TCM Winter Special 2010 by Richard Miles

I’m so glad you decided to accept our... ...offer. Not that you had much of a choice anyway. Your career with Starfleet in tatters, your closest friends turning their back on you - and every security officer within the quadrant looking to put a rather large hole in your favorite shirt (as well as the rest of your torso). Yes, yes, we know you’re innocent of course you are. But your services to us are too valuable for us to let you continue ignoring our calls, and it required special attention to get you to change your mind. To start, you’ll learn more about the secret agency for you when you don’t know you need one, outlining just what we do and how we do it. Next, you’ll find out about some of our more creative efforts to distribute misinformation about ’31 and how it’s made our little organization more popular than ever in the intelligence community - and how it’s continued our mission more than we could’ve possibly imagined. Some of the best operations involving this information campaign is actually telling people the truth - you’d be surprised about how often that works when you want to conceal what you’re doing.... Once you’re done absorbing those nuggets of info, you’ll find a series of briefings about some of our more infamous operatives - Commander Mak (Mark Kalita), Captain Laura Dalonna (Laura Post), and Lieutenant Tom Backus (Elie Hircshman) - including some of their personal commentary. We’ve also included some data about Lieutenant Cole, an operative aboard USS Intrepid. Read up quickly - your first assignment starts very soon. And don’t forget... ...31 watches over all of the Federation’s citizens. ALL of them. Best Regards, Director - Section 31

Section 31 Steve Pasqua Interview

Elie Hirschman Interview

Section 31: A History By Alex Matthews

Section 31: A History The Secret Agency you have when you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a secret agency, by Gerri and Eugenia

Section 31: A History Star Trek Fan Fiction on Section 31 by Gerri and Eugenia 29 Laura Post Interview

Mark Kalita Interview

Secret Mission Briefing

The Doctors Briefing Room

Henglaar by John Whiting

McCoy Biography

Crusher Biography

Bashir Biography

The Doctor Biography

Phlox Biography

Pulaski Biography

Henglaar Biography

Regulars Coming Soon

TCM Staff

Publisher: TC Productions Production Company: TC Magazines Editor: Richard Miles Assistant Editors: Heather Ashleigh, Alex Matthews. Head Writers: Gerri Donaldson, Alex Matthews, Richard Miles, Eugenia Stopyra. Writers This Issue: Jonathon Connor, Gerri Donaldson, Elie Hirschman, Eugenia Stopyra, John Whiting. Special Thanks To: Interviewees: Elie Hirschman, Mark Kalita, Steve Pasqua and Laura Post. Production Companies: Darker Projects, Hidden Frontier Productions and Intrepid Productions.

TCM: Can you give us some background on your character? SP: Cole is the Strategic Operations Officer, although most of the time he’s just muddling along doing whatever needs done. His speciality is acquisition. If you need something, he’s your man. Or he at least knows someone that can help. TCM: How does your character fit in to the Section 31 world? SP: So far Cole hasn’t had any direct dealings with Section 31, at least not to his (or for that matter my)knowledge. But who knows where future storylines may take Cole. I don’t, they’re still in the writers head!!! TCM: In the last episode, your character resigned his commission what do you think will happen to your character now? SP: Shhhh Spoilers!?!? I think a spin off series is in order(note hint of sarcasm). I’ve an idea what Nick plans to do with Cole, but I’m revealing nothing. Let’s just say we’ve not heard the last of him. Whether you like it or not. TCM: Section 31 is featuring heavily in a lot of Star Trek Fan Films recently, do you think that this is a good or a bad thing, and why? SP: I think it’s a good thing to have an element that the fan films can take up as their own little pocket creation. Gives all the various productions a certain chumminess (if that’s the word). TCM: Section 31 is the darker side of the Federation, its underbelly if you will, what is it like being able to play a character associated with that organisation, that has all those mysteries and secrets? SP: As I said, Cole hasn’t had a direct association with Section 31. However having faced his dark side in the past and having to suppress it to a degree in the present. I think he could possibly empathise or even support the way that they work. Cole has one or two mysteries and secrets of his own, I’m sure. He seemed to have found a grounding once again on the Intrepid. However the events of

TCM: What would you like to see your character doing in the future? SP: Health, security and a chance to put his feet up. Or is that me? He seemed to have found a grounding once again on the Intrepid. However the events of Turning Point have thrown him a bit of a curveball. How he deals with that will determine where his future lies. Personally I can’t wait to see what the writers come up with. Just don’t kill me off just yet.~

TCM: How do you see Tom Backus as a person? EH: I think of Tom the way Eric Busby described him to me when he first sought me out for the part: He's a hardcore engineer, willing and able to cobble together unique solutions with what he has at hand. Follows in the fine tradition of Scotty and O'Brien, always being asked to break the laws of physics and squeeze more power out of the engines when it seems impossible. I played Tom as straight as I could off the bat - honest, innocent, and as it turned out, easily shocked at the way his world get flipped upside down when he was brought into Section 31. TCM: How much involvement did you have over your character's evolution?

EH: Eric defined the initial parameters, but after that, he let me take the character where I wanted. I generally stuck to basics, but the chance to expand Tom a little came when we did a "flash-forward" in one of our episodes. We get a glimpse of Tom in the future, where world after world has been decimated by the "Great Destroyer." Tom is a more grim, sarcastic fellow in the future, no doubt jaded by his experiences. After that, I started to introduce a little sarcasm, a little bit of cynicism into the role, but he's still essentially an earnest, hardworking guy with a mostly optimistic outlook on life. TCM: How do you try to individualise your various characters?

EH: When I first started out in voice acting, I used to spend time coming up with unique aspects and backstories for my characters, but these days, I find the time it takes is not really worth the results it yields. Now I basically read though the lines, take note of any speech patterns, slang, or distinctive phrases, and try to fit that into an overall greater picture of the character. If the character is hesitant in speech, I may introduce a small stutter, pause or stumble on one of the lines, to make it even more tentative. And of course, accents and voice tones are the most fun part of all.

TCM: What would you do to prepare for a Section 31 scene?

EH: For a scene with Tom in it, I would converse with myself in his accent - and after a while, it was like slipping on an old comfy shoe. Doing Tom's voice takes me right into the mindset I need. If it's a scene where I'm playing a Ferengi, I'll usually contort my face into something hideous to make sure it sounds like I have the proper amount of teeth. In any case, starting out with a bunch of technobabble gets the mouth ready TCM: Do you focus just on the series you work on, or do you keep updated with the other shows on the site?

EH: I am a big Darker Projects fan. I've listened to all the episodes of Byron, Night Terrors, and now Lost Frontier as well. I'm not into Doctor Who but I do enjoy David Ault (our current doctor), so I'll listen to some of the new episodes. Plus, I'm in them as well, so there's added incentive for me to listen. TCM: What is it that drew you to the character you have portrayed?

EH: Really, Tom was once of my earliest roles, so I just took what was handed to me. Now that I've gotten many roles under my belt and have had a chance to reprise the role of Tom in Lost Frontier, it's a very comfortable experience to go back and play Tom again. I guess Tom has an accent that's not hard for me to do or maintain, and his voice has kind of a high lilt to it, which is easy on the throat. Tom is also a crucial member of the Nosferatu crew, so I guess it was good to feel needed.

TCM: What is your own experience with 'canon' Star Trek? EH: My parents are Trekkies, so I was initiated early into the fold. But I always found the original series to be overly hokey, loud and boring (LET THE LYNCHING BEGIN!). When The Next Generation came around, I jumped in with both feet - I loved the effects, the characters, and especially the sounds and music of this series. I followed along to Deep Space Nine when it came out, but I find Avery Brooks to be an annoying overactor, and the whole thing was too dark, and again, boring for me. Voyager was OK; I think I watched one episode of Enterprise, wasn't wild about it. So I guess, with my track record(dislike/like/dislike/like/dislike), if another TV series comes out, odds are I'll like it. Oh, and I did watch the Animated Series when it was on Nickelodeon when I was younger. I've read a bunch of the books in the Next Generation series. Some of them are quite good, especially those by Peter David, but some of them are just like reading stereo instructions. TCM: How did you get involved with Darker Projects?

TCM: How did you get involved in voice acting in general?

