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Battlestar Galactica (reimagining)

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This article is about the 2003 miniseries and subsequent television series; for other versions, see Battlestar Galactica (disambiguation).
File:BattlestarGalactica2003.jpg
The cover from the North American DVD release of the miniseries. Shown are (left to right) President Laura Roslin, Commander William Adama, Number Six, Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama, and Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace.

Battlestar Galactica is a science fiction miniseries which was first broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel on December 8, 2003. It spawned a regular television series which premiered on Sky One on October 18, 2004.

This new series was promoted as a "re-imagining" of the Universal Studios late-1970s movie and television series Battlestar Galactica. It is not simply a remake of the original but a new direction taken from the same original premise, analogous to a "reboot" in comic books.

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The new series departs from the original in several respects, most notably in the recasting of several key characters from male to female, and the introduction of the notion that the Cylons, the robotic enemies of the humans, were actually created by the humans (as opposed to being an alien race in the original series), had rebelled and were exiled, and had evolved into a race of highly sophisticated beings. There are twelve Cylon models, which in addition to the Cylon soldiers include humanoid 'models' that very closely mimic a complete human down to the cellular level. The look of the new series also benefits from recent advances in computer-generated imaging and digital special effects.

Although purists from the original series' fandom loudly disapproved of changes to the premise, the show was the highest-rated cable miniseries of 2003. In fact, it has been the highest rated original program in the Sci Fi Channel's history. Its strong audience draw was enough to prompt the channel to commission a new ongoing television series, the first episode of which drew an estimated 850,000 viewers — a 5% multichannel viewer share — on its world premiere on Sky One in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the miniseries and the subsequent weekly series have enjoyed general critical acclaim as being superior to the original, and in the tradition of science fiction series such as Star Trek, the writers use science fiction to examine contemporary social, moral and ethical issues in allegory. Viewers in the United States would not see the first season of the series until January, 2005. The second season of the series debuted on July 15, 2005 on the Sci-Fi Channel in the United States.

Reimagining

Previous efforts to remake or continue the story of Battlestar Galactica by Tom DeSanto, Bryan Singer, and original series star Richard Hatch have mainly involved using the original cast, or at least the original characters and plot. None of these projects proceeded beyond the developmental stage.

Ronald D. Moore, executive producer and screenwriter of the new Battlestar Galactica, was previously credited with bringing darker story arcs to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the 1990s. Of Battlestar Galactica, he wrote in February 2003: "Here lies a slumbering giant, its name known to many, its voice remembered by but a few. For a brief moment, it strode the Earth, telling tall tales of things that never were, then stumbled over a rating point and fell into a deep sleep." He tackled the remake with realism in mind, and intended to portray the show's heroes as being part of "flawed" humanity. Examples of this include Commander Adama and his son harboring resentment towards each other, Colonel Tigh being an alcoholic, a hulking battlestar prone to problems and outside sabotage, muted special effects shots lacking unscientific sounds commonplace in TV and movie sci-fi, comparatively realistic Newtonian physics, and the use of bullets and missiles instead of energy weapons such as lasers.

Differences from the 1978 series

Changes from the original series include:

