Star Trek: Voyager

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This article is about the Star Trek series. For the series' featured spacecraft, see USS Voyager (Star Trek). For the Voyager VI space probe, see Star Trek: The Motion Picture. For other uses, see Voyager (disambiguation).
"STVOY" redirects here. For for the Haute-Loire commune, see Mazet-Saint-Voy.

Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek VOY logo.svg
Genre Science fiction
Action adventure
Created by
Based on Star Trek
by Gene Roddenberry
Starring
Theme music composer Jerry Goldsmith
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 7
No. of episodes 172 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
Showrunners
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time ~45 minutes
Production company(s) Paramount Network Television
Distributor CBS Television Distribution[1]
Release
Original network UPN[2]
Picture format NTSC 480i 4:3
Audio format
Original release January 16, 1995 (1995-01-16) – May 23, 2001 (2001-05-23)
Chronology
Preceded by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Followed by Star Trek: Enterprise
Related shows Star Trek TV series
External links
Star Trek: Voyager at StarTrek.com

Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe that debuted in 1995[3] and ended its original run in 2001.

The series takes place during the years 2371 to 2378. It follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant (on the far side of the Milky Way galaxy, 70,000 light-years from Earth) while searching for a renegade Maquis ship.[4] Voyager has to make the estimated 75-year journey home.

The series was created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor, and is the fifth incarnation of Star Trek, which began with the original Star Trek series that was created by Gene Roddenberry. Voyager was produced for seven seasons, from 1995 to 2001, and is the first Star Trek TV series with a female captain, Kathryn Janeway (played by Kate Mulgrew), as the lead character. Berman served as head executive producer in charge of the overall production for the series during its entire run. He was assisted by a second in command executive producer who generally functioned as the day-to-day showrunner. Four were used throughout the series' run: Michael Piller (EP/showrunner – first and second season), Jeri Taylor (EP – first through fourth seasons, showrunner – third and fourth seasons), Brannon Braga (EP/showrunner – fifth and sixth seasons), and Kenneth Biller (EP/showrunner – seventh season). Star Trek: Voyager aired on UPN and was the network's second-longest-running series. UPN would end its run in 2006.

Production[edit]

As Star Trek: The Next Generation ended, Paramount Pictures wanted to continue to have a second Star Trek TV series to accompany Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The studio also planned to start a new television network, and wanted the new series to help it succeed.[5] This was reminiscent of Paramount's earlier plans to launch its own network by showcasing Star Trek: Phase II in 1977.

Initial work on Star Trek: Voyager began in 1993, when the seventh and final season of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the second season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine were in production. Seeds for Voyager's backstory, including the development of the Maquis, were placed in several The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine episodes. Voyager was shot on the stages The Next Generation had used, and where the Voyager pilot "Caretaker" was shot in September 1994. Costume designer Robert Blackman decided that the uniforms of Voyager's crew would be the same as those on Deep Space Nine.

Star Trek: Voyager was the first Star Trek series to use computer-generated imagery (CGI), rather than models, for exterior space shots.[6] Babylon 5 and seaQuest DSV had previously used CGI to avoid the expense of models, but the Star Trek television department continued using models because they felt they were more realistic. Amblin Imaging won an Emmy for Voyager's opening CGI title visuals, but the weekly episode exteriors were captured with hand-built miniatures of Voyager, its shuttlecraft, and other ships. This changed when Voyager went fully CGI for certain types of shots midway through season three (late 1996).[7] Foundation Imaging was the studio responsible for special effects during Babylon 5's first three seasons. Season three's "The Swarm" was the first episode to use Foundation's effects exclusively. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine began using Foundation Imaging in conjunction with Digital Muse in season six. In its later seasons, Voyager featured visual effects from Foundation Imaging and Digital Muse. The digital effects were produced at television resolution and some have speculated that it cannot be re-released in HD format without re-creating the special effects.[8] However, Enterprise has been released in HD, but the special effects were rendered in 480p and upscaled.[9]

Plot overview[edit]

See also: List of Star Trek: Voyager episodes
An artistic rendition of the actual Milky Way galaxy, overlaid with the fictional quadrant system of the Star Trek universe and the location of certain species. Voyager had to make its way from above where the Kazon species is located back to Earth; this journey is a major plot element in the series

Summary[edit]

In the pilot episode, "Caretaker", USS Voyager departs the Deep Space Nine space station on a mission into the treacherous Badlands. They are searching for a missing ship piloted by a team of Maquis rebels, which Voyager's security officer, the Vulcan Lieutenant Tuvok, has secretly infiltrated. While in the Badlands, Voyager is enveloped by a powerful energy wave that kills several of its crew, damages the ship, and strands it in the galaxy's Delta Quadrant, more than 70,000 light-years from Earth. The wave was not a natural phenomenon. In fact, it was used by an alien entity known as the Caretaker to pull Voyager into the Delta Quadrant. The Caretaker is responsible for the continued care of the Ocampa, a race of aliens native to the Delta Quadrant, and has been abducting other species from around the galaxy in an effort to find a successor.

