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Following on from last week’s poll for Best Male Character of TNG , this week we want to explore what made the women of TNG special and which of these wonderful women captured your attention week on week. 

Were you a devoted fan of Beverly Crusher? Most often the soothing voice in troubled waters, our forthright Doctor Crusher could whittle the woes in the medical world with nary a scalpel spent in the process. In the series, she slipped into the role of the ship’s Chief Medical Officer with ease, providing the contrary opinions to Picard, and the sole parent of Wesley. Arguably included to have some of the most unresolved sexual tension on screen to date, Beverly remains a firm favourite among Star Trek fans the world over. 

Or maybe you were a Troi fan?  Our non Starfleet uniform wearing half Betazoid Counsellor has inspired Counsellor characters in our Star Trek setting and continues to do so. From her affable attitude and easy way with patients, to her motherly attention to Alexander, her relationships with Worf and Riker, and the unforgettable holodeck simulations of the “Wild West” (she rocks the Stetson, 😉), perchance for poker nights and a love of all things chocolate, Deanna lives up there with the greats. 

We’d be remiss if we didn’t include the wonder that is Guinan in this list, and for good reason. Far more than just the bartender (or bar keeper?) on the Enterprise, she was the sage advisor to all who came seeking wisdom for their problems, and those who didn’t realise they had any until they walked through the doors of Ten Forward.  She could frighten a Q at twenty paces, or melt Worf on the phaser range, and did all of it with a calm smile, a cheeky grin, and a trusted demeanour. 

And then there’s the wrong side of the tracks. Who liked Ro Laren? A Bajoran Starfleet officer raised in a refugee camp during the Cardassian occupation, Ro had a tough childhood growing up, watching the atrocities of the regime first hand. Initially assigned to the Enterprise as part of a conspiracy (I won’t spoil it, the storyline is really good), she left in the end to join the Maquis.  With extremely strong characterisation and acting, the character became a firm favourite overnight. The “rebel with a cause” captured the hearts of everyone and devastated more when she didn’t come back. However, she paved the way for the wonder of Kira Nerys, which, fear not, we’ll explore in another poll! 

With so many wonderful women to choose from, this week we only want to know one thing.

​Who is your favourite female Star Trek: The Next Generation character and why?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll. Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

Running from 1987 – 1994 and in reruns for decades after, Star Trek The Next Generation set a new standard for the sci-fi franchise. With each episode, we could tune in to see Picard and company tackle new foes and explore new regions of space. Over seven glorious seasons (yes, even season two) we came to know these characters in and out and grew to love them.

But which male character of the series is the best?

Are you a Picard fan? His keen intellect and moral fortitude left us with little doubt that he was a giant among men. Even the Klingons respected the man and made him the Arbiter of Succession! Whether he was staring down the Borg, battling wits with Q, or confronting the accusations of treason from Admiral Satie in the episode “The Drumhead” – Picard was the epitome of a stalwart and resolute leader.

Were you more of a Will Riker admirer? The day-to-day running of the ship rested on his broad shoulders and he was up to the task. His loyalty to the ship was unquestioned and he stuck with the Enterprise far longer than those around him thought was good for his career advancement. He was a friend that you could get a drink within Ten-Forward but also the man you wanted leading your away team.

Data was Pinocchio come to life. He maintained innocence and curiosity about everything he encountered. Through his eyes, we got to see the world from the viewpoint of a child which made his new experiences all the more enjoyable for the audience.

Worf was such an intense and flavorful character. Living among humans, but not one of them, this Klingon tried so hard to mesh two cultures into one. We watched as he struggled to raise his son, Alexander, develop a love interest in Deanna Troi and then later Jadzia Dax on DS9, and come to terms with a debilitating injury in the episode “Ethics”. Something about this character must speak to people as Worf has appeared in more episodes across the Star Trek franchise than any other!

Who is your favorite male character from The Next Generation?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll. Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

For all Star Trek is a science fiction series, one reason it draws such a diverse range of fans is the episodes centre on the characters and the relationships cultivated on the journey the characters take throughout the run. viewers go on this journey with the characters and see how their natural chemistry works on screen, how they form strong bonds with one another, and over time, have become as iconic as the starships they live on. 

From The Original Series through to Enterprise, we saw these relationships develop. From on-screen tension, you could cut with a bat’leth, to emotional connection forged in the fires, to mentors who impart their wisdom and learn something new about themselves. We wouldn’t be anywhere in the Star Trek world without the double of Spock and Bones — so iconic in its inception that it’s replicated to full effect in later series, giving us such delights as Bashir and Garak, Neelix and Tuvok, and Data and Geordi.

This week, we’d like to know which of these pairings brought you back every week for a new episode? Who’s one-liner and well-delivered zingers left you roaring? 

