Battlestar Wiki:Official Communiques

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Members of Battlestar Wiki: This page is to coordinate all questions to any official members of the cast or crew of "Battlestar Galactica." Please sign your question after you are done. The "summary" of the question should be be first, if any, and then the questions, in short form, should be placed at the bottom. This is to not confuse people and to keep the quetions distinctive.

Cast/Crew: These are questions we are seeking from you. If you have the time, please answer them as best you can. We will move these questions/answers to the correct page once they have been done. You can also check out Category:Seeking Official Information for larger items - particularly pictures.

All questions which have been previously answered can be found on the archive pages. Questions get moved here once items and questions seeming from the issue have stopped.

Archive 1:

Other concerns about interview text in "Final Cut", 3 Raptor pilot names, Tie-in Material, Helo Rank, Colonial One and One, Hadrian in "Valley of Darkness", Scar, Rebirth Room, Restraints on Galactica-Sharon in "Downloaded", "Radar" gaffe in "The Hand of God"?, Resurrection Ship, "Skin Jobs"

Archive 2:

Resources, Red Line, Human sacrifice, Centurion armor, Tom Zarek / Ellen Tigh involvement, "Caprica-Six", Cylon Homeworld, Squadron numbers, Galactica Chain of Command, Timeline, Guns nomenclature

Archive 3:

No HUD's in Vipers?, FTL and the cylons, Sleeper Agents, Galactica's Armor Skin, SkyOne Biography Canonicity, Basestar losses in Res Ship II, Webisode series, Scar Podcast Transcribed, Caprica, "Cally Henderson"?!, Cally vs Caprica-Sharon, Tyrol's Pegasus service, Helmets, RE: Military Ships

Archive 4:

Exodus! v. Exodus, Part I, "Sacrifice" question, Webisodes in Crisis?!, Squadron numbers, Pegasus (Extended Version), Episode Transcript Permission Contact, Cancellation Rumor, The role of the Marines., S.F.M., The Resistance, Episode #3, Luciana Carro: Casting; pronunciation of her name; Kat in "Final Cut",Laurette Spang?,Relations between the Colonial President and the Colonial Military

Archive 5:

Episode titles,Rank Insignia, Blackbird: Efficient Construction Crew?, The international webisode question

Ask a new question or begin a new discussion by clicking here.

Cylon Detector

Hope that you can clear this up. In the episode "Flesh and Bone", it takes only minutes to identify Sharon Valerii as a Cylon. However, in "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down", he states that complete testing on one sample of blood takes 11 hours. Is the retcon, or is there another explaination? Of course, Cylon Detector is moot now, just a production question. --FrankieG 15:37, 15 September 2006 (CDT)

I chose to believe that when Baltar said "We just pop this in the slot and wait a few minutes," that it was the final step in a 12-hour process. The way it was cut gives them room for interpretation, I think. --Amos frans 18:12, 15 September 2006 (CDT)

Episode 13

Mr. Bradley, with reference to GateWorld, BSG-CZ.net gives episode 13's title as "The Woman King". Angeli's story is said to be about Helo, Sagittarons and medical care. Can you confirm any of that? (Oh, and I love the celery!) --Pedda 11:54, 17 September 2006 (CDT)

Thank you, Pedda -- the celery was an image I remembered from "Dirty Harry" that got to me so viscerally that it was still fresh in my mind when it came to writing those scenes. It seemed to fit well with the idea that Nora probably had to wait in line all day to buy it. And yes, Mr. Angeli's working title is: The Woman King. And as we've seen, titles can change up to the last minute. As to the story, I make it policy neither to confirm nor deny loglines that have not yet been "officially" released. - Ngarenn 16:18, 18 September 2006 (CDT)

Frankly, I've never seen "Dirty Harry" so I have to get my hands on it to understand the reference. Well, what I liked about Nora's death is that she didn't sacrifice herself to save Cally or even the day, and that she had no chance to mumble anything ethereal before closing her eyes. No, her death was brutal, immediate and senseless. Just how it oughta be in dark BSG, IMO. Anyway, it's really nice to get insights like these from you. Here's hoping that one day you'll have the time to do a "webisode full cut podcast" together with Mr. Weddle. -- Pedda 20:29, 25 September 2006 (CDT)

Crashdown's Given Name?

Thanks to Bradley for taking time out from what has got to be an increasing busy schedule to help us fans enjoy the minutae we scour from the show.

I found, in the officially licensed Battlestar Galactica Collectible Card Game, a card for Crashdown. It lists a given name for him: "Alex Quartararo."

As with Cally Henderson, was the name "Alex Quartararo" ever used on any of the character's uniforms, early scripts, or the like? If that's not the name you had on file, could you divulge the character's given name?