EH: I took a local neighborhood night course on How To Make Money in Voiceovers, given by John Gallogly of Creative Voice Development Group (http://www.voicecoaches.com), followed by a full voiceover training course and marketing seminar, during which it was mentioned that we should all be networking with other voice talent as much as possible. Yahoo Groups were mentioned as a way to network, and when I looked into it, I found both voiceover and voice acting groups. I did a little acting as a kid (school and camp plays only) and decided it would be fun, and a great way to keep in practice. The first ones I joined were Dream Realm Enterprises (http://www.dre-gold.net) and Darker Projects. I've found voice acting is a great way to stay comfortable behind the microphone and be ready for when the paid voiceover jobs come my way (which they have, intermittently).

EH: I can't sort out in my head which came first: my involvement in a bit part for Darker Projects' "Dr. Who: Turf War" or the email from Eric asking if I wanted to be his chief engineer, but both events took place when we were both among the earliest members of Dream Realm Enterprises. After a while of working with Eric on The Section 31 Files, I started offering to edit scripts, then I got the writing bug and wrote a few scripts. After a while, Eric invited me to join the "Dark Council", and be a part of the decision-making process. From there, I've served as new member welcomer, script archiver, submission reviewer, and I even tried my hand at producing. Recently, though it all became too time-consuming for me, so I've gone back to being just an actor and lurking fanboy. I do still boast the highest post count at the Darker Projects forum. TCM: What other projects do you have on the go at the moment? EH: I still work with Darker Projects - I play several bots on their series Robotz of the Company, as well as Watson in The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes. That one's hella fun. I also am the announcer for BrokenSea audio's "Jake Sampson" series, and "Console" in their "Feedback" series, (http://www.brokensea.com), Sergeant Staccato in The Zombie Astronaut's Frequency of Fear (http://www.frequencyoffear.com) and I've done a few short instructional pieces for Voices.com as well. David Ault and I are also in the midst of a super-secret project together, but I can tell you this: it involves bad scripts, mockery and lots of giggling. In the narration side of things, I have read stories for Pseudopod, Escape Pod, PodCastle and Cimmplicity. I also thankfully still get the occasional paying voiceover gig.~

Early Beginnings Starfleet and the Federation has always prided itself on the why it has maintained itself throughout its several hundred year history, even from the early days of Earth Starfleet and their operations under the auspices of the United Earth Government. They have always been about peaceful exploration and coexistence with the other races of the galaxy, which has occasionally had them labelled as too pacifistic by the other powerful races in the Quadrant, such as the Romulans and Cardassians. But not everyone in the Federation shared such an innocent world view that was espoused by the original founders of the United Earth government. Part of the original Starfleet Charter, article 14, section 31, was written which allowed certain rules of conduct for Starfleet officers and crew to be "bent" during times of what could be perceived as an “extraordinary threat”.This one part was the catalyst for the creation of an extremely covert and incredibly autonomous division of Starfleet Intelligence, who would work towards protecting Earth at all costs. Although they were based on the Starfleet Charter, they recruited agents from all walks of life, not limiting their staff to the one organisation, bringing in the people necessary for their overriding mission. Due to their autonomous nature, they have no central HQ, but rather seemed to operate largely as individuals, only occasionally coming together to work in teams. This organisation first came to light in the early days of Starfleet, during the original mission of the NX-01 Enterprise, under Captain Jonathan Archer. Using an officer onboard the Enterprise, they actively sabotaged the attempts of the vessel to locate their missing CMO, who had been abducted by Rigellians, working for the Klingon government. When the officer's disloyalty was discovered, he was briefly incarcerated, during which time he explained some of the motives of the organisation, although he himself was unaware that the Klingons had made a deal with the covert group. Later, during the Terra Prime incident, the Enterprise crew was able to make use of their officer's former allegiance to the group, and get needed intel on the xenophobic terrorists, since the group were not opposed to the cementing of relations with aliens governments, seeing it a necessary step to helping protect Earth more thoroughly.

Evolution When the Coalition of Planets eventually evolved into the United Federation of Planets, and Starfleet was changed to become their exploration and defense organisation, the original Starfleet charter was modified, in effect allowing the group to now act as the unofficial guardian of the entire Federation. During the next 2 centuries, there were several incidents that seemed to fit into the purview of the group's involvement, but no proof of their complicity was ever discovered. These incidents include: 22nd Century being involved in the disastrous test of the Omega molecule in the Lantaru sector [mentioned in VOY: “Omega”] having the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 to illegally enter Romulan space and steal a cloaking device. [TOS: “The Enterprise Incident”] 23rd Century the illegal creation and testing of a Federation interphasic cloaking device, and subsequent cover-up operation. [TNG: “Pegasus”] complicity in the Son'a/Ba'ku affair. [TNG: “Insurrection”]

The Dominion War It was not until the Dominion War that this organisation was again close to being exposed, when they attempted to recruit the Chief Medical Officer of Deep Space Nine, a genetically-altered human, Julian Bashir, into the organisation. Their operative, Luthor Sloan, again stated that they were an autonomous agency dating back to the original Starfleet Charter, something Bashir was shocked to discover operating within the Federation. Refusing their offer, he immediately reported the existence of the organisation to his superiors, at which point, the group was given its unofficial name: Section 31, after the part of the Starfleet Charter that had led to their existence. They were likened to a secret police, similar to the Cardassians Obsidian Order, or the Romulan Tal Shiar, given the degree of impunity they seemed to operative with, and their motives to protect the Federation at all costs. In the course of this motivation, Section 31 has been shown to form alliances with known enemies in order to make sure their goals are satisfied, such as recruited Chairman Koval of the Tal Shiar to work for them in order to secure a seat for himself on the Romulan Continuing Committee. Even as the war raged, Section 31 was already planning for the next possible conflict that could follow, feeling that the Romulans would present the biggest threat to the Federation. By working with Koval, they assured this would no longer happen. During the final phase of the Dominion War, it came to light that it was Section 31 who had created the morphogenic virus that had infected the Founders of the Dominion, hoping that the death of their gods would cause the Dominion to collapse in on itself, ending their threat once and for all. Thankfully a cure was found, and this act of genocide was prevented. However, despite all that they tried to do, Section 31's existence is still swept under the rug by the Federation Council, once they were informed of these developments, suggesting that not everyone is so shocked by the idea the organisation exists.

Mobilisation Given the last decade having been filled with conflicts, such as the Borg attacks, the brief war with the Klingons, and the long hard-fought Dominion War, Section 31, now using that term as a way to describe themselves, realised that although Starfleet had tried its hardest to defend the Federation, they were not always prepared to do what was needed. With the growing conflict in the Briar Patch, Section 31 underwent a fundamental change of its own, and instead of operating as just singular agents in the field, they started building and manning a fleet of their own. With various starbases, fought to be simple frontier outposts, actually under 31 control, they already had the resources available to support this new approach. Their flagship, the first of the Kindred-class, was designated the USS Nosferatu, and placed under the command of one of their best agents, Karen Dalonna. There primary mission, like all Section 31 operatives, is the protection of the Federation, whatever it takes, meaning the crew was not bound by the Prime Directive, and they were assisted by the inclusion of a cloaking device onboard the Nosferatu. Due to the covert nature of their missions, any regular Starfleet officers who came into contact with the Nosferatu and her mission would find themselves drafted forcibly into Section 31. Occasionally, this caused problems for the Nosferatu crew, since the inclusion of officers not particularly fond of the mindset of 31's policies could cause distractions. This allowed Starfleet to gain much more of an insight into the workings of the organisation. [Please see Darker Projects, and The Section 31 Files for more information]

Later Developments

With the growing threat of the Archein, Section 31 has again changed it's goals, and begun research into the feasibility of Omega research, and so have take a great interest in the goings-on aboard the rogue USS Helena. There is also a growing concern among higher ranking Starfleet officers that Section 31 were in some way involved in the assassination of President Se'Fron, due to Se'Fron's own worries over the organisation and his efforts to put an end to it. These matters are still ongoing, and should be explored in more detail when time is available. In conclusion, Section 31 and its agents see themselves as the last line of defense of the Federation, willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that it perseveres and continues in an growing age of uncertainty. But those outside the organisation see them as dangerous rogues who do not care who gets hurt or dies in the pursuit of their own agendas. The reason those outside of the agency have such strong objections to its existsence may by the simple fact it reminds them that humans and those other races in the Federation are no different then the other races that openly have such as ruthless branch of Intelligence Operations. But in this time of growing concerns from invasion from extra-galactic forces, perhaps the Federation does need something or someone who is willing to go that extra length that the regular officers of Starfleet cannot, to make sure we all live to see another day. [When Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek, he wanted to show a world that lived in harmony with itselfs, and showed humanity at its peak, in contrast to other such races like the Klingons and Romulans, who were more vicious and violent. But denying the darkness in oneself does not make it go away, and I believe Star Trek lore is enriched by the presence of a organisation like Section 31, because it shows us that not everyone is perfect...]

