“Star Trek: Voyager” does not exist without the success of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” that’s an incontrovertible fact. “Voyager” premiered in 1995, months after “Next Generation” ended with Season 7, and there was a spiritual baton passing. “Voyager” used the syndication-friendly storytelling of “Next Generation” as its model, compared to the darker, more serialized style of their overlapping contemporary, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.”

But “Voyager” did change the formula in one key way: It was the first “Star Trek” show with a woman as the captain. That would be Captain Kathryn Janeway, played by the supremely talented Kate Mulgrew (stepping after original Janeway actor Geneviève Bujold swiftly exited).

Mulgrew recently appeared on RTÉ Radio 1’s “The Oliver Callan Show” promoting her new series “The Galway Bay Murders” (incidentally, featuring another “Trek” alum, Colm Meaney). Sadly, her appearance coincided with the news of the passing of Patrick Stewart, i.e. Captain Jean-Luc Picard on “Next Generation.” So, during her RTÉ appearance, Mulgrew eulogized Stewart, including sharing some crucial advice that Stewart gave her about leading a “Star Trek” show.

As Mulgrew told it, Stewart visited the “Voyager” set during her second week of shooting. (Picard and Janeway, though, only shared a scene via video call in the 2002 film “Star Trek: Nemesis”). It was a “nerve-wracking” experience to become Captain Janeway, Mulgrew said, and she had one question for Stewart: “How the hell did you do this?”

Stewart offered this answer in his “gorgeous baritone” (as Mulgrew put it, a description I don’t think anyone will disagree with): “Now listen to me, and listen to me very clearly. If you invest yourself deeply, for seven years, as I did, you will be deeply rewarded. So, just give it everything you’ve got.”

“And that’s exactly what I did,” Mulgrew added.





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