Caprica (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Caprica is a science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 television series. It is a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

 prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...

 of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...

, taking place about 58 years prior to the events of Battlestar Galactica. Caprica shows how humanity first created the robotic Cylons
Cylon (reimagining)
Cylons are a race which appear in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series and its prequel Caprica. They have several forms, some of which resemble and even mimic the behavior of humans, while others are mechanical in appearance and function.In the first DVD, one of the show's creators...

 who would later plot to destroy humans in retaliation for their enslavement. Among Capricas main characters are the father and uncle of Commander William Adama
William Adama
William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series...

 from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica.

An extended version of the pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 premiered exclusively on DVD and digital download on April 21, 2009. The first season debuted on January 22, 2010 on Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...

 in the U.S., Space in Canada, and Sky1 in the U.K., running nine episodes, including the two hour pilot, before going on a mid-season hiatus. The second half of the first season (Season 1.5) began airing on October 5, 2010 on Syfy and Space.

On October 27, 2010, Syfy canceled the show, citing low ratings, and pulled the remaining five episodes of the series from its broadcast schedule. The series continued to air as scheduled on Space, finishing with the series finale on November 30, 2010. The remaining episodes were released on DVD in the U.S. on December 21, 2010 and aired on Syfy in a burn off
Burning off
Burning off is the low-profile airing of otherwise-abandoned unaired television programs, usually by scheduling in far less important time slots or on less important sister stations...

 marathon on January 4, 2011.

Plot

Caprica differs significantly from its parent series. Ronald D. Moore
Ronald D. Moore
Ronald Dowl Moore is an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his work on Star Trek and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, for which he won a Peabody Award for creative excellence in 2005 and an Emmy Award in 2008.-Early life and...

 had strong feelings on the matter, explaining that his starting point was, "...you don't try to repeat the formula," and going on to say, "...everything about Caprica was designed specifically to not repeat what we had done in Galactica." Although a critical success, Galactica had a predominantly male audience, and both Moore and the network felt the "war in space" backdrop was a major deterrent to female viewers. With these considerations, and Caprica's storyline already focused on events taking place prior to the two Cylon Wars, the series has a different tone, content, and style. While Caprica contains references to elements of the Battlestar universe, the series was intended to be accessible to new fans.

Outline

Whereas the dark, post-apocalyptic reimagined Battlestar Galactica series revolved around a final struggle for survival, Caprica is concerned with a world intoxicated by success. Ronald D. Moore states: "It's about a society that's running out of control with a wild-eyed glint in its eye." The Twelve Colonies
Twelve Colonies
The Twelve Colonies of Man are fictional locations that constitute the principal human civilization in the original Battlestar Galactica television series, the "reimagined" series of the same name in 2004, and in the prequel series, Caprica...

 are at their peak: self-involved, oblivious, and mesmerized by the seemingly unlimited promise of technology. Framed by the conflict between the Adamas and the Graystones over the resurrection of loved ones lost in an act of terrorism, the series was meant to explore ethical implications of advances in artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...

 and robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...

.

Caprica is grounded in urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

 locales rather than in space, and focuses on corporate, political, familial, and personal intrigue, similar in approach to a Greek tragedy. With the troubled relationship between two breaking families at its center, Moore himself has likened Caprica to the 1980s prime time soap opera Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...

," Like Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...

, Caprica had a story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...

 format.

Details

  • Joseph Adama is the father of future Battlestar
    Battlestar (reimagining)
    A battlestar is a space battleship in the reimagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica. The reimagined series' battlestars, as well as the series' other visual effects were designed and created by Zoic Studios for Battlestar Galactica.The battlestars Galactica, Atlantia,...

     commander Bill Adama. In the act of terrorism that sets the story in motion, Joseph loses his wife and daughter. His family — his son, Willie, his brother, Sam, and his mother-in-law — deal with aftermath of their loss.
  • Ethnicity
    Ethnic group
    An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...

     is a recurring theme in Caprica. The series takes place before the Twelve Colonies
    Twelve Colonies
    The Twelve Colonies of Man are fictional locations that constitute the principal human civilization in the original Battlestar Galactica television series, the "reimagined" series of the same name in 2004, and in the prequel series, Caprica...

     are unified under one government. Relations between the diverse worlds are contentious and discrimination is pervasive. Tauron's native language is represented by Ancient Greek, and given an emphasis on vengeance and organized crime. After Joseph's sense of propriety is energized in the pilot's third act, he confesses to his son that he changed his last name to hide his background. Introduced as Adams, Joseph then reclaims his surname, Adama. He is also referred to as "Yusef" by fellow Taurons in private conversations. Joseph is clearly a "Capricanized" rendition of his original Tauron name. More Tauron personal names mentioned like "Khalil" emphasizes the Other-ness of Tauron culture on a Caprican world.
  • One of the show's main driving points is religious belief. Colonial culture is influenced by mainstream Polytheism
    Polytheism
    Polytheism is the belief of multiple deities also usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own mythologies and rituals....

