Stargate Atlantis is an American-Canadian science fiction television series, part of the Stargate franchise owned by MGM, which follows the adventures of a human expedition to the lost city of Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy.
Developed by longtime SG-1 producers Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, it is a spin-off from the television series Stargate SG-1. It was filmed and produced in Canada.
The series originally aired in the USA on the Sci Fi Channel from 16 July, 2004 to 9 January, 2009. There are 100 hour-long episodes in five seasons.
Stargate Atlantis originally aired in South Africa on DStv's actionX (now M-Net Action) channel from 17 February, 2005 to 4 November, 2009. It later aired on TopTV's Fox FX channel. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 5 premiered on Fox FX on Sunday 8 July 2012, at 18h15. New episodes broadcast daily, seven days a week. There are 20 episodes in the fifth and final season.
Synopsis
A secret group of scientists have discovered the location of the famous lost city of Atlantis - but it's not on Earth. It's located in another galaxy altogether, the Pegasus galaxy.
Stargate Atlantis, a spin-off from the highly successful Stargate SG-1 series, follows a multinational scientific and military group, lead by Diplomat Dr. Elizabeth Weir, headed on a one way trip to Atlantis.
Their mission: to investigate the secrets of Atlantis, a city now known to have been built by ancient powerful beings, and bring whatever they discover back to Earth.
They will be all on their own, with no means to return, with no means of rescue or support, unless they can find the technology they need in Atlantis to return them to Earth.
Once in Atlantis, the group finds the city abandoned; asleep for tens of thousands of years, and no power source left for a return home.
They must find a power source within Atlantis' own Pegasus galaxy using the same stargate system that got them there or they will be stranded forever.
On the first planet they visit, they accidentally waken a new, powerful, and more evil enemy than human kind has ever faced, the Wraith. And the Wraith are hungry – for humans...
Follow the extraordinary adventures of an SGA team lead by Major John Sheppard and his team made up by his second in command Lt. Aiden Ford and the Astrophysicist/Scientist Dr. Rodney McKay.
The team is befriended by Pegasus galaxy native Teyla Emmagan, a beautiful young leader among the Athosian people, with whom the Atlantis team has forged an uneasy alliance against the Wraith.
Rounding out Team Atlantis are Ronon Dex, a human native to the Pegasus galaxy who has fought the Wraith for seven years in defence of his planet; and, from Earth, Col. Steven Caldwell, the commander of Earth's newest intergalactic battle cruiser, the Daedalus.
Seasons
Note: actionX became M-Net Action in 2007
Season 1 (20 episodes)
Channel: actionX | Premiere: 17 Feb 2005 | Finale: 30 Jun 2005 | Thursdays, 18h00
Channel: Fox FX | Premiere: 22 Jun 2011 | Finale: 11 Jul 2011 | Daily, 17h30
Season 2 (20 episodes)
Channel: actionX | Premiere: 19 Apr 2006 | Finale: 30 Aug 2006 | Wednesdays, 22h00
Channel: Fox FX | Premiere: 12 Jul 2011 | Finale: 31 Jul 2011 | Daily, 17h30
Season 3 (20 episodes)
Channel: actionX | Premiere: 29 Nov 2006 | Finale: 11 Apr 2007 | Wednesdays, 20h00
Channel: Fox FX | Premiere: 1 Aug 2011 | Finale: 20 Aug 2011 | Daily, 18h15
Season 4 (20 episodes)
Channel: M-Net Action | Premiere: 28 Nov 2007 | Finale: 9 Apr 2008 | Wednesdays, 20h00
Channel: Fox FX | Premiere: 18 Jun 2012 | Finale: 7 Jul 2012 | Daily, 18h15
Season 5 (20 episodes)
Channel: M-Net Action | Premiere: 24 Jun 2009 | Finale: 4 Nov 2009 | Wednesdays, 18h00
Channel: Fox FX | Premiere: 8 Jul 2012 | Finale: 27 Jul 2012 | Daily, 18h15