  • The Cylons are now a creation of the humans. They rebelled against their creators during a war which ended forty years ago, formed their own civilization, broke off all contact with the humans and are now resuming the same genocidal conflict after an extended truce.
  • Cylon soldiers are significantly different from the "classic" Centurion design. These new units are faster, streamlined, more agile, and have built-in weaponry.
  • Cylon Raiders (small attack craft) are no longer manned by a crew of three Cylon Centurions. Instead the crafts themselves are a cybernetic organism.
  • There are now twelve Cylon models, some biologically and virtually identical to humans, designed as stealth units for the purpose of infiltration to the point where some units don't even know they are Cylons. So convincing are the stealth units that they can associate with humans even at an intimate emotional and sexual level.
Main article: Cylon (Battlestar_Galactica)
  • Dr. Gaius Baltar, now a scientist instead of a colonial leader, was tricked into betraying humanity. He now helps the refugee fleet as a valued scientific advisor, and he desires to help. Number Six, Baltar's lover on Caprica, appears to him throughout the series. In the miniseries, Baltar initially believes he's hallucinating, but Six explains that she put a chip in his brain so she could stay with him even after the destruction of Caprica.
  • Instead of being the flagship, albeit generations old, of the colonial forces, the Galactica, is the last of its kind still in operation. Slated for decommissioning and conversion to a museum when the story begins, it survives the Cylon onslaught due to its reliance on older technology. This is largely due to Commander Adama's insistence that there be no computer networks installed on the Galactica, and that all communications on board be conducted using old-fashioned wired telephones, so that the Cylons can not infiltrate the ships computers.
  • Physically, the Galactica is far more clearly designed for combat. She has heavy armor plating covering structural ribs and water tanks under the plating to absorb kinetic damage from missiles or harmful radiation from kiloton nuclear-tipped Cylon missiles. The command centre is much better protected, being located deep inside the ship, rather than exposed on the outside as in the case of Star Trek's USS Enterprise.
  • Operations have become more militaristic on the reimagined Galactica. Unlike the original, many new details are taken directly from present-day aircraft carrier operations, such as standard operating procedures, combat air patrols, and the term "CAG" for the Galactica's command Viper pilot. The original, by contrast, was extremely unmilitary in its operations.
  • The original Galactica costumes appeared to be a blend of World War II uniforms, disco fashions, and retro-futuristic attire. The original colonial emblem on the uniforms was the symbol currently used by U.S. Army military intelligence officers with the interior of the rose petals colored in blue. The current costuming strongly resembles contemporary fashions, as does some of the technology.
  • The new series has a deliberate "retro-tech" look, and there are no sophisticated computer systems or energy weapons -- soldiers carry rifles, the fighters of both sides fire projectiles, and communications often take place on personal wired telephones.
  • Most of the strange dialect of the original series, including the decimal time-measurement system of "centons" and "yahrens", has been removed and replaced by conventional present-day language. One instance of the word "yahren" does escape this revision and appears on the Cylon Centurian Model 0005 specification sheet seen at the beginning of the miniseries – either a homage to the original or an indication that the Colonies' language had changed since the first Cylon War.
  • There are no references to "daggitts" – dogs – and no robotic daggitt like the original's Muffit, though there is still a boy named Boxey, the son of a Colonial officer that viewers see killed by Cylons at the Armistice Station at the very start of the mini-series.
  • Adama is now only a military commander, rather than being "dual hatted" as a member of the Council of Twelve. There is no mention in the miniseries of the council; however, it is mentioned in the series' first season. Instead, President Adar and most other government officials are killed in the initial Cylon bombardments; the highest ranking survivor of the Cabinet is the Secretary of Education, who is sworn in as new President. Civilian and military duties are divided between Roslin and Adama respectively. In this version, the "Quorum of Twelve" is more akin to the UN Security Council than a unifying government.
  • The Colonials themselves are clearly far more politically diverse, having previously experienced both political and even military conflicts between the different Colonies, and there are clear suggestions during the 2004 series that the Colonial society is riven by deep class divisions.
  • The personal details of various characters have been changed; for example, Starbuck and Boomer are now women. Instead of being black, Boomer is now Asian, while Colonel Tigh is Caucasian. The unusual names of some of the characters – "Starbuck", "Apollo", "Boomer" – have become pilot call signs, although characters more often talk to each other using their call signs rather than their given names.
  • In the new series, Apollo's brother Zak was killed in a Viper accident two years prior to the first episode, which becomes a major plot point in later episodes. In the original series, Zak is killed when his Viper is destroyed in the initial Cylon attack.
  • The "rag-tag fugitive fleet" is now made up only of ships with FTL capabilities. This helped to resolve a problem with the original show – the fleet could only move at the speed of the slowest ship in the convoy.
  • The humans are polytheistic and follow a religion similar to Greek mythology, worshipping such gods as "Athena" and "Apollo". The Cylons are monotheistic and believe in one God.

