''Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome'' is a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...

to the reimagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' series and is the latest installment in the franchise. It was a web-series that became a pilot for a possible series chronicling the early adventures of a young

William Adama William "Bill" Adama (callsign "Husker") is a fictional character in the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' television series produced and aired by the SyFy cable network. He is one of the main characters in the series, and is portrayed by Ed ...

, but the series was not picked up. It stars

Luke Pasqualino Luca Giuseppe "Luke" Pasqualino (born 19 February 1990) is a British actor of Italian descent. He is best known for his portrayal of Freddie McClair in the television series '' Skins'', d'Artagnan in the television series ''The Musketeers'' an ...

Ben Cotton Ben Cotton (born July 26, 1975) is a Canadian film and television actor. His most notable roles are on the TV series ''Stargate Atlantis'' playing scientist Dr. Kavanagh, his portrayal of "Leon Bell" in the game Dead Rising 2, Shane Pierce, the ...

, and

Lili Bordán Lili Bordán (born March 12, 1982) is a Hungarian-American film and television actress. Early life and education Lili Bordán was born in New York City, the daughter of Hungarian actress Irén Bordán. During school at Sarah Lawrence College, ...

. Michael Taylor wrote the teleplay from a story by Taylor,

David Eick David Eick () (born 1968) is an American writer and producer, best known as the executive producer of '' Battlestar Galactica'', for which he also wrote several episodes. Eick executive produced '' Caprica'' and '' Battlestar Galactica: Blood & ...

Bradley Thompson Bradley Thompson is an American television writer and producer known for episodes of '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1996–1999), ''The Twilight Zone'' (2002–2003), ''Battlestar Galactica'' (2004–2009), ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' ( ...

and

David Weddle David Weddle is an American television writer and producer known for episodes of '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1996–1999), ''The Twilight Zone'' (2002–2003), '' Battlestar Galactica'' (2004–2009), ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (200 ...

, with

Jonas Pate Jonas James Pate (born January 15, 1970) is an American screenwriter, director and producer. He wrote and directed ''The Grave'', '' Deceiver'', '' The Take'', and directed '' Shrink''. Pate also co-created '' Good vs Evil,'' ''Surface'' and ' ...

as director. Distribution of ''Blood & Chrome'' began as a 10-episode online series in conjunction with

Machinima.com Machinima, Inc. was an American multiplatform online entertainment network owned by WarnerMedia. The company was founded in January 2000 by Hugh Hancock and was headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It originated as a hub for its namesake, m ...

on , and also aired as a

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

on on

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

Setting

Set in the tenth year of the

First Cylon War ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series (''Galactica 1980''), a line of ...

, the story follows

, a young pilot just graduated from the Academy, assigned to one of the battlestars in the

Colonial fleet ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series), original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel se ...

: the '' Galactica''. The series provides a very basic frame of reference to the events that ensued in the time between the prequel series ''

Caprica ''Caprica'' is an American science fiction drama television series. A spin-off prequel of the re-imagined '' Battlestar Galactica'' (2004), Caprica is set 58 years before the main series. ''Caprica'' shows how humanity first created the Cylo ...

'', and the basis series ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series), original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel se ...

''.

Cast

as Ensign/Lieutenant William "Husker" Adama *

as Lieutenant Coker Fasjovik. Cotton previously portrayed a captured Colonial awaiting Cylon experimentation in '' Battlestar Galactica: Razor''. *

as Dr. Becca Kelly *

John Pyper-Ferguson John Pyper-Ferguson (born February 27, 1964) is an Australian-born Canadian actor. He has appeared in a wide range of films and television shows. His notable works include playing Sonny Hamilton on '' Hamilton's Quest'', Peter Hutter on ''The Adv ...

as Tech Sergeant Xander Toth; Pyper-Ferguson previously played recurring character Tomas Vergis on ''

'', and ''Pegasus'' CAG Captain Taylor on ''

''. *

Zak Santiago Zak Santiago (born January 3, 1981) is a Canadian actor and DJ. Early life Santiago was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Career Santiago has appeared in many television shows, including ''Young Blades'', ''Smallville'', ''Robson Arms' ...

as Captain Armin "High Top" Diaz; Santiago previously played supporting character Pan on ''

''. * Leo Li Chiang as Osirus Marine Sergeant *

Mike Dopud Mike Dopud ( sr, Majk Dopuđ, ''Мајк Допуђ'') is a Canadian actor, stuntman, and former football player known for his supporting roles on television. His best-known roles include Vic Hadfield in the miniseries ''Canada Russia '72'', Jas ...

as Captain Deke "Minute Man" Tornvald; Dopud previously played supporting character Specialist Gage on ''

''. *

Brian Markinson Brian Markinson (born September 1, 1961) is an American-Canadian actor who has appeared in a wide variety of films and television shows. Some of Markinson's best known roles include a U.S. Attorney General in ''Shooter'', an unscrupulous industr ...

as Commander Silas Nash; Markinson played supporting character Jordan Duram on ''

''. *

Adrian Holmes Adrian Holmes (born March 31, 1974) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his work on the Bravo television series '' 19-2'', for which he won a Canadian Screen Award in 2017. He is also known for playing the role of Uncle Phil in the ''Fresh Pr ...