It would be nice to add a name to this character's biography, despite his demise. --Spencerian 09:02, 21 September 2006 (CDT)

Alex Quartararo is definitely Crashdown's given name. We gave it to the art department so they could label his uniforms, Raptor, locker, bunk, etc. I have no idea whether it appears anywhere on screen. Sam Witwer, the talented actor who played Crashdown, recently completed an album with a band I believe is called the Crashtones - Ngarenn 17:54, 25 September 2006 (CDT)

Wow, never would I have guessed that. I would have put my grandmother on the claim that Wizkids totally made it up on their own. Awesome. Now... Mr. Thompson... keeping in mind the recent revelation about Cally's name: Is there anything else you wanna tell us? :-) We'd love to know the real/full names of Cottle, Hoshi, Elosha, Jammer, Maya, Seelix, Socinus, and Venner. I'm sorry to be so demanding. -- Pedda 19:30, 25 September 2006 (CDT)

Leobon Conoy, Brother Cavil and Simon's number designation

Thank you Mr. Bradley for taking the time to answer these questions. Are we going to find out in the upcoming season what number designation is given for Leobon Conoy, Brother Cavil and Simon? Are the Number 2, Number 4, Number 7 or some other number? This knowledge will greatly aid in their categorization for wiki purposes. Additionally, we know there will be a knew Cylon type introduced in this season, but will there be additional human-cylon models introduced? It's been hinted but not specifically stated as such. --StrayCat0 10:54, 21 September 2006 (AST)

Yo, StrayCat -- To my knowledge, the colonists as yet are unaware of model numbers for Leoben, Cavil or Simon. Unfortunately, the Cylons have not yet let that knowledge slip. :) And I generally won't confirm or deny speculations as to what will or won't be coming up in Season 3. -Ngarenn 17:42, 25 September 2006 (CDT)

Just to add to this, I think that, considering there will be a lot of Human-Cylon interaction with all Seven Known Models in Season 3, it is quite probable that the number of at least one (if not all) will be revealed. Especially considering I think the actors already know, there was an interview with Dean Stockwell in which he apparently planned to tell us his number but he mistakenly referred to himself as "Number Three", which was probably a "mental typo" but I'm sure he knows. So I'd say it's quite probable we will get at least one more number. --Sauron18 18:40, 25 September 2006 (CDT)

Well, maybe Cavil does indeed get number three after Biers is boxed *g* (just speculating here, no spoiler). -- Pedda 18:54, 25 September 2006 (CDT)

Episode 14

I've just found out, that title for this episode should be "A Day In the Life". Could you confirm that? --Deus 16:41, 23 September 2006 (CDT)

Deus, can you state where your source is for this title? --Straycat0 15:07, 23 September 2006 (AST)

Of course... Here. --Deus 16:49, 23 September 2006 (CDT)

A Day in the Life" is indeed the working title of Episode 3.14. My usual caveats about the possibly fleeting nature of such titles apply. -Ngarenn 17:35, 25 September 2006 (CDT)

Thanks for the de-facto confirmation, Mr. Thompson. BTW: Not only do I like this title, but I am very pleased, too, that after a couple of "one-worders" in early S3, the writing staff has once again come up with a series of really great titles that have actually more than two words. This may be a geeky remark, but I always loved how "your show" DS9 (my fav) had Star Trek's most complex episode titles (in stark contrast, for example, to Voyager's often awful and hardly distinguishable Latin-show-off-one-worders, and I'm saying this as an admirer of Latin). -- Pedda 19:07, 25 September 2006 (CDT)

Galactica's class name

Hey, Mr. Thompson, there's been a debate over what class Battlestar the Galactica is. What we've been using thus far is simply Galactica class, but it'd be nice to have a bit of official confirmation :) --BklynBruzer 20:11, 25 September 2006 (CDT)

Technically speaking, we are not using that class name; the article is at Galactica type battlestar, unlike Mercury class battlestar. It's still a fine question, though. --CalculatinAvatar^(C-T) 21:56, 25 September 2006 (CDT)

Jammer/James Martin

In the latest webisode (7) Jammer was given the name James Martin, or at least thats what it sounds like. However it is not entirely clear. Can you please confirm the name for us please :) --Mercifull ^{(Talk/Contribs)} 15:12, 26 September 2006 (CDT)

Other names that we heard were James Wieman (or a spelling variant of) or James Lymon (or a spelling variant of). --Straycat0 14:11, 26 September 2006 (AST)

I heard something like James Binder. It would very be nice to know, as Doral said it indistinctly. Noneofyourbusiness 11:19, 28 September 2006 (CDT)

Jammer's name is James Lyman. -Ngarenn 16:08, 29 September 2006 (CDT)

Podcast for The Resistance webisodes

Mr. Thompson, I am dovetailing on comments made by Pedda under "Episode 13" of this page about a podcast for the Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance webisodes. Are either you or our reveered Ronald D Moore going to do a podcast for this? If none were planned, can we entice you to do one? I have to say that the podcast are a special thing and until this show I've never gotten into them. But now that I have, it's a fix for me.--Straycat0 22:21, 26 September 2006 (AST)

Requests for Podcasts come from somewhere above in the SciFi.com universe. We did the one about Scar because Ron asked us to join him in his. So far no similar request has reached us. -Ngarenn 16:12, 29 September 2006 (CDT)

