Best known as Star Trek: Voyager‘s duplicitous Seska, Martha Hackett has played members of five different alien species in the wider Star Trek franchise. Martha Hackett played a recurring role in the first two seasons of Voyager as Seska, a former lover of Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) and a thorn in the side to Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). Eventually, Martha Hackett’s Seska was killed off in Voyager‘s season 3 premiere, but returned as an evil hologram in “Worst Case Scenario” toward the end of that year.

Seska wasn’t Martha Hackett’s first role in the Star Trek universe, and nor was it her last. After leaving Star Trek: Voyager, Martha Hackett voiced characters in multiple video games, including Star Trek: Elite Force II. Also, like many of her fellow Voyager cast members, Hackett had previously appeared in another show. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine cast Martha Hackett as Sub Commander T’Rul in the two-part season 3 opener, “The Search”. As well as being the role that officially introduced Martha Hackett to the Star Trek universe, it was also one of many different alien species that she played.

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Martha Hackett Played A Terellian in Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: TNG, Season 7, Episode 25, “All Good Things”

Technically speaking, Martha Hackett’s first Star Trek role was as Androna in the Star Trek: The Next Generation finale. In a deleted scene from the TNG finale’s past timeline, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the USS Enterprise-D encounter the Terellians, who believed the anti-time eruption had the power to cure the sick and the dying. Androna had a short conversation with Captain Picard, where she thanked him for protecting them from threats made by the Romulan Star Empire.

Martha Hackett’s scene in the Star Trek: The Next Generation finale was cut for time as it was felt that it distracted from the main cast of TNG. Martha Hackett was incredibly understanding about her scene being cut, telling The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine #7 that “the focus deserved to be on the main characters in their final story.” The six hours that Martha Hackett endured in the make-up chair to become Androna communicated to Star Trek‘s producers that she could handle another role which would require a great deal of alien prosthetics.

4

Martha Hackett Played A Romulan In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Sub Commander T’Rul in DS9 season 3, episodes 1 and 2, “The Search”

Sub Commander T’Rul (Martha Hackett) was intended to be a recurring Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character, placed in charge of the cloaking device aboard the USS Defiant. This role would have made Sub Commander T’Rul the first Romulan crew member in Star Trek. However, as production began in earnest on DS9 season 3, it was decided that there wasn’t much story potential in an officer that turned the Defiant’s cloaking device on and off, and so T’Rul was written out.

T’Rul also holds the distinction of being the first Romulan to be captured by the Dominion, as she is placed in their virtual reality prison alongside Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and the crew. Collecting intelligence on the Dominion was the primary driver for the Romulan Star Empire, making an exception to the Treaty of Algeron regarding the Defiant’s cloak. It’s unclear what happened to T’Rul after the events of “The Search”, but she presumably returned to Romulus to report on her experiences in the Gamma Quadrant.

3

Martha Hackett Played A Bajoran In Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager, season 1, episodes 1 to 11.

Seska (Martha Hackett) was one of Star Trek: Voyager‘s Maquis crew members, and made her first appearance in season 1, episode 3, “Parallax”. Seska was a Bajoran who served on the Val Jean with Chakotay, B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) and Tuvok (Tim Russ). Like many of the Maquis, Seska struggled to fit in alongside Voyager’s Starfleet crew, causing serious tension aboard the stranded ship. Seska even made it clear that she was willing to support any Maquis mutiny aboard Voyager, although this action was never instigated.

In Star Trek: Voyager season 1, episode 10, “Prime Factors”, Seska joined a covert mission to steal spatial trajector technology behind the back of Captain Janeway. This was a watershed moment for the Maquis crew members, as Torres refused to go along with Seska’s cover-up, preferring instead to come clean and try and heal the division among the crew. This didn’t go down well with Seska, who would reveal her true colors in the following episode, “State of Flux”, which revealed Tuvok wasn’t the only spy aboard Chakotay’s ship.

2

Martha Hackett Played A Cardassian in Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager season 1, episode 11, “State of Flux” and beyond.