The Maquis ship was also pulled into the Delta Quadrant, and eventually the two crews reluctantly agree to join forces after the Caretaker space station is destroyed in a pitched space battle with another local alien species, the Kazon. Chakotay, leader of the Maquis group, becomes Voyager's first officer. B'Elanna Torres, a half-human/half-Klingon Maquis, becomes chief engineer. Tom Paris, whom Janeway released from a Federation prison to help find the Maquis ship, is made Voyager's helm officer. Due to the deaths of the ship's entire medical staff, the Doctor, an emergency medical hologram designed only for short-term use, is employed as the ship's full-time chief medical officer. Delta Quadrant natives Neelix, a Talaxian scavenger, and Kes, a young Ocampa, are welcomed aboard as the ship's chef/morale officer and the doctor's medical assistant, respectively.

Due to its great distance from Federation space, the Delta Quadrant is unexplored by Starfleet, and Voyager is truly going where no human has gone before. As they set out on their projected 75-year journey home, the crew passes through regions belonging to various species: the barbaric and belligerent Kazon; the organ-harvesting, disease-ravaged Vidiians; the nomadic hunter race the Hirogen; the fearsome Species 8472 from fluidic space; and most notably the Borg, whose home is the Delta Quadrant, so that Voyager has to move through large areas of Borg-controlled space in later seasons. They also encounter perilous natural phenomena, a nebulous area called the Nekrit Expanse ("Fair Trade", third season), a large area of empty space called the Void ("Night", fifth season), wormholes, dangerous nebulae and other anomalies.

However, Voyager does not always deal with the unknown. It is the third Star Trek series to feature Q, an omnipotent alien—and the second on a recurring basis, as Q made only one appearance on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Starfleet Command learns of Voyager's survival when the crew discovers an ancient interstellar communications network, claimed by the Hirogen, into which they can tap. This relay network is later disabled, but due to the efforts of Earth-based Lieutenant Reginald Barclay, Starfleet eventually establishes regular contact in the season-six episode "Pathfinder", using a communications array and micro-wormhole technology.

In the first two episodes of the show's fourth season, Kes leaves the ship in the wake of an extreme transformation of her mental abilities, while Seven of Nine (known colloquially as Seven), a Borg drone who was assimilated as a six-year-old human girl, is liberated from the collective and joins the Voyager crew. As the series progresses, Seven begins to regain her humanity with the ongoing help of Captain Janeway, who shows her that emotions, friendship, love, and caring are more important than the sterile "perfection" the Borg espouse. The Doctor also becomes more human-like, due in part to a mobile holo-emitter the crew obtains in the third season which allows the Doctor to leave the confines of sickbay. He discovers his love of music and art, which he demonstrates in the episode "Virtuoso". In the sixth season, the crew discovers a group of adolescent aliens assimilated by the Borg, but prematurely released from their maturation chambers due to a malfunction on their Borg cube. As he did with Seven of Nine, the Doctor rehumanizes the children; Azan, Rebi and Mezoti, three of them eventually find a new adoptive home while the fourth, Icheb, chooses to stay aboard Voyager.

Life for the Voyager crew evolves during their long journey. Traitors Seska and Michael Jonas are uncovered in the early months ("State of Flux", "Investigations"); loyal crew members are lost late in the journey; and other wayward Starfleet officers are integrated into the crew. In the second season, the first child is born aboard the ship to Ensign Samantha Wildman; as she grows up, Naomi Wildman becomes great friends with her godfather, Neelix, and develops an unexpected and close relationship with Seven of Nine. Early in the seventh season, Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres marry after a long courtship, and Torres gives birth to their child, Miral Paris, in the series finale. Late in the seventh season, the crew finds a colony of Talaxians on a makeshift settlement in an asteroid field, and Neelix chooses to bid Voyager farewell and live once again among his people.