This part of the Winter Special of TCM is dedicated to the Doctors of Star Trek. Gerri and Eugenia have written biographies of seven doctors from Phlox through to Henglaar from various angles, like the Voyagers Doctor and the women in his life. Also we have an article written by Doctor Henglaar himself. John Whiting has put pen to paper for this issue and has taken an in depth look at the character that he has played for around 10 years.

We hope you like this addition to the magazine. Live Long and Prosper Richard Editor TCM

One of the great surprises to me is that the almost stereotypically grouchy Henglaar, Tellarite Chief Medical Officer at Deep Space 12, is something of a fan favorite. Opinionated, obstinate and loud, I don't have to play Henglaar, I can just play myself without any acting required. Now, if you haven't watched any of the Hidden Frontier episodes, this article is rife with spoilers. One of the more popular questions I receive is "Where do you think Dr. Henglaar is now?", and to properly answer that, it helps to start with where he has been. When I was asked to submit a character sketch of Dr. Henglaar, I wanted to make him less one of the legends of Star Fleet than most Trek characters are represented. So, he was a loner, merely competent as a doctor instead of brilliant, he'd been divorced several times, he drank too much and started bar fights he couldn't win. He had few (if any) friends, but if you wanted a clear look at the realities of the universe, you'd come to him. He'd give you the unvarnished truth, at least, as he saw it. And he never claimed to be unbiased, but you at least knew what his biases were, as did he.

The writers of Hidden Frontier took this hasty pencil sketch and turned it into an oil color portrait. He was friends with Captain Knapp, primarily because they were two old hands surrounded by children who Just Didn't Get It. Later, he was on the ill-fated team that rescued Counselor Elbrey, and this helped form a link between the two sole survivors. Elbrey, a Betazoid, had no difficulty in reading Henglaar and helped keep him even more honest with himself, cheerfully dismissing some of his self-delusions with a joke or two. Henglaar, in turn, appreciated that she could be as honest as he was without being nearly so abrasive, and gradually let down some of his barriers with her.

On the other hoof, he is now saddled with his troubled niece, Silan, and he cannot retreat utterly, much as he would like to. He feels a responsibility towards her despite their mutual clashes, and he is not a being who readily shirks his responsibilities. So Silan is probably one of his last few touchstones with the world of people who care about each other. If anything can save him, it will be their mutual if grudging respect and reluctant affection for each other.

She was, for example, the only one he'd ever invited to his holographic garden, one of the few hobbies he permitted himself. Far from making fun of his hobby, she was enchanted, I think there was a time when Henglaar once again took and he unwound a little more. to the bars and started fights, although still losing them most of the time. He probably hasn't activated his But war with the Greys and later, with Siroc, intervened and garden hologram since Elbrey died. Undoubtedly, he we rarely saw the two together, and then usually in a has become more aloof and less social with his friends, professional capacity. Still their bond deepened, and while and his patients probably can't pry a word out of him Henglaar never told Elbrey he loved her, she could hear it that doesn't have to do with business. Patients he was anyway, one of the few genuine advantages of dating a previously familiar with have probably been rotated out telepath. to other doctors so he can deal with strangers instead. Things literally came to a head when a rogue Betazoid, Milo Surgant, nearly destroyed Elbrey's mind in a sneak attack. The near-loss of Myra allowed Henglaar to finally admit to himself that he loved her, and he stopped fighting himself, but also became more vulnerable.

This is the man that I believe we encounter for the proposed audio series, Henglaar, M.D., a show unabashedly based upon the tv show, House. Henglaar doesn't want to be bothered with anything or anyone, and is certain that life itself is conspiring to ruin those plans. Silan continues to get into trouble, and now he Surgant effectively destroyed Henglaar's world when Surgant has three bright doctors to teach about the realities of killed Elbrey in the Hidden Frontier series finale. Henglaar, in field work, not to mention the fact that he no longer turn, killed Surgant, but returned to the station a broken man., gets merely routine cases to deal with. barely able to attend the wedding of Corey Aster and Ro Nevin six months later.. These constant intrusions on his solitude will probably For Henglaar, the show, and the writers, it ended there. Not so for the fans, who wanted to know that eternal question, What Happens Next. Now this is my personal speculation, and it could easily be wiped out by the very next script that involves Dr. Henglaar, but they've done a good job with him so far. I think the writers are probably thinking along similar lines, at least, when they think of Henglaar at all. Henglaar's previous divorces did nothing to teach him to love deeply and to trust, and it had been only with the greatest effort that he had lowered those barriers for Myra. Doubtless the fact she was a telepath was the only reason he could, because she already knew what he was thinking and feeling, despite his pretenses. So Myra's death would have shattered him and caused him to retreat into himself once more, perhaps further than ever before.

force Henglaar to gradually re-engage with life, much like poking a badger with a stick will eventually force it to engage with you, and probably just as much fun for both sides. Will there ever be love again for Dr. Henglaar? I don't know. I think possibly, if he can meet someone else who can peel his defenses away as Elbrey did. I think he will gradually come to realize that as much as it annoys him to have his solitude breached, the solitude itself isn't all that comforting either. It's hard to tell, because a performance is a collaboration between writer, actor, and director, and we've only heard from one third of the collaborators so far. I do hope that they don't return to the old Star Trek cliche' of having him fall in love only to have his love snatched away again each episode. I think the old bastard deserves better.

Damn it Jim, I’m a Doctor not a........ Leonard McCoy’s time on the USS Enterprise was a life changing experience. His friendship with James T. Kirk and the green blooded, logical, exasperating Vulcan Spock was beyond measure. He would not be the man he was without them. Born in the ‘Old South’ region of North America on Earth he attended the University of Mississippi, got married, had a child called Joanna, divorced, his wife stripping him of all his assets. Eventually he joined Starfleet and Chief Medical Officer under the command of James Kirk on the Enterprise. An accomplished surgeon, physician, psychologist, and exobiologist, and considered expert in space psychology.

Subtlety was not a virtue that McCoy processed but his passionate and sometimes cantankerous manner often led to arguments with Kirk and Spock but these arguments seemed to strengthen their friendship not strain it. McCoy always took great pride in making quips about Spock’s logical mind but when push came to shove McCoy would give up his life for his friend. When Spock received a fatal dose of radiation he passed on his katra which was his knowledge and experience to McCoy. “That greenblooded son-of-a-bitch. It’s his revenge for all those arguments he lost.” says McCoy but deep down he treasured that he could save his friend’s life. Kirk classed Bones as a friend, confidante and counsellor not to mention an excellent bartender, McCoy always having a good stash of saurian brandy and Kentucky bourbon on hand. Kirk would come to McCoy using him as a sounding board and voice of conscience. Technically, only a lieutenant commander but McCoy was still the only person on the Enterprise who could talk back to the Captain and get away with it. McCoy considered himself a doctor first and an officer second and despite his sardonic wit, and gruff manner, he was a compassionate man, caring deeply about all living things steming back to the loss of his father who suffered a painful and incurable disease, pleading to be released from pain. Although McCoy was sure he could find a cure he eventually took his father off life support but soon after a cure was found and for many years he felt that he had caused the unnecessary death of his father. When the Enterprise was hijacked by Spock’s half brother Sybok, McCoy finally came to terms with his loss and accepted the fact the Kirk and Spock were to remain his enduring family. At the age of 137 McCoy was still part of Starfleet serving as an Admiral. When Commander Data took him on a tour of the Enterprise D, McCoy recalled many adventures he had on a ship with a similar name. ‘You treat her like a lady…’ he said to Data. ‘…and she’ll always bring you home.’~

