Ronald D. Moore
Ronald Dowl Moore is an American screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for his work on Star Trek. Moore was raised in California, he is agnostic. Moore dabbled in drama in high school, he went on to study government at Cornell University, where he was Literary Secretary of The Kappa Alpha Society on a Navy ROTC scholarship, but left during his senior year in the spring of 1986 after losing interest in his studies. He completed his degree through Regents College, he served for one month during the summer of his freshman year on the frigate USS W. S. Sims. Moore spent the next three years drifting between temporary work; as Moore himself recounted in the book, Star Trek: The Next Generation 365, by the fall of 1986, he was "less than a year into my career as a college dropout... working as a medical records technician at an animal hospital, all the while telling myself that I was a professional writer awaiting my inevitable discovery." In 1988, he toured the Star Trek: The Next Generation sets during the filming of the episode "Time Squared."
While there, he passed a script he had written to one of Gene Roddenberry's assistants, who helped him get an agent who submitted the script through proper channels. About seven months executive producer Michael Piller read the script and bought it. Based on that script he was offered the opportunity to write a second script and that led to a staff position as a script editor. Two years he was promoted to co-producer producer for the series' final year. Moore wrote a number of episodes that developed the Klingon race and culture, starting with "Sins of the Father" which introduced the Klingon home world, the Klingon High Council and the Klingon Chancellor and continuing with "Reunion," "Redemption, Part 1 and 2," "Ethics" and "Rightful Heir." He is credited with co-writing 27 Next Generation episodes. He co-wrote several episodes with Brannon Braga, developing a successful working relationship that led to them being offered the chance to write the series television finale, "All Good Things...".
The series received an Emmy Award nomination in its final year for Outstanding Drama Series, losing to Picket Fences. The pair wrote the screenplay for the Next Generation crew's first two big screen appearances, Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: First Contact. Moore joined the production staff of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for its third season as a supervising producer, being promoted to a co-executive producer position for the series' final two years. During this time he worked again with Braga on the script for the second Next Generation motion picture, Star Trek: First Contact and on a draft of the Mission: Impossible 2 script, re-written by Robert Towne for which they received a "story by" credit. During his time on Deep Space Nine, he continued to write episodes that expanded on Klingon culture such as "The House of Quark", "Sons of Mogh", "Rules of Engagement", "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", "Soldiers of the Empire", "You Are Cordially Invited..." and "Once More Unto the Breach".
He wrote episodes that dealt with controversial subjects such as genetic engineering, co-wrote the episode that featured Star Trek's first same-sex kiss and killed off another popular character, Vedek Bareil Antos. During his time on Deep Space Nine, he made an effort to engage with fans. With the end of Deep Space Nine in 1999, Moore transferred over to the production staff of Star Trek: Voyager at the start of its sixth season, where his writing partner Braga was executive producer. However, Moore left Voyager only a matter of weeks with "Survival Instinct" and "Barge of the Dead" as his only credits. In a January 2000 interview for Cinescape magazine, Moore cited problems in his working relationship with Braga for his short stay: I have hurt feelings about Brannon. What happened between me and him is just between he and I, it was a breakdown of trust. I would have quit any show. I wasn't allowed to participate in the process, I wasn't part of the show. I felt like I was freelancing my own show....
