Star Trek: Deep Space Nine


Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. It originally aired from January 1993 to June 1999, in syndication, spanning 176 episodes over seven seasons. The fourth series in the Star Trek franchise, it served as the third sequel to '. Set in the 24th century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, it is based on the eponymous space station Deep Space Nine, located adjacent to a wormhole connecting Federation territory to the Gamma Quadrant on the far side of the Milky Way galaxy.
Following the success of ', Paramount Pictures commissioned a new series set in the Star Trek fictional universe. In creating Deep Space Nine, Berman and Piller drew upon plot themes developed in The Next Generation, namely the conflict between two alien species, the Cardassians and the Bajorans. Deep Space Nine was the first Star Trek series to be created without the direct involvement of franchise creator Gene Roddenberry, the first set on a space station rather than a traveling starship and the first to have a person of color—Commander Benjamin Sisko —as its central character.
Changes were made to the series over the course of its seven-year run. For the third season, the starship USS Defiant was introduced to enable more stories away from the space station, while the fourth saw the introduction of Worf, originally from The Next Generation, as a main character. The final three seasons dealt with a recurring story arc, that of the war between the Federation and an invasive Gamma Quadrant power, the Dominion. Although not as popular as The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine was critically well received. Following the success of Deep Space Nine, Paramount commissioned Berman and Brannon Braga to produce ', which began in 1995. During ''Deep Space Nines run, various episode novelisations and tie-in video games were produced; after the show ended, various novels and comics continued the crew's adventures.

Premise

Deep Space Nine centers on the formerly Cardassian space station Terok Nor. After the Bajorans have liberated themselves from the long and brutal Cardassian Occupation, the United Federation of Planets is invited by the Bajoran Provisional Government to administer joint control of the station, which initially orbits Bajor. The station is renamed Deep Space Nine, and a Starfleet crew is assigned to manage it. Shortly after their arrival, the Starfleet crew discovers a stable wormhole in Bajoran space leading from the Alpha Quadrant to the Gamma Quadrant, and the station is moved to a strategic position near the wormhole's entrance to safeguard it from the Cardassians. Deep Space Nine and Bajor quickly become a center for exploration, interstellar trade, political maneuvering, and open conflict. Threats come not only from Cardassians, Klingons and Romulans from the Alpha Quadrant, but later from the Dominion, an alliance of alien species from the Gamma Quadrant that take up arms alongside the Cardassians against the Federation and its allies starting in Season 3. Deep Space Nine becomes a key military base for the Federation in the Dominion War, and is assigned the starship USS Defiant to aid in its protection.
According to co-creator Berman, he and Piller considered setting the new series on a colony planet, but they felt a space station would appeal more to viewers, and would save the money required for a land-based show's on-location shooting. They did not want the show set aboard a starship because Star Trek: The Next Generation was still in production, and in Berman's words, it "seemed ridiculous to have two shows—two casts of characters—that were off going where no man has gone before."
While its predecessors tended to restore the at the end of each episode, allowing out-of-order viewing, DS9 contains story arcs that span episodes and seasons. One installment often builds upon earlier ones, with several cliffhanger endings. Michael Piller considered this one of the series' best qualities, allowing repercussions of past episodes to influence future events and forcing characters to "learn that actions have consequences." This trend was especially noticeable toward the series finale, by which time the show was intentionally scripted as a serial.
Unlike Star Trek: The Next Generation, interpersonal conflicts were prominently featured in DS9. This was at the suggestion of Star Trek: The Next Generations writers, many of whom also wrote for DS9, who felt that Roddenberry's prohibition of conflicts within the crew restricted their ability to write compelling dramatic stories. In Piller's words, "People who come from different places—honorable, noble people—will naturally have conflicts".