A Woman of Substance. Intelligent, passionate, strong willed, strong sense of justice, a woman who has had to cope with great losses in her life.. These are only a few of the words that describe Beverly Crusher Chief Medical Officer of the Starship Enterprise D and E. Beverly was born in Copernicus City on Earth’s moon and when she was still a young girl she was to experience the first of her many emotional turmoils when both of her parents were killed. She went on to live with her grandmother, Felisa Howard who used herbs and roots for medicinal purposes. It was her ‘Nana’ who inspired her to pursue a career in medicine. Through hardwork and persistence Beverly was admitted to Starfleet Medical Academy. It was here that she met the love of her life Jack Crusher. The two were married after Jack proposed to her through a gag gift, a book entitled ‘How to Advance Your Career Through Marriage’. Jack went on to serve on the USS Stargazer under the command of Jean-Luc Picard. The couple became very good friends with Picard. It was not long after that Beverly and Jack had a baby boy that they called Wesley, but sadly Wesley was not to grow up knowing his father. Jack was killed during an away mission and once again Beverly was to experience grieving, when Picard brought Jack’s body home to them. She never fully recovered from her husband’s death. At the same time that Picard was appointed captain of the Enterprise, Beverly was also appointed as Chief Medical Officer. With Wesley by her side she started her term of duty when they were picked up at Farpoint Station. Picard initially had reservations about her being part of the Enterprise crew, but she assured him that the past would have no effect on her duties and she had no problem serving under his command. On board the starship Beverly made many medical breakthroughs. She pioneered surgical techniques, was the first non-Trill to study their anatomy and transplant a symbiont into a new host. She was the first to study a macroscopic coalescent organism found on Relay Station 47. Her main interest was in cybernetics and ethnobotany and she wrote many papers on the subjects. These achievements led to her being offered a position as head of Starfleet Medical, a position that she took up for a year until she returned to the place that she felt very much a part of, Enterprise. Not only was Beverly a medical officer, she was also a fullycertified bridge officer. She often commanded night watch shifts to stay on top of starship operations. On a number of occasions she proved her command abilities by escaping a few dicey situations while the ship was under her command.

Beverly was also an accomplished thespian and playwright. She formed a theatre troupe aboard the Enterprise and produced several classic and original plays. Even though she was a fantastic dancer this was not something she shared with others. As Data found out she did not want to be called the ‘Dancing Doctor’ as she was in her Academy days. To the crew she was always compassionate and thoughtful. She was a regular participant in the Enterprise D poker games with Riker, La Forge, Worf and Data. A good friend to Deanna Troi and Nurse Alyssa Ogawa. Beverly usually shared her morning meal with Jean-Luc Picard whom she classed close friends and would give each other advice when dealing with difficult decisions. She was the only senior officer who customarily addressed the rest of the bridge crew by their first names. Once again Beverly suffered great loss when Wesley decided to go with The Traveller. She knew it was the right thing for Wesley to do but that did not stop the hurt she felt of her only son leaving to go ‘who knows where’. The Enterprise crew gained a lot by care of this woman. Beverly Crusher one of the future’s great doctors.~

More than just a self made man! Julian Subatoi Bashir, ‘Jules’ to his mother and father was not always the brilliant, athletic, cool in a medical crisis doctor that we see in the Chief Medical Officer of Deep Space Nine. In fact when he started school he was evaluated as having learning difficulties. While the other students were learning how to read and write and use the computer, Julian was still trying to tell a dog from a cat and a tree from a house. At age seven his parents took him to Adigeon Prime. It was here that he started a series of treatments called ‘accelerated critical neural pathway formation’. This treatment re-sequenced his DNA which in turn increased his mental and physical abilities. Over a two week period his IQ increased by five points a day. The new genius Julian was created.

When the Bashirs returned to Earth they moved to a different city, where Julian was enrolled in a new school using falsified records as human genetic engineering is illegal in the United Federation of Planets. Julian decided to become a doctor, after an incident with his father that remained with him for life. During an ion storm he and his father found shelter in a cave with a girl who had become very ill. The girl died but she could have been saved by herbs that were growing near by. This lack of knowledge led him to choose medicine as his profession, though he did consider being a professional tennis player for a little while. His parents were much happier that he chose to become a doctor. After his graduation Julian was offered the choice of any job in Starfleet. He was also offered a position at a prestigious medical complex in Paris by Dr Delon who was the father of Julian’s then girlfriend, Palis. He eventually chose to stay in Starfleet and decided he wanted to be where he would be needed most, to practice ‘frontier medicine’. So he took up a post at Deep Space Nine as its Chief Medical Officer. Although medically brilliant Julian still had a bit to learn about social interaction. His cockiness, overly enthusiastic, self-important nature put Kira Nerys and Miles O’Brien offside when he first arrived. Eventually though he became good friends with Miles O’Brien and won the respect of the others at the station. To relax, Miles and Julian would play very competitive games of racquetball and darts. They would also use the holosuite to immerse themselves in the recreation of historical events like the Battle of Britain and The Alamo. Together they even built a scale model of the Battle of the Alamo. When it eventually came out that Julian was genetically engineered he thought his Starfleet career was over. However Starfleet realised that they would lose more than they would gain by court martialling him. Julian’s skill as a medical practitioner, tactical officer, phaser marksman and pilot was to save the lives of many of the personnel and aliens that he encountered. He retained his commission on Deep Space Nine to continue what he had set out to do, that is to help those in need.~

The Women Who Changed His Life The EMH onboard Voyager was an Emergency Medical Holographic Program AK-1 Diagnostic and Surgical Subroutine Omega 323. The EMH was developed by a team of engineers led by Dr Louis Zimmerman as an emergency supplement to the medical team on a starship. Never did they dream that the EMH program that was only meant to run for a maximum of 1500 hours had the capacity to develop and become a valued member of a crew. The Doctor activated when Voyager was pulled into the Delta Quadrant and the medical crew were killed, was treated just like any other computer program. Little did they know that this EMH would become more than just digital data and holographic programming. Kes a new crewmember on Voyager was the first to discover The Doctor’s personality. Her then boyfriend a Talaxian called Neelix had tricked the Voyager crew into rescuing her from the Kazon. When Kes assigned her self to medical she began to work with The Doctor on developing his bedside manner and was the first to consider The Doctor as a person and encouraged him to think of himself as another member of the crew and taught him social skills. She even persuaded Janeway that The Doctor had a right to be treated as an equally as any crew member. As The Doctor discovered more about what he could do apart from medical procedures he was encouraged by Kes to find a name for himself. His first thought was Schweitzer. On an away mission on the holodeck to investigate the disappearance of Chakotay, Tuvok and Harry Kim a holographic character by the name of Freya became attracted to him. This attraction became mutual but during the holodeck mission she was stabbed protecting him and died with his name on her lips. From then on he could not use the name Schweitzer again. When Vidiian Doctor Denara Pel was beamed aboard Voyager and near death, The Doctor transmitted her synaptic pathways into a hologram of her body without the disease Phage. For the short time that they were together The Doctor developed romantic feelings for her. He even added a dancing subroutine to his program so that he could experience that with her. Denara eventually went back to her people and took with her very fond memories of her holographic doctor.

A holograph that helped the Doctor to feel more human was his holographic wife Charlene and his holographic daughter Belle. The Doctor decided that creating a holographic family would help him to interact better with the crew. His version of the family was a little too perfect for B’Elanna Torres. She suggested adding randomness and realism. Consequently the Doctor ended up having arguments with his wife and son. It was not till the death of Belle that he realised that he must work through the death to be more in touch with the feelings of great grief. By the time Seven of Nine became part of Voyager, The Doctor was well respected and a loved member of the crew and not only did he tend to Seven’s medical needs he decided that he would teach Seven social behaviour just as Kes had three years earlier. The Doctor encouraged Seven to explore romantic relationships and coached her in the basics of dating and grooming. It was during this time that he found himself falling in love with Seven but he never admitted it to her. It did not take too long and to his disappointment realise that she did not reciprocate his feelings. During the seven years that Voyager travelled through the Delta Quadrant The Doctor found himself becoming good friends with Kathryn Janeway, the captain of the ship. Initially he disliked her but as time went on they developed almost a mother/son relationship, with The Doctor often coming to Janeway when he needed personal advice or information about how his program was developing. Janeway owes her life to The Doctor who has saved her on many occasions. It is only in an alternate timeline that we catch a glimpse of how The Doctor continues to develop his ‘humanity’ when he leaves Voyager. At a reunion party that commemorated the return of Voyager after 23 years in the Delta Quadrant Tom Paris is introduced to his wife Lana and he has finally given himself the name Joe, after Lana’s grandfather. Without the women that he has met since he was activated in the Badlands, the Doctor would only continue to be an Emergency Medial Holographic Program stating ‘What is the nature of the medical emergency’!!~

The Weird and Wonderful World of Dr Phlox Phlox introduced to the crew of Enterprise NX-01 an experience of a race and culture that had not been experienced by many before. During the years they spent together they slowly began to find out how different Phlox was and how dedicated he was to the health and well being of the crew.