Over the course of the series, the Voyager crew finds various ways to reduce their 75-year journey by five decades: shortcuts, in the episodes "Night" and "Q2"; technology boosts, in episodes "The Voyager Conspiracy", "Dark Frontier", "Timeless" and "Hope and Fear"; subspace corridors in "Dragon's Teeth"; and a mind-powered push from a powerful former shipmate in "The Gift". Also, the crew is not able to use other trip-shortening opportunities, as seen in the episodes "Prime Factors", "Future's End", "Eye of the Needle" and "Inside Man". A final effort, involving the use of a Borg transwarp conduit, reduces the 70,000-light-year journey to just seven years in the series finale "Endgame".

Plot element – Timelines[edit]

Because of the nature of the science fiction universe depicted by Star Trek, there is not always a strict linear plot in the traditional sense due to time travel causing changes. In addition to depicting the future, Earth's present is also altered in the Star Trek universe. Some episodes of Star Trek fill in parts of real or fictional accounts of Earth history. Voyager was not an exception to this and in the episode "11:59" a fictional Millennium tower is built in Indiana starting in the year 2000. One of Janeway's ancestors is depicted in the episode while Captain Janeway studies historical records of the same person in attempt to understand the person that inspired her.

Some other altered timelines include the reduction of the journey to seven years in the season finale, as well as various alternate timelines exposed in various episodes over the course of the television series' run. (e.g., "Relativity")

Plot element – Getting home[edit]

Voyager's journey home was essentially a trek across a large fraction of the Milky Way. The estimated ~75-year-long duration of the voyage was reduced by several large jumps in distance that occurred in several episodes. A number of alternative timelines were explored due to the introduction of races possessing the ability to time travel such as in Timeless (S5E6). One such timeline involves the death of the entire crew with only Chakotay, Harry and The Doctor surviving. Only by altering the past does Voyager continue. Its tele-theater and the flexibility of the science fiction universe created by generations of Star Trek writers and production staff accommodate this and more, with the theatrical devices forming a palette of plot tools. The use of Borg technology in the final episode allowed Voyager to return home after a journey of only seven years.

Events that shortened Voyager's travel time home:

These jumps decreased the time needed to return by ~40 years. Counting elapsed time, by the end of the seventh and final season (assuming one year elapsed per season), Voyager was 28 years' travel from Federation space.

  • Remaining distance after seven years of travel – "Endgame"

Plot element – Body count[edit]

Although meant as a way of saving the Ocampa, the Caretaker's abduction caused the death of many of the Voyager Starfleet crew including some very critical roles including first officer, chief engineer, and medical staff.[10] This creates a labor shortage that has to be filled in various ways, in particular the Maquis crew, who lost their ship, are able to fill some of the highest-ranking positions including first officer and chief engineer. Voyager successfully recovers Tuvok, who was working as a spy, and he is also able to join the crew. However, over the course of the next seven years according to the theatrically exposed timeline over 40 crew are killed.[10] Sources of new crew-members included taking on the Maquis crew, aliens, and other sources.[10] The number of on-screen actors does not exceed the amount of possible crew over the course of the seven seasons.[10]

Plot element – Relationships[edit]

Stuck together on their little ship a long way from home, people's (and aliens') sexual appetites created a sort of slow heat that slowly melted away Starfleet ranks, social norms, etc. and over the series characters were depicted having sexual experiences ranging from encounters with aliens, other crew members, or holograms. An example of this is when Tuvok has a sexual encounter with a hologram of his wife when hit with the Vulcan species' Pon farr experience. Voyager had a distinct narrative of relationships, with episodes touching upon everything from marriage proposals, pregnancies, and the struggle of children dealing with various parental issues including failed marriages.[11]

For example, some dialogue from "Drive"

TORRES: How come you never talked to me about this before?
PARIS: Well, you've got that tough Klingon exterior. And er, I didn't think you liked the mushy stuff.
TORRES: Do I look that tough right now?
PARIS: Does that mean you're in the mood for some mushy stuff?
TORRES: Maybe.
PARIS: Exactly what kind of mush are we talking about?
TORRES: You tell me.
PARIS: Well, there's, um, kissy stuff.

Another example from the series is when Seven of Nine propositions Harry Kim, instructing him to take his clothes off.[12]

Cast[edit]

Main article: List of Star Trek: Voyager cast members
Main cast

Actor Character Position Affiliation Appearances Character's species Rank
Kate Mulgrew Kathryn Janeway Commanding officer Starfleet Seasons 1–7 Human * Captain
* Admiral (finale)
Captain Janeway took command of the Intrepid-class USS Voyager in 2371.

Her first mission is to locate and capture a Maquis vessel last seen in the area of space known as the Badlands. While there, the Maquis ship and Voyager are transported against their will into the Delta Quadrant, 70,000 light-years away, by a massive displacement wave. The Maquis ship is destroyed while fighting the Kazon-Ogla, and although Voyager survives, numerous casualties are suffered. To protect an intelligent species (the Ocampa), Janeway destroys a device, the Caretaker Array, which had the potential to return her crew to Federation space, stranding her ship and crew 75 years' travel from home. The reason is to stop the array from falling into the wrong hands and to protect the people the Caretaker was caring for.

