Battlestar Galactica (New Series) Re-Imagined RDM - A Science Fiction and Fantasy Page

Battlestar Galactica (New Series) Episode Guide

Re-Imagined RDM

Battlestar Galactica (Original) 1978

Battlestar Galactica (New Series)

The Twelve Colonies of Kobol 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.

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Miniseries (2003)

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.

The Cylons were created by Man.

They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies.

And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters.

After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared.

The Cylons left for another world to call their own.

A remote space station was built...

...where Cylon and Human could meet and maintain diplomatic relations.

Every year, the Colonials send an officer.

The Cylons send no one.

No one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years.

It is revealed that the Cylons have gained the ability to mimic the human form. They proceed to destroy the space station.

Caprica under bombardment during the Cylon attack.The Cylons return from their forty-year absence in an attempt to exterminate the human race, beginning with a sudden, unexpected and simultaneous nuclear bombardment of the Twelve Colonies. The attack is made possible by the Cylons' infiltration of the Colonies' defense mainframe, through a Cylon agent known as Number Six who mimics a human woman both physically and behaviorally. Number Six is able to seduce a scientist working for the Colonial military, Dr. Gaius Baltar. Posing as an agent of a company bidding for defense contracts, in exchange for his access to government mainframes she helps him design his navigation program subsequently used by Colonial warships, covertly creating backdoors in the program. When the Cylons attack, they are able to penetrate software security firewalls, disabling entire fighter squadrons outright and sabotaging vital capital-ship systems (in one incident, a battlestar loses power, enabling the Cylons to destroy it easily).

The computer systems of the Battlestar Galactica are not networked and are unaffected by the sabotage. It was in the process of being decommissioned and converted into a museum to honor its role in the first Cylon war, when it receives news of the attack and learns that fleet headquarters, and a significant proportion of the colonial fleet has been destroyed. Commander Adama, Galactica's commanding officer, assumes command of the fleet after hearing that Admiral Nagala has been killed.

To avoid Cylon forces, Galactica makes a 'faster-than-light' (FTL) jump - an instantaneous teleportation - to Ragnar Anchorage, where it can restock on ammunition. Meanwhile, Colonial Heavy 798, which was carrying Secretary of Education Laura Roslin back to Caprica following Galactica's decommissioning ceremony, learns that Caprica City has been nuked. When all 42 government officials ahead of her in the presidential line of succession fail to check in per emergency procedures, Roslin assumes the presidency and Colonial Heavy 798 becomes Colonial One. In the aftermath of the attack, surviving civilian ships turn to Roslin for leadership, while Dr. Baltar manages to escape Caprica and join the ragtag fleet. Fearing an attack after they are spotted by a Cylon raider, Roslin orders those civilian ships with hyperjump capability to rendezvous with Galactica at Ragnar. She makes the agonizing decision to leave behind those ships with only sublight engines, including the Geminon Botanical Cruiser. Her decision is proved correct when the Cylons promptly appear and destroy every ship left behind.

Galactica's fighters engage Cylon forces.Roslin eventually convinces Adama that the war is lost. He finally agrees that the best course of action is to escort the civilian fleet and find a new world on which to rebuild civilization. The stockpiles at Ragnar Anchorage are used to rearm Galactica and resupply the fleet. However, the ships cannot jump safely from the immediate vicinity of the base, which is surrounded by a radioactive gas cloud. The Cylons, more vulnerable to the radiation, besiege the cloud and wait for the fleet to emerge. Adama devises a plan: Galactica holds off the Cylon attacks long enough for the civilian ships to exit the cloud and jump to the Prolmar Sector, then joins them.

Afterwards, during the mass funeral for the dead, Adama lifts his crew's morale by claiming that he knows the location of the legendary thirteenth colony known as Earth.

In the final scenes of the miniseries, Number Six warns Baltar that Cylon agents, who may even be programmed to believe that they are human, could still be within the fleet. Adama finds a cryptic message in his quarters reading simply, "There are only 12 Cylon models." On Ragnar, a group of humanoid Cylons free Aaron Doral (Galactica's tour guide, who was left behind after Baltar "discovered" he was a Cylon). The last Cylon to enter the room is another copy of Lt. Sharon Valerii, revealing that the one on the Galactica is a Cylon as well.

Premiere December 8, 2003: SciFi Channel (United States)

Regular Series

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 (Earth).

Season 1 (2005)

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.

Story

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 - 2006)

The Cylons were created by Man.

They evolved.

They rebelled.

There are many copies.

And they have a plan.

47,875 survivors (This text is updated every episode to show the current population of the fleet)

In search of a home

Called Earth

Story

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

Season 3 (2006 - 2007)

The Cylons were created by Man.

They rebelled.

They evolved.

There are many copies.

And they have a plan.

Story

The stranded colonials struggle to survive under the brutal cylon rule of New Caprica, but when Galactica returns to save humanity, the newly fledgling fleet return to their search for Earth. The Cylons, however, also have a plan for Earth.

The third season story arcs include:

The first episode of Season 3 occurs four months after the events of Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II with the occupation in full swing.
Tigh will have a major role in the first few episodes with enornmous changes and shocks in store for him.
The resistance against the Cylons and Baltar's collaborationist government on New Caprica will take three to five episodes.
A major plotline is that there is going to be "an ongoing Cylon story where we’re going to be cutting over to the Cylon world for the first time and running a complete arc within the Cylons.” There will be an introduction of a new type of Cylon.
Katee Sackhoff has said that her character "goes through a lot of turmoil over the first four episodes, more so than we've ever seen her, the depth of despair that she finds herself in are pretty deep at the end of episode four, and she kind of re-establishes her commitment to the military in episode five which is the haircut" and "sort of like ritualistically, preparing herself to go back on the warpath". Sackhoff went on to say that "there is another man that comes into her life, and it is a very unlikely man that everyone is going to be so livid over."
The relationship between Helo and Sharon will continue.
Gaius Baltar will be having a great philosophical crisis.
Zarek is Baltar's Vice-President, but the relationship soured rather quickly with Zarek refusing to cooperate completely after the occupation.
Cally has a face-to-face confrontation with Boomer.

Season 4 (2007 - 2008)

SCI FI Channel confirmed on March 22, 2007 that the show has been renewed for a fourth season of 22 episodes, an increase from the previously announced 13 episodes, which will start about 10 months after Season 3 ended (March 25, 2007). The order includes a two hour presentation of a direct-to-video movie airing in the fourth quarter of 2007. However, Ronald Moore has indicated that this two-hour special will not pick up the plotline from the end of the 3rd season, but will rather go back and tell a story involving the Pegasus. The regular fourth season will air beginning in early 2008. Ronald D. Moore has said that it may be the final season of the show.

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 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.

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

Re-Imagining

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.

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.

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

Differences from the original series:

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.

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 Colonials' 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.
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.

Similarities and homage’s to the original 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 "f*ck" 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 Lee. 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.

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.

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