Similarities and homages to the 1978 series

  • The "museum" section of the Galactica features both a suit of "classic" Cylon armor as well as the original model for the Cylon Base Ship. It would also seem that all original series designs are acknowledged as having existed, but in the new series, they are relics of the previous war with the Cylons.
  • The Colonial Anthem, heard briefly during the Galactica's decommissioning ceremony, contains a signature fanfare from the original Battlestar Galactica theme by Glen A. Larson and Stu Phillips.
  • The "cubit" is still the unit of currency in the Colonies, even though it appears now as regular paper money rather than the gold ducats seen in 1978.
  • Despite the removal of most of the original Colonial dialect, the word "frak" or "frack"—often described as a way to get "fuck" past network censors—has been retained as the all-purpose expletive of choice for most humans. The other BSG ersatz—"felgercarb", for bullshit—has yet to make an appearance, however, "motherfracker" has also been used.
  • The original series' Colonial Viper design—referred to as the "Mark II"—is retained with a few tweaks as the mainstay fighter of the Galactica, while a newer design introduced in the miniseries—the "Mark VII"—occasionally makes an appearance. One of design changes are the use of Reaction Control Systems similar to those found on the Space Shuttle which can enable moves such as a 180 degree pivot to attack a pursuing enemy while the ship continues to move in its original direction, much like a Babylon 5 Starfury. The Galactica is similarly equipped with RCS units forward and aft on both port and starboard.
  • Richard Hatch—Captain Apollo in the original series—returned to play Sagittaron terrorist-then-politician Tom Zarek.
  • After President Roslin continues to call Lee Adama "Captain Apollo," he tells her that his real name is Adama. Roslin tells him: "I know who you are, but Captain Apollo has a nice ring to it." She repeatedly calls him "Captain Apollo" afterwards.
  • The last line in the miniseries, spoken by a Model Number Six Cylon, is "By your command," a phrase often used by the Cylons of the original series.
  • The President of the original series was known as "Adar" and died in the opening war. In the new series, President Adar was the last elected colonial president.
  • The war with the Cylons also differs between the two series. In the Original series, the Cylon sneak attack on the colonies marked the end of the war with the Cylons, which had lasted 1000 yahren (approx. 1000 years. In the new series, an armistice between the Colonials and the Cylons, had been in effect for approx. 40 years, prior to the attack.
  • The Colonial military pilots are no longer refered to as Warriors.
  • The military sidearm of choice has been changed to some sort of conventional firearm, rather than lasers as in the Original series.

Military

The Colonial military appears to be organized much the same in the original and the remake. From the comparatively small amount of onscreen evidence, a Battlestar is apparently meant to be the lead vessel in a battle group which normally consists of many smaller vessels (this is spelled out in more detail in the remake, which explicitly places the Galactica as one of two or three battlestars of a battle group). In the remake, we hear of both a Colonial Fleet, and Colonial Marines; however, we meet very few of the latter, as most of the Marine forces were wiped out when the colonies were destroyed, and very few are left.

Officers in the Colonial Fleet are given ranks resembling ranks presently used in both armies and navies. The rank structure for Colonial Fleet officers is as follows:

  • Ensign
  • Junior Lieutenant/Lieutenant Junior Grade
  • Lieutenant
  • Captain
  • Major
  • Colonel
  • Commander
  • Admiral

The commanding and executive officers of the Galactica are a Commander and Colonel, respectively, and have been since before the destruction of the colonies. Dr. Cottle holds the rank of Major. There are a couple senior officers with the rank of Captain as well as several lieutenants. The second season will introduce Admiral Cain, in command of the Battlestar Pegasus.

Fleet enlisted ranks include Chief Petty Officer, Petty Officer, Specialist, and Crewman Specialist.

Marine ranks may differ from Fleet ranks, and there are tentative plans by the producers for the Marines to have a different rank system. Recurring Marine characters include Galactica's Master-at-arms, Sergeant Hadrian, played by Jill Teed, and Corporal Venner—in addition to their ranks, the rank of Private is also known to exist.

Miniseries (2003)

Synopsis

The Twelve Colonies of Kobol ("Heaven" in ancient Persian) long ago created the Cylons as machine worker drones for humanity. These machines became independent, after fighting in wars between the Colonies, rose in rebellion, created their own empire, and launched war on their masters. Forty years before the series takes place, a ceasefire was declared, the war ended and the Cylons all but disappeared. However, unknown to the Colonies, they had been evolving into more human form, becoming machine-created biological beings who seek to exterminate true biological humans. Following the nuclear destruction of the Colonies, the Cylons pursued the Galactica and its companion fleet, fearing that the surviving humans would someday return to take revenge on the Cylons.

The Cylons use a human scientist, Dr. Gaius Baltar, to help one of their infiltrators (known as Number Six) to penetrate the Colonies' master defense mainframes. The Number Six android develops the Command Navigation Program, or CMP, which is eventually deployed on almost all Colonial spacecraft in the two years of Baltar's tryst with Six. Baltar is reluctant but is smitten with Number Six, who appears as a woman of seemingly insatiable sexual desire. The result of their affair is a nuclear sneak-attack which rapidly annihilates billions of people on the Colonies and the fleet deployed for their protection. Six's CMP had backdoors written into it that allowed Cylon fighters to shut down the power and weapons systems of battlestars and other ships during the attack, leaving them defenseless and easy to destroy.