Robert Beltran Chakotay First officer * Maquis
* Starfleet		 Seasons 1–7 Human Lieutenant commander (Starfleet, provisional)
A former Starfleet officer who joined the Maquis, while Starfleet is trying to capture him in the Badlands, his Maquis crew and he are pulled into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker's array and are forced to merge with the crew of Voyager during its journey home. Before serving as Voyager's first officer, he had resigned from Starfleet after years of service to join the Maquis to defend his home colony against the Cardassians.
Tim Russ Tuvok Second officer, security officer, tactical officer * Maquis (cover)
* Starfleet		 Seasons 1–7 Vulcan * Lieutenant
* Lieutenant commander
Tuvok is a Vulcan Starfleet officer who serves aboard Voyager while it is stranded in the Delta Quadrant. In 2371, Tuvok was assigned to infiltrate the Maquis organization aboard Chakotay's Maquis vessel, and is pulled into the Delta Quadrant. He serves as tactical officer and second officer under Captain Kathryn Janeway during Voyager's seven-year journey through this unknown part of the galaxy. He is the only Voyager crew member to be promoted in the Delta Quadrant (lieutenant to lieutenant commander).
Robert Duncan McNeill Tom Paris Helmsman, medic * Maquis
* Starfleet		 Seasons 1–7 Human * Lieutenant junior grade
* Ensign
* Lieutenant junior grade
Thomas Eugene Paris is a human Starfleet officer who serves for seven years as flight controller of the Federation starship Voyager. The son of a prominent Starfleet admiral, he was dishonorably discharged from Starfleet and later joined the Maquis before being captured and serving time at the Federation Penal Settlement in New Zealand. After joining Voyager to retrieve Chakotay's Maquis ship from the Badlands, he is transferred with the crew of Voyager 70,000 light-years across the galaxy, deep into the Delta Quadrant.
Roxann Dawson B'Elanna Torres Chief engineer * Maquis
* Starfleet		 Seasons 1–7 Human–Klingon hybrid Lieutenant junior grade (Provisional)
A former Starfleet cadet who joined the Maquis, B'Elanna Torres is the sometimes combative Klingon-human hybrid who serves as chief engineer on the Federation starship Voyager. B'Elanna is pulled into the Delta Quadrant on Chakotay's ship and is forced to merge with the crew of Voyager.
Garrett Wang Harry Kim Operations officer Starfleet Seasons 1–7 Human Ensign
Ensign Harry Kim is a human Starfleet officer. He serves as USS Voyager's operations officer. When Voyager is pulled into the Delta Quadrant, Harry is fresh out of the Academy and nervous about his assignment.
Robert Picardo The Doctor Chief medical officer Starfleet Seasons 1–7 Human hologram None
"The Doctor" is USS Voyager's emergency medical holographic program and chief medical officer during the ship's journey. The EMH mark 1 is a computer program with a holographic interface in the form of Lewis Zimmerman, the creator of the Doctor's program. Although his program is specifically designed to function in emergency situations only, Voyager's sudden relocation to the Delta Quadrant and the lack of a live physician necessitated that the Doctor run his program on a full-time basis, becoming the ship's chief medical officer. He evolves full self-awareness and even has hobbies.
Ethan Phillips Neelix Cook
Morale officer
Ambassador		 None Seasons 1–7 Talaxian None
Neelix is a Talaxian who becomes a merchant, shortly after the Haakonians launch an attack on his homeworld, using a technology called a metreon cascade, resulting in the death of his entire family. He joins the Voyager, serving as a valuable source of information about the Delta Quadrant, as well as chef, morale officer, ambassador, navigator, and holder of many other odd jobs.
Jennifer Lien Kes Nurse
Botanist		 None Seasons 1–3 (4+6 recurring) Ocampan None
Kes is a female Ocampan with psionic powers who joins USS Voyager after it is catapulted into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker's array. Kes is Neelix's partner, who had promised to save her from the Kazon who had captured her. Kes leaves the show in the episode "The Gift" and returns temporarily for the episode "Fury", then leaves and never returns.
Jeri Ryan Seven of Nine
(Annika Hansen)		 Astrometrics lab crewman * Borg
* Starfleet		 Seasons 4–7 Human (de-assimilated Borg) None
Seven of Nine (full Borg designation: Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01) is a human female who is a former Borg drone. She was born Annika Hansen on stardate 25479 (2350), the daughter of eccentric exobiologists Magnus and Erin Hansen. She was assimilated by the Borg in 2356 at age six, along with her parents, but is liberated by the crew of USS Voyager at the start of season four.
Secondary cast (Recurring)