    , the religious belief in multiple gods which is characteristic of the ancient Greek
    Ancient Greece
    Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

     and Roman
    Ancient Rome
    Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

     traditions. Characters are shown praying to Athena and Jupiter, Greek and Roman deities, respectively. Monotheism
    Monotheism
    Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...

     (belief in one god only) is depicted as a fringe cult from the planet Gemenon, one regarded as disruptive and potentially hostile. The character Clarice Willow and her family are clandestine members of that cult, although group marriage
    Group marriage
    Group marriage, also known as multi-lateral marriage, is a form of polyamory in which more than two persons form a family unit, with all the members of the group marriage being considered to be married to all the other members of the group marriage, and all members of the marriage share parental...

     is portrayed as a perfectly normal, if atypical, lifestyle choice on Caprica, at least among Athenian devotees and clergy. Homosexuality, gay marriage, and adoption by same sex couples are depicted as a normal part of Colonial culture, never having been oppressed. Recreational drugs have been legalized before the events in the pilot, and are mildly stigmatized in Colonial society. In the multiple storylines that make up the series, there is a sense of retribution which seems to be part of Colonial culture; this is made explicit and prominent in Tauron culture, reflected in a Tauron cultural value holding that if someone is wronged, there is a price to pay that often ends in death of the offender. Daniel Graystone temporarily lost control of his company through an act of retribution by Tauron business rival Tomas Vergis, because of offences committed against Vergis. Daniel then regained control of his company through acts of retribution and intimidation against his foes, which included the death of Vergis in a Tauron suicide practice. The technology of the computer generated V-world, makes the death of one's "avatar" of little consequence, an attitude towards death that will increasingly become part of Colonial culture. However, in New Cap City, a mysterious but enormously popular V-world game, players are permanently banned from returning once their avatar dies therein.
  • The production design refers to 1950s America to reinforce the sense of viewing the past.
  • The script
    Screenplay
    A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...

     for the two hour pilot concluded with Daniel Graystone coining the term "Cylon": "A cybernetic lifeform node, a Cylon."
  • Capricas tagline
    Tagline
    A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product...

     is: "The future of humanity begins with a choice." Originally, for the pilot it was: "The battle for humanity has a beginning." Previously, it was reported as: "The end of humanity has a beginning." Only three of the twelve planets are depicted in the show; Caprica, Gemenon and Tauron
    Twelve Colonies
    The Twelve Colonies of Man are fictional locations that constitute the principal human civilization in the original Battlestar Galactica television series, the "reimagined" series of the same name in 2004, and in the prequel series, Caprica...

     with most of the characters identified as being from one of the three planets except Sister Clarice Willow who stated she was born on Sagittaron.
  • According to series producer Jane Espenson, "The pilot centered on a very dark moment, this terrorist attack. When we rejoin the show, everyone will still be reeling from [the tragedy], but they'll be beginning, almost subconsciously, to slip back into the patterns of life in which you might catch yourself laughing, making a dark joke at your own behalf, or noticing the absurdities of life again. Caprica is set in an interesting world with technological wonders that are going to be amazing to watch, too. So expect some fun, some funny [sic], and some dazzle."
  • A key plot detail is the passage of a virtual avatar
    Avatar (computing)
    In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. It may take either a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities. It can also refer to a text...

     from a simulated world into the real world by installing the avatar software into a "meta-cognitive processor" which is inserted into a robot. The avatar represents the independent and on-going non-corporeal existence of Daniel Graystone's daughter, Zoe, who ends up being the first Colonial Cylon.

Plot

The Twelve Colonies
Twelve Colonies
The Twelve Colonies of Man are fictional locations that constitute the principal human civilization in the original Battlestar Galactica television series, the "reimagined" series of the same name in 2004, and in the prequel series, Caprica...

 are at peace, 58 years before the rebooted series
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...