Phlox was born on Denobula, in the Denobula Triaxa system. After many years of working as a doctor on his home planer he decided to join the Interspecies Medical Exchange Program serving at Starfleet Medical on Earth. He had come to the conclusion at a very early age that he did not want to view the cultures of others with hatred and suspicion like his family had done but wanted to embrace the cultures of others. This being part of the reason why he no longer talked to his two younger sons who were against learning from other cultures even though Phlox had tried to instill in them that different customs and cultures should be respected.

Denobulan culture has the tradition of “group marriage” and Phlox had three wives, who in turn had three husbands each. This resulted in 720 relationships, there were 31 children in his extended family, and he had five children of his own: three sons and two daughters.

Many of his species needs are very different to both human and Vulcan and one of these was that Phlox only required six days of sleep per year and if interrupted he became disoriented and very very grumpy! Some other distinguishing features were his ability to control his facial muscles, being able to open his mouth wider than humans, as demonstrated by his seemingly impossibly large grin he occasionally sported and also inflating his head like a blowfish to scare off attackers. His other odd practices was the cleaning his extra-long tongue and using his toenail clippings as food for his creatures.

Phlox was no ‘dummy’, he achieved many degrees in interspecies medicine, six in interspecies veterinary medicine and others in hematology, organic chemistry, botanical pharmacology, exobiology and psychiatry. However, at times his method of treating crew members seemed at touch unorthodox when he used animals in various ways to assist in healing a patient with some of his menagerie includeing Altarian marsupials, immunocytic gel worms, osmotic eels, Regulan bloodworms, tribbles, and the Pyrithian bat that he occasionally would be found talking to!

Though Denobulans do not like to be touched, Phlox did his best to overcome his cultural inhibitions and was able to socialise with the Enterprise crew, striking up friendships with many of them. In fact he got more mail than anyone else on Enterprise! There was no doubt that the Enterprise NX-01 was a healthier place due to the care and dedication of this doctor from Denobula.~

I Am What I Am!! “Stubborn, acerbic, cantankerous replacement who I firmly believed was sent specifically to drive me mad” said Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the USS Enterprise. This is how he described one Dr Katherine Pulaski who he would have back serving on his ship in a flash. It took the crew and Jean-Luc some time to get used to the new doctor who had taken over from Beverly Crusher. She was much more “in your face” and louder than her predecessor often chiming in with humorous or even sarcastic remarks. Nurses found some of her methods archaic as she preferred more traditional methods of doctoring which included occasionally prescribing ‘PCS’ also known as ‘Pulaski’s Chicken Soup’. Surprisingly even though she used medical technology daily her discomfort with other forms of technology meant she not only loathed using the transporter preferring to travel by shuttle. It also meant that she found it hard to relate to Data as she saw him as no more than a machine. She would sometimes speak about him in the third person while he was present, and would refer to him as ‘it’. When Data stayed with Pulaski to support her after she had become infected from the children at the Darwin Station her opinion of Data changed. Her brusque manner and caustic tongue probably contributed to her three failed marriages, though she did remain friends with each of them. Her admiration of Jean-Luc’s commanding ability did not stop her from coming to logger heads with him on a number of occasions and even though he found her blunt approach to issues annoying he admired her courage and dedication. She revelled in a game of poker and the Klingon culture held a certain fascination for her and when Worf was diagnosed with the Klingon equivalent of measles, Pulaski made sure no one knew. Worf considered her a friend and to thank her he invited her to partake in the Klingon tea ceremony which she readily accepted but made sure she took the antidote for the substance in the tea that was lethal to Humans.

In the Medical world Pulaski is well respected. Her book, ‘Linear Models of Viral Propagation’ is still used as a standard text. She developed techniques and completed two successful operations involving the ocular implants and pioneered a technique used to selectively wipe memory engrams from humanoid species and of course is also a heart surgeon saving Picard’s life by performing his cardiac replacement surgery.

What do they say “that time is relative”? It may only have been a year that Katherine Pulaski served on the Enterprise but she is forever a part of the history of the USS Enterprise.

Don’t mess with a Tellarite

Henglaar, the Chief Medical Officer of the USS Excelsior where he first served with Captain Ian Quincy Knapp. They had become friends when they served together on the USS Devonshire during the Dominion War. His friendship with Knapp was that of two soldiers who had survived a war in the same foxhole together. When Knapp was promoted to Commodore, First Officer Elizabeth Shelby was promoted as the Excelsior’s captain. Even though Henglaar’s main role is Chief Medical Officer on the USS Excelsior he still retains a lab and offices aboard Deep Space 12. Dr Henglaar is from Tellar Prime, a class M planet that is one of the founding planets of the Federation. Tellarites known to be impatient and stubborn enjoy a good argument, which is even considered a sport on Tellar. Henglaar displays a typical Tellarite personality with his patient which means the crew try to remain healthy only going to Sickbay if they are very very sick as they would rather avoid Henglaar’s bedside or rather lack of bedside manner. He has been married and divorced several times. Henglaar is a mean poker player in the sense that when he loses, which is frequent, he gets very mean. Consequently he is banned from most of the gambling facilities and all of the bars on Deep Space 12. Apart from medicine his other skills include being a skilled pilot despite the fact it has been twenty five years since his flight training and he is also very a good shot with a phaser. Despite his gruff manner Henglaar has been an asset to Starfleet. He assisted Toby Witzcak in the development of a neural jammer as a defence against the Grey. He earned a commendation for going undercover to break up a drug ring on Bovina IV and he developed a partially effective treatment for clinical depression in Andorians. He also has the distinction of being one of a few people who have flown a starship kamikaze style into a Grey warship and survived. For relaxation Henglaar loves to potter in a holographic re-creation of a 20th Century urban garden, a program that so far he has only shared with Counsellor Myra Elbrey. He first met Elbrey on an away mission where they rescued her from the USS Rutledge. The two of them have become good friends and this friendship is now blossoming into a romance. Will Elbrey’s devilish sense of humour eventually tame the tough Tellerite? Only time will tell.

This very low profile, intelligence organisation took its name from Article 14, Section 31 of the Starfleet charter, which allowed certain rules of conduct to be ‘bent’ during time of treat. It origins are somewhere in the 22nd Century. Its main work is to search out and identify potential threats to the Federation and to ‘quietly’ get rid of them. Starfleet Command doesn’t acknowledge its existence but it doesn’t deny it either. Section 31 is a totally autonomous group who do not submit reports or ask approval for certain operations. They work on their own without specific orders and are accountable to nobody but themselves. They function as judge, jury and executioner. In order to protect the Federation they will defile Federation principles. It was Odo who likened Section 31 to the Federation’s equivalent of the Cardassian Union’s Obsidian Order or the Romulan Star Empire’s Tal Shair. Bashir when he was stationed on Deep Space 9 was recruited by Luther Sloan one of Section 31’s top agents. Sloan had well honed interrogation skills. To test Bashir and his loyalty to Starfleet, Sloan did a number of things. This showed just how ruthless Section 31 was. Bashir was beamed out of his quarters after only an hour of sleep. (Subjects are more mineable when they haven’t had a lot of sleep). The replicators are taken off line, so that weapons cannot be replicated. Transmissions are also monitored. An implant is put near the back of Bashir’s neck to check his neuro synaptic relay. Bashir is interrogated to heighten his stress level so better readings can be taken. Other methods Section 31 has used include brainwashing, torture, and genocide.

