The undesputed queen of the Borg returns for Voyager’s sixth season

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Being the only Voyager regular to have arrived since the ship left the Alpha Quadrant in the post-pilot events six years ago, Borg-on-board Jeri Ryan has received more than her fair share of attention.

Stunning looks and tight costumes haven’t exactly helped provide a low profile, so it’s a pleasant surprise to find that spirits are still high as another year of filming and interviews begin. Season Six sees a return to the full Borg costume for Survival Instinct, an event Ryan can happily anticipate even though the cumbersome prosthetics would try the patience of a saint.

“So, I’m back in the Borg gear for the second episode this season, the flashback episode, which was fun. Actually, one of my cast mates from Dark Skies, the series that I did before Voyager – Tim Kelleher; he played the bad guy Jim Steel – he played a Borg along with me. So we commiserated and miserated the rubber costume.

“He thought it was a real hoot for about the first five hours, and then he was ready to rip his head off. But we had a great time.”

With the final chapter of Deep Space Nine now closed, Voyager is now able to move centre stage as the only Trek show in production. You would think that this would put a lot of pressure on the crew of Voyager, but Ryan disagrees.

“It’s almost a relief of pressure to be the only one because you don’t have any comparisons being made then. It’s not like everybody’s saying ‘who’s watching Voyager?’ and ‘who’s watching Deep Space Nine?’” Such liberated feeling, it appears, is shared with the regular cast of the show, and Ryan enthuses about the off-screen camaraderie at great length, claiming the mood on set now Deep Space Nine is over is better than ever.

More Jeri Ryan here • Get TV Zone #121 for our full interview