Battlestar Galactica (TV miniseries)

This article is about the 2003 Battlestar Galactica miniseries. For the subsequent television show, see Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series).

Battlestar Galactica
DVD cover
Genre	Science fiction Drama
Directed by	Michael Rymer
Written by	Ronald D. Moore Glen A. Larson
Based on	A teleplay by Glen A. Larson
Starring	see cast
Country	United States
Original channel	Sky One Sci Fi Channel
Original run	02012-12-08December 8 – 9, 2003
Running time	180 minutes
No. of episodes	2
Followed by	Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica is a three-hour miniseries (comprising four broadcast hours) written and produced by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer. It was the first part of the Battlestar Galactica reimagining based on the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series, and served as a backdoor pilot for the 2004 television series. The miniseries aired originally on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States starting on December 8, 2003. The two parts of the miniseries attracted 3.9 and 4.5 million viewers, making the miniseries the third-most-watched program on Syfy ever.

Plot

Night 1

After a 40-year armistice in a war between the Twelve Colonies (the homeworlds populated by humans) and the Cylons (human-created robots), the Cylons launch a surprise nuclear attack intended to exterminate the human race. Virtually all of the population of the Twelve Colonies are wiped out. Most of the Colonial military is either rendered ineffective or destroyed due to malware in the military computer network, which rendered it vulnerable to cyber attack. The malware was introduced by Number Six, a Cylon in the form of a human woman, who seduced the famous scientist Dr. Gaius Baltar and exploited their relationship to gain access codes under the cover of an insider contract bid.

Battlestar Galactica, a space battleship that fought in the earlier war, is being converted to a museum when the attack occurs. Because its older computer systems are not networked, the warship is not affected by the sabotage. Its commander, William Adama, assumes command of the few remaining elements of the human fleet. He heads for Ragnar Anchorage, a military armory station where Galactica can resupply itself with weaponry and essential supplies.

Caprica under bombardment during the Cylon attack.

Secretary of Education Laura Roslin is sworn in as President of the Twelve Colonies after it is confirmed that the President and most of the government have been killed (Roslin is 43rd in line of succession). The cabinet department starship carrying her (Colonial One) manages to assemble a group of surviving human ships.

When a Colonial Raptor from Galactica lands briefly for repairs on the Twelve Colonies' capital world of Caprica, the two-person crew, Sharon Valerii (callsign "Boomer") and Karl Agathon ("Helo"), choose a small group of survivors to evacuate. Helo decides to remain on the stricken planet, giving up his seat to evacuate Baltar, who he recognizes for his media celebrity as a noted genius.

Although Roslin hopes to transfer all the surviving refugees to ships capable of interstellar travel, the Cylons quickly locate and attack the surviving ships.

Night 2

Roslin is forced to abandon many of the survivors, as only the ships capable of faster-than-light (FTL) "jumps" are able to escape the attack and rendezvous with the Galactica at Ragnar Anchorage.

On Ragnar, Adama is attacked by a supposed arms-dealer who claims to be simply bootlegging supplies, but who is clearly being affected by the radiation cloud surrounding Ragnar, which humans are immune to. Adama deduces that he is facing a new type of Cylon, one with the capacity to appear in human form.

Roslin appoints Baltar, who has not disclosed his suborning by the Cylons, as one of her senior advisers. Number Six reveals herself to Baltar in hallucinatory form while attempting to direct his behavior. The reason why she appears to him is not clear although she suggests that she may have planted a microchip inside Baltar's brain while he slept, allowing her to transmit her image into his conscious mind. Responding to one of her suggestions, he is compelled to identify Aaron Doral, a public relations specialist, as a masquerading Cylon. Despite his protests and the lack of any evidence to support the accusation, Doral is left on Ragnar Anchorage when the Galactica departs.

As the Cylons attack Ragnar, the small human fleet escapes by "jumping" to a distant, unexplored area of the galaxy. Adama attempts to lift the morale of the surviving humans by announcing plans to reach a legendary thirteenth colony, "Earth," whose existence and location have been closely guarded military secrets. Roslin later convinces Adama to privately admit that his announcement was simply a ploy.

Adama finds a slip of paper in his quarters with the typed statement, "There are only 12 Cylon models." On Ragnar, Doral clearly appears to be suffering from radiation poisoning that has been shown to affect only Cylons. His identity as a Cylon is confirmed when a group of humanoid Cylons consisting of multiple copies of the number Six, Doral, and Ragnar arms-dealer models, come to retrieve Doral. In a twist ending, one of the group appears to be Boomer, indicating that her counterpart on the Galactica is a Cylon as well.