Josh Clark Joe Carey Asst. chief engineer Starfleet Seasons 1–7 Human Lieutenant
An engineer aboard USS Voyager, Carey serves under B'Elanna Torres. In 2371, Carey is briefly named acting chief engineer when the original officer in that position is killed during the ship's violent passage to the Delta Quadrant. He is disappointed when Captain Janeway later names Torres for the position of chief engineer, but he soon recognizes her superior abilities.
Nancy Hower Samantha Wildman Science officer Starfleet Seasons 1–7 Human Ensign
A science officer married to a Ktarian named Greskrendtregk, Wildman joins the Voyager crew unaware that she is pregnant with a daughter. She gives birth to Naomi in 2372 and selects Neelix as her godfather. Wildman continues her scientific duties while raising her child.
Alexander Enberg Vorik Engineering Starfleet Seasons 1–7 Vulcan Ensign
A Starfleet engineer aboard the Voyager, Vorik is one of two Vulcans to survive its cataclysmic arrival in the Delta Quadrant. Within the merged crews of Voyager, Vorik likely trails only Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres and Lt. Joe Carey in engineering expertise.
Manu Intiraymi Icheb Asst. astrometrics lab crewman * Borg
* Starfleet		 Seasons 6–7 Brunali (de-assimilated Borg) Cadet
A Brunali, he was assimilated by the Borg and then "adopted" by the Voyager after being abandoned by the Collective and again after it was revealed that his parents (to whom Voyager had attempted to return him) had deliberately allowed him to be assimilated by the Borg to infect the collective with a destructive pathogen coded into his DNA.
Scarlett Pomers Naomi Wildman Captain's assistant None Seasons 2–7 Human–Ktarian hybrid Civilian
Half-human, half-Ktarian, she is the daughter of Samantha Wildman, and the first child born on the USS Voyager after it was swept into the Delta Quadrant. She is granted the unofficial role of captain's assistant by Captain Janeway.
Martha Hackett Seska Science officer
Engineering		 * Maquis (cover)
* Obsidian Order		 Seasons 1–3, 7 Bajoran (disguise)
Cardassian		 Ensign (provisional)
Born Cardassian, this female Obsidian Order agent was surgically altered to appear Bajoran and to infiltrate a Maquis cell commanded by former Starfleet officer Chakotay. A good friend of the Starfleet dropout B'Elanna Torres, she joined the cell after Chakotay's approval and soon became his lover.
Brad Dourif Lon Suder Engineering * Maquis
* Starfleet		 Seasons 2–3 Betazoid Ensign (provisional)
Maquis fighter, engineer, and homicidal Betazoid, Suder joined USS Voyager in 2371.
Raphael Sbarge Michael Jonas Engineering * Maquis
* Starfleet		 Seasons 1–2 Human Ensign (provisional)
Member of the Maquis contingent that joined the Voyager crew in 2371

Notable guest appearances[edit]

Sarah Silverman made her debut in the two-part episode Future's End

The show's many visitations across time and space provide a range of performances ranging from cameos to almost being interwoven into much of the show, such as when being portrayed as a love interest or protagonist of one the show's regulars.

Cameos[edit]

Actors[edit]

Jason Alexander starred in Think Tank (1999)
Virginia Madsen was in the episode Unforgettable (1998)

Source material:[15]

Connections with other Star Trek incarnations[edit]

Main article: Star Trek crossovers

Characters and races[edit]

As with other Star Trek series, the original Star Trek's Vulcans, Klingons, and Romulans appear in Star Trek: Voyager.[17] Voyager had appearances by several other races who initially appear in The Next Generation: the Q, the Borg, Cardassians, Bajorans, Betazoids, and Ferengi, along with Deep Space Nine's Jem'Hadar (via hologram), as well as the Maquis resistance movement, previously established in episodes of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.[17]

One notable connection between Voyager and The Next Generation appears regarding a wormhole and the Ferengi. In The Next Generation season-three episode "The Price", bidding takes place for rights to a wormhole. The Ferengi send a delegation to the bidding. When the Enterprise and Ferengi vessel each send shuttles into the wormhole, they appear in the Delta Quadrant, where the Ferengi shuttle becomes trapped. In the Voyager season-three episode "False Profits", the Ferengi who were trapped have since landed on a nearby planet, and begun exploiting the inhabitants for profit.