, when an act of religious fanaticism brings together Joseph Adama, a lawyer with ties to the criminal underworld, and wealthy technologist Daniel Graystone, both of whom lost family members. Grief-stricken by the loss of his daughter and fueled by obsession, Daniel sets out to bring her back, using his considerable wealth and sprawling technology corporation. Offered the chance of his own daughter being restored, Joseph wrestles with the notion until he comes face to face with its reality.

On April 21, 2009, an uncut and unrated extended version of the pilot was released as a download from online digital media stores and as a complete DVD with commentary, deleted scenes, and video blogs.

Concept

Ideas about a prequel series to Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...

 originated during production of its second season. Series developer Ronald D. Moore
Ronald D. Moore
Ronald Dowl Moore is an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his work on Star Trek and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, for which he won a Peabody Award for creative excellence in 2005 and an Emmy Award in 2008.-Early life and...

 and production partner David Eick
David Eick
David Eick is an American producer and writer, best known as the Executive Producer of Battlestar Galactica, of which he also wrote several episodes with Ronald D. Moore, as well as the re-imagined version of Bionic Woman...

 speculated about a phase of the Battlestar Galactica universe prior to the Cylons
Cylon (Battlestar Galactica)
The Cylons are a cybernetic civilization at war with the Twelve Colonies of humanity in the Battlestar Galactica science fiction franchise, in the original 1978 and 1980 series, the 2004 reimagining, as well as the spin-off prequel series, Caprica...

, naïve and self-absorbed, leading to the fall. As BSGs creators were unable to dedicate serious time to the notion, it remained in the concept stage of development. Then in early 2006, screenwriter Remi Aubuchon
Remi Aubuchon
Remi Aubuchon is an American screenwriter. He is a respected theater director who trained under an American Film Institute Directors Fellowship, but found himself in demand as a screenwriter. He wrote segments for HBO's miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, in which he appeared playing a small...

, unaware of the ideas about a Battlestar Galactica prequel, proposed a film about artificial intelligence to Universal Pictures. Though Universal Pictures turned down the project as a movie, Universal Television executives felt Moore and Eick might be interested in Aubuchon's take on the subject and arranged a meeting. Merging the existing thoughts for a Battlestar Galactica prequel with those Aubuchon brought to the table, a general outline for a series and production set up emerged.

While the Sci-Fi Channel management was enthusiastic, they were engaged in a plotting struggle with Moore about Battlestar Galactica. The show, though it was lauded by critics, was not pulling in the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...

 that the network wanted. Sci-Fi was convinced that the show's long storylines kept new viewers from joining, and pressured Moore into retooling the second half of the third season to consist mostly of standalone episodes. The measure backfired, garnering negative criticism from fans and press alike, and Moore revealed in the Season 3 finale podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...

 that the network had grudgingly admitted that standalone episodes did not work within a story-arc format. Still, with the proposed prequel series to have a story-arc-heavy format like its predecessor, the network was reluctant to greenlight the project, and as a result, Caprica got stuck in "development hell
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...

".

With Eick and Moore's announcement that Battlestar Galactica was going to end with its fourth season, and after a drawn out pre-development cycle, on March 18, 2008, the Sci-Fi Channel announced that Caprica had been picked up as a two-hour backdoor pilot event, indicating a possible commitment to a series, contingent on ratings. On July 20 of the same year, Sci-Fi announced it was considering picking up Caprica directly as a weekly series, and would make the pilot an extended season premiere. Finally, on December 2, Sci-Fi gave the go-ahead to expand the project into a full series. Production was resumed in July 2009 for an anticipated series premiere in early 2010. The series premiered on January 22, 2010.

Company and crew

Universal Media Studios developed the show, in conjunction with Aubuchon and the executive producers of Battlestar Galactica, Moore and Eick. Aubuchon co-created the show and worked on the pilot, then left to become executive producer of Persons Unknown. The pilot was directed by Friday Night Lights
Friday Night Lights (TV series)
Friday Night Lights is an American sports drama television series adapted by Peter Berg, Brian Grazer and David Nevins from a book and film of the same name. The series details events surrounding a high school football team based in fictional Dillon, Texas, with particular focus given to team...

 veteran Jeffrey Reiner. Battlestar Galactica's Jane Espenson, Michael Taylor, and Ryan Mottesheard, Pushing Daisies
Pushing Daisies
Pushing Daisies is an American comedy-drama television series created by Bryan Fuller that aired on ABC from October 3, 2007 to June 13, 2009. The series stars Lee Pace as Ned, a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to life with his touch, an ability that comes with stipulations...

