Carson Beckett
Carson Beckett is a male television character who features in Stargate.
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Biography
Carson Beckett was a male human born in the modern age on Earth where he was a native to Scotland. (SGA: Poisoning The Well)
He came to be recruited to the research expedition that gathered to study the Ancient ruins in the Antarctic. (SGA: Rising, Part 1)
After making contact with the Hoffans, the Atlantis Expedition came to volunteer the services of Dr. Beckett to study their attempts at creating an immunity to Wraith feeding. Travelling to Hoff, he met the Hoffan's scientist scientist Perna where Beckett found that their century long research was viable. It was based on the discovery of a Hoffan human that possessed a special gene that seemingly made him immune to feeding with their people having spent decades in attempting to replicate it. The Hoffans though were more primitive than the Atlantis Expedition with Beckett looking to provide assistance on the project. (SGA: Poisoning The Well)
When an Ancient nanovirus was released from the Nanite lab, he was called in to discover the cause of the deaths of Dr. Wagner and Dr. Johnson. He ordered his pathologist, Dr. Biro, to autopsy the bodies. She discovered that they both died of a ruptured saccular brain aneurysm just above the visual cortex. He and Dr. Rodney McKay then discovered that the virus was actually nanites. Fortunately, Major John Sheppard was able to overload a Naquadah generator, causing an electromagnetic pulse, which deactivated the nanites. (SGA: Hot Zone) When Major John Sheppard brought Chaya Sar to Atlantis, he did a full examination of her and found that she was in perfect health. He was suspicious as she was far too healthy for her society's level of advancement. (SGA: Sanctuary) While searching Atlantis, Major John Sheppard's team found a room with a women preserved in a Stasis pod. He argued against reviving her as she was near death but was overruled by Dr. Elizabeth Weir. After reviving her it is discovered that she is an alternate Dr. Elizabeth Weir. She explained that in her timeline he drowned helping people evacuate to the Jumper bay. (SGA: Before I Sleep) When a Wraith Dart was detected heading toward Atlantis, he and Sgt. Bates piloted a Puddle Jumper to take it down, but it self-destructed before Carson was able to get a clear shot. (SGA: The Brotherhood) When the expedition was preparing to send a message back to Stargate Command, he recorded a personal message to his mother. This proved difficult for him as he became choked up on several occasions. (SGA: Letters from Pegasus) After Teyla Emmagan discovered a hidden Wraith lab and retrieved a Wraith data storage device, he discovered that Teyla has Wraith DNA in her genetic makeup. He later helped her connect with a Wraith on the approaching Hive ships and they discovered the Wraith were attempting to get to Earth. (SGA: The Gift)
When Sgt. Bates was attacked by 'Bob', he did a forensics exam on his body and clothes and determined the DNA on his uniform was Wraith. He also placed Bates in a medically induced coma. (SGA: The Siege, Part 1) During the Battle of Atlantis, he was sent to the Control chair to activate it after the Mark II Naquadah generator was tied into its power supply. He also inoculated the team sent from Stargate Command with the Ancient Technology Activation gene therapy. (SGA: The Siege, Part 2) After Lt. Aiden Ford was found in the ocean, he discovered that he had received a massive dose of the Wraith enzyme and was going to suffer from withdrawal. He harvested enzyme from the Wraith bodies in the morgue and tried to wean him off gradually. Unfortunately, Ford escaped with all the enzyme. After a plan was devised to cloak the city, he watched over Teyla Emmagan as she sent a message to the Wraith. (SGA: The Siege, Part 3) He later went back to Earth through the gate with the senior staff to select additional members for the medical staff of the expedition. When he raised concerns that some of the recruits seemed more skilled than he was, he was reassured by the fact that Dr. Elizabeth Weir believed he was irreplaceable. On the trip back to Atlantis on the Daedalus, he determined the Dr. Monroe died from electrocution. (SGA: The Intruder) Beckett examined the body of the Wraith that Major Evan Lorne and Dr. Parrish found on P3M-736. He discovered the enzyme sack had been removed. Lt. Colonel John Sheppard recognized that Lt. Aiden Ford was responsible and took his team and Lorne's team to the planet to search for him. When Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan were captured, he traveled to P3M-736 to remove the Wraith tracking device from Ronon Dex. (SGA: Runner)
