One of the newest bandwagons that the American TV networks are jumping on is the use of webisodes, mini episodes of shows that tell a separate story to the series’ main plots, but often provide little extra chunks of background for true fans to enjoy.
The American version of The Office used them this year to patchy effect, but it looks like the top dog is going to be Battlestar Galactica. Labelled The Resistance, the two-to-three minute-long episodes focus on the problems faced by the humans living on New Caprica, chafing against the Cylon occupation. But because they’re designed for the small-scale screen of the Sci Fi Channel’s Pulse network, don’t expect roaring fleets of Cylon Raiders or massive waves of Centurions taking down swarming human mobs: this is strictly up close and personal. “They’re very emotional, relatable conflicts that these guys are going through,” Sci Fi’s Erik Storey told The New York Times. “Because of that, we could really get in close with the camera.”
And while the mini-episodes follow a story that spans the gap between Season Two and Season Three, they weren’t easy to create. “It was challenging on several levels. Each of the webisode chapters had to be close-ended, with a beginning, a middle and an end, and each of those chapters is going to be three minutes, four minutes. And there had to be a little cliffhanger ending for each one.”
Current speculation has BSG’s third year starting on Sky One in October, but until that’s confirmed, catch the webisodes every Tuesday and Thursday at Sci Fi’s US site by clicking here .
