What Could Have Been / Star Trek: Voyager

Series Bible

The Star Trek: Voyager Bible created before the show was produced shows some interesting differences from the final show, as well as details that never made it to screen.

• Captain Elizabeth Janeway was strongly influenced by her mathematician mother, whom she misses deeply.
• Tom Paris is a talented Parises Squares player. The romantic tension between him and B'Elanna is present from the beginning, but he "won't clutter their professional relationship by having an affair with another officer". Also, "he is drawn to the rock-like steadiness of Tuvok."
• Chakotay has a "habak" holodeck program for the celebration of his people's ceremonial cycle. He has a timber wolf as a spirit guide.
• Harry Kim was envisioned as being of Japanese descent, but fully "homogenized". He would have been inspired by Chakotay and through him question his loss of cultural heritage.
• "Doc Zimmerman" is an E.M.P. ("Experimental Medical Program"). He has no personality at the beginning, and multiple people change his programming over time so that it's always a surprise what type of personality he has when he's activated.
• Tuvok is described as "grandfatherly". He is 160 years old and has outlived his wife. He has four children, three of whom are in Starfleet, and deeply misses his grandchildren.
• B'Elanna Torres forms a strong relationship with Tuvok.
  His calm, logical demeanor is comforting to her — and reassuring that one's volatile instincts can be contained. Without Tuvok, B'Elanna's journey would be a much rougher one.
• Neelix is described as "small, scraggly, toothless, and cunning". Still a jack-of-all-trades, he becomes the ship's chef as part of a deal for him and Kes living aboard Voyager. His species is unnamed.
• Kes exists largely as a foil to Neelix. She helps him in the mess hall and enjoys getting to know the crew (which Neelix is jealous of), but otherwise has no particular relationship with other characters. She is identified as an Ocampa with a nine-year lifespan, but no mention is made of psychic powers.
• About twenty additional Maquis are said to be on board. No mention is made of Tuvok initially being undercover with them.

Casting

• When the character of Janeway was being developed, the producers weren't sure if they were really going ahead with the first female Trek lead. They spoke to British actor Nigel Havers about the role, as well as Alien Nation actor Gary Graham (who also claims to have read for Sisko before Star Trek: Deep Space Nine lauched). Graham would later guest star as Kes' Evil Counterpart (in "Cold Fire"), and on Enterprise as Soval, a skeptic-turned-ally of the Federation.
  • In addition to Geneviève Bujold (see below), many other well-known actresses were considered for the role of Captain Janeway, including: Nicola Bryant, Lynda Carter, Patty Duke, Kate Jackson, Linda Hamilton and Catherine Schell. Note that, unlike Bujold, all of these actresses were TV veterans and would have been accustomed to the aggressive shooting schedule on Voyager from the get-go.
  • And, on that note, Janeway was the first regular Trek role to actually be recast before the series aired. Initially Oscar-nominated actress Geneviève Bujold was cast as Captain Nicole Janeway (and, somewhat infamously and later problematically, her casting was the whole reason Robert Beltran was interested in the show at all). After she departed due to exhaustion, the character's name became Elizabeth Janeway and only became Kathryn when Kate Mulgrew was finally cast and the name seemed to suit her better.
  • Susan Gibney, who'd played Dr. Leah Brahms in the TNG episodes "Booby Trap" and "Galaxy's Child", was considered as Janeway, getting a second audition after Bujold's dismissal, before getting rejected for being too young for the role. She also auditioned to play Seven of Nine, also making it to a second audition before being turned down.
• Before the Locarno/Paris switcharoo (see below), the producers wanted the convict character to be Ro Laren, which would have made sense since she defected to the Maquis (Chakotay's outfit) in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The plot of TNG's "Preemptive Strike" was meant to allow her to join the crew of Voyager. However, just as with DS9, Michelle Forbes didn't want to commit to a series. The writers started thinking about what other "fallen" characters could be used, and came up with Locarno, who eventually became Paris.
• Other actresses who auditioned for Seven were Claudia Christian and Carrie-Anne Moss.
• Brannon Braga toyed with the idea of having Sarah Silverman join the show full-time on the strength of her guest role in "Future's End", and perhaps have her character enter into a romantic arc with Tom Paris.
• Early in planning, Worf had been suggested as being part of the crew. The idea was dropped when Michael Dorn chose not to pursue the role.
• Seven of Nine was initially going to be a guy, but then the writers thought of making her a woman, because why not? Then, they decided to have her wear the catsuit to subvert viewer expectations: she's showing off her body, so clearly she's just a Ms. Fanservice, right? Wrong; she actually gets to do things!
• Some umbrage was taken at the idea of a Latino actor portraying Star Trek's first Aboriginal character. There were rumors of a number of Aboriginal actors being approached, including Tom Jackson, Michael Greyeyes, Russell Means, Graham Greene, Michael Horse and Gil Birmingham, but none were interested or available.
• Similarly, Tuvok was initially envisioned as a grey-haired, elderly Vulcan to be more of a mentor figure for Janeway. This was kept even when they cast younger actor Tim Russ, but apparently a number of older actors auditioned for the part and none of them worked out. Names of these actors were never released, though it was heavily rumored that James Sloyan (Admiral Jarok in TNG's "The Defector" and Odo's scientist mentor Dr. Pol on DS9) and W. Morgan Sheppard, a veteran actor who has appeared in many roles throughout Trek's history, were among them. Sheppard would eventually play a Vulcan in Star Trek (2009).
• Robert Picardo had wanted to play Neelix but was passed over for the role. He only reluctantly read for the Doctor after, admitting he didn't see the point of the character, but won the role by ad-libbing a few joke lines during the audition,^note Including "I'm a doctor, not a night light," having no idea that was Dr. McCoy's Catchphrase in the original series. which went into shaping the character further by the third episode.
• Ke Huy Quan auditioned for the role of Harry Kim.

