Scott Bakula (Jonathan Archer) recently revealed Enterprise's first season saw some creative disagreement between the show's producers and Paramount studio heads.

"There was a certain... not difference of opinion, but an urging by the studio to have a more active kind of series at times than the producers wanted," Bakula revealed to SFX Magazine's Ed Gross (via the Great Link, when asked about rumours of studio discord. "[Some] of Brannon's favourite episodes and mine were less about the techno stuff and the physical activity, and more about the characters."

"I think the first year was more towards the physical stuff than they had been doing [on Voyager]," Bakula continued. "Yet I think with this cast we have an opportunity to have a really great balance. Everybody's anxious to get in there, get dirty and do some action and physical stuff, of course. At the same time, the writers are a talented bunch, in that they can do the character work and even the comedy stuff if it's required. It was a great discovery to wander in and find all those people able to do all that good work."

Bakula hoped future seasons will feature more Enterprise episodes dealing with large-scale concepts such as over-population, genocide and racism, as already happened in one of the star's favourite episodes of last year, 'Detained'. "And that's something we're only just beginning to explore, When they did it, they did it well, and that's the purity of [the Original Series]. You know, the whole notion of what Star Trek is - believing in the goodness of humanity. I just felt like we got into that several times and that it came off very well. I'm excited to get more of these kinds of stories."

For the immediate future, Bakula first expected to see more adventure on the show. "We're in a huge dilemma [after 'Shockwave, Part One'], I'm curious to see how they're going to get us out of that situation. But I'm hoping that we don't have a year of big change. There are a lot of sustainable ideas that were begun in the first year that I hope we don't run away from too quickly. I hope that we continue to keep the kind of fresh, eyes-wide-open adventure that we've got going. And I certainly hope that the relationships will continue to deepen. I'm looking for a lot more camaraderie with the crew and, maybe, some more Earth stuff, which we haven't done enough of. I'm excited. They kept surprising me this year - and that's the best way to be."

Much more from Bakula, including his praise for the 'Shockwave' script, the evolution of Captain Archer, and the camaraderie between the cast, can be found in the August 2002 issue of SFX Magazine, available in the United Kingdom now. Alternatively, a transcript is also available at the Great Link.

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