A ten-episode web series called Stargate Origins ran for six weeks in 2018, with each installment lasting ten minutes. Its purpose is to serve as a link between the 1994 film and the television series that came after it. The story centers on Catherine Langford as a young woman in 1939, the child of the person who found the Stargate at Giza in 1928. She travels through the portal to rescue her father, and the show’s construction is meant to establish the lore that viewers recognize from subsequent installments.
It is not a great bridge.
Trailer, via Stargate Command.
The Six-Week Schedule
The show first appeared on February 15, 2018, with its opening trio of episodes landing on MGM’s Stargate Command subscription service. The next four installments followed at intervals, and the final three wrapped up on March 8, 2018. This pacing is noteworthy for treating the series as a weekly event rather than a single sitting, so viewers had to wait through six weeks of content before reaching the conclusion.
The runtime is brief, at ten minutes per episode, which means there’s no wasted time. However, the format also doesn’t allow for much depth. The pacing stays brisk throughout, and the story goes from setup to payoff inside the allotted runtime.
The Story, From Start To Finish
Catherine Langford and her father examine the gate at a warehouse near Giza in 1938. A high-ranking Nazi officer arrives with his team and takes them hostage. He reveals that he knows how to use the gate and forces Professor Langford to go through it with them. Catherine overpowers her guard and seeks the help of her friends Captain James Beal and Wasif, an Egyptian serving in the British army, convincing them to go through the gate with her to rescue her father.
The travelers reach a temple on the desert planet Abydos, which falls under the rule of Aset, a deity brought back from death by Ra but now turning against his former master. Before they can speak with a young local man named Kasuf, they must face a female guard named Serqet. Catherine then attempts to use the Stargate to leave the planet, yet she discovers her dial-up device is missing the correct sequence of symbols.
The Nazi officer shows Aset a propaganda film and makes a deal with her that he will take powerful metal, named Naquadah, back to Earth in exchange for thousands of slaves, “undesirables” to the Nazi regime, for her fight to overthrow Ra. Aset alienates the local tribesmen, her faithful servants, and demands one of them fight the Nazi officer’s soldier to death to “prove their worth.” After the soldier is close to defeat, the Nazi officer kills him and the local man fighting him, which causes the officer’s camera operator to question the morality of her boss.
The native tribesmen befriend Catherine and take her to a secret cave where they reveal the symbols that open the Stargate from that side. Langford, serving as interpreter, encourages Aset to break with the Nazi officer, who is killed by the camera operator. Feeling sorry for Langford and Catherine, Aset erases their memories. She also brainwashes Kasuf to re…
The trouble comes at the end. The show builds a strong central fight — Catherine working to save her father while the Nazi officer pushes Aset to gather Naquadah and slaves — and then ends it in a hurry that leaves the viewer wanting more. The memory wipe and the mind control of Kasuf close off storylines that had been developing across all ten episodes, without giving them the payoff they deserved.
The Cast
Catherine Langford is played by Ellie Gall, who takes the lead role. The Nazi officer, a high-ranking occultist serving as the main antagonist, is portrayed by Aylam Orian. Philip Alexander appears as Captain James Beal, a British officer posted in Egypt. Shvan Aladdin portrays Wasif, a native Egyptian and a lieutenant in the British army. Connor Trinneer plays Professor Paul Langford, Catherine’s father and the man who discovered the Stargate during a dig at Giza.
Every performer turns in a strong turn here, yet the script keeps everyone confined. Gall shoulders the film’s emotional burden, while Orian conveys the menace of the Nazi officer with real force. The ten-minute format, however, leaves both performances feeling cramped rather than fully realized.
What Works
Both the Egyptian warehouse and the desert temple on Abydos carry a sense of place that feels real and distinct, and the visual effects remain convincing within the modest budget of a web series. The production design succeeds at creating two settings that feel inhabited and separate from one another. The series also establishes the political situation of 1939 effectively, with the Nazi officer’s allegiance shaping his behavior throughout.
A ten-minute format demands a focus that a longer series could easily lose. Every beat must land without delay, and the show seldom spends time on explanation. This insistence on brevity is a strength, even though it restricts how much can occur within those confines.
What Doesn’t Work
There’s a real problem with how fast the story moves along. In the middle part, it keeps going back over earlier scenes, which stops the whole thing from flowing smoothly.
The ending is where the film falls apart. The memory wipe and the mind control of Kasuf resolve storylines that had been developing across all ten episodes. A moral question about the Nazi officer’s camera operator is raised early on, yet the film answers it in a way that feels rushed instead of satisfying. Viewers are left wondering what became of Kasuf and whether the memory wipe was truly permanent, but the movie offers no answers.
The tone problem comes from the show’s attempt to be a prequel to the 1994 film and its sequel series while failing to capture their humor and lightness. Catherine is a teenager, and the series tries to treat her as a serious adventurer, yet the writing does not always hit the right balance between her age and her skill. This results in a protagonist who sometimes feels too mature for her situation and at other times feels too inexperienced to handle the demands of the story.
The Feature Cut
Once the show concluded, all the episodes were joined together into a single, uninterrupted film that runs 104 minutes long. It is called Stargate Origins: Catherine, a “Feature Cut”. It came out on June 19, 2018, through digital retail channels worldwide. As a complete feature, it presents the story more coherently than the separate episodes ever did, which were originally meant to be watched week by week instead of as one continuous tale.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| February 15, 2018 | First three episodes premiere |
| March 8, 2018 | Last three episodes conclude |
| June 19, 2018 | Feature Cut released digitally |
The Final Word
The mythology gets built well and the characters get established, which makes Stargate Origins a capable addition to the series. However, the film falls short when it comes to wrapping things up. The memory wipe and the brainwashing of Kasuf come on too fast and leave the story hanging open-ended.
For viewers already familiar with the franchise, this series offers a worthwhile look at where the characters came from, yet newcomers might find the pacing and tone difficult to sit through. The show delivers a solid piece of work, but it does not reach greatness.
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