I was disappointed that my long-time friend and writing partner acted in that manner, that crossed lines to the point where I felt like I had to walk away from Star Trek, something that meant a lot to me for a long time, from my childhood right through my entire professional career. Moore and Braga can be heard talking together on the commentary tracks for the DVD release of Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: First Contact. After leaving Voyager, Moore worked as a consulting producer on Good vs Evil before joining Roswell as a co-executive producer and staff writer at the start of its second season in 2000. Moore and series creator Jason Katims jointly ran Roswell until the show ended in 2002. Moore wrote some of the show's most popular episodes, including "Ask Not" and the series finale "Graduation," which he co-wrote with Katims, he wrote the episode "Cry Your Name." During this time, Moore developed a pilot based on Anne
Miles O'Brien (Star Trek)
Miles Edward O'Brien is a character in the fictional Star Trek franchise. He appears sporadically in all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and is a main cast member of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. O'Brien was the transporter chief of the USS Enterprise-D, he was promoted to Chief of Operations of Deep Space Nine. O'Brien is the only major Star Trek character described as both ethnically Irish and born in Ireland. O'Brien is portrayed by actor Colm Meaney. According to Colm Meaney, at first O'Brien "was just there, not established as a character, that went on for a bit." He can be seen as the battle bridge's conn operator in the first TNG episode, "Encounter at Farpoint." Appearing on and off in more TNG episodes, it wasn't until the second season episode "Unnatural Selection" that Meaney's character was named, the second episode of season 4, "Family," before the character was given a first name. However, Meaney came to like the arrangement of being hired on an episode-by-episode basis, was hesitant to sign on as a regular on DS9.
Along with Worf, Miles O'Brien is one of the two characters that moved from TNG to be a main character on DS9. They are reunited in "The Way of the Warrior" and O'Brien meets him as he comes in from the DS9 docking port airlock, he claims descent from the famous Ard Rí, or High King of Ireland. His father, Michael O'Brien, wanted him to play the cello, so he pursued this and was accepted into the Aldebaran Music Academy. However, a few days before he was scheduled to start classes there, he enlisted in Starfleet. O'Brien can be seen playing the cello as part of Data's string quartet early in the TNG episode "The Ensigns of Command". In the DS9 episode "Invasive Procedures", it is revealed; the TNG episode "The Wounded" establishes that O'Brien served as tactical officer aboard the USS Rutledge during the Cardassian War and that he was scarred by the Cardassians' massacre of hundreds of civilians on Setlik III. O'Brien does not remember. In that episode, it is clear that the classic Irish tune "The Minstrel Boy" plays a major part of his journey as a character: an innocent man thrown into the destructive nature of war.
He sings the song in this episode, much in the final episode of DS9 "What You Leave Behind". "The Minstrel Boy" is the first musical theme to be heard in the flashback sequence. In the DS9 episode "Bar Association", O'Brien jokingly claims to be a direct descendant of real-life Irish High King Brian Boru, he speaks more of fictional ancestor Sean Aloysius O'Brien, a major player in one of the first United States workers' unions, who participated in the Coal Strike of 1902 in Pennsylvania and was shot dumped into the Allegheny River. In the episode "Rules of Engagement", it is revealed that during O'Brien's 22 years in Starfleet, he had fought in 235 separate battles and had been decorated by Starfleet on 15 occasions, was considered to be an expert in starship combat. O'Brien's first appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation as the battle bridge flight controller in The Next Generation premiere episode "Encounter at Farpoint", with his only other appearance in the first season being as a security guard in the episode "Lonely Among Us".
Starting with the second season premiere, "The Child", O'Brien began his regular role as the ship's transporter operator, a position, filled by the since-departed Tasha Yar in the first season. In the following episode, "Where Silence Has Lease", when Riker and Worf prepare to beam to the USS Yamato, Riker refers to him as a lieutenant and the character is wearing lieutenant collar pips, he still wears lieutenant pips in "Sarek", but in episodes, the collar symbol has changed and O'Brien is referred to as Chief.. In 2367, he confronted Capt. Benjamin Maxwell, his former commanding officer on the USS Rutledge, when Maxwell attacked Cardassian ships and outposts without authorisation and threatened the peace between the Federation and the Cardassian Union. During the Klingon Civil War, O'Brien is assigned to the bridge as tactical officer due to Worf's resignation from Starfleet and the temporary reassignment of officers to other ships in a fleet led by Capt. Picard. O'Brien marries Keiko Ishikawa aboard the USS Enterprise-D in the TNG episode "Data's Day".
