AUTHOR AUTHOR: The pilot episode's synopsis and script

CONTENTS

1. Work background to writing the synopsis - SCROLL 2. To boldly go where no woman has gone before 3. Starship design 4. Proposed cloaking device 5. Tom Paris' character arc 6. The public announcement 7. Preliminary USS Voyager design 8. Refining the pilot's synopsis 9. Character name changes 10. The [Voyager] bible 16th February draft

This subsection describes the drafting of the pilot episode synopsis including Paris' character arc, the go-ahead for a female captain, character name changes, the start of pre-production including designs for USS Voyager, 'breaking the story' into scenes, suggested cloaking device, and the 'farmyard' scene on the Caretaker's Array.

During the autumn of 1993 and over the winter, while [Star Trek Voyager] co-producer Michael Piller was writing the draft synopsis for [Star Trek Voyager]'s pilot episode, as yet unnamed, he was still working daily as the co-executive producer for [DS9], overseeing every [DS9] episode from initial idea to the shooting script, as well as writing several stories himself and rewriting or polishing almost all the rest. [Star Trek Voyager] co-producer Jeri Taylor was still co-executive producer for [TNG], with much the same duties and responsibilities as Piller's. [Star Trek Voyager] co-producer Rick Berman was still the producer overseeing both series, dealing with various aspects from pre-production to post-production, and in addition he was increasingly involved in the forthcoming feature film [Star Trek VII: Generations].

At this time, the issue of a possible female captain resurfaced. The three co-producers felt that it was time for a female captain. So far the issue had been discussed but left unresolved between Berman and Tom Mazza (the Executive Vice-President, Current Programs and Strategic Planning, Network Television i.e. Berman's immediate boss whose approval is required for major elements in every episode of [DS9] and now [Star Trek Voyager]), with Mazza far from convinced. It would be the first time in Star Trek history that a woman had commanded a Starfleet ship. Actually, there was a precedent, in Garrett who commanded USS Enterprise NCC-1701-C in [TNG: Yesterday's Enterprise], but never before had there been a female captain commanding an entire series, and Star Trek's main demographic consisted of males between 25 and 45. (The subheading's title, '....where no woman has gone before' is therefore not quite accurate, but I could not resist using it. Star Trek fans will recognise the play on "...to boldly go where no man has gone before" from [TOS] which is slightly amended for [TNG]. After [Star Trek Voyager], in [Enterprise: Broken Bow], we learn that the words are based on an historic speech made by Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of warp drive.)

Historically, Star Trek has always seemed shy in casting strong women in continuing leadership roles. After Roddenberry's failed attempt to secure NBC's approval for a female second-in-command for the first pilot of [TOS] (played by Majel Barrett), he seemed to give up the idea. When [TOS] aired, from 1966, women were relegated to minor and often demeaning roles of little consequence. Males dominated society at that time and, despite some strides in Western societies towards equality in social standing and pay since then, still did in 1993 (and today). When Jeri Taylor joined the staff of [TNG] she determined to bring attitudes more into line with society's trends.

Jeri Taylor: "Gene [Roddenberry] gave the women on [TNG] very traditional roles for women and it was difficult to break them out of that mould. That was one of the tasks that I took on for myself when I first came to the show. I think we did some very nice stories for Crusher and Troi that took them away from that more traditional role. And female fans responded. They loved it."

The team of Berman, Taylor and Piller was convinced that a woman was the right choice for the top command of a starship. Besides, they liked the creative challenge the concept presented, and had a desire not to repeat what had gone before in Star Trek. This represented a bold choice. Paramount also was interested in the bold choice but for such a significant move they required reassurance. Paramount routinely conducts "maintenance studies" on all its television series, including of course [TNG] and [DS9]. The studies utilise 'focus groups' which are moderate-sized groups of viewers spotted throughout the country, in order to monitor how well a series is doing and to test concepts for new projects. In early autumn 1993, still nervous about the possible reception a female captain might face with Star Trek's traditionally male-dominated audience, the Studio piggy-backed a few pointed questions during some of the ongoing [DS9] focus groups. Paramount had not yet made a formal announcement, but word had already spread through the internet that the Studio was going to move forward with a new Star Trek series called [Star Trek: Voyager].

Tom Mazza: "We said, 'What do you think of the captain? Who should it be?' Unsolicited, about forty to fifty percent of the people in the groups said 'a female captain.' My gut instinct was there was no reason why it shouldn't be a female captain. (Mazza is speaking with hindsight, as this does not seem to tally with Mazza's reservations as documented, or at least interpreted, by Poe.) Not to say we should cover every minority, not to say we should cover each gender. It's just a matter of what Star Trek represents, and perhaps the time had come. It was interesting to see viewers say that. A few of the guys in the groups (nearly half, according to Poe) would say 'it has to be a man ... we had Kirk, we had Picard, we have Sisko ... it has to be a man.' But the majority of the answers confirmed my own instinct that it was time for a female captain. It was a gamble. But a gamble that could pay off, and also that would help distinguish [Star Trek Voyager] from the other series."

