While we wait for the fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica, due to hit US TV screens 4 April, news is out that a 2-hour pilot for a spin off series called Caprica has been green-lit by the SciFi Channel.

"I'm thrilled with the chance to expand on the Galactica world and get deeper into the origins of the story we've been telling," said Battlestar Galactica Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore. "It's also great to have a chance at doing a completely different kind of science fiction series, one that's even more character-oriented and doesn't rely on pyrotechnics."

Caprica is set 50 years before the events in Battlestar Galactica, telling the story of the creation of the Cylons and the lead up to the first Cylon war. In a world not unlike our own, two competing families, the Greystones and the Adamas (I'm guessing this is no coincidence…), are first to achieve startling breakthroughs in robotics, marrying artificial intelligence with mechanical bodies to create living robots.

The SciFi Channel has described the show as "television's first science fiction family saga."

David Eick, also Executive Producer of Battlestar Galactica, said that "while Caprica will have its own personality, it will carry on Battlestar's commitment to pushing the boundaries of the genre, and we're thrilled that SCI FI has seen fit to giving us another opportunity to tell character-driven stories in challenging ways".

Before the announcement that Caprica's 2-hour pilot had been green lit, Ronald D. Moore said that Caprica would be an entirely different type of show.

"Instead of an action-adventure sci-fi piece, it was more of a prime-time soap, a sci-fi 'Dallas'," Moore revealed in Salon online. "It was about a family, the Adamas, and a company, and it was about the creation of the Cylons 50 years ago. It was not going to be space-based, but set entirely on the planet of Caprica. But it would have sci-fi touches, and it would deal with issues like artificial intelligence and the various schemings and backbitings that you get in the traditional soap opera."

Since I'm counting the days until Battlestar Galactica's fourth and final season is aired, the possible return of the robotic toasters in a prequel is excellent news. Although I'm not sure why you would want to make a science fiction show with elements of a "traditional soap opera"? Isn't that something you'd want to avoid?

The 2-hour pilot for the Battlestar Galactica prequel will begin production in Vancouver in the US Spring. If the 2-hour pilot is accepted, I'm guessing we'll see Caprica released early 2010.