The first season of the reimagined science fiction television 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 ...

'', was commissioned by the Sci-Fi Channel in February 2004. The first episode, "33", was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2004, on

Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

, three months before its premiere in the United States on January 14, 2005 on the Sci-Fi Channel. Sky1 had negotiated first-broadcast rights of season 1 as part of its financial backing terms. The first episode of the series received a

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

and the season's 13 episodes were recognized with a Peabody Award "for pushing the limits of science fiction and making it accessible to all." The first season is a follow-up to the

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

that first aired in December 2003.

Cast and characters

Main cast

* Edward James Olmos as William Adama * Mary McDonnell as

Laura Roslin Laura Roslin is a fictional character in the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' series, portrayed by Mary McDonnell. She is the President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol and is one of the primary characters in the show. Character biography Ba ...

* Katee Sackhoff as Kara "Starbuck" Thrace * Jamie Bamber as Lee "Apollo" Adama * James Callis as

Gaius Baltar Dr. Gaius Baltar is a fictional character in the TV series '' Battlestar Galactica'' played by James Callis, a reimagining of Count Baltar from the 1978 '' Battlestar Galactica'' series. He is one of the show's primary characters. Personality G ...

* Tricia Helfer as Number Six * Grace Park as Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (Number Eight) * Michael Hogan as

Saul Tigh Saul Tigh is a fictional character on ''Battlestar Galactica'' played by Michael Hogan. He is one of the main characters of the show. Biography Overview and personality Saul Tigh is a line officer assigned as executive officer on the Galacti ...

* Aaron Douglas as Galen Tyrol * Tahmoh Penikett as Karl "Helo" Agathon * Kandyse McClure as Anastasia Dualla * Paul Campbell as

Billy Keikeya Billy Keikeya is a fictional character in the miniseries and television remake of '' Battlestar Galactica''. He is portrayed by Paul Campbell. Billy appeared until late in the second season, at which point he was killed by terrorists. Paul Campb ...

* Alessandro Juliani as

Felix Gaeta Lieutenant Junior Grade Felix Gaeta is a fictional character on '' Battlestar Galactica'' played by Alessandro Juliani. Arc Character overview in his early career Felix Gaeta is known for his friendly, encouraging, trusting, and idealistic na ...

Samuel Witwer Sam Witwer (born October 20, 1977) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Crashdown in ''Battlestar Galactica'', Davis Bloome in ''Smallville'', Aidan Waite in '' Being Human'', Mr. Hyde in '' Once Upon a Time'', Ben Lockwood in '' ...

as Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo

Recurring cast

* Nicki Clyne as Cally Henderson * Donnelly Rhodes as

Sherman Cottle Major Sherman Cottle is a fictional character in the reimagined '' Battlestar Galactica'' series. The battlestar ''Galacticas Chief Medical Officer, Cottle is played by Donnelly Rhodes. Character biography Cottle is gruff, sarcastic, and po ...

* Callum Keith Rennie as

Leoben Conoy Leoben Conoy (Number Two) is a fictional character portrayed by Callum Keith Rennie appearing in the reimagined '' Battlestar Galactica'' series. Leoben is a humanoid Cylon agent who portrays himself as possessing philosophical and religious e ...

* Matthew Bennett as Aaron Doral * Richard Hatch as

Tom Zarek These are lists of characters from the various ''Battlestar Galactica'' incarnations. Original 1978 movie and series People from the ''Galactica'': * Commander Adama - played by Lorne Greene * Commander Cain - played by Lloyd Bridges * Captain ...

Kate Vernon Katherine Elizabeth Vernon (born April 21, 1961) is a Canadian-born American actress. She is known for her roles as Lorraine Prescott on the CBS primetime soap opera ''Falcon Crest'' (from 1984–1985), the stuck-up and popular Benny Hanson in t ...

Ellen Tigh Ellen Tigh is a fictional character from the re-imagined '' Battlestar Galactica'' series. She is played by the actress Kate Vernon. Overview Ellen Tigh is the wife of Colonel Saul Tigh. At the beginning of the series, he believes she has been ...

