Summary
Ronald D. Moore’s 2004Battlestar Galacticareboot borrowed a story idea from his first season asStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s supervising producer. WhenStar Trek: The Next Generationended in 1994, Ronald D. Moore joined theDS9team as a writer and supervising producer. Together with Ira Steven Behr, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, and the rest of theDS9team, Moore was instrumental in shaping the Dominion War arc between seasons 3 and 7. Years later, when Ronald D. Moore rebootedBattlestar Galactica, it was clear thatMoore’s experiences onDS9influenced his darker take on Glen A. Larson’s space opera.
Arguably, Ron Moore’sBattlestar Galacticareboot owes more to his time onStar Trekthan the original vision of creator Glen A. Larson. MultipleStar Trekactors appeared inBattlestar Galactica, includingStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Nana Visitor, andStar Trek: The Next Generation’s Michelle Forbes.The idea of the Humanoid Cylons resurrecting themselves was very similar to how multiple incarnations of Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs) and other Vorta would appear inDS9. More directly, one episode ofDS9season 3 went on to play a major role inBattlestar Galactica’s final season.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Cast & Character Guide
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had the biggest cast of characters of any Trek show, meaning that Captain Sisko had numerous allies in the Dominion War.
Ronald D Moore’s Battlestar Galactica Borrowed A Story Idea From DS9
InStar Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 3, episode 4, “Equilibrium”,Lt. Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) is suddenly able to play a mysterious piece of music, despite never showing any musical ability. Neither of the previous Dax Trill hosts were musical either, creating a mystery as to how Jadzia is suddenly able to remember ther particular song. Eventually, it’s discovered that she’s remembering Joran Dax (Jeff Magnus McBride), whose existence was suppressed due to a scandal within the Trill Symbiosis Commision that ended in murder.
While “Equilibrium” is credited to René Echevarria and Christopher Teague, Ronald D. Moore is credited with the idea of centering the story on Dax and the Trills.
Ronald D. Moore expanded the core premise of “Equilibrium” when revealing theFinal Five CylonsinBattlestar Galactica’s shocking season 3 finale. Each of the Final Five, who believed themselves to be human, began remembering a piece of music, “All Along the Watchtower”.Moore built on this idea further inBSGseason 4, episode 17, “Someone to Watch Over Me”, in which Starbuck (Kara Thrace) also tried to crack the mystery of a half-remembered piece of musicthat ultimately contained the coordinates to bring the Colonial Fleet home to Earth in the finale.
Battlestar Galactica’s Other Links To DS9 Explained
In a talk at the Edinburgh Television Festival in 2016, Ronald D. Moore confirmed thatStar Trek: DS9’s Kira influenced StarbuckinBattlestar Galactica. Wanting to create another “kick-ass” heroine in Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Katee Sackhoff), Moore took inspiration from Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) by swapping the letter I for the letter A. Nana Visitor later appeared inBattlestar Galacticain season 4, episode 6, “Faith”, as a cancer patient who forms a friendship with President Roslin (Mary McDonnell). Nana Visitor’s casting was suggested byBattlestar Galacticawriters David Weddle and Bradley Thompson, who had also previously worked onDS9.
David Weddle cameoed as a bar patron in theDS9-influencedBattlestar Galacticaepisode “Someone to Watch Over Me”.
Prior to joining Ronald D. Moore’s writing team onBattlestar Galactica, David Weddle and Bradley Thompson worked on twelve episodes ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine. Some of the highlights of Weddle & Thompson’s work include the “Inquisition”, and “Extreme Measures”, two of the best Doctor Bashir episodes ofDS9.BothStar Trek: Deep Space Nineepisodes, featuring Starfleet’s morally bankrupt intelligence agency Section 31, were clearly good training for writing the darker, more morally ambiguous science fiction that Ronald D. Moore’sBattlestar Galacticareboot would be praised for.
All episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount+.
Battlestar Galactica
Cast
Battlestar Galactica is a science fiction television series that premiered in 2004. The plot follows the crew of the aging Battlestar Galactica as they protect a small fleet of human survivors from the renewed threat of the Cylons, in a quest to find the mythical 13th colony, Earth.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.