In case you wonder what all the fuss was about, and to forestall further e-mail on the subject, I suggest it is easy, and I do it myself, to forget that [Star Trek Voyager] was conceived a long time ago, over 10 years ago, a long time as regards gender equality issues and attitudes (also, issues were not exactly the same as today). Several countries e.g. Britain, Eire, Pakistan, have had (or "even had") female Prime Ministers, which was old news by the time [Star Trek Voyager] was being first aired, but, I would say that the issue of who captains a ship of state is not as important as who captains a Federation starship.

The focus groups also confirmed that viewers were not especially thrilled with a Star Trek series confined to a fixed-base space station. People wanted ships. Ship-based shows inherently meant action, danger, excitement. Accordingly, there came to be more [DS9] stories featuring ship-based action, often centred on USS Defiant, a small starship introduced in Season 3. Piller had learned a hard lesson as to who should be heeded most, for 'critics' do not number in the millions, but the 'viewers' do, and numbers equate to popularity, and in the world of episodic broadcast television, numbers and not content or perspective are what define a show as being popular.

Piller could not help being influenced by the data from the focus groups, and the ghost of [DS9] peered over his shoulder as he wrote the first draft of [Star Trek Voyager]'s pilot episode.

Elsewhere on the Paramount lot, in the art departments for [TNG] and [DS9], for [Star Trek Voyager]'s did not exist yet, Michael Okuda, Rick Sternbach, Doug Drexler and others continued discussing starship designs and starship technology, and making preliminary sketches.

Berman wanted a smaller, sleeker ship than [TNG]'s starship the Enterprise-D - perhaps bullet-shaped, but different. Small of course meant fewer crew. They suggested "around two hundred". Sleeker meant a ship designed for action rather than purely exploratory or scientific purposes, indicating missions that might be more dangerous. That meant no families on board as with the Enterprise-D. The bullet-shape was accomplisehd by elongating the traditional saucer-shaped portion of the ship. Designing the starship was comparatively easy but getting Berman to approve one design was a different matter.

USS Voyager's design was started in September 1993 but the design would not become final, and the finished model delivered to Image G for motion-control photography, until 19th October 1994. Including CGI (computer-generated image) details for the moveable warp nacelles, the complete design would not be finalised until mid-December, only six weeks before [Star Trek Voyager]'s premiere date (16th January 1995).

That USS Voyager should be equipped with a cloaking device (introduced in [TOS], it is a Romulan device and in [DS9] is only lent, on strict terms, to Starfleet) was an early idea of the producers. Michael Okuda researched the idea and responded with a memo dated 1st October 1993 entitled 'Thoughts on a new cloaking device'. In the memo Okuda points out that the goal is to give the ship the advantages of a cloaking device, but at the same time give it sufficiently different characteristics that it does not look as if Starfleet is merely copying Romulan technology. Okuda's concern was to avoid the impression of ripping off the Romulans. Starfleet, he was certain, was competent enough to design their own. He then explained in some detail how such a system might work for USS Voyager. The memo concludes with a reminder:

A note on cloaking devices in general. I am told that Gene [Roddenberry] was significantly opposed to Starfleet using cloaking devices because "our people are scientists and explorers, so they don't go sneaking around." I would think it should be possible to set up this cloaking device so that we can rationalize that Starfleet doesn't equip our heroes with such a thing, but that our heroes have improvised this because of the dire situation they're in.

The producers eventually discarded the idea of a cloaking device for USS Voyager.

Every story has a point of view, the perspective from which it is told. Berman, Piller and Taylor wanted something fresh for [Star Trek Voyager]'s pilot episode, an approach not previously used.

Michael Piller: "This is a story of how the family comes together. We decided to tell it in a unique way ... from the point of view-at least in the beginning of one of the lesser-ranking officers, Paris, which we felt would make it different from all other Star Trek pilots. Because all the others had taken the captain's point-of-view-starting from the centre. So we thought it would be interesting to introduce our captain through the eyes of one of the other characters, and we follow his development."

"the centre" is dramatic writer's shorthand. The captain is the centre, or focus, of all the cast members. Usually it is from his or her perspective that the story is told.

The three co-producers had decided earlier that Paris' character arc would be one of The Fall, and then Redemption. This meant that in telling the story of how this "family" comes together, Piller had to weave in the character arc for Tom Paris, and he was struggling with it.