They have a daughter, delivered by Worf in "Disaster". O'Brian appears in over 50 episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation: "Encounter at Farpoint" "Lonely Among Us" "The Child" "Where Silence Has Lease" "Loud As A Whisper" "Unnatural Selection" "A Matter Of Honor" "The Measure Of A Man" "The Dauphin" "Contagion" "The Royale" "Time Squared" "The Icarus Factor" "Pen Pals" "Q Who" "Up The Long Ladder" "Manhunt" "The Emissary" "Shades of Gray" "The Ensigns of Command" "The Bonding" "Booby Trap" "The Enemy" "The Hunted" "A Matter of Perspective" "Tin Man" "Hollow Pursuits" "The Most Toys" "Sarek" "Transfigurations" "The Best of Both Worlds" "Family" "Brothers" "Remember Me" "Legacy"
Communicator (Star Trek)
The communicator is a fictional device used for voice communication in the fictional universe of Star Trek. As seen in at least two instances, the Original Series episodes "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" and "Day of the Dove," it can serve as an emergency signaling device/beacon, similar to a transponder; the communicator allows direct contact via a ship's communication system. The communicator in the Star Trek universe surpasses the capabilities of modern mobile phone technology, the prototypes of which it inspired, it allows crew members to contact starships in orbit without relying on an artificial satellite to relay the signal. Communicators use subspace transmissions that do not conform to normal rules of physics in that signals can bypass EM interference, the devices allow nearly instantaneous communication at distances that would otherwise require more time to traverse. In Star Trek: The Original Series, communicators functioned as a plot device, stranding characters in challenging situations when they malfunctioned, were lost or stolen, or went out of range.
Otherwise, the transporter could have allowed characters to return to the ship at the first sign of trouble, ending the storyline prematurely. Throughout Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: The Original Series, on-ship communication is achieved via communicator panels on desks and walls, sometimes through the use of videophones. While on away missions, the crew carried hand-held communicators; the top section contains a transceiver antenna and the bottom contains user controls, a speaker and a microphone. The device was designed and built by Wah Chang, who built many of the other props used in the series. Wrist-worn communicators were used in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and remained in use by some Starfleet installations and vessels during the time of The Wrath of Khan. However, the traditional handheld communicator returned in films; the reason for the switch was not explained, but the non-canon source Mister Scott's Guide to the Enterprise offered the explanation that Starfleet discontinued use of the wrist-worn communicators when they were determined to be prone to repeated failures after suffering minor impacts.
In Star Trek: The Next Generation and series, Starfleet officers and enlisted personnel wear small communicator badges on their left breast. These devices are activated with a light tap, they incorporate the universal translator. There have been two versions of the communicator badge; the first was used throughout the TNG series and during the first two seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The second was used in the last five seasons of DS9, throughout Star Trek: Voyager, the four TNG films. Use of the badges dates back at least as far as the time of the Enterprise-C. According to Data in the episode "Time's Arrow, Part One" at a poker game in 1893, the badge is made out of a crystalline composite of silicon, carbon 70 and gold. In Deep Space Nine, Bajoran officers and enlisted personnel wear a small communicator badge that functions much the same as their Starfleet counterparts. However, Bajorans wear their badges on the right breast of their uniform tunics. Cardassians are shown wearing their communicators on their left wrist.
While wall and desk panels are still present and crew consider them a secondary system, relying on the badges. Viewscreens are used for visual communications. In Starfleet vessels and installations, communication can be accomplished by verbally directing the computer to initiate communications with another person. On July 12, 2010, CBS released an iPhone application, created by Talkndog Mobile, called Star Trek Communicator; the application replicated the design and iconic chirp of the communicator. In June 2016, The Wand Company Ltd. released a accurate and working replica of the Star Trek: The Original Series Communicator using Bluetooth to enable it to pair with, connect to, a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone so as to allow it to be used in the way envisioned in the original Star Trek TV show. Advances in voice recognition and cloud-based artificial intelligence allow the user to use voice dialing via the rather simple interface, but to ask questions using Siri, Google Now, Cortana or any other digital personal assistant through the Communicator.