One ship, however, survives; a less advanced battlestar designated Galactica, part of Battlestar Group 75, which had been scheduled for decommissioning and conversion into a museum to honor its role in the first Cylon war. After the presumed destruction of their fleet headquarters and nearly 120 other battlestars and support ships in the Colonial fleet, Galactica's commanding officer, Commander Adama, assumes leadership of whatever surviving fleet remains.

Galactica's first task in its new life as sole remaining battlestar is to refill its munitions, which were destroyed as part of the ship's decommissioning ceremony. After a lightspeed jump to avoid Cylon forces, the ship arrives at the Ragnar Anchorage depot, a space station located deep within the upper atmosphere of a gas giant. The location of the station was chosen because the storm was known by Colonial fleet to emit radiation that caused Cylon technology to malfunction, and also provided cover for any ships residing within the storm.

Education Secretary Laura Roslin, now appointed by a government contingency computer as President of the Twelve Colonies after the deaths of all other government officials, convinces him of the futility of continuing to fight and the importance of escaping with the last 50,000 humans from the Colonies who were fortunate to have been in space on faster than light ships during the attack. The Galactica must now lead the surviving humans on a quest for a new homeworld on which to rebuild humanity.

Galactica holds back three Cylon basestars and their Raiders while the civilian ships jump away from Ragnar to a new location and to the void of space. After the escape, during the funeral for the dead crew on the ship, Adama inspires his crew by pretending to know the location of the legendary thirteenth colony known as "Earth."

Mini-series air dates

Regular Series

Production

The first season of thirteen one-hour episodes was announced by the Sci Fi Channel on February 10 2004, and aired in the UK between October 18, 2004 and January 24, 2005 on Sky One, which co-financed the series with the Sci Fi Channel and NBC Universal. Produced in 2004 by David Eick and Ronald D. Moore and starring the original cast from the 2003 miniseries, it was aired in the United States from January 14, 2005 and from January 15 in Canada. Moore left his position as producer on HBO's Carnivàle after its first season to concentrate more fully on BSG.

Battlestar Galactica's first season aired in the UK three months ahead of the show's premiere in the US and Canada. This rare example of a North American television show being aired across the Atlantic before its first broadcast "at home" was the result of Sky's partially funding the first season's production.

The time lag between the UK and US screenings led to widespread distribution of episodes via peer-to-peer networks, such as eDonkey and BitTorrent, often within only a few hours of Sky One airing them. Although Sci Fi and Moore deplored this and publicly appealed for downloaders not to pirate the show, there was widespread speculation that its unauthorized electronic distribution contributed to the US success of the show by creating a favourable word of mouth impression among key demographic groups. Perhaps in recognition of this, the first episode was later made available for viewing in its entirety and without charge from the Sci Fi website. Moore also sought to address the "Internet generation" by posting podcast commentaries on individual episodes on the Sci Fi website.

The series proved successful on its UK premiere, attracting favorable comments from reviewers and generating considerable anticipation in the US. The first episode aired in the US became one of the highest-rated programs ever on Sci Fi with 3.1 million viewers. Successive episodes proved equally successful, and on February 9, 2005, Sci Fi announced that it was commissioning a 20-episode second season — seven episodes more than the first season. Premiering in the US on Sci Fi on July 15, 2005, a UK premiere will follow in October 2005 — the second season, unlike the first, is funded entirely from US sources, so Sky will revert to its normal practice of only broadcasting it after its US premiere. The second season will feature all of the first season cast.

The first episode of the regular series, "33", won the 2005 short form Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

See also: List of Battlestar Galactica (2003) episodes

Season 1 (2004)

Synopsis

The opening text before each episode:

The Cylons were created by Man.
They Rebelled.
They Evolved.
They Look and Feel Human.
Some are programmed to think they are Human.
There are many copies.
And they have a Plan.

Battlestar Galactica follows on from the miniseries to chronicle the journey of the last remaining humans from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol after their annihilation by the Cylons. The last surviving humans are led by President Laura Roslin and Commander William Adama in a ragtag fleet of ships with the Battlestar Galactica at its lead. Their mission: evade the Cylons and search for a new home (ostensibly Earth).

Main title

The first season's main title is divided into two segments, the first a reflective series of flashbacks showing the Colonies' destruction and the Cylon invasion, and the second an action-oriented montage of images from the coming episode. Moore intended the montage sequence to be a direct homage to the titles of Space: 1999, which used a similar device at the start of each episode of its first season.

