Star Trek: Voyager

(Star Trek: Voyager)

In 1994, NBC decides to launch its own private TV channel named UPN. After its unfruitful attempt of 1978 to launch this channel with the help of the series "Star Trek: Phase II", it is well decided, this time, to lead the project to term. The company orders a new series to make a leading series out of it. So is born "Star Trek : Voyager" whose pilot episode is broadcasted for the openning of the channel in January 1995.

When scriptwriters sought a story for Star Trek : Voyager, they thought : "With Star Trek : The Next Generation, we have changed the crew (since the crew was no longer the same that during the first TV series): that has been a success. With Star Trek : Deep Space Nine, we have changed the crew and the spaceship (changing of characters and the end of the Enterprise): again a success. With Star Trek: Voyager, we are going change the last link : the Universe."

Since 2367, date of the end of hostilities between Cardassians and the Federation, Starfleet is found confronted with a thorny problem. A lot of  captains and members of Starfleet are indignant by the lack of reaction of the Federation toward inhuman treatments inflicted by Cardassians to Bajorans. This movement of anger has amplified, until to threaten security of the Federation. Indeed, a lot of crew members, including captains, deserted Starfleet taking with them equipment, shuttles or entire spaceships (such as the USS Ghandi). They joined resistants and helped Bajorans to fight against the Cardassians. This movement is called the Maquis.

Anxious, the Federation has tempted to infiltrate agents inside the Maquis, hoping to put an end to these terrorist acts against Cardassians. One of these agents is a Vulcain, Tuvok, placed by Starfleet in the Maquis and that has succeeded to place in the crew of a Maquis commander : Chakotay.

In 2369, during a fight between Chakotay's spaceship and a Cardassian Warship, the vessel of the Maquis entails the former in a region of space called Badlands. A short time after, a ray of energy knocks the two vessels : the Maquis vessel is thrown out while the Cardassian ship, heavier and less maniable, is destroyed to the continuation of a collision with asteroids.

Worries to have no longer news from its agent, the Federation uses the last - born spaceship of its yards : the USS Voyager, and place to its head Captain Janeway. The vessel leaves from Deep Space Nine station and directs to the Badlands. It is to its turn to be knocked by the mysterious ray and is catapult 70000 light-years from there, to the other side of the galaxy. They soon learn that the responsible of this ray is a creature known as "Caretaker". Later, the crew of the USS Voyager have to face a dilemma : to save the Caretaker and to condemn a whole planet, or to destroy the Caretaker and to save the planet and its residents.

In agreement with the rest of the crew, Janeway decides to destroy the Caretaker, condemning the crew to a 96 years return trip. Their only salvation can come with the discovery of a Wormhole or with the discover of the second Caretaker, where they ignore the location. During this final fight, the Maquis's spaceship is destroyed, obliging the Voyager's crew and the spaceship Maquis' to merge to form a unique crew on board the Voyager. During the fight, Captain Janeway also make a new lethal enemy : the Kazons.

The series is composed of 172 episodes in seven seasons. It was first aired on January 15, 1995 on UPN.