Caprica: The Feature Length Pilot (www.the-usher.com)

Fifty years before the fall of the Twelve Colonies, Caprica was a hotbed of political, religious, race and scientific arguments. As technology began to advance at an accelerated rate, competition between corporations became fierce with Daniel Graystone (Stolz) standing at the forefront of technological advancement. Having already brought the Twelve Colonies the virtual V-World, his company was moving toward the creation of artificial life. For Joseph Adama (Morales), a Tauran lawyer who lived for his family, technology was far from his mind. The two families where brought together by an event that would change Caprica forever, when the Children of the One initiate their terrorist attack.

When it comes to making a spin-off series for one of the greatest Science Fiction shows in television history, fans may have been thinking that ‘Caprica’ just another ‘Battlestar Galactica’ clone but they would be very, very wrong.

In 2009, the critically acclaimed and award winning ‘Battlestar Galactica’ came to an end and fans of this quite stunning show wondered what writer/producer Ronald D. Moore and his creative team would do next with the Galactica universe. With rumours of a prequel series coming while the final season the Battlestar Galactica was airing in the US, fans spectulated as to what it would be about. For those expected another space set show, with the furious space battles between the last remaining humans and the relentless cylons, the new show might come as a disappointment because instead we have a programme that takes the human stories of politics, religion, race and the reliance on technology and places them into a very familiar world.

The capital planet in the Twelve Colonies, Caprica is a world that we will recognise. A mix of 21st century and advanced technology and 1950s style, the look and feel of Caprica plays into the revelations of the finale of ‘Battlestar Galactica’. Overly reliant on technology, riddled with organised crime, corruption and on the verge of a major change, Caprica is a planet heading to disaster or salvation. The pilot introduces this world and, more importantly, the two families that will drive the series and see the eventual rise of a new race, the Cylons, who would later turn on their makers.

The two families are very different but will shape the future in their own way. The Graystone’s are the super rich elite, with Daniel, played by Eric Stolz, the head of the Twelve Colonies largest technological company. Having invented the Holoband, a piece of technology that can transport you into a virtual world, the company is now moving into the production of military fighting robots but the artificial intelligence was continuing to be the stumbling block. Daniel’s daughter Zoe, played with real gusto by Alessandra Torresani, was rebellious however. Inheriting her father’s technological genius, she began experimenting with the V-World to create an avatar with its own intelligence. She was also mixing with a new religion, one that flaunted the traditional Gods, talking of the One true God and would do anything to prove their faith. When that proof comes in the shape of a bomb on the monorail express train, which taking hundreds of lives, it is this action that brings the Graystone’s and Adama’s together in grief and then in much more dangerous ways.

Brilliantly written and expertly played, ‘Caprica’ is a series that has real potential. With Ronald D. Moore and his creative team have not just created another ‘Battlestar Galactica’ but a science fiction drama that deals with many of the questions that face modern, human living in a fictional setting. This is television at its very best, proving again that science fiction is the genre asking the most pivotal questions of the world we live in today.

Feature Commentary with Director Jeffrey Reiner, Executive Producer/Writer Ronald D. Moore and Executive Producer David Eick
Deleted Scenes
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