- Location
- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
Mod note:
Parallel threads merged.
Parallel threads merged.
RIP Walter Koenig
- Thread starter postman
- Start date
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cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
I think that was one of the best roles in the entire series
Yellow Fang
Squire
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds
Wash your mouth out with soap and water.
Yellow Fang
Squire
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds
Boo, not the news you want to open up Cycle Chat to. He was one of the original crew, although I think he started to appear in series 2. Sulu was Japanese, one of America"s WW2 enemies. Checkov was Russian, America's Cold War enemy. Uhuru was a black woman, a doubly discriminated against citizen. It was all supposed to symbolise progress. I cannot remember if Checkov had a special skill. Sulu's was fencing and Uhuru's was singing.
Profpointy
Legendary Member
He was genuinely fabulous as Bester in Bab 5. Not to take anything away from his better know role in Star trek
cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
Just seen a post on Facebook from Babylon 5 creator saying the 1 st appearance of Bester was 4 weeks after he had heart surgery and he still pulled off a great performance.
matticus
Guru
He had an extremely convincing Russian accent (some say even better than Ssssshean Connery's)
n.b. he was born in Chicago.
fritz katzenjammer
Der Ubergrosserbudgie
- Location
- Retired to a life of bicycles
You just had to didn’t you… Trouble maker
- Location
- Inside my skull
I was reading JMS's tribute to him yesterday and hadnt heard this story before, but originally Walter wasnt meant to be Bester, he was written in to be a one off character called Knight One in one of B5s first seasons very early episodes, but Walter had a heart attack and needed a quadruple bypass, and they couldnt change the filming schedule, and so went on to film the episode with Christopher Neame as Knight Two instead.
JMS still wanted to work with Walter though, so he told him to just recover and there would be still be a guest role for him in the show, and he created the role of Bester for him.
But it was only meant again to be a one off appearance, but he was so impressed with what Walter did in the episode, almost completely playing it against the type of standard villain of the week trope of the time, he realised Walter needed to be a special guest star recurring role, and it was only the shows limited budget that meant ultimately he appeared in just a total of 12 episodes, though they made sure to maximise his presence as the looming threat to the stories, even when he wasnt appearing on screen.
JMS still wanted to work with Walter though, so he told him to just recover and there would be still be a guest role for him in the show, and he created the role of Bester for him.
But it was only meant again to be a one off appearance, but he was so impressed with what Walter did in the episode, almost completely playing it against the type of standard villain of the week trope of the time, he realised Walter needed to be a special guest star recurring role, and it was only the shows limited budget that meant ultimately he appeared in just a total of 12 episodes, though they made sure to maximise his presence as the looming threat to the stories, even when he wasnt appearing on screen.
Mad Doug Biker
Mediocrity Manifest.
- Location
- Craggy Island
And now Patrick Stewart... Who next? 🤔