Actors from other Star Trek incarnations appearing on Voyager[edit]

In some cases, the actors play the same character as elsewhere, such as Dwight Schultz who plays Reginald Barclay. In other cases, the same actors play different characters.

Actors from Voyager appearing on other Star Trek incarnations[edit]

  • Robert Duncan McNeill (Paris) appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The First Duty" as Starfleet cadet Nicolas Locarno. (The character of Locarno was used as a template for Tom Paris).[19]
  • Tim Russ (Tuvok) appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Starship Mine", the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes "Invasive Procedures" and "Through the Looking Glass" (as Mirror Tuvok), and the film Star Trek: Generations, as various characters.
  • Robert Picardo (the Doctor) guest-starred in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" as Dr. Lewis Zimmerman and an EMH Mark I, and made a cameo appearance in the film Star Trek: First Contact as the Enterprise-E's EMH.
  • Ethan Phillips (Neelix) was featured in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Ménage à Troi" as the Ferengi Farek, the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Acquisition" as the Ferengi pirate Ulis, and in Star Trek: First Contact as an unnamed maître d' on the holodeck.
  • Kate Mulgrew appears again as Kathryn Janeway, promoted to vice admiral, in the film Star Trek: Nemesis a year after Voyager ended its run.

Behind-the-scenes[edit]

In August 2015, the main cast members (except Jennifer Lien, who retired from acting in 2002) appeared together onstage in Las Vegas for the 20th anniversary of Star Trek: Voyager at the 2015 Las Vegas Star Trek convention.[20]

Robert Duncan McNeill (Paris) and Roxann Dawson (Torres) have also directed episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, while Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, and Andrew Robinson (Garak of Deep Space Nine) all directed episodes of Star Trek: Voyager.

The sets used for USS Voyager were reused for the Deep Space Nine episode "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" for her sister ship USS Bellerophon (NCC-74705), both of which are Intrepid-class starships. The sickbay set of USS Voyager was also used as the Enterprise-E sickbay in the films Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection. Additionally, the Voyager ready room and the engineering set were also used as rooms aboard the Enterprise-E in Insurrection.

List of episodes[edit]

Main article: List of Star Trek: Voyager episodes

The series consists of 168 episodes, 164 of which are ~45 minutes in length and four of which are ~90 minutes in length; however, the four double-length episodes (Caretaker, Dark Frontier, Flesh and Blood, and Endgame) are sometimes erroneously counted as two each. The DVD release definitively establishes which episodes are true two-parters (examples: Basics, Future's End, Scorpion, Year of Hell) and which are double-length single-part episodes. The combined running time of all 168 episodes, including opening and closing credits for each episode, is 129 hours, 39 minutes, and 12 seconds.

Broadcast history[edit]

Star Trek: Voyager launched with UPN network with repeats entering into syndication.[21] The two hour long debut Caretaker was seen by 21.3 million people in January 1995.[22]

Season Time slot (ET)
1994–95 Monday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 1, 3–16)
Monday at 9:00 pm (Episode 2)
1995–96 Monday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–19, 21–26)
Wednesday at 8:00 pm (Episode 20)
1996–97 Wednesday at 9:00 pm
1997–98 Wednesday at 9:00 pm (Episodes 1–7, 19–26)
Wednesday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 8–18)
1998–99 Wednesday at 9:00 pm (Episodes 1–14, 16–20, 22–26)
Wednesday at 8:00 pm (Episode 15)
Monday at 9:00 pm (Episode 21)
1999–2000 Wednesday at 9:00 pm
2000–01 Wednesday at 9:00 pm (Episodes 1–8, 10–24, 26)
Wednesday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 9, 25)

The series is also available to watch on CBS All Access, Hulu and Netflix.

Distributions[edit]

The series was released on DVD in 2004 and again in 2017.[21] In addition to the episodes, the DVDs also include some extra videos related to the show.[21] There was an extra bonus video with the DVD set from the store Best Buy in 2004.[21] Voyager had releases of episodes on VHS format, such as a collectors set with a special display box for the tapes.[23]

By the 2010s, the episodes were made available on various streaming services including the owners CBS All Access[24][25] In 2016 Netflix made an agreement with CBS for worldwide distribution of all then existing 727 Star Trek episodes (including Voyager).[25] Voyager has 172 episodes and has been reviewed as a binge watch, with the whole series taking about three months, as rate of two episodes per day on weekdays and three episodes per day on weekends.[26] As of 2015 services known to carry the series include Netflix, Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes, and CBS.com.[26]

Star Trek: Voyager has not been released in HD as of 2017.[27]