* Lorena Gale as Elosha * Leah Cairns as Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson *

Bodie Olmos Bodie James Olmos (born August 27, 1975) is an American actor. He is the son of Edward James Olmos and Kaija Keel, and grandson of Howard Keel. His older brother is actor Mico Olmos, and his younger sister is Daniela Olmos. His first on screen ...

as Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza * Luciana Carro as Louanne "Kat" Katraine * Alonso Oyarzun as Socinus * Jennifer Halley as Diana "Hardball" Seelix * Jill Teed as Sergeant Hadrian, Master-at-Arms

Episodes

In the following list, "Survivor count" refers to the number of surviving Colonial citizens and military, provided at some point during the episode. ; Notes

Production

''s first season of thirteen one-hour episodes was ordered by the Sci-Fi Channel on February 10, 2004, with production taking place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Produced in 2004 by David Eick and

Ronald D. Moore Ronald Dowl Moore (born July 5, 1964) is an American screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for his work on ''Star Trek''; on the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' television series, for which he won a Peabody Award and an Em ...

, and starring the original cast from the 2003 miniseries, it began airing in the United Kingdom and Ireland on October 18, 2004. The series proved successful, attracting favorable comments from reviewers, and generating considerable anticipation in the U.S. It began airing in North America three months later, on January 14, 2005 in the United States, and January 15 in Canada. The first episode aired in the U.S. became one of the highest-rated programs ever on Sci-Fi, with 3.1 million viewers. The series' first season became the network's highest-rated original series to date. ''Battlestar Galactica''s first episode was later made available for viewing in its entirety, and without charge from the Sci-Fi website. Moore also sought to address the "Internet Generation" by posting podcast commentaries on individual episodes on the official Sci-Fi website.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 90% with an average score of 8.4 out of 10 based on 20 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "A captivating combination of riveting political drama and science fiction fantasy make ''Battlestar Galactica'' must-see sci-fi."

Awards

;Wins * 2005 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (" 33") * 2005

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

* 2005 Spacey Award for Favorite Limited TV Series In its statement accompanying the announcement of the show's Peabody Award, the Peabody Board noted "''Battlestar Galactica'' is not just another apocalyptic vision of the future but an intense drama that poses provocative questions regarding religion, politics, sex and what it truly means to be 'human'.... Writers

Toni Graphia Toni Graphia (born May 11, 1960) is an American writer and television producer. Early life and education Graphia was raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the daughter of Anthony J. "Tony" Graphia, a prominent Louisiana judge and current Chairman ...

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 ...

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'' ( ...

, Carla Robinson,

Jeff Vlaming Jeff Vlaming (sometimes credited as Jeffrey Vlaming) is an American television writer and producer. He has worked on numerous series throughout the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, including ''The X-Files'', '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', '' Battlestar Gal ...

Michael Angeli Michael Angeli (born 1970/1971) is an American writer and television producer, best known for his award-nominated work on television series including ''Monk'' and the remake of ''Battlestar Galactica'', a show for which he was also a co-executiv ...

, and David Eick take full advantage to give us plotlines that are deeply personal and relatable, while never compromising their affinity and passion for science fiction". ;Nominations * 2005

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series ("33", "The Hand of God") * 2005 Saturn Awards for Best Television Release on DVD (Season 1) * 2004

Visual Effects Society Award The Visual Effects Society (VES) is an entertainment industry organization representing visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and p ...

for Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in a Live Act on Broadcast Program ("33")

Home video releases

The first season was released on DVD in region 1 on September 20, 2005, in region 2 on March 28, 2005 and in region 4 on August 15, 2006. It was also released in region 1 in HD DVD on December 4, 2007 and on

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, 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 c ...

on January 5, 2010. The sets include all 13 episodes of the first season and the

. Special features include commentary on the miniseries and "33" by executive producers

, David Eick and director Michael Rymer. Moore and Eick provide commentaries for "Bastille Day", "Act of Contrition" and "You Can't Go Home Again". Beginning with episode 9, Moore began recording podcast commentaries for the episodes on the official ''Battlestar Galactica'' website; Moore provides commentaries for "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down", "The Hand of God", "Colonial Day", "Kobol's Last Gleaming (Part 1)" and "Kobol's Last Gleaming (Part 2)". Behind-the-scenes featurettes include a collection of individual featurettes—"From Miniseries to Series", "Change is Good, Now They're Babes", "The Cylon Centurion", "Future/Past Technology", "The Doctor is out (of his mind)", "Production", "Visual Effects" and "Epilogue". Also included is a featurette titled "''Battlestar Galactica'': The Series Lowdown", deleted scenes for various episodes, and a montage of sketches and art for the series.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Battlestar Galactica (season 1) *2 2004 American television seasons 2005 American television seasons