Ron Moore & David Eick Talk Season 4, Razor & Caprica
Source SciFi Pulse
23 July 2007
By Ian M. Cullen
For the last 4 years ‘Battlestar Galactica’ has been the darling of the media and has won many fans amongst Hollywood’s critics. For the last 4 years the re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica has attempted to take the SciFi Genre in a bold new direction and steering the story from behind the scenes have been producers Ron D. Moore and David Eick.
In a new interview for Starburst Magazine both producers gave a few insights about what fans can expect to see in the not to distant future.
As with the classic 70’s series the re-imagined Battlestar follows a desperate group of humanoids who are fleeing the Cylon threat which has near as damn wiped out all of their race. Leading the fleet is Admiral Adama and President Laura Roslin who are on a quest to find the mythical 13th colony known to them as our planet Earth. By the end of series 3 much had happened for our rag tag fleet and it appeared that after much searching that their quest was finally at an end.
“At the end of season three we showed you a glimpse of Earth; you actually saw it, and I think you’ll see more of it.” Teases producer Ron D. Moore about the pending 4th season, which will not air stateside until January 2008.
Of course the question remains, is it really Earth, or is it a parallel version to the earth that we know. Is it an earth that is maybe inhabited by apes? These are all questions that will keep fans pondering until January.
Yet like with most Science Fiction shows the plot and story often poses more questions than answers and one of the other big reveals of series three was the revelation that some very prominent members of Galactica’s crew were not as humanoid as they seemed to be.
Of course it’s safe to say that the actors who play these characters are just as anxious to find out how their respective stories play out than the fans are.
“Tigh [Michael Hogan], Anders [Michael Trucco], Tyrol [Aaron Douglas] and Tory Foster [Rekha Sharma] are still the same people,” says Moore. “They didn’t suddenly switch over and become robots. So in Season Four you’re pretty much going to see an extension of that initial moment where they try to figure out what this means to them. If, in fact, they are Cylons, when did that begin? What are their true back-stories, and what are they meant to do? Are they dangerous to each other or the Galactica? Can they trust anyone around them, and should they keep this secret to themselves.”
“When it came to choosing our other Human Cylons we gravitated fairly quickly to these four characters for various reasons, and we’re planning to take them in some interesting directions.” Said Moore.
Thankfully fans of Battlestar Galactica will not have to wait too much longer for their fix. Premiering in November is the much anticipated prequel movie ‘Razor’ which explores events that took place onboard the ill-fated Battlestar Pegasus. Producer David Eick was more than happy to share some details about this telemovie, which will premier on the SciFi Channel in the autumn just prior to it being released onto DVD.
“It essentially ties into the story of the Battlestar Pegasus, which as you may or may not know, was destroyed in battle at the start of Season Three. So there are scenes with Admiral Cain [Michelle Forbes], but they don’t take place during [Season Two’s] Pegasus and Resurrection Ship because the action of those two episodes was continuous. However, some of Pegasus’s back – story, including events that transpired during the original Cylon attack [on the Twelve Colonies of Kobol], are dramatized. We also explore what happened after Cain’s murder and while the Pegasus was still part of the ragtag fleet.”
When asked if he thinks the ragtag fleet will finally make a safe haven on Earth for themselves Eick was giving very little away.
“Well, I don’t want to be that definite about it,” says Eick, “but the show has always been about the search for Earth, and to end the series without getting to Earth, a version of Earth, or at least someone saying, ‘Earth’, would be unsatisfying. So it will defiantly figure into this seasons storyline.”
Though the forthcoming TV movie is a spin – off of sorts for Battlestar Galactica, there has been little to no news of late about the Cylon Origin story ‘Caprica’ which was first brought up as an idea for a spin – off series towards the end of season two of Battlestar.
“It’s not on the front burner, but I don’t think anyone has told us definitely that it’s dead,” notes Moore. “We continue to hope that there’ll be an opportunity and a programming need for it. It’s certainly an idea we wholeheartedly believe in and feel would not only capture the interest of a lot of the Galactica viewers, but also expose a whole new audience to this mythology because it’s a very different type of show.”
You can read more of this interview with David Eick and Ron D. Moore in issue #352 of ‘Starburst’ Magazine, which is out now priced £3.99.