as Lieutenant Decklan Elias * Karen LeBlanc as Lieutenant Jenna *

Carmen Moore Carmen Moore (born 24 December 1972) is a Canadian actress known for her work in television. She is known for her role as Loreen Cassway on ''Arctic Air'' (for which she was nominated for a Leo Award in 2012) and the lead role of Leona Stoney, o ...

as Senior Lieutenant Nina Leotie; Moore played supporting character Fidelia Fazekas on ''

''. * Toby Levins as Pilot "Sandman" *

Jill Teed Jill Teed is a Canadian actress. She is an actress who has appeared in many sci-fi roles. She has appeared in a number of television guest roles such as ''Street Justice'', ''The X-Files'', ''Stargate SG-1'', ''Sliders'', and '' The Outer Limits ...

as Commander Ozar; Teed portrayed the role of MSgt. Hadrian on ''Battlestar Galactica'' and supporting character Colonel Sasha Patel on ''

''. *

Sebastian Spence Sebastian Spence (born December 9, 1969) is a Canadian actor. He played the lead role of Cade Foster in the Space Channel science fiction television series, '' First Wave'' (1998–2001).Science Fiction Television Series, 1990–2004: Histories, ...

as Lieutenant Jim "Sunshine" Kirby; Spence played Capt. Noel "Narcho" Allison on ''

''. * Jordan Weller as Seamus Fahey * Tom Stevens as Marine Baris *

Tricia Helfer Tricia Janine Helfer (born April 11, 1974) is a Canadian-American actress and former model. She played the enigmatic Cylon model Number Six in the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' series (2004–2009). She also voiced Sarah Kerrigan in ''S ...

as Cylon Prototype (voice); Helfer played the Cylon model Number Six in ''

''. *

Ty Olsson Ty Olsson (born January 28, 1974) is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Benny Lafitte in ''Supernatural'', real-life 9/11 victim Mark Bingham in the A&E television film '' Flight 93'', and Ord in the PBS Kids animated children's series '' ...

as Osiris Crewmember; Olsson portrayed LSO Captain Aaron Kelly on ''

''.

Development

On July 27, 2010, executive producer Michael Taylor shared information about the project, establishing that it would be filmed using digital reconstructions of the ''

'' sets that were scanned before they were dismantled after the end of the show.

made an announcement on October 22, 2010, saying that a two-hour pilot was

green-lit To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

for production. On February 10, 2011, ''Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome'' began

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. During the 2011

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

, Syfy's president of original programming, Mark Stern, hinted to an uncertainty regarding which format the project was going to be released in, weighing the possibility of making it into an online series. On February 18, 2012, ''Battlestar Galactica'' and ''Caprica'' composer

Bear McCreary Bear McCreary (born February 17, 1979) is an American musician and composer of film, television, and video game scores based in Los Angeles, California. His work includes the scores of the television series ''Battlestar Galactica'' (2004), ''Age ...

confirmed that he had finished scoring the two-hour pilot. On March 21, 2012,

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

confirmed that ''Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome'' would not move forward in TV format but was still regarded as a candidate for a digital series. On July 12, 2012 however, an article written on the San Diego Comic Con Battlestar Panel stated that Richard Hatch and

Jane Espenson Jane Espenson (born July 14, 1964) is an American television writer and producer. Espenson has worked on both situation comedies and serial dramas. She had a five-year stint as a writer and producer on '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and shared ...

were convinced that "Blood and Chrome was still on the table as a series for SyFy", and that "

Bryan Singer Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer d ...

's BSG movie is on track". Following the release of a
official trailer
''Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome'' was scheduled for release on November 9, 2012, as an online series consisting of ten 12-minute acts.

Episodes

Release

Online

On March 20, 2012, a

demo reel A showreel (also known as a demo reel, sizzle reel, or work reel) is a short video showcasing a person's previous work used by many kinds of people involved in filmmaking and other media, including actors, animators, lighting designers, editors, a ...

was leaked online, gathering well over 100,000 views in 24 hours. However,

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primari ...

ordered it to be removed, saying it was not an official trailer. On November 5, 2012, an official trailer was released, pointing to an official release date on November 9, 2012. On November 9, 2012 the Machinima network released the first two episodes of ''Blood and Chrome'' on its YouTube channel. It released two additional episodes each Friday, until the finale on December 7, 2012. They have since been removed with the release on DVD and Blu-ray.

Broadcast

Universal Cable Productions stated that ''Blood & Chrome'' would be broadcast as a movie on SyFy following the online release. It aired February 10, 2013. It garnered 1.145 million viewers with a 0.31 adults 18-49 rating. In Canada Space (TV channel) later aired the film.

Home media

''Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome'' was released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

On Demand On-demand or on demand may refer to: Manufacturing * Build-on-demand * Just-in-time manufacturing, a methodology for production * Print on demand, printing technology and business process in which new copies of a document are not printed until an ...

and Digital Download on February 19, 2013.

References

External links

*
''Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome''
at the Battlestar Wiki {{DEFAULTSORT:Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome 2012 web series debuts 2012 web series endings Battlestar Galactica Television films as pilots Syfy original films American science fiction web series Television prequel films Space opera web series Films directed by Jonas Pate American prequel films