STAR TREK VOYAGER
SEASON ONE

"We're in the Delta Quadrant"

Ensign Harry Kim

Lost in the Delta Quadrant, the crew of the USS Voyager face the perils of the long journey back to Earth.

CARETAKER (Part 1 & 2)
While in pursuit of a Maquis ship in a region of space known as the 'Badlands', Captain Kathryn Janeway and her crew aboard Voyager and the Maquis ship are transported 70,000 light years from home into the uncharted region of the galaxy known as the Delta Quadrant.

PARALLAX
As the Maquis crewmembers begin to integrate themselves into the Starfleet crew, Voyager becomes trapped in a quantum singularity.

TIME AND AGAIN
After being hit by the shockwave of a devastating planet-wide explosion, Voyager investigates. While on the surface, Janeway and Paris are accidentally 'shifted' one day into the past.

PHAGE
During an away mission in the search for dilithium crystals, Neelix is attacked and his lungs are surgically removed by a disease-ridden race of aliens known as the Vidiians. His only hope for survival is if the crew of Voyager can get them back.

THE CLOUD
In the search for omicron particles to boost the ship's energy supplies, Voyager inadvertently injures a space-faring life form.

EYE OF THE NEEDLE
The discovery of a wormhole leading to the Alpha Quadrant elates the crew, however, their only contact within range is a sceptical and paranoid Romulan.

EX POST FACTO
Tom Paris is accused of a murder he claims he did not commit. His sentence is to re-live the last few moments of his victim's life every 14 hours through a memory transplant.

EMANATIONS
While investigating an asteroid belt containing a new element, Harry Kim is pulled into a 'subspace vacuole' and switched with a dead body. Soon after the body is revived the crew learn that the asteroid belt is the graveyard of an alien culture that transports its dead in the belief that they evolve into a higher state of consciousness. Harry's appearance on the homeworld begins to raise questions about the existence of their afterlife.

PRIME FACTORS
Harry Kim discovers advanced technology when a race of aliens known as the Sikarans offer shore leave to the crew of Voyager. This would send Voyager 40,000 light years closer to home, however, the Sikaran's 'Canon of Laws' forbids them from sharing their technology with anyone.

STATE OF FLUX
When stolen Federation technology is found on a severely damaged Kazon-Nistrum ship, Seska becomes the prime suspect. The evidence is further re-enforced when questions arise over her true heritage.

HEROES AND DEMONS
Harry Kim disappears from the holodeck during his holo-novel, "Beowulf." According to the characters, he died at the hands of a mystical beast known as "Grendel."

CATHEXIS
After Chakotay and Tuvok are injured in a shuttle accident, a non-corporeal life form begins to wreak havoc on Voyager by infiltrating the minds of the crew and altering the ship's systems one by one.

FACES
The Vidiians capture Paris, Torres and Durst while on an away mission. Torres is taken to a lab and 'split' into two people: one human, and one Klingon.

JETREL
The man, who designed the weapon that destroyed all life on the moon of his home world, including that of his family, diagnoses Neelix with a fatal illness.

LEARNING CURVE
In order to bring some rebellious Maquis crewmembers into line, Tuvok gives them a Starfleet Academy crash course

The fourth Star Trek TV series sets out on its epic journey to get the crew of the Starship Voyager home.

The phenomenally successful franchise moves away from the dark and epic storylines of Deep Space Nine and travels into more familiar territory by returning to a ship-based format but with a twist. After abducted into the Delta Quadrant by the mysterious entity, The Caretaker in the opening episode, the half Starfleet half Maquis crew were on their own. With possibility of help from Starfleet or the Federation and not a friend or ally in the quadrant the crew had to rely on themselves and their captain. In what was trumpeted as a first for the long running franchise, the USS Voyager had a female captain.

Kathryn Janeway is a strong leader, full of passion and determination but not afraid to let her curious scientist side break through on occasion. Never afraid of making a tough decision but always seeing the more humanitarian side of any problem, she is a commanding officer that you instantly respect. Kate Mulgrew plays the role magnificently. Over the seven seasons of the show she grows with the character becoming an icon female role model and proving that she is a very talented actress. As this is the first season, the show is finding its feet and the same can be said about the characters.

While Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, B'Elanna Torres and the Doctor grab your attention straight away it would take quite a few seasons for characters like Tom Paris, Neelix, Kes and Harry Kim to make a real impression. Whether this is the fault of the writers or the actors themselves we will never know but stick with them as they do become more interesting as the series progresses, even Harry Kim.

For every great episode, there is a show that lacks some imagination and reminds of premises from previous Star Trek series. Episodes like The Cloud and Parallax bring nothing new to the franchise but if you weight them up against standout shows like The Phage, Eye of a Needle, State of Flux, Heroes and Demons, Faces and Jetrel you can forgive these minor blips.

Season One of Star Trek Voyager sets you off on a journey that will see unparalleled adventure, riveting storylines and epics tales of survival in an uncharted region of space. The is an excellent introduction to the Delta Quadrant as to you prepare to follow the crew on their journey back to Earth.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in full frame 4:3 with a Dolby Digital 5.1 sound track, the transfer is very good. The picture quality is extremely sharp to the point that some of the special effects, done before the advent of extensive CG in the Star Trek Universe, don't look as good as later seasons. The sound quality is very good however with strong emphasis on dialogue but the surround sound doesn't engulf you enough, even during the battle scenes.