Earlier, Michael had held Carson prisoner where he was later released by Teyla Emmagan. However, Michael took some cells from Beckett and escaped to a hideout of his own, where he created the clone. With the creation, Beckett believed that he was still captured. Michael made his clone so that he could help upgrade the Hoffan drug. Beckett refused to help. However, Michael brought in a young woman no more than 20 years old and killed her right in front of Carson. With Michael's promise that he would kill one person in front of him every day until he'd help, Carson immediately co-operated. For two years, he worked to minimize the mortality rate of the Hoffan drug to 30%, but still remained hopeful that his people would eventually find him. (SGA: The Kindred, Part 2) He was eventually found in 2008, by Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team, unintentionally, because the real Beckett was killed in an explosion a year previously. (SGA: Sunday) Dr. Jennifer Keller discovered that the Beckett they discovered was a clone, since the Telomeres had shortened from the man of his age. They also learned that his cells were degenerating, and could die. His first sign was that he fainted during an operation to save Nabel Golan's life. Beckett learned that he would have died long ago, but didn't because Michael created a serum that eliminated his degeneration. He still insisted on helping, as he knew where the Athosians were held, as well as a pregnant Teyla, who was captured for Michael's purposes. He managed to have arrived on the planet in question, with a few teams. Beckett found Teyla and killed both of her guards. However, he was later stunned by Michael, who he could not shoot because Michael made all his creations obey him. After returning to Atlantis, they had to put him in a stasis pod, so that they can find a way to save his life. (SGA: The Kindred, Part 2)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Carson Beckett was a human male of Scottish descent with a fair complexion and a soft, approachable countenance. He possessed a stocky yet unassuming build and dark, short-cropped hair that was beginning to thin slightly at the crown. His face was characterized by kind, expressive eyes and a frequent look of trepidation that softened his sharp features. As part of the Atlantis Expedition, he wore the standard uniform of a medical officer: a dark grey jacket with distinct yellow panels on the shoulders to denote his department. (SGA: Rising)
He thought of his home in Scotland as being a beautiful place. (SGA: Poisoning The Well)
His personality in this first outing was defined by a reluctant sense of duty and a deeply ingrained, nervous caution. Despite being the brilliant geneticist who discovered the Ancient Technology Activation (ATA) gene, he was visibly terrified of the technology itself, famously hesitating to sit in the Ancient control chair for fear of accidentally causing a catastrophe. He possessed a gentle, compassionate heart that often clashed with the high-stakes military environment of the expedition, expressing his anxieties through a witty, self-deprecating Scottish humor. While others saw the adventure of the Pegasus Galaxy, Beckett saw the 'bloody insanity' of dematerializing in a wormhole, yet he remained steadfast in his commitment to the team's well-being. This version of Beckett was not a daring explorer but a devoted man of medicine who allowed his loyalty to his colleagues to override his own significant fears. (SGA: Rising)
Preferring to work from the infirmary, Beckett despises Stargate travel, describing the process as 'bloody insanity' and only rarely goes on missions with Atlantis Reconnaissance 1 when his medic skills are needed. This quirk eventually died away to the point where he was regularly going off world to help the Pegasus peoples afflicted with the Hoffan Drug. He is also frequently nervous when utilizing Lantean weapons technology e.g. the Control chair and flying Puddle Jumpers.
Carson was shown to be attracted to the Hoff scientist Perna and was saddened when she died as a result of the experimental Hoffan drug that killed her. (SGA: Poisoning The Well)
Beckett admitted to be somewhat infatuated with Lt. Laura Cadman, who at the time was trapped in McKay's consciousness. When Cadman learnt of this, she shared a passionate kiss with Beckett through McKay's body. (SGA: Duet)
Powers and abilities
His body contained the ATA gene that allowed him to access Ancient technology though he lacked the instinctual control over it. (SGA: Rising, Part 1)
Michael used cells taken from his body to make a clone of Beckett that survived the death of the original with all his memories intact. The hybrid Wraith had also instilled a genetic imperative that prevented Carson from harming Michael who had done a similar command in all his creations. (SGA: The Kindred, Part 2)
Notes
- Carson Beckett was created by Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright where he was portrayed by actor Paul McGillion where he featured in the setting of the Stargate universe.
- Paul McGillion previously played a young Ernest Littlefield in the Stargate SG-1 episode "The Torment of Tantalus".
In other media
Novels
Appearances
- Stargate: Atlantis:
External Links
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