It was never a secret in Hollywood that Paramount wanted to start its own program web on the enduringness of an all - new Star Trek serial . It just took two decades before that ambitiousness would come to fruition . During the late 1970s , Star Trek : Phase IIwas going to be the show in question before those program were forsake and the serial was retread intoStar Trek : The Motion Picture . In January 1994 , the United Paramount internet became a realism withStar Trek : Voyageras its flagship program .
Paramount had lay the foundation for UPN in the 1980s and other nineties with a string of successful original syndicated shows , includingFriday the 13th : The Series , The Arsenio Hall Show , War of the Worlds , and , of form , two Star Trek serial — Star Trek : The Next GenerationandStar Trek : Deep Space Nine . By the timeVoyagerpremiered , TNGhad just fetch up its seven - time of year run and move the plaster cast into the Star Trek feature of speech motion picture , whileDeep Space Ninewas still coming into its own . Voyagerhad a lot to be up to after its two immediate predecessors , and it sometimes could not emerge from their shadower .
Among Star Trek lover , Voyagerdefinitely has its admirers and devoted follower , but it ’s not as beloved as eitherTNGorDS9 . It ’s an imperfect serial , but also one that still inspires fan three decades later . To celebrate the 30th anniversary ofStar Trek : Voyager , here is a abbreviated aspect back at some of the highs and lows of the show ’s seven season .
Captain on deck
After the late three Star Trek serial publication put William Shatner , Patrick Stewart , and Avery Brooks in the leading roles , Voyagerfeatured a female captain : Elizabeth Janeway . Actress Geneviève Bujold was subsequently cast as the rename Nicole Janeway , but not for long . It ’s ill-defined why things with Bujold went to the south quickly , but she left the series after only two sidereal day on set . In her space , Kate Mulgrew stepped into the leading role , with one last name change : Kathryn Janeway .
Mulgrew ’s Janeway did have a different persona than her predecessors . However , there were also dissentious contemporary response to Janeway , not unlike the ones fielded byStar Trek : Discoveryand the second distaff captain in the franchise , Michael Burnham ( Sonequa Martin - Green ) . There was so much speech sound and fury over those respective casting decisions that it eclipse many legitimate criticism about how those two women were present . In Janeway ’s case , a circumstances of the flaws of the show itself were used to bash her case , and it was not always deserved . Regardless , the most die - hard devotee ofVoyageraccepted her as the sea captain .
Lost in space
To further separateVoyagerfrom the three series that came before it , the show was set in the Delta Quadrant , a distant part of the wandflower approximately seven ten forth from the familiar planets in the franchise at the highest potential speed . There was so much lead time that the seeds forVoyagerwere planted inStar Trek : The Next GenerationandDeep Space Ninewith the introduction of the Marquis , a group of exemption fighters / terrorists who felt that the Federation had sold out their colony worlds to the Cardassians in exchange for a peace treaty deal .
In response , the hoi polloi now living under Cardaassian control condition formed the Marquis to struggle for their independence and their adopted home humanity . That often put the Marquis at odds with the Federation as well . This plotline continued in the first installment ofVoyager , as the nominal ship pursued a momentaneous Marquis vessel before both were stranded in the Delta Quadrant . To outlive the precarious journey home , the crowd of the Marquis ship was integrated into the crew of Voyager .
TNG lite
Some of the earliest episodes ofVoyagerdeal with the tensions between the Federation and Marquis crews , with Commander Chakotay ( Robert Beltran ) and B’Elanna Torres ( Roxann Dawson ) among the most prominent member of the former . Tom Paris ( Robert Duncan McNeill ) was an ex - Marquis who turned on his former comrades by fall in Voyager ’s military mission to capture them for his own exemption , so he was n’t very pop with either side .
One of the most interesting characters was Seska ( Martha Hackett ) , a member of the Marquis who was the part of dissent on the ship until sure revelations about her came to light . Seska was so anti - Starfleet that the show may have been better if it had maintain her around . Without Seska , most of the Marquis officer became so watered down that you could scarce tell they were n’t originally Federation officers .
