Class Of ’78
Date: November 2005
Source: SFX #136
The cast of the original Battlestar Galactica are reunited … in Swindon! SFX was there..
“Where’s Face? Where the fuck’s Face?!?”
Swindon’s press pack is having kittens. Two limos have just disgorged the cast of Battlestar Galactica for a photocall, but Dirk Benedict (Starbuck) is missing. Everyone thought he was “in the other car”. Oops. They never had this trouble when they FTL-jumped through space…
We’re here for a signing by Galactica veterans at memorabilia store Infinitely Better. For the next few hours, a steady stream of fans files through. As Richard Hatch (Apollo) notes, that’s an achievement. “People keep forgetting, Star Trek was on three years before it came back but we were on one – one season! To impact so many people with a one year show is amazing.”
A lot’s changed since 1978. Noah Hathaway (who played Boxey) is now covered in tattoos and has a tongue piercing. Meanwhile, Anne Lockhart, who played female pilot Sheba recalls being given her jacket from the series a few years back. “I tried to put it on,” she laughs. “And I went, ‘Oh, this isn’t gonna work!’ The only person in the house who could get into it was my nine year-old son! I thought, ‘Was I ever that small?'”
“I had a black leather suit”, adds Laurette Spang (aka Cassiopeia). “I still have that! My husband loved that suit!”
The room erupts into uproarious laughter at the insinuation. It’s very clear that this mob is still family. When a bemused Dirk Benedict finally turns up, half an hour late, he’s greeted with whoops and applause.
“I’m sitting in my room going [mimes looking at his watch] and then they called me and they go, ‘Oh yeah, we forgot you! We’ll come back.’ I know it was on purpose … Hey! You guys ate all the sandwiches!”
Once the signing’s underway SFX says hello to Aaron Douglas [Tyrol from the new series]. We bet he does loads of signings.
“Nah. I’d rather go down the pub!” Aaron deadpans, “Tell me, what can you do on a Thursday evening in Swindon?”
Er … get out of Swindon?
“That’s what someone else told me,” sighs Douglas. “Why do we always end up in these towns?”
He’s got a point. Even the Cylons wouldn’t have followed Galactica to Swindon ….
[click thumbnail to enlarge image]