “The Seed,” is a long way from his first appearance in “Heroes, Part 2,” and legions of Stargate fans wouldn’t have it any other way, all because Outer limits and Stargate SG-1 both filmed in Vancouver.