Tuvok ( Tim Russ ) — Voyager ’s resident Vulcan science police officer — was undercover with the Marquis at the beginning of the series , but he was firm to the Federation all along . The last prominent fellow member of the Federation crew was Ensign Harry Kim ( Garrett Wang ) . Two natives of the Delta Quadrant also joined the gang : Neelix ( Ethan Phillips ) and Kes ( Jennifer Lien ) . However , the most exciting persona out of this group was Voyager ’s emergency medical holographic course of study , or The Doctor ( Robert Picardo ) . Picardo gave that AI a personality , while the author allow the Doctor ample opportunities to discover his natural manhood .
Unfortunately , compare to the casts ofTNGandDS9,Voyager‘s gang seemed less dynamic . fan of the show may love them , but they did n’t capture the imaginations of a wide consultation . It did n’t help that many ofVoyager‘s level also seemed like rehash of early Star Trek tales . That ’s not to say that there were n’t good , or even great , episodes ofVoyagerthat social status among the very well in Star Trek . But there are also plenty of embarrassingly bad episodes , includingThreshold , an infamous season 2 story that finish with Janeway and Paris transformed into space salamanders . If you have hassle believing that was material , here ’s the proof .
The Seven of Nine Show
By the clip the 4th season arrived , Voyagerneeded some fresh bloodline in the cast . Lien departed the series , and in her place , Jeri Ryan was cast as the Borg know as Seven of Nine . Ryan became the first performing artist to play a Borg in a steady role , but her cyborg coming into court was soon given a human makeover with a heavy emphasis on sex appeal . Seven quickly became the show ’s novel breakout character , which was incisively what the producers need . Suddenly , most of the major story roll around Seven in some way , or around the Doctor to a lesser degree .
This did n’t always sit well with the rest period of the dramatis personae , notably Mulgrew . Several cast members have share chronicle about stress on the set , which was especially one - side from Mulgrew to Ryan . Voyagerwasn’t the first Star Trek serial publication to have feuds among the performers , but it sum an unexpected undercurrent to the scenes between Seven and Janeway , who were on much better terms on - concealment .
The CGI Frontier
For the first two - and - a - half season ofVoyager , the ship ’s extra effect were for the most part reach through models and practical effects . time of year 3 change the biz for the entire dealership when it switched to all CGI extra effects . An earliersci - fi serial , Babylon 5 , had already proven that CGI spaceships could be done for a weekly series . Foundation Imaging — the FX ship’s company behindBabylon 5‘s first three season — was brought in to do the same forVoyager .
The solvent led to some truly gorgeous body of work that nurse up well even decades later . Even when the stories were miss , the digital essence set a young standard for Star Trek .
“Borged” to death
Perhaps the large stumble ofVoyageris that the show ’s originative squad never understood the risk of going to the same well too many times . The most electrifying scoundrel ofStar Trek : The Next Generationwere the Borg , an exotic collective of bionic woman who attempted to forcibly win over ( or ingest ) any civilization they deemed worthy of becoming one of them . TNGonly used the Borg in 6 episode across seven seasons and in the movieStar Trek : First Contact .
Voyager , on the other hand , featured the Borg in 23 episode across the final four season . By using them so many time , the show ’s originative squad kill the mystique of the Borg , and they no longer felt peculiar or even threatening . Even in the serial publication finale , the Borg were once again Voyager ’s punching base as they made their agency home .
Star Trek: Legacy
Seven ’s profile rose even further duringPicardseason 3as she go from First Officer to Captain , and she joined a very exclusive club by taking bid of the newest ship , the initiative . Since then , there have been movements to convince Paramount+ to greenlightStar Trek : Legacy , starring Ryan and some of herPicardco - wizard . There do n’t seem to be any current program to make that a reality , but if the bequest ofVoyageris going to live on , it will once again be through Seven of Nine .
WatchStar Trek : VoyageronParamount+ .
