Guest Post: Christopher G. Nuttall Does GALACTICA 1980
In which we are spared the horrors of Commander Adama's beard, as well as a lot of Executive Meddling...
Longtime Internet correspondent Christopher G. Nuttall, whose Cunning Man trilogy I reviewed here back in 2023, has decided to hop aboard the “how I would have done it” train. His destination? Galactica 1980, in which Lorne Greene’s fleet of survivors of the Cylon genocide of twelve human worlds finally arrives on Earth (the lost thirteenth world) and hopes to prepare it for an assault by the vicious robots. The series premiered in 1980 in late January, 44 years and less than a week ago, so this post is particularly timely.
So let’s see how he would have done it…
How I Would Have Done Galactica 1980
By Christopher G. Nuttall
In many ways, Galactica 1980 is a shining idea of a great concept executed so poorly that the entire series has largely sunk without trace. Many fans prefer to pretend it never happened; others, perhaps more thoughtful, dismiss it as fever dreams or the work of the diabolical Count Iblis. And yet, it had - and has - magnificent potential.
The basic idea was fairly simple. The battlestar Galactica has discovered Earth. Unfortunately for Commander Adama (Lorne Greene) and his crew, they’ve discovered the Earth of 1980 - a world effectively defenseless against the Cylons, who have followed Galactica for countless light years and will destroy Earth if – when - they discover the planet themselves. The crew decide to continue into interstellar space, leading Cylons away from Earth, while deploying small teams to boost science and improve the planet’s defences. However, it did not take long for the network executives to ruin the show. They had no intention of actually allowing Glen Larson to create a great show. They decreed that it had to be non-violent – so no real laser battles – educational – forcing the characters to sprout off dialogue that was meant to be educational and was probably stupid – and include childish interests, forcing the addition of a child genius who led the fleet – yes, really – and a bunch of brats from the starship who somehow developed superpowers under Earth’s gravity field. After several episodes, viewers just started wondering when the Cylons were going to put the planet out of its misery. One great episode – “The Return of Starbuck” - could not make up for so many howlers.
Like I said; great idea, downright terrible execution.
How would I have done it?
The concept of improving Earth’s technology is not a bad one, but it seems to me that the Galactica simply doesn’t have the time to make the plan work. The Cylons are in hot pursuit. It is just a matter of time until they detect Earth’s radio transmissions, even if they don’t shadow one of the fleet’s ships to the planet. Adama and his crew have to work a great deal faster and that means making open contact with Earth. This would be a difficult task under any circumstances, but far worse in 1980 because the Cold War is still underway and convincing the Russians and the Chinese - and the Americans, to be fair - to cooperate would be very difficult. It would be a great deal harder in the original series, because Colonial society is actually quite different from 1980s American — the reboot based the Colonials on modern day America but the original did not. There would be a great deal of suspicion, both between the various nations of Earth and the Colonials themselves.
In my view, there would be three separate subplots. One would have the Colonials developing Earth’s defenses and technological base. The second would be the Colonials trying to land and integrate on Earth, which should be difficult because of all the prospects for culture shock. I imagine they would be given land in America in exchange for technology - an arrangement comparable to the Zone in John Birmingham’s Axis of Time series - although it would be harder to integrate when the Colonials are a separate society rather than a time-displaced fleet. An autonomous zone would be harder to sell to the American government when the settlers aren’t actually American. The third would be the introduction of political chaos, as repressive regimes discover they are suddenly outmatched by the Colonials and threatened by the introduction of modern technology. For example, the Colonials would introduce the Internet ahead of time, in a manner that make it much harder to censor, and these regimes would have to find a way to survive in a suddenly very unfriendly world. They might ally with rogue Colonials or even with the Cylons themselves, assuming they could survive as rulers of the world after the Cylons destroy the Colonials. They would be, of course, wrong.
