If fans of the sci-fi drama Battlestar Galactica are surprised to learn it's been ten fracking years since it premiered, they're not alone.
The series (which famously used the term "fracking" as a swear word) was an inventive reimagining of the 1970s original, in which the remnants of the human race try to escape murderous robots called Cylons.
It made stars of cast members Jamie Bamber and Tahmoh Penikett, both of whom will take part in a special ten year retrospective panel at this weekend's Supanova Pop Culture Expo.
"Even saying 'ten year anniversary' sounds weird. It really does seem odd. If anything it reminds you how quickly time flies," Penikett, who played Colonial Fleet officer Helo, said.
"Those were such rich and incredible years...to this day I think for most of us it's been the most important experience in that medium, film or television."
Battlestar Galactica came not long after The Sopranos, The West Wing and The Wire began changing the way stories were told on television, allowing for complex storylines to unfold in longer arcs.
As Lee "Apollo" Adama, a top pilot whose moral code is challenged as the series progressed, Bamber said longform narrative TV was also fun to do.
"To be involved in one is like reading a Charles Dickens novel as it's being written," he said.
"There's nothing more exciting than being the first to read a script and find out what happens to your particular character, to fight in their corner...it was a revelation."
Bamber credited the vision of series producer Ronald D. Moore, who turned the idea of the Cylons on its head by making the most evolved versions of the robots look like humans.
"It seems obvious in hindsight, but it was a very bold thing to do with a much beloved product," Bamber said.
"It was all about 9/11, it was all about having been hit at home for the first time and to suffer the inevitable paranoia, anger and repercussions that come thereafter...to be struck when you're least expecting it, and to be struck by people like you, that went among us."
Storylines on the show mirrored contemporary politics, with issues like the Iraq War, Guantanamo Bay and torture, and controversial elections filtered through the BSG prism.
"We went after all that stuff, and because it was science fiction, they couldn't dismiss it on political lines like they could with The West Wing," Bamber said.
"Battlestar Galactica was all about shades of grey, it wasn't interested in traditional science fiction's black and white."
Canadian-born Penikett said a lesser-known achievement of the series was the boost it gave to the film industry in Vancouver, where BSG was made.
"Predominantly the supporting cast was Canadian, and they knocked it out of the park," he said.
"They proved very quickly, because the show was so critically acclaimed, that Canadian actors were more than capable...producers recognised the talent pool north of the border."
Both men agreed working with senior co-stars such as Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin) and Edward James Olmos (Commander Adama) was a particular highlight of the job.
"It went from very daunting at the beginning, because he was quite austere and distant at first... gradually as the seasons unfolded he revealed his true avuncular, warm, gregarious, fun-loving self," Bamber said.
"It was a real journey and we're still best friends."
Penikett couldn't praise Olmos – a renowned activist for Hispanic people – highly enough.
"He lends his name, his voice, his celebrity and his heart to so many social causes...things he believes in," he said.
"At the same time he's a passionate filmmaker, father, uncle, grandfather – he has so much family, and he still finds the time to take in more of us, he's taken in all of us from that show."
Penikett's more recent work includes the Joss Whedon show Dollhouse and a recurring role on Supernatural.
Bamber starred in five seasons of Law & Order UK, and has appeared in numerous US dramas, including a regular role on Rizzoli & Isles.
Fans who first encountered Bamber on BSG are still often surprised by the 41-year-old's natural British accent, so different to Apollo's clipped American tones.
"It's nice when people are surprised...it's what we try and do as actors, we dress up and pretend to be other people," he said.
"Although my Dad's from Detroit, Michigan, so I did have a good base to mimic."
