Battlestar Galactica's Ron Moore Borrowed A Big Idea From Star Trek: DS9

Summary Moore's experiences on DS9 influenced the darker tone of Battlestar Galactica, with similar storylines and character inspirations.

Connections between the two shows include shared actors, music mysteries, and thematic similarities in character development.

DS9's influence on Battlestar Galactica writers helped shape the morally ambiguous and darker themes of the rebooted series.

Ronald D. Moore's 2004 Battlestar Galactica reboot borrowed a story idea from his first season as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's supervising producer. When Star Trek: The Next Generation ended in 1994, Ronald D. Moore joined the DS9 team as a writer and supervising producer. Together with Ira Steven Behr, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, and the rest of the DS9 team, Moore was instrumental in shaping the Dominion War arc between seasons 3 and 7. Years later, when Ronald D. Moore rebooted Battlestar Galactica, it was clear that Moore's experiences on DS9 influenced his darker take on Glen A. Larson's space opera.

Arguably, Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica reboot owes more to his time on Star Trek than the original vision of creator Glen A. Larson. Multiple Star Trek actors appeared in Battlestar Galactica, including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Nana Visitor, and Star 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 in DS9. More directly, one episode of DS9 season 3 went on to play a major role in Battlestar Galactica's final season.

Related 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

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In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 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 the Final Five Cylons in Battlestar 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 in BSG season 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 music that ultimately contained the coordinates to bring the Colonial Fleet home to Earth in the finale.

In a talk at the Edinburgh Television Festival in 2016, Ronald D. Moore confirmed that Star Trek: DS9's Kira influenced Starbuck in Battlestar 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 in Battlestar Galactica in season 4, episode 6, "Faith", as a cancer patient who forms a friendship with President Roslin (Mary McDonnell). Nana Visitor's casting was suggested by Battlestar Galactica writers David Weddle and Bradley Thompson, who had also previously worked on DS9.

David Weddle cameoed as a bar patron in the DS9-influenced Battlestar Galactica episode "Someone to Watch Over Me".

Prior to joining Ronald D. Moore's writing team on Battlestar Galactica, David Weddle and Bradley Thompson worked on twelve episodes of Star 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 of DS9. Both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes, 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's Battlestar Galactica reboot would be praised for.

All episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount+.