By Your Command Vol 1 (“Battlestar Galactica” Guide)

‘The opposite of war isn’t always peace…’

Battlestar Galactica was one of the most impressive American telefantasy series of the 1970s, facing down competition from the Star Wars franchise and antipathy from its own network to gain high ratings, a devoted fan following and a spin-off commissioned less than a year after the original had ended.

In this book, Alan Stevens and Fiona Moore use behind- the-scenes material and in-depth analyses of both screened episodes and unmade stories to explore how Battlestar Galactica interwove relevant political and religious themes into the traditional space-opera format to produce a television programme that is never less than entertaining and frequently thought-provoking. Like the reimagined series it inspired, the original Battlestar Galactica poses difficult questions about the legitimacy of war, the value of love, the perils of leadership and, ultimately, what it means to be human.

‘Through the years there have been several titles on the original show Battlestar Galactica. “By Your Command Volume 1” is the best of any I have seen. The authors provide many new details of behind-the-scenes information while there are episode guides including guest stars, the writers, and story line while they also delve into the very unpopular sequel Battlestar Galactica 1980. “By Your Command Volume 1” is to be enjoyed fans while viewing both of the original Battlestar Galactica series.’ Gary Roen, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

299pp. A5 paperback book (original non-US edition) – SOLD OUT as of 21 August 2016
ISBN 978-1-84583-060-1
Published 30 June 2012

276pp. 6×9 paperback book (US edition until 21 August 2016, worldwide edition thereafter)
ISBN 978-1-84583-921-5
Published 12 December 2015

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Alan Stevens has written, edited and developed numerous publications on telefantasy series, including Doctor Who, Blake’s 7 and The Prisoner. He is also co-author of the Telos books Fall Out: The Unofficial and Unauthorised guide to The Prisoner and By Your Command: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Battlestar Galactica Volumes 1 and 2. Since the early 1990s, he has produced a number of documentaries, serials and dramas for radio and independent audio release, including the Blake’s 7/Doctor Who spin-off series Kaldor City and the Gothic horror time-travelling adventure Faction Paradox. He is currently based in the South East of England, and runs his own audio production company, Magic Bullet Productions (kaldorcity.com).

Fiona Moore was born and raised in Toronto, but has lived in the UK since 1997. She has a doctorate in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford, and is currently Senior Lecturer in International Human Resource Management at Royal Holloway, University of London. She has written non-fiction on a wide variety of subjects, from the identities of Taiwanese businesspeople to the culture of drag queens, and is also co-author of the Telos books Fall Out: The Unofficial and Unauthorised guide to The Prisoner and By Your Command: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Battlestar Galactica Volumes 1 and 2. Her fiction and poetry have been published in, among others, Asimov, Interzone and Dark Horizons.