The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I

"The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I" An episode of the Galactica 1980 series
Episode No.	Season 1, Episode 7
Writer(s)	Glen A. Larson
Story by
Director	Sigmund Neufeld Jr.
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)	Wolfman Jack as Himself
Production No.	1.7
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	1980-04-13
CAN airdate	{{{CAN airdate}}}
UK airdate
DVD release
Population	survivors
Additional Info
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Spaceball	The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I	The Night the Cylons Landed, Part II
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Listing of props for this episode
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			@ BW Media
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Overview

After a renegade Cylon fighter crash-lands on Earth, Troy and Dillon must stop the surviving Cylons from using radio equipment to contact the rest of the Cylon fleet.

Summary

• Recon Delta, which consists of a two-man Viper crewed by Captain Kanon and Lieutenant Britton, is on patrol when it picks up readings of an advanced Cylon fighter.

• Suddenly, a previously unseen Cylon Raider appears and fires at them.

• The warbook brings back a readout of the occupants: the Raider crew appear to be human!

• Kanon decides on a desperate strategy and rams the ship, damaging both craft.

• The huge Cylon fighter tumbles towards Earth, and Britton is injured.

File:Warbook.jpg

The advanced Cylon 'A-B' Fighter displayed in the Warbook

• Aboard the Cylon 'A-B' craft, Humanoid Cylon Andromus is in command, another humanoid named Andromidus as his second, with three Centurions rounding out the crew.

• Having lost their communications they cannot call for help, but Andromus soon realizes the planet they are plummeting toward is the mythic human colony of Earth.

• Meanwhile, Captain Troy and Dillon have taken the Super Scouts to watch a movie.

• Troy's communicator chirps with a message from Adama. Galactica has lost contact with its recon patrol and is believed to be headed to Earth.

• Troy and Dillon are ordered to meet the stricken Viper at the point it's likely to come down, which is predicted to be in the area of New York City.

• As the United States Air Force has been detecting Vipers lately, Troy and Dillon elect to take a plane to New York. The kids are ferried to Griffith Observatory and left in the charge of Jamie.

• Once aboard the plane, and in flight to New York, Troy and Dillon are surprised that a terrorist attempts to take control and orders the pilot to divert to Cuba.

• Troy and Dillon drop him with a joint round of stun gun fire. Later, after activating their invisibility screens in the toilets, Troy and Dillon hustle off the plane as soon as it lands.

• Troy and Dillon grab a cab and direct the driver north - toward the crash site.

• On Galactica, the recon fighter has managed to return, but have reported information about the humanoid Cylons they believe are now headed to Earth.

• The expected landing zone of the Cylon warship is narrowed down to 'sixty miles north of New York City', and the Air Force, now under the command of Colonel Briggs is also aware.

• Troy and Dillon race to reach the crash site before the USAF.

• The A-B craft comes down north of New York, and crashes.

• Andromus and a single Centurion, Centuri, survive the crash of the A-B craft.

• The centurion frees Andromus from the wreckage and leaves the area, having activated a self-destruct mechanism on the ship.

• Andromus surmises that they can find a transmitter in nearby New York City and the twosome begin their search to find a place from which they can signal a Cylon baseship.

Andromus and Centuri ride with Norman and Shirley

• Reaching a nearby highway, the two Cylons are mistaken for hitchhikers by a couple dressed for Halloween. Getting into the car, the Cylons meet Norman and Shirley who are on their way to a party where Wolfman Jack, the radio personality, will be present.

• Andromus realizes that Wolfman may be able to help him find a transmitter, and agrees to attend the party.

• Gazing at Centuri in the back seat, Shirley compliments him on having such a great costume.

Notes

• This episode marks the introduction of humanoid Cylons, which would become a defining convention of the Re-imagined Series.

• Sheila DeWindt (stewardess) also appeared in the Original Series as Deitra.

• This is perhaps the only episode of any of the Galactica series that is set on a specific date: October 31, 1980.

• The appearance of popular 1970's disc jockey Wolfman Jack in this and the following episode is the only time that the Battlestar Galactica universe has featured a character that appear as themselves.

• Although the Galactica 1980 writers sometimes strained to produce educational themes throughout the program, other than some astronomy lessons at the start, there is not too much of that attempted in this episode.

Guest Stars

• William Daniels as Norman
• Lara Parker as Shirley
• Peter Mark Richman as Colonel Briggs
• Roger Davis as Andromus
• Sheila DeWindt as Stewardess
• René LeVant as 1st Officer
• Ed Griffith as 2nd Officer
• Jed Mills as Cabbie
• Timothy O'Hagan as Kanon
• Neil Zevnik as Andromidus (uncredited)
• Rex Cutter as Centuri (uncredited)
• Robert Lunny as Britton (uncredited)

Galactica 1980 definition:  Dillon is called both a terrorist and a chauvinist by Jamie Hamilton during their phone call from the police station; he asks Troy "what's a terrorist chauvinist?" (1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I")

These are terms directly relating to Galactica 1980, some of which are based from the Original Series. For terms from that series, please refer to List of terms (TOS).

Galactica 1980 definition:  When two hijackers first make their demands aboard Flight 2, Dillon looks up this place, but Troy replies they don't have time to go there (1980: "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I")

Galactica 1980 definition:  Dillon goes to look up this term when the stewardess announces that the delayed passengers will be at their Halloween parties in plenty of time, but is stopped by Troy who tells him to look up the term FBI (1980: "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I").