' Kath Lingenfelter, and Friday Night Lights Patrick Massett and John Zinman have joined the writing staff. Moore ran the writers room initially, but handed off to Espenson, who expanded into executive-production and was Capricas showrunner until November 15, 2009 when it was announced that Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy (screenwriter)
Kevin Murphy is an American screenwriter, television producer, lyricist and composer. He wrote the book and lyrics of the musical Reefer Madness, as well as its television adaptation...

, who had joined as co executive producer in October, would assume the role.

Cast

Eric Stoltz received the script while filming a movie, and he left it in his hotel room for several days without reading it. When it was stolen by a maid who had been paid off by a Battlestar fan, he realized how passionate the fandom was, and knew he had to read it. Paula Malcomson originally tested for the role of Sister Clarice Willow; however, Jeffrey Reiner felt she would make a great Amanda Graystone. On April 28, 2009, Sasha Roiz's role was expanded to full series regular. Brian Markinson was also upgraded from guest star to series regular after the pilot episode.

Main cast
  • Eric Stoltz
    Eric Stoltz
    Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...

     as Daniel Graystone – Husband of Amanda and father of Zoe
  • Esai Morales
    Esai Morales
    Esai Manuel Morales is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Bob Morales in the 1987 biopic La Bamba. He also appeared in the PBS drama American Family and in the Showtime series Resurrection Blvd.. However, he is best known for his roles as Lt...

     as Joseph Adama – Father of William and Tamara
  • Paula Malcomson
    Paula Malcomson
    Paula Malcomson is a Northern Irish actress born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Malcomson is sometimes credited as Paula Williams.She starred as "Trixie" in the HBO series Deadwood and Colleen in ABC's Lost...

     as Amanda Graystone – Wife of Daniel and mother of Zoe
  • Alessandra Torresani as Zoe Graystone
    Zoe Graystone
    Zoe Graystone is a fictional character portrayed by Alessandra Torresani in the Caprica television series. The character becomes the first Cylon created by Daniel Graystone...

     – Daughter of Daniel and Amanda
  • Magda Apanowicz as Lacy Rand – Zoe's best friend
  • Sasha Roiz
    Sasha Roiz
    Sasha Roiz is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Sam Adama in the science fiction television series Caprica. In addition to a recurring role in the Science fantasy series Warehouse 13, in 2011 he began a regular role in the TV series Grimm.-Early life:Roiz was born in Tel...

     as Sam Adama – Brother of Joseph
  • Brian Markinson
    Brian Markinson
    Brian Markinson is a Canadian film and television actor. He has appeared as Police Chief Bill Jacobs on Da Vinci's Inquest and Da Vinci's City Hall...

     as Jordan Duram – An agent for the Global Defense Department
  • Polly Walker
    Polly Walker
    Polly Walker is an English actress.- Early life :Walker was born in Warrington, Cheshire, England. Her first school was Silverdale Preparatory West Acton, London. At 16, Walker graduated from Ballet Rambert School in Twickenham, began her career as a dancer, but had to abandon dancing after a leg...

     as Sister Clarice Willow – Headmistress at Athena Academy


Recurring cast
  • Sina Najafi as William "Willie" Adama
  • Genevieve Buechner
    Genevieve Buechner
    Genevieve Buechner is a Canadian actress. Her stepfather is folk musician Geoff Berner.-Biography:Genevieve Buechner was born in Edmonton, Alberta, to single parent mother Tea Buechner. When her family moved to Vancouver, she took a small course in acting from the Vancouver Youth Theatre...

     as Tamara Adama
  • Hiro Kanagawa
    Hiro Kanagawa
    Hiro Kanagawa, born , is a Vancouver-based actor.He was born in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. He is perhaps best known as Principal Kwan from Smallville. His most notable anime role is Gihren Zabi from Mobile Suit Gundam...

     as Cyrus Xander
  • Patton Oswalt
    Patton Oswalt
    Patton Oswalt is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and voice actor. He is best known for portraying Spencer Olchin in the popular sitcom The King of Queens, voicing Remy from the film Ratatouille and Thrasher from the Cartoon Network original series Robotomy.-Early life:Oswalt was born...