Music[edit]

Unlike The Next Generation, where composer Jerry Goldsmith's theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture was reused, Goldsmith composed and conducted an entirely new main theme for Voyager. As done with The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, a soundtrack album of the series' pilot episode "Caretaker" and a CD single containing three variations of the main theme were released by Crescendo Records in 1995 between seasons one and two.[28][29]

In 2017, La-La Land Records issued Star Trek: Voyager Collection, Volume 1, a four-disc limited-edition release containing Goldsmith's theme music and tracks from Jay Chattaway's "Rise", "Night", the two-parter "Equinox", "Pathfinder", "Spirit Folk", "The Haunting of Deck Twelve", "Shattered", "The Void", and the two-parter "Scorpion"; Dennis McCarthy's "The 37's", the two-parter "Basics", "The Q and the Gray", "Concerning Flight", "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy", and the two-parters "Workforce" and "Year of Hell", David Bell's "Dark Frontier", and Paul Baillargeon's "Lifesigns".[30]

Awards and nominations[edit]

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Star Trek: Voyager

Voyager won 20 different awards and was nominated for 70.

Novels and revival attempts[edit]

Main article: List of Star Trek: Voyager novels

A total of 26 numbered books were released during the series' original run from 1995 to 2001.[31] They include novelizations of the first episode, "Caretaker", "The Escape", "Violations", "Ragnarok", and novelizations of the episodes "Flashback", "Day of Honor", "Equinox" and "Endgame". Also, "unnumbered books", which are still part of the series, were released, though not part of the official release. These novels consist of episode novelizations except for Caretaker, Mosaic (a biography of Kathryn Janeway), Pathways (a novel in which the biography of various crew members, including all of the senior staff, is given); and The Nanotech War, a novel released in 2002, one year after the series' finale.

Book relaunch[edit]

A series of novels focusing on the continuing adventures of Voyager following the television series finale was implemented in 2003, much as Pocket Books did with the Deep Space Nine relaunch novel series, which features stories placed after the finale of that show. In the relaunch, several characters are reassigned while others are promoted but stay aboard Voyager. These changes include Janeway's promotion to admiral, Chakotay becoming captain of Voyager and breaking up with Seven of Nine, Tuvok leaving the ship to serve as tactical officer under William Riker, and Tom Paris's promotion to first officer on the Voyager. The series also introduces several new characters.

The series began with Homecoming and The Farther Shore in 2003, a direct sequel to the series' finale, "Endgame". These were followed in 2004 by Spirit Walk: Old Wounds and Spirit Walk: Enemy of My Enemy. Under the direction of a new author, 2009 brought forth two more additions to the series: Full Circle and Unworthy. In 2011, another book by the same author called Children of the Storm was released. Other novels—some set during the relaunch period, others during the show's broadcast run—have been published.

Video games[edit]

Two video games based on the Voyager were released: Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force for PC (2000) and PS2 (2001) and the arcade game Star Trek: Voyager – The Arcade Game (2002). The PS2 game Star Trek: Encounters (2006) also features the ship and characters from the show. Voyager was a graphic adventure video game developed by Looking Glass Technologies but it was cancelled in 1997.

Cultural influence[edit]

Roxann Dawson, Kate Mulgrew and Jennifer Lien (1995).

Voyager is notable for being the most gender-balanced Star Trek series with the first female lead character and strong female supporting characters,[32] with a review of the different series giving Voyager the highest Bechdel test rating.[32]

In an article about Voyager, Ian Grey wrote: "It was a rare heavy-hardware science fiction fantasy not built around a strong man, and more audaciously, it didn't seem to trouble itself over how fans would receive this. On Voyager, female authority was assumed and unquestioned; women conveyed sexual power without shame and anger without guilt. Even more so than Buffy, which debuted two years later, it was the most feminist show in American TV history."[33]