This is much the same as when a member of the Enterprise crew in the original series asks the ship's computer to find a colleague or ask for a status update. In December 2016, Fametek LLC. released the Star Trek: The Next Generation CommBadge using Bluetooth 4.2 technology to enable it to pair with a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone or tablet to make and receive calls and utilizes voice commands via SIRI, Google Now or Cortana. The Bluetooth ComBadge has a Cos-Play mode which when pressed activates the same Chirp sound effect as seen on the show. No real-world equivalent to subspace communication proposed, or theorized. However, many other aspects of Starfleet communications technology are commonplace. For example, locator/transponder functionality is implemented via GPS, LoJack, RFID, radio direction finder devices, cloud-based digital assistants perform in a way similar to the artificial intelligence of a Starfleet ship's computer. Communicator at Memory Alpha
Borg
The Borg are a fictional alien group that appear as recurring antagonists in the Star Trek franchise. The Borg are cybernetic organisms, linked in a hive mind called "the Collective"; the Borg co-opt the technology and knowledge of other alien species to the Collective through the process of "assimilation": forcibly transforming individual beings into "drones" by injecting nanoprobes into their bodies and surgically augmenting them with cybernetic components. The Borg's ultimate goal is "achieving perfection". Aside from being recurring antagonists in the Next Generation television series, they are depicted as the main threat in the film Star Trek: First Contact. In addition, they played major roles in the Voyager series and serve as the way home to the Alpha Quadrant for the isolated Federation starship USS Voyager; the first encounter between humans and the Borg is depicted in the 2nd season of the series Enterprise in the episode "Regeneration" in which the phrase "you will be assimilated.
The Borg have become a symbol in popular culture for any juggernaut against which "resistance is futile". The Borg are cyborgs, having outward appearances showing both biological body parts. Individual Borg are referred to as drones and move in a robotic, purposeful style ignoring most of their environment, including beings they do not consider an immediate threat. Borg have one eye replaced with a sophisticated ocular implant. Borg have one arm replaced with a prosthesis, bearing one of a variety of multipurpose tools in place of a humanoid hand. Since different drones have different roles, the arm may be specialized for myriad purposes such as medical devices and weapons. Borg have flat, white skin, giving them an zombie-like appearance; some Borg have been shown to be far stronger than humans. Typical Borg have never been seen to run, instead moving in a deliberate fashion, never retreating. Borg are resistant to energy-based weapons, having personal shielding which adapts to it. In various episodes and other energy weapons tend to become ineffective as the Borg are able to adapt to specific frequencies once a ship or an individual drone is struck down.
Attempts to modulate phaser and other weapon frequencies have had limited success. Borg shields have, proven to be ineffective protection against projectile or melee weapons, but this could prove problematic, given the fact of space travel puncturing the hull with an errant shot. Borg possess a "cortical node" which controls other implanted cybernetic devices within a Borg's body, is most implanted in the forehead above the retained organic eye. If the cortical node fails, the Borg dies. Successful replacement of the node can be carried out on a Borg vessel. Borg civilization is based on a group mind known as the Collective; each Borg drone is linked to the collective by a sophisticated subspace network that ensures each member is given constant supervision and guidance. The mental energy of the group consciousness can help an injured or damaged drone heal or regenerate damaged body parts or technology; the collective consciousness not only gives them the ability to "share the same thoughts", but to adapt with great speed to tactics used against them.
Drones in the Collective are never seen speaking, but a collective "voice" is sometimes transmitted to ships. Individual Borg speak, though they do send a collective audio message to their targets, stating that "resistance is futile" followed by a declaration that the target in question will be assimilated and its "biological and technological distinctiveness" will be added to their own; the exact phrasing evolves over the various series episodes and film. The complete phrase used in Star Trek: First Contact is: Nanoprobes are microscopic machines that inhabit a Borg's body and many cybernetic implants; the probes perform the function of maintaining the Borg cybernetic systems, as well as repairing damage to the organic parts of a Borg. They generate new technology inside a Borg when needed, as well as protecting them from many forms of disease. Borg nanoprobes, each about the size of a human red blood cell, travel through the victim's bloodstream and latch on to individual cells; the nanoprobes rewrite the cellular DNA, altering the victim's biochemistry, form larger, more complicated structures and networks within the body such as electrical pathways and data-storage nodes, prosthetic devices that spring forth from the skin.
