Stargate Atlantis Season Five begins filming

Principal photography on the fifth season of Stargate Atlantis has begun! Today is the first official day of production on the new season of the hit SCI FI Channel series — though the writers and much of the crew have been back at work doing pre-production for several weeks.

Joe Flanigan (“John Sheppard”), Rachel Luttrell (“Teyla Emmagan”), David Hewlett (“Rodney McKay”), and Jason Momoa (“Ronon Dex”) return to their roles this year. Also joining the regular cast is Jewel Staite, who played Dr. Jennifer Keller in a recurring role last season, and former guest star Robert Picardo as Richard Woolsey.

Filming is scheduled to run through September 23 at The Bridge Studios, the Vancouver, British Columbia home of Stargate since 1997. Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie begin their second year as show-runners, and are joined by writer-producers Martin Gero, Carl Binder, and Alan McCullough.

Series creators Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper will also continue to be involved with the series, but are expected to be spending the bulk of their time this year developing the third TV series, Stargate Universe (story).

SCI FI has not yet announced when they plan to begin airing Season Five. Last year was the show’s first fall premiere (specifically, in late September), which is certainly a possibility for Season Five. But since the writer’s strike has interrupted production on the network’s other programming, anything is possible.

Meanwhile, don’t miss the final three episodes of Atlantis‘s fourth season! Stargate Atlantis airs Friday nights at 10 p.m. (9 Central) on SCI FI, and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Sky One in the U.K.