Sci Fi Channel has greenlit production on the Battlestar Galactica franchise as a new original weekly series. Based on the top-rated December miniseries event of the same name, the one-hour drama is slated to begin production on 13 episodes in Vancouver next month.

All principal cast from the mini will reprise their roles for the series, including Edward James Olmos (Commander Adama), Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck), and Tricia Helfer (Number Six), among others.

Ronald D. Moore (Carnivale, Mission Impossible 2) returns as executive producer as well as writer. The project will be produced exclusively for Sci Fi, in association with Sky One. The series will be distributed by USACE, where David Eick, an executive producer of the miniseries, serves as Executive Vice President.

An edgy re-imagining of the 1978 television series, the Sci Fi miniseries became the highest-rated cable mini in 2003–delivering more viewers and higher ratings than HBO's Angels in America.

The Battlestar Galactica series is an intriguing take on the classic adventure of a ragtag fleet of humans, the sole survivors of a devastating nuclear attack by the robot Cylons. Faced with an un-winnable battle against a deadly enemy, they are forced to flee under the protection of their one remaining warship, the outdated Battlestar Galactica. Pursued by the Cylons–some of whom have now taken human form—Commander Adama (Olmos) and President Roslin (McDonnell) lead these last remnants of humanity in search of a new home...a planet called Earth.