These plots would interact throughout the first season, as Adama and his crew struggle to cope with the ever-changing world. He would be forced to consider taking over the planet himself, for its own good, and that would be strong arguments in favor of him doing just that. The clashes between Earthly and Colonial society, the urgent need to build defences, the more unpleasant aspects of their New World - the Colonials do not have racism or sexism, for example, but it remained an ugly reality on 1980s Earth - and the need to preserve at least some of their own culture would all encourage a takeover. When Adama finally dismisses the concept, Doctor Zee (a different actor for reasons below) and Commander Xaviar (Jeremy Brett) would try to take over themselves.
Both of those characters were terrible concepts, for different reasons. Doctor Zee was Wesley Crusher before Wesley Crusher; a super-smart child genius who, at times, seemed to lead the fleet. Commander Xaviar was a little more reasonable as a character, demanding that the fleet work harder to enhance Earth and even using time travel in a bid to prepare for the coming war. Rather unwisely he thought he could work with Nazi Germany, thus destroying any sympathy points he might have earned, and the Colonials had to stop him.
(After that, time travel vanished from the show.)
In this continuity, Zee would be an elderly scientist who intends to transfer his mind into a child’s body and Xaviar would be a hardened military officer. They have understandable motives to take over, so they do.
The second season, therefore, would be resistance to their new order. There would be strong arguments for and against the coup plotters. Some would follow them out of fear or desperation, but others would agree. Colonel Tigh (Terry Carter) and Boomer (Herbert Jefferson Jr), for example, would face a crisis of loyalty because they are both black, not a problem in Colonial society but a serious one on 1980s Earth. Or because they think preparing Earth to resist the Cylons takes priority, even if it means installing a military dictatorship akin to Empire from the Ashes. Adama himself would be a prisoner, but Apollo and his son would lead resistance and eventually defeat the terrible two. Xaviar would go down fighting. Zee would go to the USSR and trade scientific knowledge for support.
The show would change in the third season, when Starbuck returned. In the canonical Galactica 1980, Starbuck crash-landed on a desert world, encountered a mysterious pregnant young woman and eventually shipped her child to the fleet; this child would grow up to be Zee, adding to the Wesley Crusher similarities. Starbuck would bring a warning: The Cylons are on the move, heading towards Earth. He admits he was rescued by the Ship of Lights - after proving himself by saving the woman, one of the enigmatic ship’s crew - and given a chance to prepare the fleet for the coming disaster. This would trigger a religious revival throughout the fleet, and the outside world, prompting threats of war between the Colonials and the Communist bloc, now in contact with Cylon agents. It will become clear, slowly and steadily, that Zee has sold his soul to Count Iblis. Eventually, the first Cylon attack on Earth would trigger a planetary war.
The fourth season would cover the war itself. The Colonials and Earth would have some advanced weapons (the Colonials making technological advances was another aspect of Galactica 1980 that was largely ignored in favor of moronic scripts), giving them an edge over the vastly more numerous Cylons. However, they would also have to contend with the Communists on earth fighting for the Cylons and other threats from their supernatural backer.
(One point that popped up in the original series two-part episode “War of the Gods” was that the actor who played Iblis also voiced the Cylon Imperious Leader, providing a nasty moment for the traitorous Baltar, who recognizes the voice.)
The war would eventually turn into something of a rescue mission, with Starbuck trying to save the Cylons as well as the human race from Iblis. The ship would end with the final defeat of Iblis, the Cylon fanatics, and their Communist allies.
I can’t help but think that if the original series had followed this course, it would be far better remembered today.
Military science fiction fans should check out Chris’s Ark Royal and The Empire’s Corps series, including the new standalone novel The Forsaken set in the latter. For more Battlestar Galactica content, check out this recent episode of the podcast Blasters and Blades I appeared on as well as my college-era fanfic “The Death of the Triton.” And the fanfic “The Scattering” on SpaceBattles.com combines the 2003 Battlestar continuity with the concept of Galactica 1980, with a strong emphasis on engineering and pointing out just how dodgy the modern Cylons’ “Plan” actually is when you think about it.