In "Mortal Coil", Seven of Nine states that the Borg assimilated the nanoprobe technology from "Species 149". In addition, the nanoprobes work to maintain and repair their host's mechanical and biological components on a microscopic level, allowing regenerative capabilities. Though used by the Borg to exert control over another being, reprogrammed nanoprobes were used by the crew of the starship Voyager in many instances as medical aids; the capability of nanoprobes to absorb improved technologies they find into the Borg collective is shown in the Voyager episode "Drone", where Seven of Nine's nanoprobes are fused with the Doctor's mobile emitter which uses technology from the 29th century, creating a 29th-century drone existing outside the Collective, with capabilities far surpassing that of the 24th-century drones. The Borg do not try to assimilate any being with which they come to contact. Captain Picard and his team walk safely past a group of
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Jonathan Frakes, based on the franchise of the same name created by Gene Roddenberry. It is the eighth film in the Star Trek film series, as well as the second to star the cast of the series Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the film, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E travel back in time from the 24th century to the mid 21st-century in order to stop the cybernetic Borg from conquering Earth by changing their past. After the release of the seventh film, Star Trek Generations, Paramount Pictures tasked writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore with developing the next film in the series. Braga and Moore wanted to feature the Borg in the plot, while producer Rick Berman wanted a story involving time travel; the writers combined the two ideas. After two better-known directors turned down the job, cast member Jonathan Frakes was chosen to direct to make sure the task fell to someone who understood Star Trek; the film's script required the creation of new starship designs, including a new USS Enterprise.
Production designer Herman Zimmerman and illustrator John Eaves collaborated to make a sleeker ship than its predecessor. Principal photography began with weeks of location shooting in Arizona and California, before production moved to new sets for the ship-based scenes; the Borg were redesigned to appear as though they were converted into machine beings from the inside-out. Effects company Industrial Light & Magic rushed to complete the film's special effects in less than five months. Traditional optical effects techniques were supplemented with computer-generated imagery. Jerry Goldsmith and his son Joel Goldsmith collaborated to produce the film's score. First Contact was the highest-grossing film on its opening weekend, it made $92 million in the United States and Canada with an additional $54 million in other territories, combining a worldwide total of $146 million. Critical reception was positive; the Borg and the special effects were lauded. Scholarly analysis of the film has focused on Captain Jean-Luc Picard's parallels to Herman Melville's Ahab and the nature of the Borg.
First Contact won three Saturn Awards. It is the 24th century. Captain Jean Luc Picard awakens from a nightmare in which he relived his assimilation by the cybernetic Borg six years earlier, he is contacted by Admiral Hayes. Picard's orders are for his ship, USS Enterprise, to patrol the Neutral Zone in case of Romulan aggression. Learning the fleet is losing the battle, the Enterprise crew disobeys orders and heads for Earth, where a single Borg Cube ship holds its own against a group of Starfleet vessels. Enterprise arrives in time to assist its captain, the Klingon Worf. Picard takes control of the fleet and directs the surviving ships to concentrate their firepower on a unimportant point on the Borg ship; the Cube is destroyed after launching a smaller sphere ship towards the planet. Enterprise pursues the sphere into a temporal vortex; as the sphere disappears, Enterprise discovers Earth has been altered – it is now populated by Borg. Realizing the Borg have used time travel to change the past, Enterprise follows the sphere through the vortex.
Enterprise arrives hundreds of years in its past on April 4, 2063, the day before humanity's first encounter with alien life after Zefram Cochrane's historic warp drive flight. After destroying the Borg sphere, an away team transports down to Cochrane's ship, Phoenix, in Montana. Picard has Cochrane's assistant; the captain returns to the ship and leaves Commander William T. Riker on Earth to make sure Phoenix's flight proceeds as planned. While in the future Cochrane is seen as a hero, the real man is reluctant to assume the role the Enterprise crew describe. A group of Borg invade Enterprise's lower decks and begin to assimilate its crew and modify the ship. Picard and a team attempt to reach engineering to disable the Borg with a corrosive gas, but are forced back. A frightened Sloane corners Picard with a weapon; the two escape the Borg-infested area of the ship by creating a diversion in the holodeck. Picard and the ship's navigator, Lieutenant Hawk, travel outside the ship in space suits to stop the Borg from calling reinforcements by using the deflector dish.