In a memo to Berman and Taylor dated 6th October 1993, Piller begins with the following statement:

The good news is that I think once we complete Paris' arc in the second hour, most everything else will fall into place. The bad news is I still don't see the arc and that's what we need to talk about today. .... We've now set up a quest for redemption, for rebirth in traditional Joseph Campbell terms (I'm wondering by the way if Paris isn't getting too close to Han Solo) and it seems to me we somehow will need new plot elements in part two to force Paris to confront his demons and conquer them. But I'm not living well inside this character yet and I'm not sure I understand what those demons are. .... Some of the turns that pass through my mind that don't quite seem to work at first glance include: in the array, Paris doesn't follow orders and that's why we're recaptured so he ultimately blames himself for Osaka's fate ... or maybe it's too early, maybe he does something the second time they go to the array that gets him in trouble with the Captain or maybe even all the way down on the planet ... somewhere maybe Janeway busts him and confines him to quarters for the rest of the mission and something happens which he alone has to act upon in order to salvage their hopes of getting home or getting Osaka back. In his old pattern, he would turn his back and not take responsibility (do you sense my struggle for the character's identity? That doesn't feel right as I write it). Or is he locked in the brig and fools the holographic doctor so he can escape and do whatever he has to do? (I like that).

Piller, Berman and Taylor met later that day, and discussed possible solutions to the points Piller was struggling with. The points would be resolved somehow.

The developmental work was also now becoming more public. Paramount formally announced its intent to launch a fifth television network, to be anchored by a new Star Trek series, [Star Trek: Voyager]. Programming would begin with fare for Monday and Tuesday evenings, expanding appropriately as new material could be developed. The launch date was set for 16th January 1995. The announcement generated tremendous publicity. Within days Paramount, and especially the Star Trek art department, was deluged with requests for information. Of special interest to the Press was the design of the new starship. They wanted drawings, illustrations, sketches, doodles on a napkin, anything that would give their readers a first glimpse. But nothing firm, i.e. approved by Berman, was available yet.

the finished 5 ft model

Sternbach sent Berman a memo:

I'm beginning some preliminary sketches of the starship, based on the initial requirement that this be a smaller vessel. These early shapes should boil down into a few clean drawings within the next week. In light of the current crop of media reports concerning Voyager, I'd like to ask for a short meeting, when feasible, to cover the basic design of the ship (a new major ship will require a long lead time for drawings), deadlines for miniature bidding blueprints, and other scheduling questions.

The following week Michael Okuda and Rick Sternbach sent Berman, Piller, and Taylor an eight-page memo setting forth in some detail the early concepts for the ship and its technology. This was a preliminary draft of what would later develop into Voyager's technical manual, which runs to nearly forty pages and describes the ship and its technology in great detail. The technical manual is to the ship what a bible is to the series, and is widely distributed to all departments. It reads like a real-life overview of a real-life starship. Voyager's tech manual is patterned after the style and content of the technical manuals they developed for [TNG]'s Enterprise-D and [DS9]'s space station, and contains some of the same "boilerplate" information.

On the same day Okuda and Sternbach sent their preliminary draft, Piller delivered the first draft of the pilot episode. It ran to 36 pages, and would undergo numerous revisions and rewrites, but it was a start. In this first draft, Felux has been changed to Felox. Chakotay has now been given a tribal affiliation: Sioux.

The story draft was read by Berman and Taylor, who each made copious notes comments, suggestions and ideas. The two then met and talked with Piller, who made notes of his own. Afterwards, he began the second draft, which was delivered about two weeks later, on 1st November. More notes were made on that draft. Four days later Piller completed a third draft. In it, Chakotay had become a Hopi. The meetings, notes and revisions continued all the way through February 1994.

One of the major sticking points was the names of the characters. Some of them kept changing. Around mid-February there was a flurry of faxes, lists and memos suggesting various names. In the draft of the series bible dated 15 February, Vicon's name was changed to Nivok (it would eventually become Tuvok). Kate Janeway became Elizabeth Janeway; Jay Osaka became Harry Kim; Felox became Neelix; and Dah was changed to Kes. (I wonder if this was partly or wholly because "DaH!" is the Klingon word for "Now!" as established in [TNG: Redemption, Part 2]). Curiously, in the story draft dated the same day, Neelix was Neelox, Kes was Kess, and B'Elanna was B'Elanna Cortez. There were more name changes the very next day. The story draft dated 16th February lists Tuvok, B'Elanna Torres, Neelix, and Kes as among the names for the final cast of characters. Chakotay (originally Chakotoy) lost his tribal affiliation and was simply referred to as being "from a colony of American Indians".

The 16th February 1994 draft, although considered complete, underwent more changes well into March. Beyond that, when the script was written, the script would keep changing even after principal photography had begun. The series bible would also be revised periodically to reflect the newer versions. A major hurdle had been crossed. Now it was time for Piller to write the first draft of the script for [Star Trek Voyager]'s pilot episode.