     as Baxter Sarno
  • Julius Chapple as Larry
  • John Pyper-Ferguson
    John Pyper-Ferguson
    John Pyper-Ferguson is an Australian-born Canadian actor. He has appeared in a wide range of films and television shows. His notable works include playing Sonny Hamilton on Hamilton's Quest, Peter Hutter on The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., and Joe Whedon on Brothers & Sisters...

     as Tomas Vergis
  • Alex Arsenault as Philomon
  • Peter Wingfield
    Peter Wingfield
    Peter Wingfield is a Welsh born television actor, well known for his television roles as Dan Clifford in Holby City, Dr. Robert Helm in Queen of Swords and Inspector Simon Ross in Cold Squad...

     as Gara Singh
  • Luciana Carro
    Luciana Carro
    Luciana Carro is a Canadian actress best known for her appearance on the television series Battlestar Galactica and in movies such as Two for the Money and Dr. Dolittle 3.-Career:...

     as Priyah Magnus
  • Panou
    Panou
    Panou is a Canadian actor.His birth-name translates to 'God Among Us' in his native Creole. He is 5'11". His first feature film was Trial of a Serial Killer in 1997; he has since had roles in such film projects as Steal This Movie! , the independent feature Fizzy Bizness, and the feature film The...

     as Olaf Willow
  • Scott Porter
    Scott Porter
    Matthew Scott Porter , better known as Scott Porter, is an American actor and occasional singer known for his role as Jason Street in the NBC television drama Friday Night Lights. His character was injured during a football game in the pilot episode and became a paraplegic...

     as Nestor Willow
  • Karen Elizabeth Austin as Ruth
  • Richard Harmon as Tad Thorean (Heracles)
  • James Marsters
    James Marsters
    James Wesley Marsters is an American actor and musician. Marsters first came to the attention of the general public playing the popular character Spike, a platinum-blond yobbish English vampire in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series, Angel from 1997 to 2004...

     as Barnabas Greeley
  • Avan Jogia
    Avan Jogia
    Avan Tudor Jogia is a Canadian actor and singer best known for playing Beck Oliver on Victorious.-Early life:Jogia was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. His father is a Gujarati Indian originally from London, England. His mother is Canadian, with her roots originating from Wales...

     as Ben Stark
  • Teryl Rothery
    Teryl Rothery
    Teryl Rothery is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Dr. Janet Fraiser on Stargate SG-1.-Life and career:Rothery was born in Vancouver, British Columbia...

     as Evelyn

Location

The show was shot in and around Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

. In the pilot, most of the buildings seen in the background are the real constructs from the city, although several shots are augmented using CG imagery. Many of the external scenes were filmed in the Yaletown
Yaletown
Yaletown is an area of Downtown Vancouver approximately bordered by False Creek, Robson, and Homer Streets. Formerly a heavy industrial area dominated by warehouses and rail yards, since the Expo 86, it has been transformed into one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in the city...

 area of the city, including one distinctive shot of the old railway turntable next to the Roundhouse at Davie and Pacific. The city's library
Vancouver Public Library
The Vancouver Public Library is the third largest public library system in Canada, with more than 2.5 million items in its collections, 22 branches, approximately 375,000 cardholders, and nearly nine million item borrowings annually...

 is also featured in one shot (when Daniel and Joseph meet for the first time), just as it was in scenes set on Caprica City in various episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

Vancouver's SkyTrain
SkyTrain (Vancouver)
SkyTrain is a light rapid transit system in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. SkyTrain has of track and uses fully automated trains on grade-separated tracks, running mostly on elevated guideways, which helps SkyTrain to hold consistently high on-time reliability...

 and one of its stations (Granville
Granville Station (TransLink)
Granville Station is an underground SkyTrain station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, served by the Expo and Millennium Lines. The station is located in the Dunsmuir Tunnel located beneath Downtown Vancouver and opened in 1985....

) feature in the sequence prior to the terrorist explosion. The production chose to keep the same font and sign style used by the real SkyTrain, but with rebadged signs featuring the name "Caprica City". Several structures found in the financial district of Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

, U.A.E. have been digitally added to the images of Caprica City to enhance its futuristic look, including one of the Emirates Towers
Emirates Towers
The Emirates Towers complex contains the Emirates Office Tower and Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel. The two towers, which rise to and , respectively, stand as the 12th- and 29th-tallest buildings in the world. The two towers are connected by a 9,000 m² two-storey retail complex known as "The...