Cast

Main cast

Supporting cast

Recurring characters

The setting of the series—a space station rather than a starship—fostered a rich assortment of recurring characters. It was not unheard of for "secondary" characters to play as much of a role in an episode as the regular cast, if not more. For example, "The Wire |The Wire" focused almost entirely on Elim Garak, while "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River" featured Weyoun, with a secondary plot centered on Nog. "It's Only a Paper Moon |It's Only a Paper Moon" relied on Nog and holographic crooner Vic Fontaine to carry the story.
Several Cardassian characters figure prominently in DS9, particularly Gul Dukat, a senior member of the Cardassian military involved in the occupation of Bajor, played by Marc Alaimo. A complex character, Dukat undergoes several transformations before ultimately resolving as a profoundly evil character, and Sisko's archenemy, by the show's conclusion. A StarTrek.com article about Star Treks greatest villains described Gul Dukat as "possibly the most complex and developed bad guy in Star Trek history".
Elim Garak, portrayed by Andrew Robinson, is the only Cardassian who remains on the space station when the Federation and the Bajorans take over. Widely suspected of being an agent of the Obsidian Order, the feared Cardassian secret police, he maintains that he is merely a simple tailor. Garak's skills and contacts on Cardassia prove invaluable on several occasions, and he becomes a pivotal figure in the war with the Dominion.
Damar is initially a glinn serving under Gul Dukat aboard the freighter Groumall, later to become his loyal aide and rise in stature as Dukat regains prominence. He becomes the new leader of the Cardassian Union when Dukat has an emotional breakdown, precipitated by his daughter's death at the hands of Damar. As the Dominion War progresses, Damar becomes increasingly dissatisfied with Cardassia's relationship with the Dominion. The tipping point is reached when the Dominion forms an alliance with the Breen and Cardassia is relegated to a secondary and increasingly marginalized role. Damar forms and leads an insurgency against the Dominion, playing a vital role in its eventual defeat.
and René Auberjonois, who portrayed the characters of Kira Nerys and Odo, respectively.
Jeffrey Combs has stated that he had auditioned for the role of William Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but when Jonathan Frakes later directed the DS9 episode "Meridian |Meridian", he recommended Combs for a part. Combs made his Star Trek and DS9 debut as a one-episode alien named Tiron, before being cast as the Ferengi Brunt and the Vorta Weyoun. He would go on to appear in 31 episodes of DS9, playing four distinct characters—five, if one counts the "mirror universe" version of Brunt. In "The Dogs of War |The Dogs of War", he also became one of the few Star Trek actors to play two distinct roles in the same episode. He also appeared in the series as the Andorian commander Shran. He is one of the few actors to have appeared in three Star Trek series.
In addition to Quark and his brother Rom, several other Ferengi had recurring roles, among them their shrewd mother Ishka, who eventually engineers a social revolution on Ferenginar, the Ferengi home world; Rom's son Nog, the first Ferengi to join Starfleet; and Grand Nagus Zek, the Ferengi leader. Though she is Bajoran, the character Leeta, a Dabo girl in Quark's bar and later Rom's wife, is sometimes involved in the Ferengi storyline. After Ishka's social revolution, Grand Nagus Zek names Rom as the Grand Nagus to lead the "new" Ferenginar.
The Klingon Empire plays a more significant role in DS9 than in any other Star Trek series. Aside from Worf, recurring Klingon characters include Chancellor Gowron, leader of the Empire, who previously appeared in The Next Generation. In one of the series' final episodes, he was challenged and killed by Worf for sending Klingon troops on suicide missions to discredit General Martok during the Dominion War; after killing Gowron, Worf passes leadership of the empire to Martok. Kor, a Klingon character from Star Trek: The Original Series resurfaces in three DS9 episodes. One of them, "Blood Oath |Blood Oath", unites Kor with two other Klingons from the original series: Koloth and Kang. John Colicos, William Campbell and Michael Ansara reprised their original series roles.
Morn is a minor character who is a fixture in Quark's establishment, sitting at the bar over the course of seven years. According to The Star Trek Encyclopedia, it became a running joke that, despite the other characters' remarks on how talkative and funny he is, he never speaks a word on camera. Morn did have a line in the script for pilot episode "Emissary", but it was cut due to run time considerations, after which the creators conceived the joke that he never talks.

