Tricia Helfer joins the cast of Syfy’s Ascension

Last time I write about Tricia Helfer was back in December when I wrote a piece about her 2014 Acting Outlaws calendar with Katee Sackhoff. Though Tricia is mostly famous for Battlestar Galactica, her frequent guest appearances and voice over work she doesn’t have much planned for on the horizon. A few weeks a interview with Tricia suggested that was about to change and now Syfy channel (cross your fingers) has announced she will have a lead real in their upcoming Science Fiction event series Ascension. The last time I wrote anything remotely optimistic about Syfy Channel was last year when they announced they were going to produce up to a dozen new SF themed series, most news outlets just thought they had been smoking crack. However, things are changing, we have already seen the first season of Helix, we are going to have Dominion from June 19th onwards and 12 monkeys next January. Meanwhile Ascension is slated for a late 2014 release but that might just be the pilot episode as these things do take time to produce. So what is Ascension all about?

Here is the premise…

In 1963, the U.S. government launched a covert space mission sending hundreds of men, women and children on a century-long voyage aboard the starship Ascension to populate a new world. Nearly 50 years into the journey, as they approach the point of no return, the mysterious murder of a young woman causes the ship’s population to question the true nature of their mission.

It sounds to me that this show won’t live by its realism, I think the whole 1963 timeline is far too dodgy! Why not pick 1973 or 1983? Yet there may also be a clue in the timeline…

Meanwhile Tricia Helfer will play the role of Viondra Denniger. The Syfy press release had this to say about the character, “Viondra regards herself as a not-so-secret power broker aboard the Ascension,”. “As the Captain’s wife, Viondra is afforded a position of power and privilege, which she leverages as the Ship’s Chief Steward.”

I wonder if we are going to have any sexism on this show, is there a market for Mad Men On The Moon? Time will tell. Though I am not in love with he premise it does sound bold and original.

Source; http://www.scifistream.com/2014/05/battlestars-tricia-helfer-to-star-in-syfys-space-drama-ascension/