Without reality television, he notes, US scripted dramas would not have been forced to explode the medical/police/legal paradigm which had defined scripted programming for decades.

"I'm one of the few actors in the world that rejoices in the creation of reality television," Bowler says. "I think reality television is the best thing that has happened since drama. The reason is because we were all sitting on our bums congratulating ourselves, before reality television. We would be putting out the same television shows again and again.

"How many hospital dramas did you grow up [watching] again and again?" he adds. "How many cop shows again and again? When reality television showed up, audiences would fly to reality instead of drama for one reason only – no matter how mundane [it was], it was still a surprise on screen. Whereas, with us, we stopped giving them surprises long ago."

The net effect, he observes, is a blending of genres and a deconstruction of scripted programming which has truly reinvented​ television. It is a sentiment which is often expressed by defining the current generation of US scripts dramas as "the golden age of television."

In the case of Defiance, he says, it harkens back to a simpler interpretation of genre.

Just as True Detective is pure detective show, and seems inventive as it comes in the wake of overly tricked up detective shows, Defiance is a return to the purest form of science fiction: a Gene Roddenberry "western in space", as went the pitch that put the iconic Star Trek onto TV screens in the 1960s.

"The western evolved from wanting to bend the stereotypes, the western came with the evolution of the gangster," Bowler says, nothing that his two favourite science fiction properties are Blade Runner and Star Wars, both of which are heavily influenced by the western. "I think both of those narratives go really well with sci-fi and both have very complex moral ideas," he adds.

Defiance is set on a future Earth, where interaction between humans and a collection of alien races known as the Votans​, has left the planet radically altered. A disaster unleashed alien terra-forming technology which altered local fauna, and was the catalyst for a catastrophic war.

The series takes place roughly 15 years after an armistice, and is set in a classic space-western town, Defiance, where aliens and humans co-exist and Joshua Nolan (Bowler) serves as lawmaker.

Filming the third season, says Bowler, was a game changer in that unlike the show's preceding seasons, it was filmed entirely in the Toronto winter. That meant not just harsh snow and wind, but even lower temperatures where snowfall is replaced by eerie, truly freezing clear days.

"On a day to day physical level it's been horrible," Bowler declares. "It was the coldest February ever. It was -25 degrees regularly and terrible. I remember one day there was snow actually coming up hill because the wind was blowing that hard. You really wanted to give up all hope."

But, he adds, from the perspective of visual storytelling, it has been "fantastic".

"From the first shot in season three you understand that if you leave this town, you are going to die. When you walk through the nets, there is nothing and you will be dead within a day. When you see these characters out in the open, you can't help but want to get under the covers. You really fear for people's safety. It's given us this very strong post-apocalyptic landscape."

Central to the story of Defiance is Nolan's relationship with his adopted Irathient​ daughter Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas). Tribal in nature, Irathients​ are the most common Votan race living on Earth.

"I have a daughter ... so playing that father-daughter relationship is key to me," Bowler says. "Season two was difficult for us because it was all about conflict and separation. Season three has been wonderful. It's the season where everything has become clear. The relationship is fantastic and has changed and it is two-sided. In season one he was parenting her, and season two she was just an angry adolescent. Season three is a very well-balanced and mature relationship."

To understand the popularity of science fiction shows in general terms, and Defiance in particular, Bowler believes we must look at how comfortable we are with self-examination as a society. "This is just one man's opinion, but I think when the world is at peace, we have the tolerance to examine ourselves closely and tell stories that are a lot more intimate," he says.

"The more uncomfortable we are as a culture, the further away we go from our narratives from day-to-day life," Bowler adds. "I think the world has been in a lot of conflict, and a lot of fear, for over a decade and therefore there are a lot of aliens, vampires and werewolves because when we go home and turn on the television, we still want to be entertained and challenged but not to the extent where we get terrified in our own living rooms."

The next step, he notes, is "another era like the '50s where we will get this sense of false security, and we will be all over ourselves and examining ourselves very closely."

Defiance, Syfy, Saturday, 9.30pm.