Season overview

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ran for seven seasons, from 1993 to 1999. The first season started half-way through the typical broadcast season running from fall to spring and had fewer episodes than typical Star Trek runs. Starting with Season 4, a major addition to the cast was Worf adding in another carryover from Star Trek:The Next Generation. When that show ended its run, another spin-off Star Trek: Voyager was also started after the end of that series on United Paramount Network rather than the syndicated network. Meanwhile, the cast of that show shifted to feature films, which led to Worf being the only main Deep Space Nine character to reach the 'big screen'.

Plot elements

Major plotlines focus on several key Star Trek cultures, especially interactions between the Bajorans, Cardassians, Ferengi, Klingons, and the Federation. Many of these cultures are represented by major characters in the main or recurring cast.
Major arcs revolve around Bajor's recovery from Cardassian occupation; the Maquis, a rebellious Federation splinter group; and the Dominion, a hostile imperial power from the other side of the galaxy. The war between the Dominion and the Federation spans several later seasons of the show.

Bajor

In the first episode, Starfleet Commander Benjamin Sisko arrives at Deep Space Nine, a space station formerly run by the Cardassians during their oppressive occupation of Bajor, a planet that the space station orbits. He is assigned to run the station jointly with the newly liberated Bajorans as they recover from the Cardassian occupation, to help pave the way for Bajor's entry into the Federation. Sisko and Jadzia Dax stumble upon the first stable wormhole found and discover that it is inhabited by beings who are not bound by normal space and time. To the strongly religious people of Bajor, the wormhole aliens are their gods and the wormhole itself is the long-prophesied Celestial Temple, where they reside. Sisko is hailed as the Emissary of the Prophets, through whom the Prophets primarily act.
This provides the basis for a long-lasting story arc. Sisko initially considers his role as a religious icon with open discomfort and skepticism, referring to the Prophets as "wormhole aliens" and striving to keep his role as commander of the station distinct from any religious obligations that the Bajorans try to place on him. Later, he becomes more accepting of his role and, by the end of the series, he openly embraces it. The political and religious implications of this on the Bajorans and its spiritual leaders also provide a central arc that lasts until the end of the series.

The Maquis

The station crew early on has to contend with a human resistance group known as the Maquis. Rooted in the events of The Next Generation episode "Journey's End |Journey's End", in which Native American settlers refuse to leave when their colony world is given to Cardassia as part of a treaty, the Maquis are an example for the show's exploration of darker themes: its members are Federation citizens who take up arms against Cardassia in defense of their homes, and some, such as Calvin Hudson, a long-time friend of Sisko's, and Michael Eddington, who defects while serving aboard the station, are Starfleet officers. The show's sharp departure from traditional Star Trek themes can be seen in episodes such as "For the Cause |For the Cause", in which Eddington complains to Sisko, "Everybody should want to be in the Federation. Nobody leaves paradise. In some ways, you're even worse than the Borg. At least they tell you about their plans for assimilation. You assimilate people and they don't even know it." The Maquis also allow DS9 to subvert some longstanding Star Trek icons: Thomas Riker, a duplicate of Enterprise-D first officer Commander William Riker, is revealed in the episode "Defiant |Defiant" to be a member of the Maquis who gains access to the station's crew and facilities by impersonating the Enterprises Riker.

The Dominion War

The second-season episode "Rules of Acquisition |Rules of Acquisition" marks the first mention of the Dominion, a ruthless empire in the Gamma Quadrant, though they are not fully introduced until the second-season finale, "The Jem'Hadar". It is led by "the Founders", a race of shape-shifting Changelings, the same species as station security chief Odo. They were once persecuted by non-shape-shifters and they seek to impose "order" upon any who could potentially harm them, which includes nearly all Solids. The Founders have created or genetically modified races to serve them: the Vorta, sly and subversive diplomats, and the Jem'Hadar, their fearless shock troops. These races worship the Founders as gods.
At the start of DS9s third season, with the threat of a Dominion attack looming from the other side of the wormhole, Commander Sisko returns from Starfleet Headquarters on Earth with the USS Defiant, a prototype starship that was originally built to fight the Borg. It remains stationed at Deep Space Nine until season seven, providing an avenue for plot lines away from the station. With the third season, writers from the now completed The Next Generation began to write regularly for DS9.
The Dominion forms an uneasy alliance with the Cardassians in the fifth-season episodes "In Purgatory's Shadow" and "By Inferno's Light" and goes to war with the other major powers of the Alpha Quadrant in the season finale "Call to Arms |Call to Arms". Throughout the series, loyalties and alliances change repeatedly: pacts with the Cardassians are made, broken, and remade; a short war with the Klingons flares up and is settled, and the formerly neutral Romulans ally themselves with the Federation. This last alliance is made in an attempt to turn the war around, but comes as a result of criminal and duplicitous acts on Sisko and resident Cardassian Garak's part, thus providing an example of the moral ambiguity prevalent in DS9 in comparison to the other Star Trek series.