Storylines

• Janeway was initially going to be a lesbian before the producers chickened out. Mulgrew herself was supportive of the idea, so this is still a stick in the craw for many fans given that Star Trek did not feature an explicitly gay character^note Jadzia Dax appears to be bi, though the fluidity of "joined" Trill gender identity makes this ambiguous. until Star Trek: Discovery had two regular gay characters in 2017.
• Tom Paris was originally meant to be one-off TNG villain Nicholas Locarno, an expelled Starfleet cadet also played by Robert Duncan McNeill in "The First Duty", but the writers ultimately felt that Locarno was "irredeemable". And so the writers instead created Tom Paris, with a very similar backstory but with a few differences: an Admiral for a father, he actually graduated the Academy and received a commission before being kicked out rather than being kicked out of the Academy, his initial accident is implied to be a legitimate mistake rather than recklessness (though the crux of the matter, and what gets him kicked out, is still that he lied about it), and briefly joining the Maquis before getting captured and imprisoned. For his part, McNeill believes they are vastly different characters, viewing Paris as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and Locarno as the opposite.^*Case in point, Paris confessed the truth even though he was in the clear, simply because his conscience finally overwhelmed his desire to remain out of trouble, while Locarno only confessed after Wesley had already revealed the truth. It's impossible to say how Locarno's character might have evolved if the original blueprint had gone forward. Side note: Incidentally, Tom Paris follows the same naming convention as Nicholas Locarno. Both have a common first name and a European city for a last name (Paris, France and Locarno, Switzerland). Star Trek: Lower Decks would bring Lorcano back as the Hidden Villain for Season 4.
• The Caretaker and his mate, Suspiria, were written in with the ability to return Janeway's crew to Earth instantly if ratings plunged.
• "Non Sequitur" was originally supposed to feature Counselor Troi as the one grilling Harry Kim in the alternate timeline instead of an Admiral. The creators were unable to get Marina Sirtis on short notice. She did appear alongside Reg Barclay (Dwight Schultz) in two later episodes.
• Michael Piller favored an increasing sense of desperation. Additionally, he pushed for a growing cast of less-than-sterling crewmen like Seska (Martha Hackett), Michael Jonas (Rafael Sbarge), and Lon Suder (Brad Dourif). Jeri Taylor disliked each of these characters and killed them all off in time for Season Three. Brannon Braga also categorically stated that he doesn’t like threading other writers' arcs or characters into his own episodes, so the serialized approach was thrown out.
  • This greatly changed the outcome of the Season Two closer "Basics". Piller's script originally had Maje Cullah and Seska's baby dying, and Seska escaping with Lon Suder in tow; As it turns out, the exact opposite happens. The showrunners wanted to close the book on the Kazon due to them being poorly received as "knock-off budget Klingons" and unpopular with viewers.
• In the episode "Favorite Son", it was considered making the reveal of Harry Kim as a Delta Quadrant alien a real, permanent change to the character. While the in-universe explanation probably would have been a Voodoo Shark, nevertheless, there would have been a fine poetic irony in Harry — the character most eager to get home to the Alpha Quadrant — actually turning out to be biologically native to the Delta Quadrant.
  • Supposedly, at the end of season three, either Harry Kim or Kes was slated to be killed off to make room for new character Seven Of Nine. Neither were killed off in the season finale, but Harry Kim was seriously injured so that he could die in the fourth season premiere. As the story went, between seasons, Garret Wang ended up listed on People's list of 50 Most Beautiful People, and the Paramount executives mandated that he had to stay — so they wrote out Kes instead. In actuality, the entire story was concocted to provide Kes's Actress, Jennifer Lien, a way to quietly exit the show without too much fuss as she was at the time dealing with severe personal issues.
