They said a minimum of ten, but it ended up being twelve or thirteen. The year before it meant I was able to shoot some stuff here and especially spend more time with my family instead of constantly going backwards and forwards. In year six, Joss had said very specifically after I had left that he was going to bring me back a couple of times, for things like the wedding. He called me and said, "Do you mind very much if I don�t bring you back until right at the end, because it would be more valued". I think he was right � I made a really great entrance, to disappear for that many shows and then kick butt � briefly.

I was very flattered that Joss went on record to say that he�d underestimated my part in the show and I was missed. So it would have been churlish to say, �No, I�m not coming back,�. As it happened, my involvement in season seven happened in chunks, so I was able to spend a lot more time here. I was pretty much able to fly back between each episode, so I was getting back once every two weeks, sometimes less. I�d shoot two days on an episode and then they would let me go, so I could come home, so that was fantastic. When I was a regular, it was that much harder � getting back once every month and a half or so. There was a very different feeling about the whole thing.