About her years on Voyager, Kate Mulgrew said: "The best thing was simply the privilege and the challenge of being able to take a shot at the first female captain, transcending stereotypes that I was very familiar with. I was able to do that in front of millions of viewers. That was a remarkable experience—and it continues to resonate."[34]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ "Star Trek: Voyager". CBS.com. http://www.cbs.com/shows/star_trek_voyager/
  2. ^ Nguyen, Will. "Twenty Years Later...Voyager's First Season". Trek News. 2 May 2015. http://www.treknews.net/2015/05/02/star-trek-voyager-first-season-20-years-later/
  3. ^ "TV Listings for - January 16, 1995 - TV Tango". www.tvtango.com. 
  4. ^ "Caretaker, Part 1". StarTrek.com. Retrieved 2009-12-19. 
  5. ^ Pascale, Anthony. "Rick Berman Talks 18 Years of Trek In Extensive Oral History". TrekMovie.com. Retrieved 2014-04-06. 
  6. ^ Staff, TrekCore. "Voyager's Visual Effects: Creating the CG Voyager with Rob Bonchune | TrekCore Blog". trekcore.com. Retrieved 2017-01-01. 
  7. ^ "DVD Reviews – Star Trek Voyager Season 3". Thelogbook.com. June 10, 2009. Archived from the original on August 22, 2009. Retrieved December 19, 2009. 
  8. ^ Whitbrook, James. "The Detailed, Depressing Reason Deep Space Nine and Voyager May Never Get Full HD Versions". io9. Retrieved 3 February 2017. 
  9. ^ Walker, Adam. "Review: Star Trek: Enterprise Season 1 Blu-Ray - TrekCore Blog". trekcore.com. 
  10. ^ a b c d "Voyager's Crew Complement". Ex Astris Scientia. Retrieved June 7, 2018. 
  11. ^ "The five worst Star Trek: Voyager episodes EVER!". TechRepublic. November 17, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2018. 
  12. ^ "Jeri Ryan Of 'Body Of Proof' Recalls Her Days As Seven Of Nine On 'Star Trek: Voyager". Huffington Post. April 11, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2018. 
  13. ^ Hinman, Michael (28 May 2013). "Jordan Breaks Ground On Trek-Featured Theme Park". 1701news. Retrieved 2016-06-27. 
  14. ^ Krider, Dylan Otto (6–12 November 2008). "Righteous anger". BoulderWeekly.com. Retrieved 2016-06-27. 
  15. ^ Ruditis (2003)
  16. ^ Caron, Nathalie. "Why Voyager's 1st Capt. thought she was a good fit (but wasn't)". blastr.com. Retrieved 2015-08-24. 
  17. ^ a b c Okuda (1999)
  18. ^ "Full cast and crew for "Star Trek: Voyager" – Virtuoso". Virtuoso. IMDB. Retrieved 2011-10-06. 
  19. ^ Star Trek The Next Generation DVD set – Season 5, disc 7, "Memorable Missions" featurette
  20. ^ The Official Star Trek Convention Vegas 2015. Creation Entertainment. August 2015. 
  21. ^ a b c d "REVIEW: "Star Trek: Voyager" – The Complete Series on DVD". trekmovie.com. 
  22. ^ "Star Trek: Voyager accidentally presided over the franchise's decline". May 28, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2018. 
  23. ^ "Set Of Star Trek Voyager Collector's VHS Display Box only". Oxfam. Retrieved June 7, 2018. 
  24. ^ "Why Star Trek Voyager And Deep Space Nine May Never Be On Blu-ray". CinemaBlend. Retrieved June 7, 2018. 
  25. ^ a b "Netflix Scores Exclusive International Rights to CBS All Access 'Star Trek' Series". July 18, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2018. 
  26. ^ a b "WIRED Binge-Watching Guide: Star Trek: Voyager". Wired. May 27, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2018. 
  27. ^ "Why Deep Space Nine and Voyager May Never Get the HD Remaster They Deserve". treknews.net. February 2, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2018. A complicated question with a simple answer; It takes way too much time and money to remaster DS9 and Voyager into HD 
  28. ^ "Jay Chattaway & Jerry Goldsmith – Star Trek: Voyager (Music From The Original Television Soundtrack)". Discogs. Retrieved 2013-05-31. 
  29. ^ "Jerry Goldsmith – Star Trek Voyager Main Title". Discogs. Retrieved 2013-05-31. 
  30. ^ "Star Trek: Voyager Collection, Volume 1". Star Trek Soundtracks. Retrieved 2017-08-20. 
  31. ^ "New Book Releases, Bestsellers, Author Info and more at Simon & Schuster". simonandschuster.com. 
  32. ^ a b Hodge, Jarrah (1 September 2014). "How Does Your Favorite Star Trek Series Fare on the Bechdel Test?". TheMarySue.com. Retrieved 2016-09-23. 
  33. ^ Grey, Ian (11 June 2013). "Now, "Voyager": in praise of the Trekkiest "Trek" of all". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 2016-09-23. 
  34. ^ Spelling, Ian (September–October 2006). "Deep Space Five!". Star Trek Magazine (1): 27. 

Bibliography[edit]

  • Ruditis, Paul (2003). Star Trek: Voyager Companion. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-1751-8. 
  • Okuda, Mike; Okuda, Denise; Mirek, Debbie (1999). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-1751-8. 

External links[edit]

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