Part II, Chapter XXXV: "One Man, Two Doctors"
“Of course, my concept was changed a great deal. Little did I know, they were working on a similar project at the time, so while I’m credited as one of the creators, it wasn’t really my idea, more parts of it were adapted to fit their ideas.”
- J. Michael Straczynski, speaking about his role in the production of
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. [1]
By the time of the end of the release of Season 6 of
Star Trek: The Next Generation, much of the work had already been completed on the first season of
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Writers had been found, a cast had been assembled, and filming had begun.
The initial trio in charge of the show were Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and J. Michael Straczynski. While Berman and Piller were veterans with the franchise, Straczynski was completely new, and it was hoped that he could help to take this show in a new direction for the franchise.
The three had decided that the show would be far more serialised than
The Next Generation, following a larger story, rather than ‘hitting a reset button’ at the end of every story. This, it was the writers’ hope, would allow for them to tell more nuanced stories than shows like
The Next Generation could.
They also planned to take the tone of the show in a darker direction than any of its predecessors, while still remaining optimistic. This show would reveal the darker sides of the Federation by placing the characters on the edge of Federation space, away from many of the luxuries of core Federation.
From a more technical standpoint, it would also be a departure as models began to be replaced by CGI. While the station itself would remain a model for almost all of the show’s run, the ships would be rendered in CGI for the most part, allowing for larger and more exciting battles. [2]
The cast of
Deep Space Nine would, at face value, be approximately the same size as that of
The Next Generation. However, the space station setting allowed for far more recurring characters than other science fiction shows. The first season’s main cast of nine characters were more varied than the previous shows’ in addition, with two civilians and two more working for the Bajorans. Over time, the supporting cast would be fleshed out more, undergoing major character development.
The commander of the space station Deep Space Nine would be Commander Benjamin Sisko. As the “central” character, the casting of Sisko took more time. The role would initially be offered to Avery Brooks, who turned it down, due to his involvement with other projects at that time. Many other actors had auditioned or been considered for the role, so the production team had plenty to choose from. [3]
The hope was to cast someone from an ethnic minority in the main role, as had happened with the Eighth Doctor. The role of Commander Sisko was therefore offered to Laurence Fishburne, who accepted it. Fishburne would, later in 1993, be nominated for an Oscar, which worked well for the promotional material for the fledgling show. [4]
Two actors that had either been considered for, or auditioned for, the role of Sisko would be offered parts as recurring characters. Pierce Brosnan, who was at the time best known for the drama
Remington Steele, would play Admiral David Gardener, Sisko’s commanding officer. Scottish actor Peter Capaldi, a self-admitted fan of the franchise, was cast as Captain John Sheridan, captain of the
USS Lakota, which would be assigned to the Badlands, located near the station. [5]
For Sisko’s second-in-command, the production team had originally planned to bring in Ensign Ro from
The Next Generation, giving her a promotion in the process. Michelle Forbes proved reluctant to move over to a new show, so a new character had to be created. To fill the role, the team created Major Kira Nerys, a veteran of the Bajoran Occupation, who would have a more hot-headed attitude, and initially hostile to the Federation presence on the station.
American actress Nana Visitor was offered the role of Major Kira. Initially, she turned down the role for fear of being typecast, but later accepted the offer when she realised that it would be a chance to change the type of role that she tended to play.
The science officer, Jadzia Dax, would be a joined Trill, and therefore have many lifetimes of experience. Dutch actress Famke Janssen was cast as Dax, as she had appeared in “The Perfect Mate”. [6]
The head of security on board Deep Space Nine would be the shapeshifting character Constable Odo. He, along with Major Kira, would be one of two main characters to be involved with the running of the station, but not a part of Starfleet. Actor René Auberjonois would be cast in the role. As the character could change shape, the character involved a good deal of computer rendering at times.
One of the main characters would be Commander Sisko’s young son Jake Sisko. It was the hope of the writers that having the main character be a single father would give the writers something new to work with. Jake Sisko, who would be played by Cirroc Lofton, would, at times, complicate matters for his father, as Jake spends his adolescence on the station.
The character of Dr. Julian Bashirwould be written specifically for actor Siddig El-Fadil. Siddig, who by 1993 had announced his intention to leave
Doctor Who, was seen by many as an up-and-coming actor. Rick Berman originally wanted him to play Sisko, but realised that he was too young, and so wrote the character of Bashir for him. Siddig was initially reluctant to join the cast of
Deep Space Nine, as he had just been through three seasons of fellow sci-fi show
Doctor Who, but when it was made clear to him that he would be playing a more minor character, and given some creative freedom with the character, he signed on. [7]
Two other main cast members would make their way over to
Deep Space Nine from other major shows, both from
The Next Generation. Colm Meaney and Christian Slater would both reprise their roles as Chief O’Brien and Ensign Kelly, transferring over from the Enterprise following its destruction at the end of
The Next Generation’s sixth season. [8]
The recurring cast would be much larger, but featured, among others, Max Grodénchik as Rom, Louise Fletcher as Vedek Winn, Andrew Robinson as Garak and Marc Alaimo reprising his one-off role as Gul Dukat from
The Next Generation. [9]
After the end of the sixth season of
The Next Generation, it was announced that
Deep Space Nine would begin syndication in January 1994, during
The Next Generation’s seventh season. The two would have a soft crossover, in the first story of
Deep Space Nine, and a two-part story in
The Next Generation. [10]
[1] Think of TTL's DS9 as "Star Trek with Babylon 5 characteristics". It's relatively close to the DS9 of OTL, with some major changes. Elements of Babylon 5 will make their way in, but as I haven't seen the show, I won't be adapting too much.
[2] One main things that Straczynski will bring is a lot of cost-cutting measures. Expect episodes to cost somewhere between half and two thirds that of an episode of TNG. ($750k-$1m). Another thing he'll bring is 16:9 filming, cropped to 4:3. That's important down the line.
[3] A difficult choice to make, as I think Brooks is brilliant as Sisko. He, however, gets the same treatment Baker does. Signed off to another show because I wanted someone more well known in there.
[4] He was actually offered the role in OTL. ITTL however, there's a little more opportunity in sci-fi television, as Laurie and Hanks are both having successful film careers. As sci-fi is a decent bit bigger, he doesn't turn it down to focus on film.
[5] Brosnan was offered the role IOTL too, and Capaldi auditioned for it too. Both very good actors that I wanted to include, so I wrote them new characters. Little element of Babylon 5 here too with Capaldi's character.
[6] Another case of "was offered the role, turned it down to focus on film". Again, that's changed here.
[7] Bashir was actually written for Siddig (according to Berman at least). Here, as Siddig has proven himself a very popular actor, he'll bring some star power (not that Fishburne and Brosnan won't). The name doesn't get changed last minute, and Siddig is given a little more creative freedom with his character. I mainly kept him in for Garak's sake, as without Siddig, there is no Bashir type character. He's a bit different here though.
[8] Kelly is brought over too, in the hopes of boosting ratings early on (similar to Worf). I have plans for Lt. Kelly (surprise) in the show, as he's young, as is pretty much only used to the luxuries of the Enterprise.
[9] No real changes here, apart from the fact that Dukat already exists in-universe by this point. DS9 is a how that, to me at least, seems pretty perfectly cast in OTL, so I was hard pressed to make any real changes.
[10] This will be The Emissary (DS9) and Birthright (TNG). Characters from one show will appear in the other for this story, as in OTL.