What is 'The Plan' for 'Battlestar Galactica'?

When Gaius Baltar and Number Six strolled down the pavement in the final scene of Battlestar Galactica, it was far from the end of the monumentally brilliant show. Not only is prequel Caprica well into production on its first season following a successful pilot, but there's also an intriguing feature length episode called 'The Plan' just around the corner. Shrouded in mystery, here's what we know about the Toaster fest...

What is 'The Plan' about?

The two-hour story basically offers a different view of events that happened in the miniseries and first season, as they unfold from a Cylon perspective. Expect stuff like the fall of Caprica and the infiltration of Galactica by Cylon agents to be explained. Events depict the failure of the masterplan to wipe out humanity, as survivors weren't expected by the Cylons.

Samuel Anders and Henry Cavil are the two main characters, which should be fascinating as the former is seemingly oblivious to his synthetic state of being when he first appeared in the series as a resistance fighter on Caprica. Could he merely have been a pawn in Cavil's fiendish plan? And what is the exact nature of their relationship? All will be revealed, although rumours suggest that Cavil conceals his true identity from Anders.

Who is in it?

Apart from Michael Trucco and Dean Stockwell reprising their roles as Anders and Cavil respectively, every other Toaster apart from Lucy Lawless's Number Three is plugged back in to the mainframe. Kate Vernon returns as the mysterious and promiscuous Ellen Tigh, who shocked many when she stepped forward as The Final Cylon.

Galen Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), who memorably bashed the brains out of Tory in the season finale, is back in action too, as is the less prominent Cylon called Simon (Rick Worthy), also known as Number Four. Leoben, Boomer and Aaron also pop up, while so does the delectable Tricia Helfer - and in multiple guises, including that of the elusive Shelly Godfrey (whose whereabouts shall be explained).

A less obvious character in line for resurrection is Giana. Who the frack? Well, she was a Caprican last seen in the miniseries being rescued by Sharon and Agathon, and played a very insignificant role in the grand scheme of things... until now. Oddly enough, though, she's played by Lymari Nadal - who just happens to be married to William Adama himself - actor Edward James Olmos. Old Bill is back, too, by the way, and no doubt we’ll see him during the early days of constructing his match stick ship.

Who has made it?

As well as appearing in 'The Plan' in front of the cameras as Bill Adama, Olmos calls the shots behind them, too. He has previously displayed his visual flair by helming four BSG episodes, one of which was 'Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down'.

Acclaimed Buffy scribe Jane Espenson, who wrote several third and fourth season episodes of BSG, is responsible for the script. Ronald D. Moore and David Eick return as executive producers.

When is it on?

'The Plan' will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States on October 27, with its television debut expected on the horribly rebranded SyFy Channel the following month.

No UK airdate has been announced yet, but it will most likely be shown on Sky1.

The Trailer