Sloan is very clever. There is no record of him in Starfleet. He has learnt to cover his tracks. He just appears in people’s bedrooms and is not afraid to bend the rules if the situation warrants it. When necessary Sloan takes on an alias’ and has broken all ties with his family and friends. He is an extremely dangerous and ruthless individual. So great was his loyalty to Section 31 that he gave up his life when he triggered a lethal implant in his brain, committing suicide to prevent Bashir from finding the cure to the morphogenic virus. Officially Starfleet Command says they are appalled that an organisation like Section 31 exists. Yet unofficially Starfleet would send in Section 31 to carry out the ‘dirty work’ the Federation did not want to be seen doing or condoning. The implications of Section 31 have been described as ‘troubling’ and its goals and methods ‘deeply questionable’. To quote Sloan ‘someone has to protect men like you (Bashir) from a universe that doesn’t share your sense of right and wrong.’~

After the Dominion War, the Federation and its citizens are trying to return to a somewhat normal existence. One aspect of normalcy is looking outwards and making decisions about how you will live your life. One group has decided that they will make a new life for themselves in the Charydbis Sector. Starfleet a little mistrustful after a long and costly war is unwilling to let civilians travel the galaxy without protection and so the USS Intrepid is assigned to follow and protect. The colonists are very independent and don’t believe they need Starfleet Obviously, after a war with a particularly elusive type of enemy such as shapeshifters, Starfleet could be said to be on the paranoid side of the coin and Starfleet Intelligence is now no longer just in the background it has come out of the closet! Starfleet Intelligence’s representative in the Charydbis Sector is Jacen Navar, who has been assigned to Commodore Prentice’s (CO of this assignment) staff as an Intelligence Specialist. Prentice finds out that Navar is under “sealed orders” and even after directly asking him about them, the Lieutenant Commander was able to say to a Commodore. go away and I’m not telling you anything! A moment later we see him access the computer and asking to open files on the Surii! The computer states that the files do not exist! He then gives his authorisation “Navar Capa 732” and lo and behold we find out that he has “Level Red” authorisation. So there is more than meets the end with this. To give Navar his due prior to this he did ask his unknown superior if he could explain “the situation” but he did not gain approval to do this! Is Level Red authorisation for Section 31 operatives, is Navar and operative? Navar offers his “experience” later on the bridge as alien ships appear, he has no hesitation questioning the orders that he receives, even to the point of insubordination. Is this confidence because he knows that he has the backing of Section 31?

How about Matthew Cole, he seems to think that he also is able to give orders to captains as well, and he is only a Lieutenant? During a prisoner interrogation Navar comes to take the prisoner away and during an argument he seems to imply that he and Cole are the same! Section 31 seems to have its hand in lots of pies! Over on Federation One we find Presidential Security Officer Lieutenant Commander Matt McCabe who can get Section 31 Generals to give him information! It seems that Sec 31 agents can be in every part of the Federation. On Deep Space 12, Lieutenant Aster’s councillor also seems to be a Section 31 plant! Is Section 31 expanding its universe, has the Dominion War allowed this most secret of secret sections within Starfleet to spread its paranoia within the higher echelons of Starfleet Command? Is the Federation culture emulating some of the characteristics of the Romulan Empire? Will Federation principles or Federation paranoia win!

TCM: How do you see Catherine Niles as a person?

TCM: You took over the role of Dalonna in “The Section 31 Files”. How did you prepare for that? LP: Well, when I was asked to take over the immense responsibility of Dalonna, I of course accepted, and the first thing I did was go back and listen to every espisode of S31, repeatedly, because at that point I had only listened to some of the more recent episodes, and I wanted to be sure I had a full understanding of how she had grown as a character, and how her relationships with the rest of the cast had changed, etc. I then tried to get a handle of how Kara had sounded while performing the role, her vowel sounds, the placement of her voice, etc. I’m personally not very good at voice matching, but I felt it was still important to try and have as much consistency as possible. Then, after all that, I had to think about my own personal views of Dalonna, and how she spoke to me, because if I just tried to Mimic Kara’s amazing performance, it would be just that, a pale mimicry. I was so nervous when it was time for everyone to listen. I was prepared for the worst to be honest, but I think the fans were pretty accepting. TCM: How do you try to individualise your various characters? LP: Well, I have heard the criticism in the past that some of my characters sound the same/use the same voice, and I have to agree. Of course, people don’t realize that sometimes as an actor, you just become a “go to” for a certain type of part. It’s fairly common among voice actors actually. Still, I think that all of my characters are very different on a personal level, and personally I know very well when I’m playing Lauren (From Falcon Banner), for example, as opposed to playing Kate (from Lost Frontier), even though they sound similar. In a non DP case, I had a fun time playing two teenage girls playing opposite each other for a TV show to play in the background of a short live action film. To differentiate them, they each had drastically different speech patterns, so the first girl was very perky with a bright clear voice and she talked a little faster, whereas the other girl was a little more laid back, with some texture to her voice, and she had this habit of ending almost every sentence in a question mark. They ended up having some great chemistry, and the director made a short series of animated shorts based off of those two characters.

LP: I love Kate, she’s just amazing. She’s often feeling emotionally torn, because she does feel a certain sense of entitlement to the position of Captain of the Enterprise and frustration at the choice of Trask, but she also has a strong sense of duty and honor that prevents her from sometimes acting out what she would truly like to do. She’s also starting to warm up to Captain Trask the longer they work together, which I personally think is hilarious, because she wants to hate him so much, but she can’t help but start to admire and respect him. Personally, I feel that she used to be a much more idealistic person, but that a variety of circumstances caused her to be the more cynical, jaded person she is now. TCM: How would you like to see her evolve? LP: Wow. Well, personally, I would love for her to find what she’s looking for. It’s a shame she isn’t really sure what that is yet. As a fan I would also really like to see her get “back together” with Q. Because Q is my favorite Star Trek character ever. TCM: What do you do to prepare for a Lost Frontier scene? LP: Well, by this point I have a pretty good grip on Kate and how she sounds/behaves/feels, so I don’t need to do too much preparation. I go through the script to see if there are any Star Trek references (I am a fan, but some of the more obscure references I need to double check) that I need to understand in order to record, or need to check on the pronunciation for, and then I record the lines pretty much. TCM: Do you focus just on the series you work on, or do you keep updated with the other shows on the site? LP: I try to keep updated on all of the shows on Darker Projects, as there are some really great series. Albeit my favorite series are ones I am involved in, (Byron, No Man’s Land, Falcon Banner). But even though I am no longer playing Chris, I still have to hear about what happens next in the adventures of the Pale Man of Portland. I also really love any and all episodes of Night Terrors. I do sometimes fall a bit behind though, as sometimes I’m just very busy! (My iPod has helped with that though.)

TCM: Do you enjoy playing one character over the other? LP: It would be nice of me to say that I love all of my characters equally, like children, or something like that. But there are definitely characters I enjoy playing more than others. Chris from Byron Chronicles was always one of my favorites, as well as Lauren in Falcon Banner, and I do love Kate a great deal too, she’s just so much fun! I can’t say what it is really that makes playing any one character more enjoyable than any other, as there are so many factors involved, but I’m sure every actors has their own set of favorites. TCM: What is it that drew you to the various characters you have portrayed? LP: To be honest, I just love voice acting. As I was saying to a friend, “If the role of ‘Rock’ was available, and it’s line was ‘I am a rock.’ And it’s backstory was that it had been a rock its entire existence…I would STILL want to play that rock.” It might sound silly, but I think every character and every project has the potential to be one of those amazing projects I won’t forget. For example, when I was first performing the role of Kate, all I really knew about her, and about the show, was that the universe had been torn about, and that Kate was the Captain of a ship, and that she was angry she wouldn’t be captain of the Enterprise. That was pretty much it, but in the end, she became one of my favorite characters to play. TCM: How did you get involved in voice acting in general? LP: Well, when I was six, I saw Disney’s The Little Mermaid (yes I know, I know) and I really really realized I wanted to do the voice of cartoons. I wasn’t very much into “acting” in general, I suppose, but I knew I wanted to be the voices of cartoon characters. Unfortunately (or more appropriately fortunately) my mother was not much a stage mother, and like many childhood dreams, the thoughts of voice acting fell by the wayside for a good ten years or so. I did some stage acting in my teenage years, but there is something about the stage I don’t love nearly as much as being behind a microphone. In 2002 I went to an Anime Convention (Acen, for those familiar with the convention scene), and I saw in the program a few panels about “Voice Acting” and I thought to myself, “You mean, doing cartoon voices? Like my childhood dream?” So I went to the panels, got some resources, and just started up from there. Sort of a boring story I suppose, but it’s the truth!

