It's been 40 years since the 12 colonies of mankind have heard from their progeny, the Cylons -- robotic creatures who rose up and declared war on their masters, then disappeared. In a sudden, devastating strike, the Cylons return and lay waste to the colonies, aided by human-looking Cylon variants and an unwitting fifth columnist. The attack forces Commander William Adama to call into action his museum-piece warship, the Battlestar Galactica, and soon its company of hotshot fighter pilots is blasting away at the invaders. But their best efforts can't prevent the colonies' obliteration. Fleeing the Cylon genocide, the Galactica leads a rag-tag fleet of survivors on a lonely quest to find humanity's fabled 13th colony -- a planet known as Earth.

Edward James Olmos - Cmdr. William Adama

Mary McDonnell - Laura Roslin

Katee Sackhoff - Lt. Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace

Jamie Bamber - Capt. Lee 'Apollo' Adama

James Callis - Dr. Gaius Baltar

Tricia Helfer - Number Six

Callum Keith Rennie - Leoben Conoy

Grace Park - Lt. (j.g.) Sharon 'Boomer' Valerii

Michael Hogan - Col. Paul Tigh

Matthew Bennett - Aaron Doral

Paul Campbell - Billy Keikeya

Aaron Douglas - Chief Petty Officer Tyrol

Lorena Gale - Priest Elosha

Barclay Hope - Transport pilot

Kandyse McClure - Petty Officer 2nd Dualla

Connor Widdows - Boxey

Michael Eklund - Crewman Specialist Prosna

Alessandro Juliani - Lt. Gaeta

Kwesi Ameyaw - Agro ship captain

Nahanni Arntzen - Pilot #2

Ron Blecker - Launch Officer

Nicki Clyne - Crewman Specialist Cally

Moneca Delain - Blonde woman

Jenn Griffin - Woman #1

Biski Gugushe - Pilot #1

B.J. Harrison - Woman #2

Tim Henry - Dr. Westin

Clarke Hudson - Zachary Adama

Erin Karpluk - Boxey's aunt

Fred Keating - Junior teporter

Robert Lewis - Man #1

John Mann - Capt. Jackson "Ripper" Spencer

Suleka Mathews - Kellan Brody

Sue Mathew - Reporter

Brenda McDonald - Old woman

Lymari Nadal - Gina

Ryan Nelson - Pilot #4

Ty Olsson - Capt. Kelly

Alonso Oyarzun - Crewman Specialist Socinus

Haili Page - Cami

Zahf Paroo - Man

Tahmoh Penikett - Lt. Karl "Helo" Agathon

Ryan Robbins - Boxey's father

Brandy Schlecker - Extra

Denzel Sinclaire - Man #2

Michael Soltis - Chantara's husband

Nigel Vonas - Pilot #3

Nadine Wright - Chantara

Paralee Cook - Warrant Officer

Plans for a revival of the 1970s TV series date back to the late 1990s when original series star Richard Hatch went so far as to produce a short film suggesting what an updated Galactica might look like. In 2000-01 plans to film a new Galactica movie were shelved at the last minute. This new version is described as a "reimagining" and with the new series some of the original cast may star in the show as other characters not the ones they played original

The characters of Starbuck and Boomer are female in this version; they were male in the original TV series. None of the characters in the original series had last or family names.

Roslin calls Apollo "Captain Apollo", a nod to the original series.

The music accompanying the Viper flyby during the decommissioning ceremony is fanfare from the original Battlestar Galactica

On the original Battlestar Galactica, Apollo, Starbuck and Boomer were the characters' real names. Here, they're their "call signs" (pilot nicknames).

During the first Viper/Cylon engagement, the lead pilot calls for his wingman, "Jolly". Jolly was one of the pilots on the original Battlestar Galactica.

