Battlestar Galactica 2003: Encyclopedia - Battlestar Galactica 2003

Battlestar Galactica (2003)

Battlestar Galactica was first reimagined as 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 in the UK on October 18, 2004 and on Sci Fi Channel in the U.S. on January 14, 2005.

This new series was promoted as a "re-imagining" of the Universal Studios 1978 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.

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - Overview

The new series departs from the original in several respects. In style, it rejects the traditional televised science fiction styles of Star Trek adopted by the original in favor of what executive producer Ronald D. Moore calls "naturalistic science fiction". In premise, the new series recasts several key characters from male to female and introduces the notion that the Cylons, the cybernetic enemies of the humans, were created by man. In addition to the Cylon Centurions there are also 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, leading TIME magazine to declare in the spring of 2005 that the new show was one of the six best drama series on television. 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.

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - Reimagining

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - History

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 with deep personal demons, an outdated battlestar prone to problems and outside sabotage, muted special effects shots lacking unscientific sounds commonplace in TV and movie science fiction, comparatively realistic Newtonian physics, and the use of bullets and missiles instead of energy weapons such as lasers.

Ronald D. Moore has also admitted that the mini-series and series drew inspiration from the tragic events of 9/11 and after. They feature elements such as "sleeper" agents, the threat of sneak terrorist attacks using civilian transports, Cylon suicide bombers, the torture of prisoners (as alleged at the Abu Ghraib prison), and a struggle motivated by intense religious differences.

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - Comparison with the 1978 Series

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - 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. We hear of both a Colonial Fleet, and Colonial Marines; however, we meet very few of the latter, as Galactica only had a small Marine contingent on board due to its impending decommissioning at the time of the attack

Officers in the Colonial Fleet are given ranks resembling ranks presently used in both armies and navies. Ronald D. Moore outlined the rank structure in a blog entry in February of 2005. The rank structure for Colonial Fleet officers is as follows for officers:

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

For enlisted crewmen, ranks are thus:

• Recruit
• Deckhand
• Specialist
• Petty Officer (second class)
• Petty Officer (first class)
• Chief Petty Officer

The Colonial Marines have a different rank structure; Private, Corporal, Sergeant, etc. Their officer rank structure has not been shown, although it is unknown whether any Marine officers have even survived (when we see Marines on the show, they are usually led by Fleet officers such as Apollo, Starbuck, or Tigh).

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 few senior officers with the rank of Captain as well as several lieutenants, though apparently besides Dr. Cottle there are few Majors on the ship. The second season introduced Admiral Helena Cain (played by Michelle Forbes), in command of the Battlestar Pegasus.

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.

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - Miniseries 2003

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - Regular television series 2004

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - Broadcasters

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - First-run

• Sky One (United Kingdom)
• Sci Fi Channel (United States)
• Space: The Imagination Station (Canada)
• Network Ten (Australia)
• TV3 (New Zealand)
• TNT Latin America (Latin America)
• ActionX, DStv (South Africa)
• Veronica (Netherlands)

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - Reruns/syndication

• Universal HD (United States)

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - Episode list

For the episode list, go to List of Battlestar Galactica (2004 television series) episodes

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - DVD release

Both the miniseries and the first season have been released on DVD in North America and the United Kingdom.

The miniseries was released in the UK on March 1, 2004 and in the U.S. and Canada on December 28, 2004, and included deleted scenes, audio commentary, and a behind-the-scenes documentary.

The first season was released to DVD on March 28, 2005 and September 20, 2005 in the UK and North America respectively and included deleted scenes. The American set also included featurettes, and a tongue-in-cheek promotional special filmed for the Sci Fi Channel in addition to the mini-series, however without its deleted scenes and making-of documentary from the standalone mini-series DVD.

"Season 2.0" was released December 20, 2005 in North America. While Season Two has not been aired in its entirety, the DVD release of Season 2.0 includes the first half of the season, along with deleted scenes, and podcasts that were previously available on the official Battlestar Galactica website. Supposedly, the second half of the season will be released later in 2006, as Season 2.5. The Canadian DVD release of Season 2.0 has been delayed[1], as the episodes only begin airing in Canada in January 2006.

Both seasons have also been made available for purchase online through such services as the iTunes Music Store for use on portable devices or computers. If Battlestar Galactica follows the same pattern as other shows on iTunes, new episodes will be placed online the day after their original television broadcast.

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - Cast

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - Main characters

• Jamie Bamber - Captain Lee 'Apollo' Adama
• James Callis - Dr. Gaius Baltar
• Tricia Helfer - Cylon Number Six
• Mary McDonnell - President Laura Roslin
• Edward James Olmos - Commander William 'Husker' Adama
• Grace Park - Cylon Sharon 'Boomer' Valerii
• Katee Sackhoff - Captain Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - Regular guests

• Paul Campbell - Billy Keikeya
• Nicki Clyne - Specialist Cally
• Aaron Douglas - Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol
• Richard Hatch - Tom Zarek
• Michael Hogan - Colonel Saul Tigh
• Alessandro Juliani - Tactical Officer Lieutenant Felix Gaeta
• Kandyse McClure - Petty Officer Anastasia 'Dee' Dualla
• Tahmoh Penikett - Lieutenant Karl C.'Helo' Agathon

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - Supporting characters

• Matthew Bennett - Cylon 'Aaron Doral'
• Leah Cairns - Lieutenant Margaret 'Racetrack' Edmondson
• Michelle Forbes - Admiral Helena Cain
• Lorena Gale - Priestess Elosha
• Bodie Olmos - Brendan 'Hot Dog' Constanza
• Alonso Oyarzun - Specialist Socinus
• Callum Keith Rennie - Cylon 'Leoben Conoy'
• Donnelly Rhodes - Doctor Cottle
• Kate Vernon - Ellen Tigh
• Lucy Lawless - Cylon 'D'anna Biers'
• Connor Widdows - Boxey
• Samuel Witwer - Lieutenant, Junior Grade 'Crashdown'
• Dana Delany - Sesha

Boxey was originally intended to appear regularly during the first season, but virtually all scenes featuring the character were edited out of the final episodes; these deleted scenes are included on the season one DVD release.

Battlestar Galactica 2003 - Awards

• 2005 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. "33" (episode one)
• 2005 AFI's top 10 Television shows of the year 2005
• 2005 Time's - Best of 2005: Television (Position: #1) [2]

See also

• Galactica 1980, the 1980 series
• Battlestar Galactica, the video game
• List of Battlestar Galactica (2003) episodes

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