CLASSIC IMAGE: WHEN CARDSTERS GATHER!

Starbuck thinks he's king of the hill when it comes to all things gambling, but could his lucky streak be running out on him as an Armistice Day Pyramid game with the card shark pilots from Gemon turns sour. A scene establishing Starbuck and his Blue Squadron colleagues Boomer and Jolly that was mostly cut down for time and pace reasons from Saga of a Star World.

Boomer addresses his concerns and the potential loss of his cubits with Starbuck.

'ICE PLANET ZERO' AT 45: 'BLUE SQUADRON UP!'

The Cylon fighter squadrons have returned to plague the far end of the Rag-Tag fleet and the Galactica, of which the Battlestar's highly skilled and battle-experienced Blue Squadron is now on its way to their fighter bays in retaliatory response!

CLASSIC IMAGE: PAST AND FUTURE HEAD GEAR!

Gorgeous fan replica helmet.

Charting an altogether different look for space-faring fighter aces seen in science fiction TV, yet still keeping visual referencing motifs for generic audiences to understand, the design of the Colonial Viper pilot flight helmets proved a stunning achievement for the original series by the acclaimed and versatile Universal Studios costume designer Jean-Pierre Dorleac, what with their deliberate Egyptian-esque referencing and colouring, and which soon proved a fine compliment to the events witnessed within the visuals of Lost Planet of the Gods, and its revelations of the Twelve Colonies of Mankind.   

CLASSIC IMAGE: WHAT ELSE COULD GO WRONG?

His 'can't lose' card game with those sneaky Gemons has been thoroughly ruined, and his winnings subsequently stolen. So what else could go wrong for Starbuck on what should be a momentous day of peace with the Cylons? Well, an alert klaxon, that's what,  as he and his friends now rush to their assigned Vipers. But, as the drama of Saga of a Star World intensifies, what possible situation beyond pomp and circumstance could justify the alert?

'GALACTICA' AT 40: UNDER THE CARILLON SKY

The secretly sent planet-side Blue Squadron vipers await their newly arrived piloting masters on Carillon, in this lovely matte painting art from ILM/Apogee (note the fuel tanker vessel in the background - in the official novelisation Starbuck was to perilously pilot it to the fleet amidst Cylon attack).

Whoever did the painting is unknown, though it was also used as a photo blow up for Carillon exterior scenes filmed at Universal, behind the close-ups scenes needed of the main pilots racing to their ships - primarily the full-scale build Viper prop and several cut-out dummies behind that, and a visual trick that had also been used with the Rebel hangar scenes of the original Star Wars during its London filming in 1976.

CLASSIC IMAGE: BRIE'S IN THE VIPER SEAT!

She's one of the rawest of the Viper pilot recruits, but you can't fault Cadet Brie for her enthusiasm, proving her worth as a new pilot for Blue Squadron (eventually) after the events of Lost Planet of the Gods, appearing in War of the Gods part one for a final appearance.

CLASSIC IMAGE: "LET'S GO, GIRLS!"

Keen as hell to go out into the fray and blow the pogees out of some Cylons, the fearless and confident cadet Dietra (Sheila DeWindt) is at launch ready stations inside her Viper, in a scene from Lost Planet of the Gods Part One.

CLASSIC IMAGE: THE UNKNOWN PILOT...

Having escaped the trap of the Carillon casino, our fighter pilot heroes blast off for a rondezvous with Cylon forces attacking the Galactica. All of our main heroes are shown in this pivotal sequence: Apollo, Starbuck, Boomer and Jolly, all itching for payback against their enemies. But who's the guy above? We see him for a few seconds but hadn't seen him previously in the pilot episode. Nor do we see him afterwards?

I'm assuming he was an actor who had some cockpit scene dialogue filmed but cut out from the final version of Saga of a Star World - a series launcher that did have lots of editing/re-editing and re-shoots before its eventual debut. To this writer, he looks very much like a young Richard Chaves, who later became well known for another sci-fi series, War of the Worlds, in the late eighties.

If anyone has any more info on who the actor is/the character he played, please get in touch...

CLASSIC IMAGE: EN ROUTE TO BATTLE!

As klaxons sound within the mighty Galactica, a crack squadron of Colonial Warrior pilots speedily negate their way through the ship's corridors to their viper craft berthed in the landing bays, ready for battle, in this scene from Saga of a Star World.