BONUS FEATURES

DISC 5

Braving the unknown: Season One (10.40 mins)
Executive producers Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor talk about creating the fourth Star Trek series. They discuss how the ideal of leaving all that was built up in The Next Generation and Deep Space behind to create a new Quadrant in the spirit of The Original Series. The also reveal Gene Roddenberry's influences and introducing a Star Trek first, a female captain.

Voyager Time Capsule: Kathryn Janeway (15.06 mins)
Mixing interviews from the series launch in 1994, the filming of the final episode in 2001 and in reflection in 2003, Kate Mulgrew talks about the character and her journey on the series. The featurette includes scenes from her audition and behind the scenes footage from the series. She also discusses her own input into the development of the character and her career during and after the end of the series.

The First Captain: Bujold (8.31 mins)
Unbeknownst to many non-Trekkers Kate Mulgrew wasn't the first choice to be the captain of the USS Voyager; it was in fact a French-Canadian actress called Geneviève Bujold. Executive Producer Rick Berman explains why the change was made and shows you the few scenes that Bujold shoot before she was replaced.

Cast Reflections: Season One (8.32 mins)
Mixing interviews from the series launch in 1994 and the filming of the final episode in 2001, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Jennifer Lien, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang and Robert Picardo talk about the first season of Star Trek Voyager. They reveal how they got fan letters before the series even started and they discuss been part of such a famous universe.

On Location with the Kazons (5.28 mins)
Supervising Producer David Livingston and Director Winrich Kolbe take you behind the scenes of the 1994 desert shoot for the series premiere, The Caretaker. They introduce you to the new alien race for the first three series the Kazon.

Red Alert: Visual Effects Season One (10.24 mins)
Effects Producer Dan Curry discusses the techniques used to bring Star Trek Voyager season one to life. Before CG became a viable and cheap enough option for television, the SFX team take you through the motion control process used to film the large and detailed models of the spacecraft. He also shows you the first completely CG character designed for the series, The Caretaker himself.

Real Science with Andre Bormanis (8.53 mins)
Star Trek Voyager's own science consultant reveals how modern astronomical theories and the Hubble Space Telescope helped create the or influence the stories of series. He looks at the science behind wormholes, radiation, non-corporeal life forms and time travel.

Star Trek: The Experience (16.36 mins)
A behind the scenes look at the attraction at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. The featurette takes you on a tour of the ride, the sets, the shops and the food of the themed attraction and also reveals how you can married on the bridge of the Enterprise D and then have your reception in Quark's Bar on Deep Space Nine.

Photo Gallery
Behind the scenes images from the first season of Star Trek Voyager.

Easter Eggs (5.59 mins)
Hidden in the menus are four mini-featurettes that cover Tuvok and Janeway's relationship, Janeway's hair, Brannon Braga and Vaughn Armstrong's performance in Eye of the Needle.

DISC 6

Exclusive to the Region 2 DVD Box set, two episodes from Star Trek: The Original Series

Arena

While in orbit above an isolated Federation outpost on Cestus III, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and a few tactical officers beam down for a visit but soon discover that the outpost has recently been destroyed. Outnumbered, the landing party must fight off a mortar barrage from alien troops while looking for survivors. The Enterprise, meanwhile, is attacked by the alien's vessel and is compelled to disengage.

City on the Edge of Forever

While investigating a time disturbance above an uncharted planet, Sulu is rendered unconscious when his overloaded console bursts into flames. McCoy hurries to the bridge and administers a few drops of cordrazine, which immediately stabilizes the helmsman's heart flutter. Suddenly, the Enterprise lurches and McCoy is accidentally injected with a large quantity of the drug. In his cordrazine-induced frenzy, McCoy exits the bridge and manages to beam himself down to the planet below. After beaming down to find the doctor, Kirk and the landing party discover the object causing the time disturbances, the Guardian of Forever, which can show any point of time in galactic history. While watching Earth's history, McCoy leaps through the portal and as a result drastically changes history. The Enterprise suddenly vanishes, leaving the landing party stranded and speculating if even Earth itself still exists.

Star Trek Deep Space Nine DVD Trailer (4.49 mins)
An extended preview of the third Star Trek series as it hits DVD. With interviews of executive producer Rick Berman and stars Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Michael Dorn, Terry Farrell and Andrew J. Robinson.

Star Trek: The Next Generation DVD Trailer (1.10 mins)
A short trailer advertising the DVD release of the first Star Trek spin-off series.

OVERALL

Brilliantly packaged and gorgeously presented this is an excellent introduction to the Star Trek Voyager series. While the first series might not be the strongest of the seven seasons, there are some outstanding episodes like Eye of the Needle, The Phage, Faces and Jetrel that make this a must buy for all Star Trek fans. It is a tad expensive compared to other series box sets (shop around for cheaper prices) and you have to wonder why Paramount decided to include two episodes from the Original Series when they are going to be released on DVD soon anyway but the special features are excellent and the picture quality is superb throughout making it well worth trekking out.

DVD

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