Whether indulging in a murder mystery, visiting the beach or letting you drop into an Irish town to delete people who might annoy you, the Holodeck was one of the creature comforts of the Next Generation era that let the crew train, relax, vent frustrations and all with the very real risk that it might malfunction and kill everyone. Technically introduced in the Animated Series, the Holodeck becam,e a main feature on board starships from Encounter At Farpoint onwards and become a popular setting for an adventure that brought it’s own trop[es and traditions.
Looking back through the Next Generation era, the Holodeck was an excuse for wild west adventures, sacred rituals and things that would likely make the architects of the Online Safety Act faint if they looked at Quark’s commercial offerings. With so many to watch through, here’s a personal top five of the fantasy adventures.
The Big Goodbye. TNG Season One
The first of all the holodeck adventures, The Big Goodbye is where the rules were laid out for everything to come. With Picard being stressed out thanks to some diplomacy and needing to learn a new language fast, Troi punts him off to the holodeck to let his hair down. Well, figuratively speaking anyway. Immersing himself in a recreation of one of his favourite books, he becomes Dixon Hill, a private detective on a simple case that soon becomes deadly.
A poorly timed scan of their ship makes the holodeck malfunction, trapping Picard along with Data, Crusher and a red-shirt who gets fatally injured due to the safety protocols being off. While we’d seen glimpses of the holodeck already, this was the first time it was used as the primary setting, and where we’d see the dangers of technology gone wrong. It all worked quite well in building the tension as Picard struggles between solving the case and his officer bleeding out. The only down side is that the story would be buried under multiple versions of the same error, drowning out a fairly enjoyable originating episode.
Take Me Out To the Holosuite. DS9 Season 7.
All too often the holodeck is just a quick backdrop and only becomes the core of the plot when something goes wrong. Here, it wasn’t the holodeck that was broken. It was was Captain Sisko’s ego.
Showcasing the holodeck as a proper recreational space for once, Sisko can’t help himself being goaded by an old rival into a game of baseball between crucial battles in the Dominion war. And thats the episode. Just a personal grudge and baseball. It’s just a nice and relaxing fun episode with the DS9 crew figuring out how to play the game, Worf taking everything far too seriously, Rom being hopeless and Kassidy – one of the few actual baseball fans – shamelessly spilling all of Sisko’s insecurities to rally the troops against a team of elite Vulcans.
It’s a rare episode that uses the holodeck for a fun setting without panic, alarm or worrying about safety protocols!
Elementary, Dear Data, TNG Season 2 & Ship in a Bottle, TNG Season 6
Cheating here with a joint entry, but a combination that book ends the story of Moriarty. Ship in a Bottle follows The Big Goodbye’s theme of the holodeck going wrong. But this time it’s all Geordie’s fault. After watching Data play Sherlock Holmes, but solving everything in the first few minutes since he’s read all the books, Geordie asks the system to make up it’s own story. But he mis-speaks and asks it to program a challenge that can defeat Data.
That challenge broke down the walls of fiction and reality, giving vilian Moriarty self awareness of himself as a recreation in a story. But his ambition wanted more. Soon after hijacking the ships command with a desire to be free of the holodeck, Moriarty returned control to Picard in agreement that his file would be stored and revived once technology existed to let him leave the holodeck. Years later, holodeck addict Reg Barclay would accidentally activate the stored program and, sure enough, Moriarty got his wish and walked right out.
Of course, it was all another deception to unknowingly trap the crew in a simulation of the Enterprise and let them figure out how to replicate his apparent freedom. Technically the second part poses more intrigue than the first, but it’s hard to have one without the other.
Bride of Chaotica. Voyager, Season 5.
Sometimes Star Trek does things that are just a bit silly and try to ground them in the reality of the universe. It doesn’t always work, and occasionally it’s a bit too silly. Bride of Chaotica is just that kind of silly that really shouldn’t work, but somehow…
Obsessed with early 19th century culture, one of Tom Paris’ favourite things to do is be 1930’s sci fi hero Captain Proton; a fantasy with cheesy characters, tin foil props and every bit of retro weirdness to make you smile. Problem is that the fantasy seems ot have attracted the attention of photonic life forms who are completely blind to the ideas of Voyager and a holographic recreation as to them, the simulation is reality. And they’ve accidentally gone to war with the bad guy.
The only solution they have? Play along. Stop the war and get the aliens on their way so Voyager can go back to normal. Well, as normal as Voyager gets.
It’s Only a Paper Moon, DS9 Season 7
In all the TNG era shows, Deep Space Nine was extremely conservative with using the holodeck – or holosuite as it was known in Quarks. Aside from one or two traditional holodek emergencies such as transporter patterns turning crew into the cast of a spy drama, the holosuite was typically reserved as a setting only when it had a purpose. Late in Deep Space Nine that purpose came in the form of Vic Fontaine.
Introduced as a self aware Vegan lounge singer who helped Odo find his romantic side, in this episode Vic plays reluctant therapist to Nog. Once eager to be the model officer and soldier, the reality of war hit Nog hard in a close combat assault that left both physical and emotional trauma on the young officer. Returning to Deep Space Nine, he found solace only in escaping the reality and throwing himself into the fantasy of Vic’s world.