, the Khalifa Tower and the Dubai Metro
Dubai Metro
The Dubai Metro is a driverless, fully automated metro network in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai. The Red Line and Green Line are operational, with three further lines are planned. These first two lines run underground in the city centre and on elevated viaducts elsewhere...

.

The exterior shots of the school attended by Zoe Graystone
Zoe Graystone
Zoe Graystone is a fictional character portrayed by Alessandra Torresani in the Caprica television series. The character becomes the first Cylon created by Daniel Graystone...

, Lacy Rand and several other characters were filmed outside the Vancouver School of Theology
Vancouver School of Theology
Vancouver School of Theology, located on the campus of the University of British Columbia, is a multi-denominational graduate school known for its theological innovations while being rooted in Christian traditions...

, on the campus of the University of British Columbia.

When Daniel takes Joseph and William to the Pyramid sports match, the colors of Caprica's team (the Buccaneers) are identical to those of Vancouver's real life hockey team, the Canucks. Navy and green stripes adorn the walls outside the team dressing room, suggesting that the scenes were filmed at Rogers Arena.

One of the encounters between Daniel Graystone and Tomas Vergis was filmed in the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology
Museum of Anthropology at UBC
The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is renowned for its displays of world arts and cultures, in particular works by First Nations peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations...

. The sculpture "The Raven and the First Men" was in the background.

There was also significant filming at Central City Shopping Centre
Central City Shopping Centre
Central City Shopping Centre is a shopping mall and office tower complex in Whalley, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, which is owned by Blackwood Partners Management Corporation. It is near Surrey Central Station of the SkyTrain system in the Whalley neighbourhood...

 in Surrey, BC, and much of the Simon Fraser University Surrey Campus was transformed to represent various locations in Caprica. For instance, the mezzanine and registrar's office at SFU were used to represent the Caprica Inter-colonial Space Port.

The interior shots of Graystone Industries were almost exclusively filmed at BCIT's Aerospace Technology Campus in Richmond, BC.

The filming of "Little Tauron" was done in and around Vancouver's Chinatown district with a small number of stores in the area having Greek language signs (ancient and modern Greek was used as the language of the Taurons in Caprica) while the rest of the shops retained their Chinese language signs for the duration of the filming.

Music

Bear McCreary
Bear McCreary
Bear McCreary is an American composer and musician living in Los Angeles, California. He is known for his work on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series.-Biography:...

 served as the composer for Caprica. His soundtrack for the show was almost entirely orchestral. As on Battlestar Galactica, character themes are used extensively; however, world ethnic influences play a much smaller role. The full ethnic percussion ensemble, including taiko
Taiko
means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming...

, frame drum
Frame drum
A frame drum is a drum that has a drumhead width greater than its depth. Usually the single drumhead is made of rawhide or man-made materials. Shells are traditionally constructed of bent wood scarf jointed together; plywood and man-made materials are also used. Some frame drums have mechanical...

s, dumbeks, chang changs, tsuzumi
Tsuzumi
The is a Japanese drum of Chinese/Indian origin. It consists of a wooden body shaped like an hourglass, and it is taut, with two drum heads with cords that can be squeezed or released to increase or decrease the tension of the heads respectively...

s and other instruments, was brought in, although used much more sparingly than on Battlestar. The "Tauron Theme" draws inspiration from Russian
Ethnic Russian music
Ethnic Russian music specifically deals with the folk music traditions of the ethnic Russian people. It does not include the various forms of art music, which in Russia often contains folk melodies and folk elements or music of aother ethnic groups living in Russia.-History:The roots of Russian...

 folk music.

Todd Fancey
Todd Fancey
Todd Fancey is a Canadian guitarist, keyboardist and solo artist. He is most widely known as the guitarist for Vancouver-based indie rock band The New Pornographers and the bassist for the band Limblifter...

, best known as a long-time member of the popular indie band New Pornographers, composed "V-Club," a rhythm-intensive track that serves as the theme music for club scenes in the series. This theme was featured prominently in the first preview clip for the new series.

The soundtrack for the Caprica pilot was released on June 16, 2009, by La-La Land Records
La-La Land Records
La-La Land Records is an American record company based in Burbank, California . The company specializes in film and television soundtracks. The label is run by Michael V...

. It contains 18 tracks.