Which was the most iconic duo of our Star Trek universe?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll. Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

Star Trek is full of men and women of principle and moral character. It is this focus on the good people crewing our favourite ships and installations that make the universe such an appealing place. But many of the storylines found in our favourite episodes reveal villains that give the good guys something to fight. It’s this conflict that makes Star Trek such great entertainment.

Who makes the best villain across the franchise? Is it the cunning and deadly intellect displayed by Khan in Space Seed(TOS), Star Trek II and Star Trek: Into Darkness? He’s human and yet more than that. The ruthless way in which he goes after his enemies would give anyone pause. Do you feel that the familiar yet completely opposite counterparts from the mirror universe send chills down your spine? We see familiar faces that act in ways we wouldn’t expect or condone.

They are our favourite characters — and yet not. Perhaps the soulless, ever-advancing Borg with their declaration “resistance is futile” make the best enemy. How do you even reason with them? Q is another example of a recurring villain that causes havoc for our heroes. Pairing nigh-unlimited power with arrogance creates a deadly mixture which may be why Q has shown up repeatedly since his introduction in TNG.

No matter who you choose, we can all agree that without the bad, the good would not stand in such stark relief. Here’s to the good guys! But raise a glass to the baddies too!

Who makes the best villain in the Star Trek universe?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll. Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

Gene Roddenberry cut to the bone for science fiction fans across the world when he created a small starship show about a “Wagon Train to the stars” and, arguably, helped to usher in a new attitude for the modern times. Inspiration took hold in many hearts when they heard those opening lines of the first Star Trek episode, explaining to viewers his vision for the future we could have, stretching ever forward, and Trek has continued to deliver hard-hitting moments of wisdom and wonder to motivate and inspire ever since.

Star Trek has inspired multiple generations; from the cast and crew attending the rollout of the Space Shuttle Enterprise with NASA, Nichelle Nichols inspiring recruitment for the space program encouraging a new wave of talent into the industry and a young Whoopi Goldberg to begin acting, DeForest Kelley inspiring young people to start medical school, and countless astronauts who cite Trek as their motivation to reach for the stars — including Terry Virts, who had the auspicious honour of delivering the Vulcan salute to Earth from the International Space Station on the day of Leonard Nimoy’s death.

There are plenty of inspirational quotes throughout The Original Series to list here. Under the direction of Roddenberry, every episode delivered a moral tale to the viewer, to show how humanity has infinite potential to move past contemporary cultural realities of human rights, commerce, religion, sexism, war, and instead strive for peace, equality, abundance, and pursuing technological and scientific advancement. This has spread across the vast catalogue of Star Trek, giving us a space adventure that explores strange new worlds and new civilisations, boldly going where no one has gone before.

What’s your favourite inspirational quote from these Star Trek legends?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll. Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

As was said by Q (TNG: Q Who?), the galaxy is wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. From the discovery of space lifeforms in the very first episode of TNG to a brilliant scientist igniting a star that had burned out, to the beauty of stellar phenomena, the galaxy is full of wonder.

No less wondrous, and part of Trek, is the exploration of human potential, and the things that can be achieved when people of disparate ethics and believes work together. In many ways, from Kirk and Spock working out how to act, and encountering the strange on the frontier of the history of Trek, to Deep Space Nine, where the crew focused on defending the ideals of the Federation, to where Burnham fought to preserve the integrity of the Federation in a time of near-certain defeat, to crews discovering new scientific mysteries across the franchise, and exploring new ways to think of life as we know it, Jim.

Trek is both the exploration of the galaxy, and the exploration of potential and evolution, and across its 54 years, 9 series, 13 episodes, and 780 episodes have shown us many wonders and challenges.

What do you think the most wondrous part of the Trek franchise is?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll. Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

Star Trek throws the viewer into a universe of boundless hope and optimism for the future, striving for patience, compassion, exploration, forsaking bloodshed and violence for logic and knowledge. A universe in which humanity is learning from mistakes and endeavouring to be better. Way back in those heady days of the 1960s, the writers of Star Trek: The Original Series threw this concept and theme into the ether as the familiar faces and beloved crew of the Enterprise headed into realms unknown — into a mirror universe, where bodies were scantly clad, facial hair was proliferous, and hedonism reigned supreme, all with a tasty agony booth to top off the experience.

Barring Voyager and TNG, each series indulged in a little MU of their own, giving the viewer a glimpse into the universe where the Terran Empire reigns with a golden sword of glory; a theme later explored to a further extent in Star Trek: Discovery. While some episodes utilised the trope to explore different themes and reflect on the alternate personalities of the characters and situations, like Archer’s paranoid determination to take control of the Empire in “In a Mirror, Darkly”, others took a comical view of it, playing for the advantage of the one-off “special”. Who can forget the incredibly confused Rom in DS9’s “The Emperor’s New Cloak”?