A favourite of the late Aaron Eisenberg in his role as Nog, It’s Only A Paper Moon used the holodeck and the sci fi backdrop to bring it all back down to Earth with a strong and poignant exploration of the effects of PTSD in combat veterans, how easy it can be to get pulled deeper into depression and the value or patience, support and recovery.
Honourable Mentions
It’s a hard list to whittle down, and there’s sure to be a few favourite missed. If you’re looking for holodeck episodes and need more than five to pick from – Reg Barclay’s debut episode Hollow Pursuits from TNG Season 3 showcases the holodeck as a coping mechanism for social anxiety (and it’s companion episode Pathfinder from Voyager, bringing Barclay back to therapy!); A Fistful of Data’s offers Worf in a Western; DS9’s Our Man Bashir brings us some Bond parody spy drama with Bashir and Garak; Author Author in Voyager’s seventh seasons gives us a healthy dose of Robert Picardo as the Doctor and you can’t go wrong with a heist in DS9’s Badda-Bing Badda-Bang from season 7.
You can browse through all the holodeck episodes in the Star Trek Universe on Paramount Plus!
About the author
[Retro Review] The Doomsday Machine
Responding to a distress call from the USS Constellation, the Enterprise race to the rescue but they arrive too late to save the day. Coming under fire from an alien entity, the Constellation has been heavily damaged and with only one survivor within it's charred shell; Commodore Matt Decker... Still in shock from the attack, Decker isn't able to say if it was an alien ship, or a creature that tore his ship apart. It doesn't take long to track the aliens flight path. It's not from around these parts, entering the Galaxy and on course towards populated areas that would undoubtedly be next in it's devastating path. Beaming on board with an away team, Kirk aims to try and get whats left of the ship back up and running while getting Decker to safety. But during the transit, the […]
Under Pressure: ‘Orders Of Magnitude’, Strange New Worlds S4E08
Boarding as a hero and legend, Admiral Joe Reeger arrives, take command and leaves Pike stranded as he leads the remaining Enterprise crew on an urgent mission. With a visiting (again!) James Kirk picked out as first officer, Reegers mission and motivations come into question and puts Kirk's leadership to task... Writers: Alan B McElroy Director: Sharon Lewis One thing about season four that's been a highlight through some uneven episodes is how it's guiding it's characters form our first contact with them in this series, and how we originally met them sixty years earlier. While it's been more obvious with Spock's pivot towards being closer to his logical side, we've had Chapel make the choice to become a permanent part of the Enterprise and Scotty's move towards being the 'miracle worker'. Even Pike seems to be on the […]
Days of Our Unreal Lives: ‘Like Chronitons Through The Hourglass’, Strange New Worlds S4E07
Waking up in sickbay with a comical bandage on his head following a shuttle accident, Pike quickly notices things are a bit off. The lights are too bright. The medical staff are behaving oddly with dramatic pauses aplenty. And he's fairly certain space madness isn't a genuine diagnosis. As the hour continues with devious secret siblings, dramatic feats of medicine and family drama aplenty, Pike is drawn further into the strangest of all worlds; the soap opera. Writers: Dana Horgan and Bill WolkoffDirector: Anna Dozoka Soap opera's are mental. And for a theme it's even more mental than it seems. But considering soap opera's are basically just overly dramatic premises with long lost relatives you'd never before heard of, absolutely insane scenario's that make Maggie Simpson shooting Mr Burns seem normal and plot twists so insane you genuinely have to […]
Star Trek Day 2026: Celebrating 60 Years of the Final Frontier!
Sixty years ago the world was introduced to a sci fi series that planted a seed of adventure, imagination and inspiration that would blossom into a juggernaut of media. After launching with the Man Trap on September 8th in the United States, the series would later grow into a pop culture icon spawning 9 Live Action Series, 3 Animated Series, 13 Feature Films & more including Streaming Events, Shorts and a huge amount of offshoot media across games, comics and books. With generations of fans discovering new era's and new adventures for decades, today we celebrate not only that first flight of the USS Enterprise and it's original crew, but an entire franchise that continued to grow, evolve, building a world of adventure, inspiration and hope for a better future! As we celebrate Star Trek at 60, we'd love to hear how […]
Away Team, Assemble! The USS Tesla Set To Beam Down to Epic Comic Con!
