Gina Holden Offers a Preview of Flash Gordon

Gina Holden, in an interview promoting her latest film, Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem, let SCI FI Wire know that big things are in store for Flash Gordon when the show returns to the air January 4, 2008 with the episode "Thicker Than Blood."

Holden, who plays Dale Arden, Flash's ex-girlfriend explained that Flash Gordon was not affected by the writer's strike, since the writers completed enough scripts for a full season. "We're lucky, actually," Holden said. "I think because of the timing and because they knew it was coming, they got everything in by the deadline. And just from a selfish point of view, I was like, 'Ooh, I don't want to stop. I want to see how it ends.' I didn't want to just kind of stop and have to come back and start again, because we're on such a roll and have this whole thing in motion. I would have been very disappointed if we would have had to stop until [the strike] was resolved because I'm a fan, too, of the show, and I want to see what happens." Holden says that she and the rest of the cast are currently filming episodes 21 and 22 in Vancouver.

So, what lies in store for Flash and company? Well, it begins with a new character. "We have a new character, Terek [Craig Stanghetta], and he's somebody who is going to be very helpful in terms of dealing with Ming and a lot of the issues that are going on on Mongo," Holden says. "So he and Flash end up teaming up a little and, of course, it's with the rest of the team, with Team Flash, as we call ourselves."

Holden adds, "This new character, Terek, is really quite interesting and we all band together for some really big action and some really interesting twists and turns. We leave everything on quite a cliffhanger. We leave a lot out there."

Flash Gordon is a re-interpretation of the classic comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond and first published in 1934, which has since been translated into film serials, full-length feature films, cartoons, radio plays, comic books, novelizations and television series. Although Flash, his friends, companions and enemies have been re-interpreted with each new re-telling, Flash has consistently been an Earthman who fights against the evil forces of Mongo and its ruler, Ming. Along the way, he has his companions Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov, and in most interpretations, he makes allies from Mongo as well.

Flash Gordon premiered on the Sci-Fi channel on August 10, 2007. It stars Eric Johnson as Flash, Gina Holden as Dale Arden, Jody Racicot as Zarkov, and John Ralston as Ming.