Taking the theme a step further after the completion of the series, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager both got to indulge in their inner mirror, each with a comic book miniseries. Picard heads out to battle against the Klingon-Cardassian alliance, while Janeway becomes the Pirate Queen of the Quadrant.

This week, we’d like to know about the Mirror Universe you enjoyed the most. Did you take to Intendant Kira like a duck to water? Or revel in Kirk’s impassioned speech to Spock to let them return to their own universe. Do you long for the days of uninhibited goatee growth and unregulated agony booth access?

Which of the Mirror Universe episodes was your favourite?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll. Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

Star Trek has provided us with a chance to delve into the future of technology and discover what could lie in store for us in the next 400 years. We’ve explored the variety of technology that we want to see earlier, rather than later, and every day, scientists and engineers make new discoveries fuelled by dreams of reaching those heights. Holosuites, however, could be a closer reality than once believed. Introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the holodeck quickly became a fan favourite, allowing the writers to expand on the entertainments available to those posted on ship for long stretches of time as starships became mobile stations, and storytellers to explore the lines between reality and fiction, created by a perfect simulacrum.

Taking a nosedive into the world of the holodeck, the series has shown us a variety of holoprograms to entertain and thrill, and to train and educate. We can slide through the scuba-diving in Hanauma Bay, or jumping into the training simulations of Operation: Fort Knox, experience the Klingon Rite of Ascension or take coffee in Café des Artistes. They recreated simulations of great Earth battles; the Hirogen sought the holodeck for Klingon war games, while training simulations allowed Doctors the independence to learn without harm.

The holodeck also allowed the viewer a glimpse into the private life of the characters we know and love, with unforgettable moments. Picard role played as the eponymous Dixon Hiil in detective noir, Tom Paris as Captain Proton, Julian Bashir as a secret agent listening to the crooning melodies of Vic Fontaine, Data as a Deadwood gunslinger and Sherlock Holmes, while Janeway liked to kick back in Leonardo da Vinci’s workshop.

This week, we’d like you to have a think about what holodeck experiences you and your characters would like to indulge in. What could tempt you into the holodeck, or what does your character like to simulate?

What’s your favourite holodeck simulation from the series, and why?

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll. Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

Each series of Star Trek has explored different genres of television, veering from deep and meaningful dramas (In the Pale Moonlight), outright comedy (any Ferengi episode), philosophical quandaries (Let That Be Your Last Battlefield) to even ghost stories (but let’s not mention Sub Rosa, eh?) whilst all remaining within the same overall genre of space opera. Heck, TOS did a western (as did TNG now I come to think about it).

With the addition of an animated comedy to the Trek canon, and an upcoming children’s show, it would appear that exploring different genres within the Trek universe is the way to go if you’re making a new show. What sorts of show would you like to see? Perhaps a medical show in the vein of General Hospital, but set at Starfleet Medical? A police procedural set on Qo’nos, the Klingon homeworld? Perhaps an anthology show like American Horror Story, but set in different points of Starfleet’s history? A mockumentary like the Office, but at Starfleet HQ (don’t lie, you’d love to see Commodore Oh’s Jim Halpert face)?

Would you like to see a new genre of Star Trek show set in the universe?

Let us know in the comments and let’s hope nobody nicks them to make a kick-ass show!

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll. Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!

We raise a glass in toast at social events, we crack bottles of champagne against ships leaving dry dock for the first time, it brings parties together and gets the Doctor relaxing after a hard day in the medical office. Raising the spirit by raising the spirit is a time-honoured tradition we honour on each and every ship with one beverage or another, taking the time out of the busy shore leave schedule to sing drinking songs in the evening and recover from the hangover come the bright sunlight.

Star Trek has given us a wealth of alcoholic drinks to weave into our narratives, from all different species throughout the galaxy, including bars from one end of Bajor to the far reaches of the Klingon Empire. Quark stocked his bar to the brim with everything from the Cardassian liquor Kanar, to the Modela aperitif, while on the Enterprise we had the ever-wonderful Guinan providing her sage advice and wisdom to all who turned up at that bright blue bar of Ten Forward. So, whether your Trill adores the subtle notes of a Bajoran springwine, or your Andorian challenges themselves with a Romulan ale, there’s something for everyone to get stuck into.

For this week’s poll, we’d like to know what beverages your characters are likely to kick back on shore leave with? What alcoholic drinks, or non-alcoholic, do your characters sup when not in the pilot’s chair?

What alcoholic (or non-alcoholic) beverage does your character enjoy?

Let’s pop the cork and let the good times roll!

Click here to head to the forums now and vote in this week’s poll. Be sure to leave a comment in the thread!