Introduction

Battlestar Galactica is a three-hour miniseries (comprising four broadcast hours) starring Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, written and produced by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer.

It was the first part of the Battlestar Galactica remake 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 08 December 2003.

The two parts of the miniseries attracted 3.9 and 4.5 million viewers, making the miniseries the third-most-watched programme on Syfy.

Outline of Part 02

While Colonial One is believed to have been destroyed, it is revealed that thanks to Apollo’s tactical genius, the ship and her small fleet have escaped destruction. Roslin decides to gather all of the civilian ships she can find and to form a fleet to escort the surviving civilians to safety. Roslin’s efforts are aided by Boomer whose Raptor is picked up by Colonial One after departing Caprica. Using Boomer’s Raptor’s faster-than-light (FTL) jump drive to expedite matters, Roslin is able to gather a significant fleet of civilian ships.

As the fleet gathers, however, a Cylon Raider locates it and jumps away to gather reinforcements. Apollo urges that they must jump immediately to the Ragnar Anchorage to meet up with Galactica for safety despite the fact that many of the ships lack FTL drives. Roslin reluctantly agrees to Apollo’s proposal, privately admitting to her assistant Billy Keikeya (Paul Campbell) that she has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. As the FTL-capable ships jump away, a squadron of Cylon Raiders arrive and destroy the remaining ships with a missile attack.

Galactica is able to jump safely to Ragnar Anchorage to resupply where the crew meets Leoben Conoy (Callum Keith Rennie), an arms dealer with a noticeably sick appearance. While examining the station, Adama and Leoben get cut off from the rest of the crew by an accident and must make their way back alone. As Leoben’s physical condition worsens, he shows sympathy towards the Cylons, drawing Adama’s suspicions. Eventually, it is revealed that Leoben himself is a Cylon. The storm surrounding the Anchorage gives off a radiation that is destructive to Cylons’ silicate circuity – which is why the Colonials had chosen the location in the first place. Leoben attacks Adama, but Adama is able to club Leoben to death with a flashlight and return to Galactica with Leoben’s body for autopsy.

As the civilian fleet joins the Galactica at Ragnar, President Roslin appoints Doctor Baltar, who has not disclosed his suborning by the Cylons, as one of her scientific advisers to combat the Cylons. Number Six reveals herself to Baltar in hallucinatory form while attempting to direct his behaviour. 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. Number Six draws Baltar’s attention to a device in the Combat Information Centre (CIC) that matches one her corporeal counterpart had been carrying around in her briefcase. Baltar realises that the device is Cylon but cannot reveal his knowledge of it without exposing his treasonous actions.

After Adama returns to Galactica with Leoben’s body, the fact that the Cylons have taken on human form becomes known to the command crew and by extension Baltar as the new expert on Cylons. Deciding he needs to “expose” someone as a Cylon to get the device removed, Baltar chooses to target Aaron Doral (Matthew Bennett). Doral is a public relations executive assigned to the planned Galactica museum who has constantly questioned Roslin’s decisions and leadership. Baltar reasons that Doral is an outsider that has been on Galactica for weeks, has had virtually unlimited access to the CIC and would have been in a perfect position to plant the device. Baltar has Doral arrested and fakes creating a test that has pointed to Doral being a Cylon. Despite Doral’s protests and the fact that he is displaying no symptoms as Leoben did, he is abandoned on Ragnar Anchorage with food and water. Baltar also uses the opportunity to bring the device to executive officer Colonel Saul Tigh’s (Michael Hogan) attention, and it is removed after Anastasia “Dee” Dualla (Kandyse McClure), the Galactica’s communications officer, determines that it is not a bomb.

Running a reconnaissance mission, Viper pilot Kara Thrace (callsign “Starbuck”) (Katee Sackhoff) discovers a Cylon fleet waiting outside of Ragnar for Galactica’s fleet. While Adama initially plans to continue the fight and leave the civilians behind at Ragnar, Roslin attempts to convince him that the war is over, they have lost and they must run. After learning of the Cylon fleet, Adama finally concedes that Roslin is right and orders an FTL jump plotted to the Prolmar Sector, which is uncharted space.

To enable the civilians to escape, Galactica and its Viper fleet engage the Cylon fleet in battle. Despite suffering multiple missile strikes and several Viper losses, Galactica is able to hold the Cylons off long enough for the civilians to escape. During the battle, Apollo’s Viper suffers heavy damage and Starbuck uses a risky manoeuvre to save his life and board Galactica before the ship can jump away.

In the aftermath, a memorial service is held for those lost on Galactica. Noticing the crew’s depressed state, Adama reminds them that there is a legendary Thirteenth Tribe of Kobol somewhere out there in the universe and that this Thirteenth Tribe settled on a planet called Earth. While Earth is considered a myth, Adama claims to know where it is and promises to lead the fleet to Earth as their new home. Afterwards, Adama is confronted by Roslin, who knows that he lied. Adama admits this, stating that he did it to give the people hope and a reason to live. The two are able to come to an agreement where Roslin controls the civilian part of the fleet and Adama is in charge of the military.

Adama later finds a note in his quarters stating that “there are only 12 Cylon models.” This is implied to have been left by Baltar who was told exactly the same thing by Number Six on Caprica. Number Six tells Baltar that the human race has only been granted a reprieve and states that the Cylons will eventually find and destroy them. Number Six reminds Baltar that there are very likely other Cylon agents within the fleet waiting to strike. Number Six reveals that some of these agents might not know they are Cylons at all. Instead, these Cylons will be “sleeper agents” programmed to believe that they are human until they are activated to carry out their missions.

After the human fleet leaves, the Cylons board Ragnar Anchorage, where a visibly ill Doral remains. The arriving Cylons include several copies of Leoben and Number Six and a second copy of Doral, confirming his identity as a Cylon. Doral tells the other Cylons that the humans have left, but he has no idea where they went. As the other Cylons discuss how long it will take them to hunt down the human fleet, another Cylon joins them, assuring the Cylons that they will do whatever it takes to find them. The new Cylon is revealed to be identical to Boomer, revealing that Boomer is secretly a Cylon agent.

Battlestar Galactica TV Series, Films & Webisodes

You can find a full index of Battlestar Galactica TV series, films, and webisodes here.

Trivia

You can read interesting trivia and background details about the BSG franchise here.

Production & Filming Details

• Director: Michael Rymer.
• Writers: Ronald D. Moore and Glen A. Larson.
• Production: David Eick Productions, R&D TV Enterprises, and Studios USA.
• Distributor: NBC Universal Television Distribution.
• Original Network: Sky One and Sci Fi Channel.
• Release Date: 08 December 2003 (Part 01) and 09 December 2003 (Part 02)
• Running Time: 180 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

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