Regarding Sebastian Spence's character

Mr. Thompson, there's some confusion on the name of the Pegasus pilot portrayed by actor Sebastian Spence. According to IMDb, Spence played a character named Whiplash in both "Pegasus" and "Resurrection Ship, Part I"; however Ron D. Moore calls him "Narcho" (or something similar) during his podcast for "Resurrection Ship, Part I". Question is, what is the name (or call sign) of Spence's character, and is IMDb correct? Thank you. -- Joe Beaudoin ^{So say we all - Donate} 22:17, 1 October 2006 (CDT)

Don't know about "Whiplash," but our records say that Sebastian Spence plays Lt. Noel "Narcho" Allison. - Ngarenn 17:56, 5 October 2006 (CDT)

Webisode 9: Unclear Dialogue

When Jammer leaves the detention, he asks Tyrol how did he know. Tyrol's response has caused some debate in the the various online communities, including "Boomer told me.", "Rumor told me.", etc. Really not important unless it is "Boomer told me." Thanks, --FrankieG 11:31, 3 October 2006 (CDT) And "Ol' Frank told me", "little bird told me", etc. Quite a lot of variations. Noneofyourbusiness 12:48, 3 October 2006 (CDT)

Actually we've analyzed it now and are confident that it's "Boomer told me". Noneofyourbusiness 19:41, 3 October 2006 (CDT)

Your analysis is correct. - Ngarenn 17:27, 5 October 2006 (CDT)

Comments by Mr. Thompson & Mr. Weddle about webisodes

Mr. Thompson, in regards to your and Mr. Weddle's interview at CHUD.com, I was hoping u could possibly elaborate a little on what u had envisioned for the future, WGA permitted, of webisdoes at Scifi.com. You and Mr. Weddle had made some interesting comments about "layered storytelling", but it didn't seem like the current webisodes, as wonderful as they are, are not exactly as u described. The way you described it was more like African Storytelling where there's not a signal plotline controlling the narrative but is more like real life where several issues are dealt with no connected dots. Or were you thinking about having backstories or a "While the story of episode X is going on, this was happening to Y character" when you click on a particular characters profile on the website? BSG always seems to be on the cutting edge of the entertainment industry and I guess you wetted my interest in tech with your story ideas for new ways of expanding the BSG universe so in whatever way you can elaborate would be most appreciated. :D Straycat0 17:41, 3 October 2006 (AST)

What I was referring to are the myriad opportunities this new delivery system offers us in telling stories. (All the things you mentioned are viable ways to approach the opportunity.) "The Resistance" barely scratches the surface of those possibilities. And because they're not driven by the huge financial committment of a one-hour episode, we could tell these littler stories that feed the bigger ones. This opportunity for texture gives the world of Galactica a greater sense of real people living in an extraordinary situation that feels real. When you see a character walk on and deliver one line and leave - the web allows us a way to see that the character is a whole person with a life, goals and aspirations that tangentially touches the bigger story, the way your life touches a grocery clerk's, or the postman touches yours. Reminds me a little of Tom Stoppard's Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead, or the ST: TNG show: "Lower Decks." I'm also reminded of "Lola Rennt" (Run Lola Run) where the filmmaker took time to flash frames of the later lives of people Lola encountered on her main story. It's a rich new world opening up -- and nobody's quite sure yet how to exploit it. But the possibilities are exciting. - Ngarenn 17:46, 5 October 2006 (CDT)

Don't you sometimes wish you were on premium cable where episodes can easily run 45-60 minutes as needed? Lots of shows there have scenes that don't contribute to the story per se, but are great for fleshing out the world or the characters. I think BSG would benefit immensly from that, but it'll never happen --Serenity 17:54, 5 October 2006 (CDT)

We're happy to be where we are. We get to leave everybody (including ourselves) wanting more, which is a good thing. Fortunately, the world of DVDs gives us the chance to tell the long versions of some of these stories ("Pegasus") or to show deleted scenes (like the backstory of Adama and Tigh in "Scattered/Valley of Darkness"). Sometimes the limitations of the broadcast format actually forces us to be more creative than we'd otherwise be. The Lords of Kobol knew what they were doing when they handed us over to SciFi - Ngarenn 18:02, 5 October 2006 (CDT)

Just food for thought, I do find myself going to the website and checking out profiles on the various ships in the fleets and wondering, "Hmmm.. what's going on there?" The events of the main storyline have huge ramifications to all the people in the fleet and you could tell a small story on a small set with very little SGI that tells a 1 - 5 minute story of what was going on the Space Park (everybody's favorite fleet ship not in the main story because of its most distinctive shape) when the fleet was in orbit around New Caprica and the Fleet jumped away. It could be somebody at the bridge of that ship communicating with his friends down on the surface when things are happening, trying to get a hold of the Adama's, and so on and the whole story could be told in just that 1 room, or maybe the 1 room and 1 comm spot on the surface. I'm not trying to do your job for you, I'm just musing about it because I think it's cool. And these things could be paid for by the websites themselves or DVD sales. I hope NBC gets it financial act together on this. --Straycat0 17:09, 5 October 2006 (AST)