There are significant differences in the titles between the UK and US versions of the show. The "reflective" segment of the title sequence has vocals over a lilting theme in the UK version, while the US version is slow and somber and lacks vocals, but with percussion (snare drums) throughout. The UK and US versions have the same music in the "active" segment of the titles, using a fast-paced version of the distinctive taiko drumming that characterises the Galactica score.

The vocals sound Celtic but are in fact a famous Hindu mantra, the Gayatri Mantra, taken from the Rig Veda. The words are "OM bhūr bhuvah svah tat savitur varēnyam bhargō dēvasya dhīmahi dhiyō yō nah pracōdayāt", which may be translated in various ways but means approximately "may we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the God / so May he stimulate our prayers".

The contrasting UK and US versions arose as a result of creative differences between Moore, the series composer Richard Gibbs and the Sci Fi Channel's management. The Vedic vocals were originally devised as "temp music" intended to serve as a placeholder for a forthcoming score. Moore and fellow producer David Eick liked the temp music so much that they opted to retain it, and instructed Gibbs to work it up into a full score, though the composer himself was far from happy with this.

However, the Sci Fi Channel disliked the vocals on the grounds that they were "too sad", overruled Moore and created a new version for the US screening of the series. This was based on existing background music for the show, which Gibbs felt was even less suitable for a title sequence. The titles themselves were slightly shorter than the UK version, and the end result was two differing versions both of which satisfied only one party out of the three involved. [1].

Musical score

The score for the series was created by composer Bear McCreary, generally following the template set by Gibbs for the miniseries but adding a great number of Western influences. It includes a number of vocal pieces, including songs in Gaelic and Latin as well as a spoof Italian operatic piece entitled "Battlestar Operatica," which includes the lyrics:

Woe upon your Cylon heart
There's a toaster in your head
And it wears high heels
Number Six calls to you
The Cylon Detector beckons
Your girlfriend is a toaster

Story arcs

While the first season mostly consists of stand-alone episodes plus one two-part episode, it features a number of major story arcs, including:

  • What happens to Helo, who chose to stay behind on Caprica in the miniseries. Helo was originally intended to have died there, but the writers "resurrected" Helo after repeated fan queries regarding his fate. They were also impressed by the performance of the actor, Tahmoh Penikett.
  • How the relationship between Adama and Roslin evolves.
  • How Dr. Gaius Baltar manages to evade being exposed as the man responsible for the fall of the Colonies to the Cylons.
  • How the fleet tackles its shortages of supplies and fuel.
  • What happens to Boomer, who is revealed to be a Cylon sleeper agent in the miniseries.
  • What the Cylons' master plan really is.
  • How the humans handle the discovery of the believed-mythical world of Kobol, the original home of humanity, and its secrets.

Development of the arcs is featured in almost every episode of the season.

Season 2 (2005)

Synopsis

The opening text before each episode recap:

The Cylons were created by Man.
They Evolved.
They Rebelled.
There are many copies.
And they have a Plan.

The main title text:

47,875 survivors
In search of a home
Called Earth

This text is updated every episode to show the current population of the fleet, a number that previously was visible in many episodes on the whiteboard aboard Colonial One.

Main title

For BSG's second season, the Sci Fi Channel eschewed Moore's "in this episode" montage, and adapted the UK version of the main title theme for the second season of the show, using the vocal part missing from the US first season title. The length of the opening title has been reduced to 35 seconds, as Sci Fi chose to shorten all its main franchises' opening sequences, including fellow Friday shows Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. It remains to be seen if a longer sequence will be shown abroad and in syndication, or if the UK theme song will be accepted or rejected by the US audience.

Story arcs

Moore has stated that in the second season, he wants to resolve the many cliffhangers from the first, while examining the Cylons and the religious themes already introduced in more detail.

The second season story arcs include:

  • The aftermath of Boomer's assassination attempt on Commander Adama
  • Leadership problems across the fleet as Col. Tigh is forced to take command after the collapse of the civilian government and the shooting of Commander Adama
  • Laura Roslin's escape from imprisonment
  • The Kobol landing party's struggle for survival and subsequent rescue
  • Events on Caprica involving Starbuck, Helo, and the Caprica copy of Sharon Valerii
  • The discovery of the Battlestar Pegasus

Broadcasters

First-run

Reruns/syndication

Cast

Main characters

Regular guests

Supporting characters

Awards

  • 2005 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. "33" (episode one)

See also

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