TCM: What is your own experience with 'canon' Star Trek? LP: My mom and I used to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation a lot. I love that show. I’m moderately familiar with Voyager as well, but outside of those two shows I don’t know much, to be perfectly honest. I think my Mom might be a bigger Trekkie than I (she’s familiar with Deep Space Nine and Enterprise and other stuff, though neither of us know much about The Original Series oddly enough.) Personally, I always tend to like the computer type characters… Data, The Doctor from Voyager, Seven of Nine, and well… as I mentioned earlier, I love Q (even though he’s not a computer.) TCM: How did you get involved with Darker Projects? LP: I auditioned for a project (although I don’t remember what now) that required a Russian Accent. They had all ready filled that part, but they directed me to another group, Dream Realm Enterprises, that needed a female with a Russian Accent. Right around that time, Darker Projects was looking for a (surprise!) female with a Russian Accent for their Doctor Who three parter coming out, and Dream Realm Enterprises mentioned my work to them, so they asked if I could play Ivanava in Doctor Who. After that I was on the mailing list and just kept auditioning really. The best part about this story? I don’t really like my Russian Accent very much! TCM: What projects do you have on the go at the moment? LP: Well, an anime series I played a supporting role in, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s, just came out a few weeks ago or so, so it was fun to watch that! I’m still working on a few Darker Projects Productions as well, mostly continuing the roles I currently have and such. I also keep myself busy doing narrations for computer programs and other corporate projects.~

TCM: How much involvement did you have over your character's evolution?

HERE TCM TALKS TO MARK KALITA, WHO PLAYS TAKILA MAK, IN DARKER PROJECTS STAR TREK THE SECTION 31 FILES AND STAR TREK LOST FRONTIER.

TCM: How do you see Takila Mak as a person? MK: Mak is historically very much a loner and doesn't trust others easily. However his circumstances have been such that he's had no choice but to occasionally rely on others from time to time. I've typically imagined him to be an only child whose parents were so busy with their own scientific or administrative work on the homeworld that he was left to learn a lot of things on his own. It was that combination of independence and natural curiosity for the unknown that made him an excellent candidate for the Novachron Sentinels. For most of his life, Mak hasn't had many enduring relationships and few peope he'd call friends. Naturally, being virtually immortal it's kind of hard to get to close to people only to have them die. Over the centuries I expect he's known a number of beings with whom he'd say he was pretty close, especially during his time on the Defiant and the Nosferatu. Those crews were probably about as close to family as he's seen since leaving home.

MK: About 96% by now. I created the character in March of 1996 for the U.S.S. Defiant role-playing/storytelling list that was run by Jeffrey Bridges who now leads Pendant Audio. Though Jeffrey wasn't really around for my first year, his "XO" Scott Kliemann took me on and made Mak the ship's Chief Intelligence Officer which I thought was very cool. When Mak first debuted I had it in mind for him to be a Trill host (Mak actually being the name of the creature inside him) and that can be seen in my first couple stories, but I decided soon that I didn't want him to be bogged down by this thing and decided to have it go mad and die, with Mak essentially cutting himself open to remove it. But, since the hosts typically died as well, I needed an angle to keep him alive. At the time, my knowledge of Star Trek aliens was pretty much limited to Klingons, Vulcans, Romulans, Ferengi...the major popular races; but I wanted something different, something more than just human. So I researched a number of books about races on Star Trek and I picked up a book at a used bookstore called "Let's Trek: The Budget Guide to the Federation" by James Van Hise. Inside was a description about a place called Novachron that sounded pretty cool, so I said, "OK, Mak will come from there." I cleared it with Scott and then searched the Internet to find what I could about the place but really discovered nothing apart from a brief reference to Novachron that Wesley Crusher made while speaking to Guinan in an episode of Next Gen. Well, I thought, at least the place isn't made up, but it looks like I'm going to have to flesh out what Novachron is all about and over the years I've developed a number of ideas about its people and culture. Naturally, when working with a group of writers on collaborative projects there are occasionally times when others have gotten particularly creative with him and the Novachron mythos such as the development of the concept of the clan system on Novachron which was introduced in the very late 1990's by Elise Tobler, my former editor at the First Light fanzine. At the time it sounded pretty cool and the idea of Mak being largely immortal and part of a clan (Clan Shuriik) greatly appealed to my love of the Highlander mythos, so I went with it. Eric Busby at Darker Projects was also keen on the idea of a connection between Mak and Dr. Who and as such, has made references to the two of them having crossed paths over the years as well. Thinking back to Wesley's comment to Guinan, I thought the possible tie between the El Aurians and the Novachrons was an interesting concept so I took things a step further and connected the two in our mileu as having been descended from an original source race --

along with the Gallifreyans from Dr. Who -- and came up with the concept of The Three Tribes. Though this relationship between the three races has only recently started to come to light in the second season of the BrokenSea Dr. Who audio dramas, I had actually laid the foundation for it about 10 years ago. But on the whole, I've tried to keep my hand on the character at all times over the years so that other people don't get too creative and take him in directions that would seem overly out of character. I think the greatest thing about playing Mak has been the fact that since I know him so well he's very easy to write for and act out. He is an interesting blend of darkness and light, moodiness and mirth, seriousness and sarcastic humor. I believe actors bring the most life to characters they connect with and Mak is very much a part of me. In fact, these days most of the people in the fan audio community simply call me Mak rather than Mark, which I find rather interesting. The reality of it is this though: TAKILA is simply an anagram of my last name and M.A.K. are my initials.

TCM: You are also known for portraying Doctor Who at both Darker Projects and Broken Sea. Who do you prefer playing? MK: I don't know that I necessarily have a preference because both roles have so much of me in them now and they both indulge different aspects of my personality. Mak is my darker more brooding side: the cynical, down-and-dirty professional side, while The Doctor is more a reflection of my whimsical, curious, eccentric side. I find Mak perhaps a bit easier to play in that his voice is largely my own, whereas I need to "Brit-ify" my voice a little to play Dr. Who. What I've found particularly interesting is despite having played Mak for so long and having been identified so closely with the character, in the past year and a half I'm discovering even more people now linking me with the Doctor. In either case, it's a lot of fun and the recognition always flatters me.

TCM: How do you try to individualise your various characters? MK: Well, by now I've played quite a diverse bunch of characters from a nigh-immortal space soldier on Star Trek to a nubian shaman on Conan: Queen of the Black Coast, so I'd say the biggest thing I try to do is make them all sound and feel as different as I can. One of the worst things an actor can perpetrate is to make all their characters sound the same, what some people call the "Keanu Reeves School of Acting," where no matter who they play, the character essentially sounds or behaves the same. I've also tried purposely to play roles that are marketably different so as to avoid being branded as some kind of one-trick pony character actor. While it's cool to play quasi-immortal spacemen, it's not the only thing I want to be known for.

TCM: What would you do to prepare for a Section 31 scene? MK: Not too much really, apart from read the scene to understand what's going on and get a sense of the gravity of the situation so I know how I should be reacting to the other actors' dialogue. As I said, Mak is so closely connected with me that the delivery and the voice typically just fall into place. Other shows are more of a challenge, like Percy Atherton on Maudelayne. I find I really have to concentrate to get his voice and personality in sync. When I played Carl Henshawe in the audio adaptation of David Moody's Autumn, I was absolutely exhausted afterward; not just from several days of recording a huge script, but from trying to keep the accent and emotional levels where they needed to be. For the Old Man on BrokenSea's adaptation of Logan's Run, I literally had the movie in my DVD-ROM as a scene-by-scene reference for Peter Ustinov's vocal mannerisms. TCM: Do you focus just on the series you work on, or do you keep updated with the other shows on the site? MK: Being a member of the BrokenSea executive team I'm afforded the luxury of being able to hear everything before it's actually released, as well as to review many shows as they're being produced. So while I may not work directly on a particular show, I do have the opportunity to give input on its development.

