"Fleeing from the Cylon tyranny, the last Battlestar, Galactica, leads a rag-tag fugitive fleet on a lonely quest. A shining planet, known as Earth" - Commander Adama

When a race of merciless robots known as the Cylons all but wipe out humanity in a vicious attack, the last surviving members of mankind band together and, led by the Battlestar Galactica, set off to find the lost colony of man on the legendary planet of Earth.

Created by prolific producer Glen A. Larson, ‘Battlestar Galactica’ is fondly remembered as an alternative to ‘Star Trek’, featuring a large ‘family’ of cast members and some classic science fiction material. The show’s strengths come from it’s classic space-opera-meets-Greek-legends premise; the interaction between Starbuck and Apollo, played with gusto by Dirk Benedict and Richard Hatch; the no-nonsense father-figure of Commander Adama, portrayed by television stalwart, Lorne Green; and some great villains, in the form of the menacing Cylons, one-eyed, chrome-clad robots reminiscent of ‘Doctor Who’s Cybermen. ‘Battlestar Galactica’ is one of those shows that people believe to have comprised of dozens of episodes, when in fact the original series only ran for twenty-two episodes before being cancelled.

The show was then brought back as ‘Galactica 1980’; various cast members were dropped in favour of new characters as the Galactica finally found Earth, only to discover that it was not as technologically advanced as was hoped. The show was, quite frankly, bloody awful, with some dreadful stories and toe-curlingly bad acting. After just nine episodes of scenery-chewing, not even an appearance by Dirk Benedict, reprising his role of Starbuck, could save the show from cancellation – which was probably for the best.

For years Richard Hatch, Apollo in the original series, attempted to get a new series off the ground, and even toured with a short promo episode he had made entitled ‘Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming’ to drum up interest (in fact he once appeared as a guest on a show I was working on, and promised to call me about directing the new series - I never did hear from him…). Other proposals from different producers came and went, all without success.

Then, in 2004, Ronald D. Moore (writer on ‘Roswell’, ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Mission Impossible 2’) and David Eick (producer on ‘American Gothic’ and ‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’ collaborated with the SciFi Channel to create a two-part mini-series. Based on the original pilot by Glen A. Larson, it wasn’t a bad attempt, and although fans of the original series were annoyed by the reinterpretation of some of their favourite characters and story premises, it proved popular enough for a full series to be made; season one of ‘Battlestar Galactica’ premiered in the UK (before the US) and ran for fourteen episodes, quickly proving to be a worthy successor to the original – arguably even better than it! With its compelling storyline, well-rounded characters and gritty atmosphere making extremely gripping television, the show’s popularity resulted in the production of two more seasons, two mini-seasons of ‘webisodes’, and a movie-length special, ‘Razor’. Production on the fourth and final season was halted in 2007/8 due to a writers’ strike, and for a while it looked like the last few episodes would be abandoned, cutting short Eick and Moore’s plan for a four-season story arc; however, to everyone’s relief it was eventually resumed, and the final episode of ‘Battlestar Galactica’ was shown in March 2009, providing a satisfying and thought-provoking end to the series.

But the story doesn’t end there, as a straight-to-DVD movie, ‘Battlestar Galactica: The Plan’, in October 2009; written by Jane Espenson and directed by Edward James Olmos, this special revealed the full details behind the Cylons' plan to wipe out humanity, using newly-filmed material and clips from the ‘Battlestar Galactica’ mini-series and episodes.

There was also a spin-off prequel series, ‘Caprica’, set fifty-eight years before the events seen in ‘Battlestar Galactica’, showing how Colonial humanity first created the robotic Cybernetic Lifeform Nodes – or Cylons – which would go on to rebel against the human race in retaliation for their enslavement. An extended version of the pilot premiered exclusively on DVD and digital download on 21st April 2009, and a season of eighteen episodes will transmit on the U.S. SciFi Channel in January 2010.


Battlestar Galactica - Season 1

Galactica 1980 - Season 1
Battlestar Galactica - Mini-series
Battlestar Galactica - Season 1.0
Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.0
Battlestar Galactica - The Resistance 1-10
Battlestar Galactica - Season 3.0
Battlestar Galactica - Razor Flashbacks 1-7
Battlestar Galactica - Season 4.0
Battlestar Galactica - Face of the Enemy 1-10
Battlestar Galactica - Season 4.5
Battlestar Galactica - The Plan

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