So Say We All

So, after five years and four reasons (and a potentially destructive writers strike) the genius that is Battlestar Galactica comes to an end. The final double-part episodes are downloading to my PC as I write this, and I'm both excited by the prospect of seeing how it ends - but saddened by the fact that there won't be any more. There's both a made-for-tv prequel movie and a spin-off prequel series, but they won't be the same- they won't be about the crew of the people I've been watching for five years.

Critics and the like will bang on endlessly about how Galactica is a "post 9/11 drama" and how it "neatly parallels the war on terror". This may be true, but I'd prefer to see it remembered as simply a damn fine character driven piece of expertly written Sci-Fi.

For those of you who either avoided it through remembering the cheesy 1978 television series or simply because of a hatred of science fiction, I implore that you watch this series. Other than the basic premise, the series is radically different from its 1978 source and the sci-fi elements in the series have always been secondary to character development and story - not watching it because it is science fiction would be like not watching "The Wire" because you never enjoyed "The Bill".

I know the end will be painful to watch - what makes this programme stand out is the utter bleakness. Every character has gone through the emotional and physical wringer so far, and it can't possibly have a happy ending for any of them.

I won't say that it hasn't lost its way at times. Sometimes I yearn for one of the incredibly shot space battles that dotted the first two seasons and occasionally it has a dodgy episode, but it always finds its way again - unlike Heroes and 24 for which an incurable rot has set in.

So, short spoiler-free summary because I want those of you who haven't watched it to do so. It's one of the best TV shows made in the last twenty years. So say we all.

RL Update: Mum doesn't find out whether the radiotherapy has worked until the first week of April. It was also my birthday on Wednesday. 38 at last. Hurrah.