Reception

Home Media Magazine
Home Media Magazine
Home Media Magazine is a weekly trade publication that covers various aspects of the home entertainment industry, most notably DVD, Blu-ray Disc and digital distribution. Also covered is news relating to consumer electronics, video games, home video distributors, video-on-demand and Internet...

's John Latchem wrote that Caprica has "all the same dark overtones and richness of character that fans have come to expect from Galactica." He also wrote that the show "[evokes] a feeling similar to Gattaca
Gattaca
Gattaca is a 1997 science fiction film written and directed by Andrew Niccol. It stars Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law with supporting roles played by Loren Dean, Ernest Borgnine, Gore Vidal and Alan Arkin....

 in its depiction of a potential near future, while infusing elements of the Matrix and Terminator movies to set up a bridge to the events viewers know will unfold."

The Futon Critic's Brian Ford Sullivan found the first fifteen minutes "A weird mix of teen angst, hedonism and virtual reality ... once established, the world of Caprica has the potential to be just as compelling, interesting and multi faceted as its "sequel" – minus of course the cool stuff blowing up in space. In just 92 minutes, Caprica manages to dish out a surprisingly dense, but not too overwhelming, array of plot threads."

Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...

 gave the pilot four out of four stars, stating, "Caprica gives a more forceful, potential-filled first impression than the Battlestar Galactica pilot/miniseries." The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...

's Alan Sepinwall found the story intriguing, and Stoltz' and Morales' performances excellent, while director Jeffrey Reiner "creates an absolutely gorgeous looking pilot episode."

Joanna Weiss of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...

 wrote that "if this episode is any indication, Caprica will be sinister [and] compelling" and "while the technology is inventive, human emotion still drives the plot." Mark A. Perigard of Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...

 gave it a B+, stating that the pilot felt more like an intellectual puzzle and lacked the life-or-death intensity of Battlestar Galactica. Lewis Wallace of Wired News
Wired News
Wired News is an online technology news website, formerly known as HotWired, that split off from Wired magazine when the magazine was purchased by Condé Nast Publishing in the 1990s. Wired News was owned by Lycos not long after the split, until Condé Nast purchased Wired News on July 11, 2006...

 rated the pilot an 8/10, saying that Caprica has inherited from Battlestar "the lean writing, the strong acting, the exceptional soundtrack by Bear McCreary", and that "the characters are richly drawn and ripe for further exploration."

Maureen Ryan of Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...

 gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars, with particular praise for the casting of Stoltz, Morales, Malcomson, and Walker. The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...

's Noel Murray said of the show, "Some BSG stalwarts may have some difficulty with the muted science fiction/action elements, but it’s a lovely piece of work on its own merits, imbued with real visual poetry by director Jeffrey Reiner."

Ken Tucker
Ken Tucker
Ken Tucker was an English footballer who played as a left winger....

 from Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

 called Caprica "One of the 10 Best Shows on Now", in March 2010.

The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

 Mike Hale described Caprica as "a talky futuristic soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

" that "[d]espite swooning reviews and obsessive fans" remains an utterly "ordinary show." Hale wrote that "in a world in which we have perfected space travel and settled on other planets, big swaths of our new home look like present-day Vancouver." He added that the show boils down to "hazy philosophizing" reminiscent of an undergraduate philosophy paper and "hasn’t yet developed enough humor or authentic domestic drama" to garner the attention of intelligent television viewers.

Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

 listed the show as having a score of 72 from critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews."

The series earned generally modest ratings, peaking with 1.6 million viewers for the mid-season finale. Season 1.5 debuted with lower ratings, drawing fewer than 900,000 viewers for each episode. Citing these low ratings, Syfy canceled the program on October 27, 2010 and removed the remaining five episodes of the series from its broadcast schedule. The remaining five episodes aired as previously scheduled on Space in Canada, but were not broadcast in the United States until January 4, 2011.

In January 2011, props for the series were auctioned off on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

.

Distribution

The rights to broadcast the series were picked up by Sky1 in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, and Space in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Additionally the rights for the broadcast of the original pilot episode were given to USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...

 and the episode was aired after midnight on January 30, 2010. Caprica commenced airing in Australia on free-to-air digital channel 7mate
7mate
7mate is an Australian free-to-air high definition digital television channel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010.The network stated that 7mate would contain sport and regular programs aimed primarily at a male audience, with programming drawn from a combination of new...

 on September 30, 2010.

External links

  • Caprica at Battlestar Wiki
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK