Farewell Captain Apollo

In the rush to emulate the success of Star Wars, there were many imitations and rip-offs. The 1978 television series Battlestar Galactica was one of the most charming, thanks in no small part to the actor Richard Hatch, who has died aged 71 of pancreatic cancer. He was the dashing and clean-cut Captain Apollo, the show's equivalent to Luke Skywalker, opposite the more roguish Han Solo figure, Lt Starbuck, played by Dirk Benedict. When Hatch first read the script, Apollo was named Skyler; other echoes of Star Wars were not so easily muted, however, and it was hardly surprising when 20th Century Fox, the studio behind George Lucas's hit, sued Universal, the makers of Battlestar Galactica, citing 34 similarities between the two properties. The case was settled before reaching court in 1980, though by that point the series had already been cancelled.


With his dazzlingly bright teeth, glossy locks and boyish handsomeness, Hatch was almost ridiculously good-looking. Asked in 2012 if he thought his appearance had hurt his career, he said: "I think so. I had to prove myself over and over … When you're good-looking, you struggle to prove that you can act." There was a reassuringly uncomplicated air about him in Battlestar Galactica: he was essentially the boy next door in space. The limitations of playing the squeaky-clean hero, though, were immediately apparent to him. "I love Apollo – he's amazing – but they weren't challenging him enough," he said. "He's the true blue hero and the good guy never gets his due."


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