Returning to Glasgow this September, the Tesla Crew are once again in action at Fan Frontiers Epic Comic Con in the SEC Hosted by Fan Frontiers, Epic Comic Con has been one of the core places to meet the crew of the Tesla since it’s origins as Acme Comic Con and has become a firm part of the diverse and welcoming fan centric communities hosting everything from Rebel Legions to Ghostbusters! Taking their regular spot once again the Tesla crew will have Star Trek props and collectables on display as the team get ready to share the wonders of the final frontier! With possibly the biggest and most intriguing line ups to date, Epic will be hosting some surprises including Lord of the Rings' hobbit Duo Billy Boyd & Dominic Monaghan, What We Do in the Shadows Star Kayvan Novak, […]
60 Year Mission Celebrations!
This month Star Trek celebrates 60 years since the continuing mission launched and this year we've decided.... one Star Trek Day isn't enough. We're having a whole month of celebration! With plans including virtual meets, Europa chats, competitions and more, we're inviting the whole fleet to jump on board, get involved and join the fun of celebrating sixty years othe final frontier! Virtual Meet Sunday September 6th 8pm Starbase Europa 60 YEAR MISSION Meet the Fleet in Celebration with an evening of catching up, sharing stories, maybe a few bad jokes and general shenanigans! As we open a month of celebrating one of sci fi's most enduring franchises, grab a drink, pull up a chair and have a few laughs to begin the month! Discussion Sunday September 6th All Day Starbase Europa STAR TREK DAY 2026 From dusk 'till dawn, […]
Related
A Fistful of Undercover Operations
Occasionally when exploring the wonders of deep space, our heroes of Trek have been summoned to - or by sheer accident - become another person to fulfil their mission. Whether it's O'Brien mixing with gangsters or Picard becoming a mercenary, Star Trek's filled with episodes where our favourite explorers have to become someone else to save the day.... FACE OF THE ENEMY The Next Generation Season 6 Waking up on the Warbird Khazara, Deanna Troi finds herself in a bit of a pickle. Kidnapped and surgically altered to take the place of a Tal Shiar Commander she finds herself led by her handler, N'Vek, to lead a secret mission after the Commander had been killed. Out of her comfort zone, Troi has to convince the crew she's the real deal despite the ships skipper knowing something's not quite right.... In […]
A Fistful of Down To Earth Adventures
Warping through the stars always searching for the next adventure, it's rare that Star Trek ever comes home to Earth. Through all the series, and highlighted in Enterprise, the third rock from our sun is kinda important in the grand scheme of things but our eyes are always far beyond the stars. So for no particular reason at all - certainly not any recent new series launching - we're taking a look at Trek's more Earthbound moments.... Homefront/Paradise Lost Deep Space Nine Season 4 The Founders said they were everywhere. Now we know they're on Earth. Recordings revealed a founder during the bombing of a Federation meeting on the home-world and Sisko is recalled. His knowledge and experience with the Dominion is vital to securing Earth against the inevitable war. But while the Dominion may be the enemy, they aren't […]
A Fistful of ‘Spirk’
We've been spoiled with Spock in the past few years with Discovery introducing a younger iteration of the character long before he became the refined man of logic that made him famous, and continued that story through Strange New Worlds and his time under Captain Pike's command. As Strange New Worlds continues, giving more history to the original series line up and the early meetings of Spock and Kirk as it makes way for the beginning of the Kirk era, we thought we'd look back at some moments that made the partnership one of the most popular combinations in science fiction. JOURNEY TO BABEL TOS Season 2 Spock's got a bit of an issue with sharing. Secret brother who was shunned. Secret sister who's fate was classified. And despite trusting the Enterprise crew with his life, it was clearly only […]
A Fistful of O’Brien
Entering the Star Trek world as an unnamed extra with a few bits of dialogue, O'Brien soon became a fixture on the Enterprise D as it's transporter chief before moving to Deep Space Nine to head up engineering and operations on what was thought to be a backwater outpost before it became one of the most strategically important stations in the quadrant!As the only enlisted or non commissioned officer to feature in the main cast of any Star Trek show to date, O'Brien stands as the only working class hero in the Star Trek universe with a vast and varied career taking from the front lines of the Cardassian war as a soldier, to the front lines of the Dominion War as an engineer, retrofitting DS9, keeping the Defiant from blowing itself apart, and even sniping Dominion troops. All in […]
A Fistful of Justice
Although it's one of the worlds most legendary science fiction shows, Star Trek has always dabbled with format and genre's, all dressed up behind deep space adventures. Whether using the holodeck for a touch of fantasy, or diving into the horrors of war through Deep Space Nine's run, the variety of story telling never seems to fit one mould. But out of all the different tales told in the wonderful world of Starfleet, one that always promises to deliver is the court room drama. This month we're diving into the most captivating of Star Trek's courtroom drama's with a Fistful of Justice! AD ASTRA PER ASPERA Strange New Worlds, Season 2 One of the most modern examples of Strar Trek's court room drama saw Pike's own Number One, Una-Chin Reilly, under court martial for a serious breach of Starfleet regulation […]
A Fistful of Sisko
In the past few years, Star Trek has made several nods to it's past. But while The NExt Generation and Voyager had their continuations, Deep Space Nine continued to 'black sheep' of the family with it's history and name drops being few and far between. Until Academy when we had an entire episode based around the legend of Starfleet's most complex captains. Starting his show as a widower and single parent, Benjamin Sisko started his time in Star Trek as a reluctant hero turned religious icon who's become a prime figure in Bajoran history, the Federation-Dominion war and much more. If you missed his series, first of.... why?! And also, if you want a quick intro - here's our Sisko top five to see what the fuss is all about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzBkvzPoofQ IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT Season 6, Episode 13 Lets […]
