Babylon 5: The Lost Tales is an anthology show set in the Babylon 5 universe. It was announced by J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5, at the San Diego Comic Con in July 2006. Straczynski has described the stories as ones he had for the Babylon 5 television series, but never had the time to produce. The project is intended to be a series of direct-to-DVD productions.

1. Voices in the Dark

Voices in the Dark will be set in 2272. It will feature two linked plotlines viewed separately one after the other but covering the same 72-hour timespan: the first follows ISA President John Sheridan on his way to B5 for a celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the formation of the Interstellar Alliance. During the journey he unexpectedly picks up the Centauri Prince Regent Vintari (third in line to the Centauri Imperial throne) on the edge of Centauri space, and receives a warning from Galen the techno-mage about coming events. The second will feature Colonel (formerly Captain during the series' run) Lochley on B5 awaiting Sheridan's arrival, who summons a priest from Earth space to help deal with a mysterious, seemingly supernatural problem.

Straczynski had started writing the first of the Lost Tales scripts by 26 August 2006. He has stated that the exact nature of the stories is dependent on who exactly can be signed on, since original cast members are being used. In November he stated that the first three scripts were to feature the characters of John Sheridan, Elizabeth Lochley, Galen, and Michael Garibaldi. He also stated that the increasing scale and ambition of the project necessitated delaying the story featuring Garibaldi (which was the most ambitious in terms of special effects and sets) to the planned second DVD, expanding the other two stories to forty-five minutes each in the first release.  The initial production schedule given at Comic Con for the first DVD was to start shooting in September 2006, do post-production in the fourth quarter of 2006, and release them in the second quarter of 2007. Due to certain members of crew and others not being available, this schedule got pushed back, first to October, and then to November. Production began on November 13, 2006. The DVD had been been fully delivered to the studio by 2007-04-15.  Straczynski's role as director of this initial batch of two episodes comes after only having directed the Babylon 5 series finale "Sleeping in Light" before. He has stated that, with new tools available and more room for experimentation in television directing now, six years after Babylon 5, he wants to slightly redesign how Babylon 5 is shot. "... nothing major, just the feeling of the shots and the CGI and to set a tone for the films." After the tone has been set, he intends others to take over for future installments.  While the look of Babylon 5 is rethought for Voices in the Dark, there are things in the feel of the the show that are to be the same, like the silhouettes and designs. To do this for the CGI, Atmosphere Visual Effects had to make use of fan created 3D models. The art assets of the original show were turned over to Warner Bros to be archived, with the studio mandating that no back ups be made, a request that was honoured. The archives ended up being lost however, which required the usage of fan created materials for reference.

The Voices in the Dark DVD is set to contain a certain number of extras, including behind-the-scenes pieces and "a number of original short pieces" shot in February 2007.  During the production of Voices in the Dark a series of behind-the-scenes video blogs were produced. Some of these were intended to be shown at conventions, specifically the New York Comic-Con and Comic-Con International conventions of 2007, some were intended to be released via the internet, and some are to be released on the DVD. Straczynki has compared them to Peter Jackson's production diaries for King Kong or Bryan Singer's video blogs for Superman Returns.  A mini-comic included with the DVD is being considered.

2. Future installments

Straczynski has stated that predicated on the success of Voices in the Dark a second installment could be released as soon as early 2008. Peter Jurasik has stated that he was contacted by Straczynski to reprise his role as Londo Mollari for a set of alien centric stories after the initial batch centered around humans. He has stated that he said yes to him, "if you [Straczynski] wrote it, I'd do it". The second installment is also set to include a story centered around the character Michael Garibaldi, initially planned for the first installment.  In response to a question about Harlan Ellison writing for the Lost Tales, who acted as conceptual consultant and writer for the original series, Straczynski has stated that he is "sure that down the road I can get Harlan to do something for us". However, for now the studio is pushing for just himself to work on the Lost Tales according to Straczynski, stating they "want this to be you [Straczynski]" because the studio already knows him and likes him.  One of the big events in the Babylon 5 universe that the Lost Tales is set to explore eventually is the Telepath War. Straczynski reportedly stated at the New York Comic-Con in February 2007 that he already has a concept for a possible direct-to-dvd Telepath War story in mind.  Straczynski has stated that David Sheridan (John Sheridan and Delenn's son) will both be mentioned in Voices in the Dark, and that he will be seen somewhere else, "in the next DVD".