It’s been called the best show on TV, praised for blending action, drama, believable characters and a truly post-apocalyptic storyline without sacrificing anything. Hard to believe it’s a remake of a 70’s sci-fi action series of dubious style and questionable quality, isn’t it? Back in 1978, the original Battlestar Galactica was similarly hailed as a quality show. Milking the high profile Science fiction had due to Star Wars, the pilot episode attracted an amazing 65 million viewers, and even when the broadcast was interrupted to show the signing of the Camp David accords, ABC resumed broadcast from where they left off, delaying later programmes. The show was the most expensive pilot episode ever (at the time), costing $7 million to produce and each episode ended up with an average budget of $1 million.
Despite such massive financial backing and a more than impressive start, Galactica soon fell foul to flagging ratings (despite still being the highest rated show in its’ timeslot) . people were not enamoured of the long-form storytelling techniques – the show was devised as a series of miniseries – at least half the series comprised of two-part episodes, or directly followed on from one another; and there were many effects shots reused over and over again – there was a lot of location shooting, large numbers of extras and a high volume of new sets to be produced on a regular basis, and despite the high budget there wasn’t enough money to produce all the necessary live-action props and sets and commission new miniatures footage too. The show ended up being cancelled after one series.
The show also courted controversy when 20th Century Fox sued Galactica producers Universal studios for allegedly stealing some 34 ideas from Star Wars. Universal counter sued, saying that Star Wars stole ideas from Buck Rogers and 70’s sci-fi morality play Silent Running. The lawsuits were eventually dismissed in 1980
1980 also saw the return of Galactica to TV screens in a sequel series set many years later, however the low budget, terrible storylines and poor choice of timeslot lead to a quick cancellation. The franchise lay fallow more or less for the next 23 years, with a few comics and novels appearing on and off. Richard Hatch, who played the character of Apollo in the series and Glenn A Larson, the creator and executive producer of the show both tried to bring about separate revivals to no end. Eventually the Sci-Fi channel, a subsidiary of Universal studios announced out of the blue that they were going to produce a remake…
As the new production progressed, information leaked out that lead many fans to condemn the new series out of hand – it was revealed that the Cylons – the robot enemies of the original series would look like Humans (derided as both an attempt to keep the budget down and as a slight on the original story), that the characters Starbuck and Boomer, both men in the original series would be played by women (and Boomer, who was black in the original series would be portrayed by an Asian woman at that) as well as their names from the original series now being relegated to being their pilot’s call signs ; Baltar, the man who betrayed Humanity in the original series would now be an unwitting accomplice in the destruction of the Colonies, and the show would allegedly feature a volume of sex scenes.
Despite all this negativity, the miniseries aired in December 2003 to record ratings – it was the highest rated original production in the Sci-Fi channel’s history. Despite this, the Sci-fi Channel didn’t have the money to produce a full series. UK channel Sky One, which also garnered great ratings from an airing of the miniseries agreed to co-fund a 13-episode series in exchange for airing it first. When it did air on Sky, it was the first show to consistently outperform The Simpsons, which has been the highest rated show on Sky for almost as long as they’ve been airing it. It also caused no small level of controversy, with the Sky One-aired episodes quickly becoming available for download from a variety of internet file-sharing sites. This lead to fears that the show wouldn’t perform well when it did air in the US, but these fears turned out to be unfounded, as it ended up being the top-rated show on the Sci-Fi Channel as well. The show has also used internet marketing to good effect, with deleted scenes, MP3 commentaries, and even the entire first episode all available for download, as well as a blog written by show producer Ronald D. Moore and a message board.
The new show takes the same basic premise as the original series – that Humanity has been fighting a war with a robotic race called the Cylons, and through subterfuge the Cylons mount a sneak attack that all but wipes out mankind. The survivors take to space, protected by the only surviving warship – the Battlestar Galactica, and now are searching for the only surviving Human colony – a long forgotten world named Earth…
From the miniseries onwards, there’s certain moments that really let you know exactly what kind of show the new Battlestar Galactica is – from pilots Helo and Boomer counting the mushroom clouds blossoming over cities on the planet Caprica to Starbuck’s confession to Apollo over exactly who pulled some stings to get his brother through flight school, leading to his death. And in that scene Starbuck says it best – “It’s the end of the world, when is it going to be a better time to confess?” And this is a show about the end of the world – or more precisely, what happens next. Galactica and her fleet have problems that go far beyond just the Cylons coming to try and wipe them out – they have dwindling supplies of food and fuel, there’s dissent among the civilians, and there’s the little known (among the characters) fact that Commander Adama lied about knowing the location of Earth, or even knowing that Earth existed. It’s the first point that really sets the show apart from the original, which really settled into an “adventures in space” theme as soon as the first few Cylon-centric episodes were out of the way. One of the really nice touches is a whiteboard beside President Laura Roslin’s desk that has the current total of live humans in the fleet on it. It’s only directly referred to in one episode of the show, but it’s always visible, a constant reminder of the slim thread humanity is hanging by.
What makes this show really impressive is that it’s a drama first, and a sci-fi/action series second. The characters are all human, with complex emotions and a tendency to screw up. Each character has their flaws, all recognisable to the average viewer. What makes it even better is that all the pivotal choices made are dealt with in a realistic manner, and the aftermath of the decisions is shown as well. As I mentioned already, Starbuck confesses to Apollo that she pulled strings to make sure that Apollo’s brother passed flight school because they were planning to get married. Apollo had been blaming his father (Galactica’s Commander Adama for those who don’t know) for this; leading to very frosty relations between the pair for years. Adama later inadvertently finds out about this, leading to a falling out between him and Starbuck that almost turns out to be the last conversation they have.
In terms of look and shooting style, the show seems to be informed by Joss Wheedon’s short-lived sci-fi show Firefly. Both make heavy use of hand-held cameras shooting in a documentary style, often using very loose zooms and panning shots to create a feeling of the viewer being right in the middle of the action. This philosophy also follows over into the FX footage, which was produced by Zoic for both shows. The set and costume design are radically different, but come from the same sensibilities – Galactica draws on modern day military design and philosophy (notably, Galactica’s command centre is specified as being deep inside the ship, whereas more traditional sci-fi shows invariably have the bridge or command centre at the front or top of the ship), while Firefly drew on the Old West.
It all adds up to make one of the most compelling TV shows I’ve seen in recent years. As the second series opens the cast is fractured and scattered both emotionally and geographically. A power struggle has erupted between the President and Galactica, with Apollo choosing to side with the president. Some of the cast are trapped and far from home, either on Caprica or on a world newly discovered that may well be Kobol, the cradle of Humanity. And Commander Adama is dealing with the fallout from the revelation of a traitor aboard Galactica, which may already have lethal consequences…
The first ten episodes of Battlestar Galactica series 2 begin their first-run airing on the Sci-fi channel in the US on July 15th. The final ten episodes are due to start airing in late autumn. Sky One will begin showing the series a few weeks before that, so the final ten episodes will run more or less concurrently in the US and UK.
Lorcan NagleIs an IT Consultant based in Ireland. He has a passion for anime, manga and all things robotic