The hand held camera shot of Secretary Roslin being sworn in as the new President of the Twelve Colonies is a direct reference to the historic photograph of Vice President Lyndon Johnson taking the oath of office aboard Air Force 1 following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Numerous props from the original series appear as items on display in the newly constructed museum in the starboard landing bay of the Galactica. They are all labeled in the typeface style used for the main title of the original series. The props which can be seen include a Cylon Centurion, a Cylon Raider, a Cylon Basestar, a Colonial Shuttle, a Landram and even an original Colonial Viper from the 1978 series.

The officer aboard the contact station at the beginning of the first episode is reading a file on the Cylons which features the design of a Cylon Centurion from the original series. The shuttle which transports him to the station also closely resembles the shuttle craft from the original series.

During the tour for the press corps it is mentioned the Galactica was first commanded by Commander Hatch, reference to Richard Hatch, the original Capt. Apollo

According to the official website, the officer ranks in the Colonial fleet are: Ensign, Lieutenant j.g., Lieutenant, Captain, Colonel, Commander, Admiral. There are also Colonial Marines, but their rank structure is unknown (they have not as yet appeared onscreen).

The wedge shaped, wired handsets used on the Galactica are US military issue TA-1/PT field telephones.

An early version of the script had the twelve colonies as cities on the mother planet Kobol, not separate worlds all colonized from Kobol (as it is in the final version). In the miniseries, Kobol is mentioned, but its fate is unknown - we never knew if it was an inhabited world, or an abandoned desert wasteland as in the original. (Some fans speculate that, in the remake, Kobol might actually be Earth, or at least a colony of Earth.)

When Laura Roslin learns she has cancer, you see numerous ships flying overhead - one of which is the Serenity from the show Firefly.

The shuttle deck on board the Colonial One space ship is the car deck of a British Columbia Ferry - the lane markings are clearly visible.

Commander Adama's final speech to his crew (including his repeated use of the phrase "So say we all!" to rally them to action) was largely improvised by Edward James Olmos.

Grace Park originally auditioned for both Dualla and Starbuck.

The Cylon Basestar in the display case in the museum originally contained the Galactica from the 1978 series with a sign that read "The First Battlestar Galactica". The Galactica was eventually dropped in favor of the 1978 Cylon Basestar.

Richard Hatch was offered the role of the doctor who delivers the bad news to Laura Roslin but declined the offer.

A Viper from the 1978 series is clearly visible in a long shot of the landing bay during the decommissioning ceremony (to the left of the screen near the LandRam).

A CGI rendering of the 1978 Galactica was to be used for the mini-series but a decision was made to go in a different direction with the Galactica's design.

Like in the original series, the "13" tribes/colonies (if you include Earth) is a reference to the 13 tribes of Israel.

When Adama reaches for his glasses after having been summoned to the tribunal, the book from which he retrieves his glasses reads "Reader's Digest Condensed Books".

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In part 2, when the fleet is preparing to leave the storm at Ragnar station, Col. Tigh is heard giving orders to lay down covering fire, but his mouth isn't moving while he speaks into the radio.

Continuity error: Adama takes his glasses off twice when first contacting Apollo on Colonial One.

Continuity error: When the Galactica is preparing to do its first FTL jump, the hangers are retracted into the ship. As the ship is jumping, however, the hangers are fully extended again.

M-1                    08-Dec-2003                  Battlestar Galactica (Part 1)

M-2                    09-Dec-2003                  Battlestar Galactica (Part 2)

Forty years after the end of the Cylon War, the artificially created Cylons declare war on humanity by attacking and destroying all of their twelve colonies. The military crumbles after their newly updated ships shut down in the face of a new unknown Cylon weapon. A lone Battlestar known as Galactica, due to be decomissioned and turned into a museum turns out to be the only thing standing between the Cylons, and total destruction of the human race.  With all others in the line of succession dead, Laura Roslin, the Education Minister is appointed president of the Thirteen Colonies. Her new plan is to round up all of the remaining surviving ships and together, with the Galactica flee their home solar systems never to return.