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In 2010, the Twelve Colonies of Kobol will be seen in a slightly different light as "Caprica," the much anticipated prequel to "Battlestar Galactica," makes its SciFi Channel debut.

Despite the renewed network confidence in the project, however, series creator Ronald D. Moore admitted that he had "given up" on the show ever becoming a reality.

"You hear that a lot from studios and networks: 'Well it's not really dead, we're not saying no,'" he revealed to American Movie Classics. "But they're saying no. It's never coming back, and I just thought we were in that spot. It's a gamble: We're making a character drama in a science-fiction universe that has nothing to do with action/adventure each week. Nobody's been able to pull that one off, and it would be great to do that. It would be another way to validate the genre as supporting interesting and good programming."

Throughout the last four years, Moore's vision of "Battlestar Galactica" has evolved tremendously to accomplish exactly that; what started as a dark re-telling of the 1970s saga very quickly became a macrocosm for the present day. In doing so, this allowed the show to go for a deeper exploration of some very metaphysical issues and, according to Moore, to cover all the things glossed over by Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek.

"At Trek I was always trying to work in those angles and blur peoples' religions, but it was very much not a part of what Trek was about -- it just wasn't part of Gene's vision," he said. "It appealed to me because science-fiction shows just didn't go there. I thought the idea of robots who believe in god was just a fascinating concept. And then I really liked the idea of the polytheists versus the monotheists, and that the monotheists were actually the 'bad guys' because there's certain repetition in Western society of the one god driving out the many. There were just layers and layers to play with."

Of course, the focal point of his kind of intellectual exploration has been Dr. Gaius Baltar, played by James Callis, who brings with him not only hias background in hard science to unravel the secrets of the universe, but also his willingness to believe and be led by those who have faith.

"Since the beginning, Baltar has been challenged on that very issue," Moore said. "He begins with a profound, shocking realization that he is personally responsible for the destruction of billions of people, and that there seems to be a god who wants him to do that. He's gone through so much, and had so many failings -- been so vilified-- that there's a part of him that wants somebody to take the responsibility off his shoulders, and is hoping against hope that as a scientist and atheist he's wrong."

"Battlestar Galactica" returns to SciFi Channel Jan. 16 at 10 p.m. ET.

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