As the Borg continue to assimilate more decks, Worf suggests destroying the ship, but Picard angrily calls him a coward. Sloane makes him realize he is acting irrationally. Picard orders an activation of the ship's self-destruct orders the crew to head for the escape pods while he stays behind to rescue Data; as Cochrane and engineer Geordi La Forge prepare to activate the warp drive on Phoenix, Picard discovers that the Borg Queen has grafted human skin onto Data, giving him the sensation of touch he has long desired to obtain the
Julian Bashir
Julian Subatoi Bashir, MD is a fictional character from the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, portrayed by Alexander Siddig. Bashir is the Chief Medical Officer of the USS Defiant; as a child, Julian Bashir fell behind in school, was evaluated as having learning difficulties. Because of this, his parents and Amsha Bashir, had him subjected to genetic engineering; the procedure made him mentally superior to most humans, enhanced his physical abilities. However, because human genetic engineering is illegal in the United Federation of Planets and his parents kept his procedure a secret throughout most of his adult life. Bashir graduated second in his class at Starfleet Medical Academy, having intentionally missed a question on his final exam, he had his choice of assignments anywhere in the fleet, so chose Deep Space Nine for the opportunity to practice "real-life frontier medicine". He holds the rank of Lieutenant at the time of the series pilot, Lieutenant from the fourth season premiere until the series finale.
Early on, his overly enthusiastic and self-important nature made some members of the crew, such as Miles O'Brien and Kira Nerys, reluctant to spend time with him. However, he becomes friends with O'Brien, Jadzia Dax, Elim Garak. Bashir flirts with Jadzia, who goes on to marry Worf. After her death, Bashir joins Worf on a dangerous mission to ensure Jadzia's soul a place in Sto-Vo-Kor. Bashir's closest friend is O'Brien, they are shown playing games or visiting the holodeck for the recreation of one of several historical battles such as the Alamo or the Battle of Britain, he is close friends with Elim Garak, with whom he shares lunch in the Replimat. During pre-Dominion war tensions, Bashir is kidnapped and sent to a Dominion prison camp and replaced with a shapeshifter, his replacement attempts to destroy the Bajoran sun, with the goal of wiping out Bajor, DS9, a fleet of Federation and Romulan ships. The DS9 crew foil the plan, the real Bashir, along with his fellow captives, shortly thereafter free themselves.
The experience began a slow personality change over the course of the series into a much more somber, dark character. Bashir attempts to integrate several other genetically engineered individuals into Federation culture, with mixed success; the covert operations group Section 31 becomes interested in him and tries twice, unsuccessfully, to "recruit" him. As depicted in the series finale "What You Leave Behind", Bashir remains aboard Deep Space Nine, begins a romantic relationship with Ezri Dax. In the Mirror Universe, the alternate Bashir is a freedom fighter in the Terran Rebellion, it is unknown whether he was given the genetic enhancements his counterpart was. Unlike the regular Bashir, friendly and personable, alternate Bashir is an angry, unkempt former slave who joins the rebellion against the Klingon/Cardassian Alliance; the character of Julian Bashir sparked fan criticism. Alexander Siddig expressed his enthusiasm for the fact that he, with his English accent, unusual screen name at time of casting, North African heritage was a main character on a prominent television show despite being not as racially identifiable to audiences as many other actors and characters were on TV at the time.
Alexander Siddig played his role of Dr. Julian Bashir in the Star Trek: The Next Generation season six episode "Birthright, Part I", a season concurrent to DS9's first season. Julian Bashir at Memory Alpha Julian Bashir at Memory Alpha Julius Eaton at Memory Alpha Julian Bashir at StarTrek.com