TCM: Do you enjoy playing one character over the other? MK: I think most actors have favorite characters they've played for different reasons. Certainly I'm best known for Takila Mak and Dr. Who at this point, but I can't say that I prefer one over the other as they're both now such a close part of me. I will admit I like stretching my theatrical chops a bit and doing assorted diverse roles like Eye Ching on Ulysses: Intergalactic Guides and Bounties Inc. or Cornelius and The Lawgiver on Planet of the Apes or Professor Charles Xavier for Circus-13's X-men production. My newest challenge is playing Algernon Moncrieff in The Importance of Being Earnest for Gypsy Audio. That's been fun.

TCM: What is it that drew you to the various characters you have portrayed? MK: It's varied from character to character. I'd created and written for Mak for many years and been a fan of Dr. Who for even longer, so I'd had a longstanding relationship with them and consequently I got into them very easily. I was attracted to other characters, ironically, for opposite reasons -- because they were so different. Further still, have been the characters that people have come to me personally for because they saw something in my work that they believed could bring one of their characters to life, like Blackthorn on Feedback: A Hero's Calling. I was attracted to Maudelayne because I not only liked the sort of P.G. Wodehouse-like setting, but I loved the concept of these portals opening up and letting in various mythological creatures. With Gaia's Voyages, which I do for Misfitsaudio, I got involved by accident just chatting with its creator, Elaine Barrett. What I liked about that show was the huge cast of different, bizarre characters; but initially my role didn't even exist. Elaine essentially wove it in out of her need for "a cosmic badass" in the vein of Takila Mak. So she created the assassin, Armarok, and I've been helping to flesh him out a bit. TCM: How did you get involved in voice acting in general? MK: Purely by accident. To be honest, I've always hated the sound of my voice. But just before the turn of this century (I love being able to say that), the Big Finish company in England started making Dr. Who audio stories using the actual actors from the TV show. Eric Busby and I were writing stories on the Defiant list at the time and he thought we should look into dramatizing some of them and perhaps, if it worked out, make our own BF-style series. So we enlisted our pals from the list and whipped up a few episodes. At the time, of course, none of us had any real experience in writing, acting or post-production and it showed, but it was fun -- fun enough for Eric to suggest we explore doing a Dr. Who series as well. Few people know that I wasn't actually the first choice for The Doctor. That came about after Eric's original choice bailed out and I stepped in that same night, recording a 1-page script he'd written playing both the part of The Doctor and his whifferdil companion, Frobisher. In truth I just didn't want to see the project die even if it meant my own awful voice had to hold it for awhile. That night, Eric took those raw lines, put in some SFX and the next day my true first appearance as Dr. Who was born.

TCM: What is you own experience with 'canon' Star Trek? MK: That there doesn't seem to be much left to do with it anymore, hence its imminent "relaunch" with the new movie. Like most of Hollywood, I've gotten the impression that creativity has taken quite a dive and Trek has unfortunately gotten pretty stale. So if all else fails, start from scratch (we've seen it with Batman, Superman and James Bond already). What was radical on the original series or cutting-edge on Next Gen, and to a degree on DS9, simply became watered down as the franchise went on. Voyager was an attempt to return to the grass roots of "boldly going where no one has gone before" with the added novelty of a female captain and more of a balance between male and female characters which was great. But again it suffered from weak stories and lame alien races to such an extent that the Borg had to constantly be brought in to boost ratings. As a result, the Borg essentially lost their cool factor. I suppose canonical Star Trek has typically been a very cut and dry, black and white universe: you're either a good guy or a bad guy and Starfleet always prevails. That's what fans found so appealing, I think, about The Section 31 Files: our show had a genuine edge for portraying a crew whose missions and characters operated in various shades of grey. TCM: How did you get involved with Darker Projects and BrokenSea? MK: As I mentioned earlier, Eric and I needed a new creative outlet. We started with the Defiant audios and fairly soon into it we parted company with Jeffrey who went on to found Pendant. We still wanted to make Trek and Dr. Who, but had no way of hosting it nor did we have much knowledge about how to make more professional-sounding shows. So we hooked up with a woman named Aurora McPherson who ran a group called Quantum Realities Productions, that's also how we met Matthew Kopelke at Back To Reality Productions (BTR), who'd already been producing a Dr. Who show for awhile. They both gave Eric a lot of pointers about how to produce audio and his mixing kung-fu began to grow strong. Unfortunately, various things happened and we severed our relationship with QRP after my debut episode of Dr. Who, "Grave White North" was delayed for nearly a year. Thus Eric and I decided we'd create our own audio group. He'd originally wanted to call it Defiant Productions, but between concerns over potential confusion between its name and the Defiant RPG/storytelling list as well as the discovery that Defiant Productions was also the name of a gay porn company, he settled upon Darker Projects. Back then it was essentially the two of us, in a sort of audio relationship like Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, but on a much smaller scale. We both wrote, he post-produced and I acted. In time, Eric brought in Tom Davis, an old friend who was a Web guru, and our work soon started attracting some fantastic actors, writers and post-producers who got the ball really rolling and Eric selected a few of us to become Darker Projects' management team, The Dark Council. Now, audio groups, I've discovered, aren't terribly different from rock bands. They are composed of creative, talented people and colorful personalities; and given time they can not only make magic, but also come to cross-purposes. It's not unusual at all. However, it can get very stressful for everyone involved. As luck would have it, Paul Mannering (a former Dark Council member himself, albeit briefly) and Bill Hollweg (a complete newcomer to audio at the time) struck up a friendship that led to their concept of the BrokenSea audio group. I'd struck up a relationship with each of them individually around that time and they approached me about joining their executive team. They also spoke to David Sobkowiak (who had done some assorted work over at DP as well) to work on the website and do post-production. Needless to say we both needed a change, so we signed aboard and the four of us were all soon spreading the doctrine of Audio Hooliganism. TCM: What other projects do you have on the go at the moment? MK: A whole bunch, spread throughout several different groups including Misfitsaudio, Imagination Lane, Circus-13 Productions and Gypsy Audio. I've mentioned some of them already. I'm particularly proud of Gareth Preston's production of The Prisoner: Shattered Visage, in which I play Number Two. That's over at BrokenSea. But listeners can also look forward to more episodes of Jake Sampson: Monster Hunter as well as extended adaptations of Escape from New York, Beneath the Planet of the Apes and Battlestar Galactica along with a new series of The X-Files, also from BrokenSea. I'll also be appearing on TamLynn P.I. over at Gypsy Audio and am slated to play Appsley Cherry-Garrard in Alexa Chipman's new production about the adventures of Antarctic explorer, Tom Crean, over at Imagination Lane. I'm further hoping to do more work with the amazing Zombie Astronaut on Frequency of Fear as well as with the Canadian creative team of Jack Ward and Shannon Hilchie over at Sonic Cinema. So yeah, there's plenty to do. Would that this were Hollywood, I'd be a very rich man.~

Tom Backus here. I was born to be an engineer. All my life I've been fixing things, making them work better. I remember rewiring the mobile over the crib of my younger brother Seamus's crib to make it spin more efficiently. I think that's why I've come to fit so well into the world of Section 31. At first, I was hesitant, given 31's reputation, but I've found that my role as a fixer continues; Section 31 exists to keep the Federation and all its allies safe and secure by weeding out and squashing those who threaten the well-being of the Federation's worlds. In essence, we're all engineers here in Section 31, and it's your universe we're here to fix. Don't lose sleep over those who wish your harm- we're making sure their plans never come to fruition. Your future is safe, thanks to Section 31.

TCM Staff EDITOR RICHARD MILES

ASSISTANT EDITORS HEATHER ASHLEIGH AND ALEX MATTHEWS

HEAD WRITERS GERRI DONALDSON, ALEX MATTHEWS, RICHARD MILES AND EUGENIA STOPYRA

WRITERS HEATHER ASHLEIGH; JENNIFER COLE; GERRI DONALDSON; JOSH EDELGLASS; DANNY LAVENY; GUSTAVO LEAO; ALEX MATTHEWS; RICHARD MILES; EUGENIA STOPYRA; SEAN-PAUL TEELING and JOHN WHITING.

GRAPHICS ARTIST: RICHARD MILES

CREATIVE CONSULTANTS MICHAEL HUDSON AND RICK PIKE

COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT RICK PIKE AND RICHARD MILES

WEBSITE STAFF RICHARD MILES

TREKKIE CENTRAL WEBSITE WEBSITE STAFF LEE GARTELL AND RICHARD MILES