Flight of The Phoenix (Battlestar Galactica) - Production

Production

The writers considered showing spreading the construction of the Blackbird over several episodes as a running subplot. Moore admitted that, realistically, building a starfighter would likely take weeks. However, they decided to tell the whole story in one episode as part of the theme of the fleet's morale, introduced by a comment from Commander Adama early in "Flight of the Phoenix". They also considered it unrealistic that Tyrol would be able to build a Viper, so they came up with another craft, the Blackbird stealth fighter.

Moore came up with the plot device of Sharon infecting the incoming Cylon ships because he wanted to try something other than an ordinary space battle. The specific mechanic of her inserting a cable into her arm began as a joke in the writers' room.

Early drafts went into detail about the consequences of wiping Galactica's computers, as Gaeta does following Sharon's instruction. This was to be not just navigational software but also all records of Colonial civilization. The idea was abandoned as too geeky to impart an emotional impact on the audience.

During the test flight, Starbuck and the Blackbird disappear briefly. Moore decided to elongate her absence after seeing footage of actor Aaron Douglas playing Tyrol nervously awaiting Starbuck's return. The test flight came after the dedication in the script, but they were switched in editing because the dedication was seen as the episode's "emotional climax".

Tyrol and Sharon were scripted to exchange a few lines of dialogue during Tyrol's visit at the end of the episode, but director Michael Nankin and film editor Jacques Gravett cut them. Moore approved of the change, saying, "it doesn't really matter what they say to each other". One version of the dialogue is included as a deleted scene on the DVD version of the episode.

One of the system malfunctions shown on Galactica in "Flight of the Phoenix" is the ship's firing range losing oxygen as Apollo, Starbuck, and Hotdog practice shooting. According to Moore, the scene was scripted to give the audience a slowly building sense of discomfort. The three characters' differing reactions are based on observations of pilots under induced hypoxia. They save themselves by shooting out the range's window. Actors Jamie Bamber (Apollo) and Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) came up with the idea that their characters should aim the weapon together.