Filming locations

All of the Battlestar Galactica series, from the original through 1980 to the miniseries and beyond, have made use of location shooting to provide some of the background and scope for the storyline.

The programs filmed from 1978 through 1980 conducted location shoots around Southern California, for the most part not far from Univereal Studios in Studio City, California.

The Re-Imagined Series is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia (BC), Canada and most of the location shoots have been done within the Lower Mainland of BC.

Original Series Filming Locations

• Kobol

For Lost Planet of the Gods, Part II, some shots of the pyramids at Kobol were actually filmed at the site of the Great Temple at Karnak and the Pyramids of Giza, in Egypt [1]. A small crew was sent to film the sequence and doubles were used to pose as Adama, Serina, Apollo and Boomer.

• Gamoray Base

Outside shots of the Gamoray Base, shown in "The Living Legend, Part II", were filmed at night at the campus of the University of California at Northridge in Northridge, California, USA [2]

• Paradeen

The destroyed city on Paradeen seen in Greetings from Earth was filmed in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. The prefabricated buildings left over from Expo '67 fell apart in the harsh Canadian winters. The remains of the site were this sequence was filmed in 1979 made believable futuristic ruins.

Galactica 1980 Filming Locations

• Phone Booth

In Galactica Discovers Earth Part One, Troy and Dillon first meet Jamie near what is now a French restaurant in the Soledad Canyon in Los Angeles County. The phone booth that is featured in the scene was still there as of June 2006.

• Planet Starbuck

The scenes of the planet Starbuck names after himself in "The Return of Starbuck" were filmed entirely on location at Red Rock Canyon State Park near Cantil, California, USA [3]

Battlestar Galactica (RDM) Miniseries Filming Locations

• Baltar's House

Baltar's House on Caprica was filmed at a home on the Sea to Sky Highway, north of Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia, Canada. [4], [5] Ronald Moore comments about filming at this location, and the noise of nearby construction in the podcast for "Resurrection Ship, Part I".

• Laura Roslin's Doctor's Office

Laura Roslin's doctor's office, where she receives bad news, was filmed at 1540 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia, a home which has been featured in Architectural Digest.
Judging from the staircases, Lee Adama's flashbacks in "Black Market" were also filmed there.

• Riverwalk Market, Caprica City

This was shot at Simon Fraser University and can also be seen in "Epiphanies".

• Botany Ship

The interior of the sublight Botany Ship, that was left behind, was filmed at the Bloedel Conservatory, at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver, BC. The east entrance to the park is from 33rd Avenue where it intersects with Ontario Street [6]. (The shape of the Blodel Conservatory looks remarkably similar to the domes of the USS Valley Forge spaceship from Silent Running, images of which were used as the Agro Ship in the original series, which is the model upon which the Botany Ship was later based. There are other examples of these kind of dome shaped greenhouses from the early 1970's, which may have inspired the original model design).

Battlestar Galactica (RDM) Regular Series Filming Locations

• Quorum of Twelve meeting site

The Quorum of Twelve meeting site was filmed at the Chan Centre, 6265 Crescent Road, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This building also features prominently in the television series The 4400.

• Cloud Nine interior

The garden scenes on Cloud Nine in "Colonial Day" were shot in the rose garden of the University of British Columbia.

• Kobol

Most of the outdoor and forest scenes in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II" through "Fragged" and the "Home" two-parter were shot at Widgeon Slough near Port Coquitlam, BC. Widgeon Slough is located within Pinecone Burke Provincial Park [7].

The opera house from Baltar's vision is Vancouver's Orpheum Theatre. It is located at the corner of Smithe at Seymour in the city's downtown [8].

• New Caprica City

The tent city in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II" and beyond was constructed near Richmond, BC.

• Various scenes on Caprica
  • In "Bastille Day", Vancouver's famous Public Library building can be seen.
  • The University of British Columbia's Koerner Library appears briefly in "Colonial Day".
  • The place where Helo and Sharon stay at the beginning of "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II" is near the Transportation Centre of Simon Fraser University.
  • The exterior of the Delphi Museum is the university's West Mall Centre.

• Algae Planet

The outdoor sequences set on the Algae Planet in "The Eye of Jupiter" were filmed in a barren area near the city of Kamloops, British Columbia [9]. Specifically, some of the filming was done off of East Shuswap Road [10].

Links

http://www.thescifiworld.net/zocalo_d_vancouver2006_01.htm
http://pat.suwalski.net/film/bsg-locations/