Ronald D Moores long awaited Prequel series to probably the greatest Science Fiction series ever created ( Battlestar Galactica! Discuss,lol) finally hits British screens on Sky One and the Pilot which encompasses the first two episodes , effortlessly sets up the universe of the Colonials in about the first fifteen minutes flat! The small and subtle touches to the production really make you feel like this is a fully functioning real society ,with all its problems and accomplishments present. The look of the show is mid way between 1940s film noir and the world created in the films such as The Minority Report , but already feels deeper and more rounded in my eyes. little touches like the train pulling into the station being reminiscent of a cylon raider only made the experience better for a long time BSG fan and the geek inside. And with a sci-fi plot that contains some fine moments of body horror and ethical musing about the problems of technological progress it made for a very good first impression and of a series I truly hope will blossom into a much wider area of possibilities as did the BSG series before it. The plot revolves around Daniel Graystones attempts to transport a copy of his dead daughter Zoes conciousness into a new bit of metallic hardware- a prototype Cylon . Unsurprisingly , It doesnt go quite according to plan .Crucially ,Eric Stoltzs Excellent performance as Daniel allows you to feel his desperation and torment with the situation , and also recognising that his actions are so wrong at the same time. His scenes with fellow grieving parent Joe Adama help to set the tone for the theme of loss . When the initial Terrorist attack is done the pace of the pilot slows considerably ,but it give time for the themes of the show to spread there wings and fly , loss, grief, rebirth ,technology , all fascinating concepts that lead to the disturbing climax. Two exceptional scenes come to mind as highlights and show human drama at its finest. Joseph Adamas encounter with the artificial clone of his murdered daughter is sinister in nature, while Daniels placing of Zoes mind into a a gun-toting Cylon is full of emotion. With overtones of Dr Frankenstien unveiling his monster ,yet showing the love of a father for his daughter .The way Daniel looks into the eye of the Cylon seeing through the metal and circuits to his daughters soul is stunningly played, the acting is always compelling and never strained ,just natural ,perfectly played! Although the drama is less action oriented than its predecessor, Caprica has a few eye catching sequences ,one where a cylon prototype goes ballistic the other is the terrorist attack close to the beginning, both very well done .Based on this strong opening episode , Caprica looks like it will make its own identity in the science fiction world and not just imitate the show it grew from. It will I feel become a great companion piece and a fantastic series in its own right !

Rating : 7/10

Created by Paul White (Ragnarfan)03/02/2010