Cast

Actor	Role	Notes
Edward James Olmos	Commander William Adama	Leader of the fleet after the destruction of the Twelve Colonies Commander of the Battlestar Galactica
Mary McDonnell	Laura Roslin	President after the destruction of the Twelve Colonies
Katee Sackhoff	Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace	Colonial Viper pilot
Jamie Bamber	Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama	Colonial Viper pilot
James Callis	Dr. Gaius Baltar	Scientist and defense researcher
Tricia Helfer	Number Six	Cylon
Callum Keith Rennie	Leoben Conoy	Cylon
Grace Park	Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharon "Boomer" Valerii	Colonial Raptor pilot teamed with Helo
Michael Hogan	Colonel Saul Tigh	Executive officer of the Battlestar Galactica
Matthew Bennett	Aaron Doral	Cylon
Paul Campbell	Billy Keikeya	President Roslin's aide
Aaron Douglas	Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol	In charge of maintenance of Colonial Vipers and Colonial Raptors
Lorena Gale	Elosha	Priestess
Kandyse McClure	Petty Officer Anastasia "Dee" Dualla	Communications on the Battlestar Galactica
Connor Widdows	Boxey	Young boy who survives the Holocaust on Caprica
Alessandro Juliani	Lieutenant Felix Gaeta	Tactical officer on the Battlestar Galactica
Nicki Clyne	Specialist Cally	Repairs Colonial Vipers and Colonial Raptors under Chief Tyrol
Tahmoh Penikett	Lieutenant Karl "Helo" Agathon	Electronic countermeasures officer teamed with Boomer
Alonso Oyarzun	Socinus
Ty Olsson	Aaron Kelly
Lymari Nadal	Giana

Production

Development

None of the previous efforts to remake or continue the story of Battlestar Galactica by Tom DeSanto, Bryan Singer, and original series star Richard Hatch (which involved using either the original cast or the original characters and plot) proceeded beyond the development stage. Actor Richard Hatch, from the original version of the series, made numerous efforts to purchase the franchise from the original's producer Glen A. Larson. Unsuccessful, he produced his own version in a comic book series, even going as far as to produce a proof-of-concept trailer called The Second Coming. Much of the actor's campaign was based on the concept discounting the events which occurred in Galactica 1980. The property's owner, Universal Pictures, later instead opted for a remake, rather than the sequel, with the production-shift moving from Los Angeles to the Greater Vancouver area.^{[citation needed]}

Filming

The special effects of the miniseries were created by Zoic Studios who previously worked on the Firefly television series. The regular series also contains effects by Atmosphere Studios, Enigma Animation Productions and the production's own effects team although near the end all visual effects were done by the in-house team.^{[citation needed]} Executive producer Ronald D. Moore said the outer space battles were created and rendered to look like a Discovery Channel crew was actually shooting footage. Filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Music

Main article: Music of Battlestar Galactica (reimagining)

The soundtrack for the miniseries was largely scored by Richard Gibbs. Many of the cues from the Miniseries soundtrack have been re-used as incidental or background music in the regular series beginning in 2004.^{[citation needed]}

Awards

Wins

• 2003 Visual Effects Society Awards – Outstanding Visual Effects in a Television Miniseries, Movie or a Special
• 2003 Saturn Awards – Best Television Presentation

Nominations

• 2003 Visual Effects Society Awards – Outstanding Compositing in a Televised Program, Music Video or Commercial
• 2003 Visual Effects Society Awards – Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Televised Program, Music Video or Commercial
• 2004 Emmy Awards – Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special Miniseries, Night 1)
• 2004 Emmy Awards – Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Miniseries, Night 2)
• 2004 Emmy Awards – Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Miniseries, Night 1)
• 2003 Saturn Awards – Best Supporting Actress on Television, Katee Sackhoff

Novelization

In 2005, Tor Books published Battlestar Galactica (the miniseries), by Jeffrey A. Carver — a novelization of the 2003 miniseries. The book incorporates deleted scenes and gives background information not seen on screen.

External links

• Official website
• Battlestar Galactica at the Internet Movie Database
• Battlestar Galactica at TV.com
• Miniseries, Night 1 and Miniseries, Night 2 at the Battlestar Wiki