Star Trek: Voyager season 1, episode 11, “State of Flux” revealed that Seska was actually a Cardassian spy who had been genetically altered to appear Bajoran. With her secret revealed, Seska made the decision to leave the ship and ally herself with Voyager‘s Kazon villains. Seska returned several times between Voyager seasons 1 and 2, as she doggedly pursued revenge against both Janeway and Chakotay. While Janeway briefly lost her ship, it was Chakotay who came off worse from his former lover’s scheming and manipulation. Chakotay was physically and psychologically tortured by the Cardassian, even being led to believe that he had fathered a child.

As a Cardassian female, Seska was also able to manipulate the patriarchal Kazons, particularly First Maje Cullah (Anthony De Longis). In Star Trek: Voyager‘s season 2 finale, “Basics”, Seska and Cullah lead a hostile takeover of the USS Voyager, stranding Janeway and the crew on the barren planet of Hanon IV. Their hijacking is foiled by the Doctor (Robert Picardo) and Lon Suder (Brad Douriff), and Seska was killed in the process. Her son, a half-Cardassian, half-Kazon child, was taken by Cullah, and neither father nor son were ever seen again.

1

Martha Hackett Played A Klingon In Star Trek: Klingon

Martha Hackett played K’Tar in the 1996 computer game.

The 1996 computer game Star Trek: Klingon had an impressive array of talent attached to it, including Star Trek: Voyager‘s Martha Hackett. Subtitled “The Ultimate Interactive Adventure” it placed the player in the role of Pok, a Klingon Warrior who had to team up with Chancellor Gowron (Robert O’Reilly) to solve the murder of their father. Martha Hackett played K’Tar in the game’s video sequences, which were directed by Jonathan Frakes.

Martha Hackett is clearly having a ball hamming it up as a Klingon matriarch, and she’s surrounded by other notable Klingon actors. J.G. Hertzler, who would go on to play Chancellor Martok in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine played Ler’at, while Michael Dorn voiced the Klingon language speaker. While it’s not an official television entry in the Star Trek universe, the video sequences total an hour, and effectively play out as a new episode. It’s therefore only right to honor Star Trek: Voyager‘s Martha Hackett’s Klingon performance in her impressive list of alien credits.

All episodes of Star Trek: Voyager are available to stream on Paramount+.

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  Star Trek: Voyager

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  The fifth entry in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Voyager, is a sci-fi series that sees the crew of the USS Voyager on a long journey back to their home after finding themselves stranded at the far ends of the Milky Way Galaxy. Led by Captain Kathryn Janeway, the series follows the crew as they embark through truly uncharted areas of space, with new species, friends, foes, and mysteries to solve as they wrestle with the politics of a crew in a situation they’ve never faced before. 

  Cast

  Kate Mulgrew
  , Robert Beltran
  , Roxann Dawson
  , Jennifer Lien
  , Robert Duncan McNeill
  , Ethan Phillips
  , Robert Picardo
  , Tim Russ
  , Garrett Wang
  , Jeri Ryan

  Writers

  Michael Piller
  , Jeri Taylor
  , Brannon Braga
  , Kenneth Biller

  Showrunner

  Michael Piller
  , Jeri Taylor
  , Brannon Braga
  , Kenneth Biller

  Where To Watch

  Paramount+

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  Star Trek: The Next Generation

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  Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

  Cast

  Patrick Stewart
  , Marina Sirtis
  , Brent Spiner
  , Jonathan Frakes
  , LeVar Burton
  , Wil Wheaton
  , Gates McFadden
  , Michael Dorn

  Writers

  Rick Berman
  , Michael Piller
  , Brannon Braga
  , Jeri Taylor
  , Ronald D. Moore

  Showrunner

  Rick Berman
  , Michael Piller
  , Jeri Taylor

  Where To Watch

  Paramount+

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  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

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  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.

  Cast

  Avery Brooks
  , Rene Auberjonois
  , Cirroc Lofton
  , Colm Meaney
  , Armin Shimerman
  , Alexander Siddig
  , Nana Visitor
  , Michael Dorn
  , Nicole de Boer
  , Terry Farrell
  , Andrew Robinson

  Writers

  Michael Piller
  , Ira Steven Behr
  , Ronald D. Moore

  Showrunner

  Michael Piller
  , Ira Steven Behr

  Where To Watch

  Paramount+