Here's what Ron Moore, Battlestar's executive producer, made of a selection of the questions you asked him...
Making what has now transpired to be a long running series requires much in the way of decisions and compromises to get things done. Can you tell us what, for you as the writer, has been one of the hardest decisions/ toughest compromises in making BSG?
The biggest thing we had to sacrifice as we went forward into the series was the idea that we could tell lots of stories out in the civilian fleet. We'd always conceived the show as being able to sustain any kind of format - murder mystery, medical show, procedural, etc - by going out into the rag-tag fleet and finding stories to tell aboard the other ships. But our first foray into the fleet ("Bastille Day") quickly showed us how impossible that was going to be. The cost associated with making the Astral Queen (Zarek's prison ship) was startling to all of us, and we were never able to really put an entire episode aboard another vessel in the fleet. "Colonial Day" was the exception that proved the rule, because we were able to simply go on location and shoot the buildings and exteriors as they were since the conceit of the episode was that Cloud Nine was simulating a planetary environment.
Still a top rate programme and wonderfully written and performed out. Best drama on UK TV!
Paul Fairley
Are there any plans for "expanded universe" works--novels or comics--covering Tom Zarek's career as an activist and terrorist? There would probably be a lot of interest out there in fandom for the nitty-gritty of "The Zarek Manifesto."
There are definitely both comics and novels in the works, and I know that Zarek and his back story are being mined by writers in both those formats.
Tony Cimasko
As a writer & huge fan of BSG and a big Sci-fi fan in general, I'd be curious to know what Sci-Fi films/books/TV influenced you the most when growing up?
The original "Star Trek" series was hugely influential in my personal and professional life. That show, its themes and characters really informed the way I looked at a great many things and I'm still struck by how deeply many of the ideas from "Star Trek" still resonate with me today. My wife will tell you that one of the ironies about me is that while my work can sometimes be dark and even disturbing, that at heart, I'm a bit of a starry-eyed idealist -it's the Kirk in me. "Trek" introduced me to science fiction novels like "Stranger in a Strange Land" "Dune" "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" (technically a short story) and Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy. "Star Wars" was a seminal work for me, as were "Blade Runner" "Alien" and "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Thanks for creating all these amazing characters - the show is the best damned drama on TV! Louise U. West Yorks. UK
We all see great episodes of Battlestar Galactica every week, but what to you, makes for an exciting and entertaining story/show?
For me, it's all about subverting my expectations of a piece of drama and pulling me into a story that I either have never seen before, or have never seen done in exactly this way before. For example, I loved "Donnie Darko" because the first time I saw it, I had no idea where it was going or how it could possibly end. Sam Peckingpagh's "The Wild Bunch" is a more traditional western, but I love it because it continually subverts your expectations of who the characters are, how they're going to react, and what their fates will ultimately be. I'm inspired by works like these to make my own scripts continually try to surprise the audience and deliver a story or a scene or even a line of dialog that's surprising in some way.
So much television and films are simply retreads of very familiar tales, the joy for me is in finding the unexpected moments that keep the drama fresh and interesting.
Mike Bratby
Now that you've given Adama and the fleet the means to actually find Earth, has that made you think any more about how you will ultimately end the series?
The possibility of everyone getting to Earth must be tempting but then you have to think of how that would play out with the Cylon threat. Will the conflict be over by then? Will Earth play a part in the Cylons defeat or will the twelve tribes simply never make it home? Or is it just too early on to be planning that far ahead?
I have given it a lot of thought, and yes, I do know how the series ends. And no, I won't tell you.
Thanks for giving us a fantastically character driven series. Ian H
I always assumed the colonies were in different star systems, especially since there was a line that Tigh said in the mini series. But I read a conflicting article in the Battlestar Galactica Magazine. I know it’s dorky, but I'd like to know the answer.
This notion actually changed a couple of times in the development of the miniseries script. At first, I thought having 12 colonies on 12 different planets was going to be too confusing and I wrote a version where all twelve colonies were on the same planet (called Kobol in that draft). But actually, that proved to be even more confusing and so I switched it to having twelve different planets within the same system. This was pushing scientific plausibility, but having to deal with twelve different star systems seemed even more confusing and I decided to go with the one star system idea, which was how the original series established it anyway.
I'd like to thank Sky One for this opportunity and Ron Moore for taking the time to answer our questions. Mahalo! Noa Kalanihuia
In the original series, the Galactica crew encountered different species on their journey to earth. Will the new Galactica crew begin to encounter any new species?
We don't plan on encountering any other sentient alien species out there (obviously, they've found plant and animal life on other worlds). It's a conceptual conceit of the show that we're going to deal with just the Cylons and the Humans and not get into other alien life.
Erin & Jon Osgood
Does Colonials have calendar system? Thank you for answer. Lukas "d3u5" Hadrava
They presumably do, but we've been deliberately avoiding talking about it. There's a fine line in the show between embracing familiar Earth terms for accessibility and crossing over into bizarre anachronism. It's certainly debatable as to where that line should be drawn, but to me, saying "January" will cross the line. By the same token, having them refer to a made-up month tends to pull the audience out of the show because it's a reminder that none of this is real.
Also what do you think about the rumblings on the Internet that the Cylons have already found Earth and have under their control? Mark Gunning
No comment.(And that's really just a no comment, don't read anything else into it-I'm just not talking about Earth at this point.)
Any interesting storylines you care to share that were rejected. Phillip Griffiths-Owens
No, because even the rejected stories are not really dead until the show is over. You always want to preserve the possibility that something may actually work later in the series.
Are the Cylons based on the REAL manufacture of genetically altered humans, that is, based on the Mannequin and Puppet Master projects, which it has been said, according to sources, are actual programmes for the manufacture of hybrid Humans which are (now in 2006) reaching adult maturity?
Uh...no.
Miles Johnston
Number Six seems to be associated with the colour Red; she wears red clothes all the time, etc. She's the seductress, etc. I've noticed that Number Three, both Galactica-Three and Caprica-Three, seem to wear yellow clothes all the time. Was there a conscious choice to make her "colour" Yellow, just as Number Six's colour is Red?
I think this is more of a choice to help differentiate the characters rather than make a decision about who is defined by a certain color. We've dressed Number Six in various colors beyond red -it's just that red is a very evocative color on Tricia and we tend to use it a lot.
If you could ever do a cameo what would you like appear as? If you could own one action figure based on the new series, which one would it be of?
I'd like to be a pilot, but I'd have to shave and get a haircut, so that's not happening anytime soon. I'd like to own a Gaius Baltar action figure.
"Black Market" went pretty dark, with prostitution rings, etc. Did you have problems with the network for this? And in the end, given that you weren't satisfied with the episode, do you feel that it was worth it?
They voiced some concerns about the darkness of the fleet, but we eventually won out. I think the problems with "Black Market" had more to do with story issues in the script related to Lee's journey rather than the darkness of the setting.
Why doesn't Laird have a Scottish accent? Any miracle-worker with half a claim to the title needs a Scottish accent.
It's a good point and it's something we just didn't think about until well after we'd shot the episode.
With such a successful resume of sci-fi shows to your credit, you must have had some kind of introduction to it. Where do you draw your inspiration?
"Star Trek" was, and is still, enormously influential. I'd say that the written works of Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert and Harlan Ellison were also extremely influential and inspiring.