• Jeri Ryan has said that she read two different scenes when she auditioned for Seven of Nine. One was the rather notorious Do You Want to Copulate? scene, which ended up being filmed (and she admits to hating it to this very day.) The other was apparently a really beautiful, touching scene where Seven first experiences laughter, and she seems to honestly regret that scene never made it to film.
• Braga did say that if Voyager was up to him, the show would have frequently been like the fan favorite episode "Year of Hell": enemies on all sides, dwindling resources, and crewmen pushed to the ends of their rope. Additionally, the Year of Hell was originally pitched not as a two-parter but instead the theme of the entire fourth season.
  • It was, indeed, foreshadowed in the Season Three episode "Before and After", when Kes' time-jumps were caused by a Krenim temporal weapon lodged in Voyager's hull. However, Kes would leave shortly into the fourth season, which prevented her from participating in "Year of Hell", thus nullifying the events of "Before and After". In said episode, it showed a future in which where Janeway and Torres were supposedly killed off, leaving Chakotay in command of the ship. It also had Neelix as a security officer, and probably would have had some other interesting plots later on.
  • Indeed, a version of the first part of the Year of Hell was originally going to be the third season finale, but it was changed to "Scorpion" to capitalize on the recent release of Star Trek: First Contact and its use of the Borg.
  • It goes all the way back to the series being in pre-production. Promotional information released at conventions stated Voyager and her class was to be a short-range ship, designed for more dangerous missions (and thus, packing firepower disproportionate to her size in terms of Starfleet vessels. . . but still most definitely not a warship). It was indicated the main tension of the series would be a vessel not designed for long-term deployments, as the Galaxy-class Enterprise was, stranded decades away from any kind of reliable repair or resupply. This was quickly jettisoned, to the point Voyager's Intrepid-class is designated a "Long-Range Science Vessel," despite no onscreen evidence of being properly equipped for either long-range or science.
• When the Borg tactical cube was in the planning stages, Doug Drexler sketched up a "pyramid" version, to reference the first UPN logo, which consisted of a circle (the Borg sphere), a triangle (the "Paramountain"), and a square (the Borg cube). It was only a joke sketch, though.
• Bryan Fuller pitched an alternate universe storyline for the sixth season titled "Who's Killing the Great Voyagers of the Delta Quadrant?" which would have had the episode hop around one alternate universe after another, including one where the Klingons had conquered the Federation, one where the ship is manned by holograms, and other what if scenarios. The plot would have featured an alternate universe Chakotay destroying all the Voyagers throughout the multiverse in some mad plot to erase Voyager from existence. Certainly an ambitious pitch, and would have been Voyager's equivalent to TNG's "Parallels".
• Originally "Dragon's Teeth" was going to be a two-hour telemovie, but it was thought it would make a much punchier standalone episode. It’s a decision the writers would soon regret. The Vaadwuar were clearly set up to be recurring baddies, but wouldn't reappear until Star Trek Online.
• Ron Moore wanted the crew to start diverging away from Starfleet rules and regulations and start personalizing the ship similarly to an apartment building, with them doing things such as decorating the halls and wearing casual clothes more often. He also wanted to do an episode where the crew placed Janeway on trial and defined the limits of her authority as captain over them.

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