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I remember watching the original Battlestar Galactica as a child and even though I was too young to understand the complex ins and outs of the entertainment industry I was still savvy enough to view it as a cheap and camp copy of the Star Wars franchise. I might have found some of the episodes entertaining enough to warrant my attention but I never viewed the series as a serious contribution to the world of tele-visual entertainment.

Ronal D Moore's re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica however, is a completely different animal. Sure it's entertaining and it features enough space battles and action scenes to keep even the shortest of teen attention spans happy but the series has seemingly evolved, or to put it another way, "grown up" and just as the childish "toaster" Cylons have developed into more adult-like lean and believable robots, the new Battlestar Galactica has become a respectable, serious and adult science fiction serial.

Not adult in the sense that it contains gratuitous sex or violence but adult in that the camp and disposable nature of the original's plot and execution is now not only serious and believable but also dripping with social commentary and references to modern and actual situations both political and societal.

There's the odd salute to the old series such as the actual battlestar ship itself, the presence albeit a female one of Starbuck or the Knight Rider-esque red lights on the Cylon raiders but everything seems to gel more neatly now. Characters and scenarios are believable due to the presence of personality flaws that are explored to their fullest potential.

As one would expect with a science fiction program, space ships, and battles between them are necessary as is the use of CGI but unlike other programs the computer graphics seem natural and are only used when necessary. This is a perfect example of the way in which Battlestar Galactica is as complex and as interesting as it has to be but does not try to dazzle its audience unnecessarily.

The fact that the series is well directed and stars some amazing actors (Edward James Olmos as Commander Adama and James Callis as Gaius Baltar to name just two) doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated either.

In short though I don't think that any science fiction serial will ever be as complex, interesting or engaging as J Michael Straczynski's epic Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica comes impressively close to the mark.

Oh, and I forgot to mention Tricia Helfer in "that" red dress.

Learn more about this author, Richie Caldicott.
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