Section 31

Another example of DS9s darker nature is the introduction of Section 31, a secret organization dedicated to preserving the Federation way of life at any cost. This shadow group, introduced in "Inquisition |Inquisition", justifies its unlawful, unilateral tactics by claiming that it is essential to the continued existence of the Federation. Section 31 repeatedly states that if any inquires are made with the Federation, they will deny Section 31's existence. Section 31 features prominently in several episodes of the Dominion War arc, especially as it is revealed that it attempted a genocide of the Founders.

The Ferengi

In DS9, the Ferengi are no longer an enemy of the Federation, but rather an economic power whose political neutrality is, for the most part, respected. A number of episodes explore their capitalistic nature, while others delve into the race's sexist social norms. Unlike their depiction in Star Trek: The Next Generation, where they were generally portrayed as sexist buffoons for comedic purposes, in DS9 they received a more complex depiction, with the female partner of the Grand Nagus leading a women's rights rebellion on the Ferengi homeworld, and Rom, Quark's brother, leading a strike against unfair working conditions in Quark's bar. Also, Jake Sisko's best friend, Nog, has to deal with Starfleet's more liberal attitudes towards women while Jake learns to deal with his friend's cultural background in a respectful manner rather than risk the loss of their friendship. Nog later decides to join Starfleet, the first Ferengi to do so.

The Mirror Universe

Several episodes of DS9 explore the theme of the Mirror Universe, first touched upon in the episode "Mirror, Mirror |Mirror, Mirror". In the second-season episode "Crossover |Crossover", the DS9 crew first becomes aware of this alternate universe when Kira and Dr. Bashir experience operational difficulties while traveling through the Wormhole and wind up back on the station in the Mirror Universe dominated by the Klingon–Cardassian alliance. They discover that it is not DS9 to which they have returned but Terok Nor. Bajor is not friendly and there is no Federation here. "Terrans", as they are called in this universe, are ruthless barbarians according to the Intendant – the Terran Empire occupied Bajor for decades much as Cardassia had in the normal universe. The Klingon–Cardassian alliance eventually formed and Bajor was freed from Terran occupation, later enslaving Terrans as ore miners on the orbiting space station Terok Nor. However, the Terran workers liberate themselves and form a resistance movement, as seen in several other DS9 episodes |Through the Looking Glass", "Shattered Mirror |Shattered Mirror", "Resurrection.

Production

The series was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller at the request of Brandon Tartikoff, and was produced by Paramount Television. As overall head of Star Trek production, Berman served as executive producer for the series's entire run. Piller initially served as second executive producer and showrunner, but left the series in 1995 to manage . Writer Ira Steven Behr was promoted by Berman to replace Piller as showrunner and held that role for the remainder of the series. In addition to Berman, Piller, and Behr, key writers included Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Ronald D. Moore, Peter Allan Fields, Bradley Thompson, David Weddle, Hans Beimler and René Echevarria.
DS9 was the first television series in the Star Trek franchise to use computer-generated imagery for exterior space shots. Although a few other television series, like Babylon 5, were using CGI exclusively to avoid the high expense of model photography, the Star Trek franchise had continued to use primarily physical models for exterior space shots because producers felt models provided more realism.
The USS Defiant was the first full-fledged starship in the Star Trek franchise to have a CGI model used in regular production. It was first built and animated by VisionArt, which was responsible for the morphing of Odo. The CGI Defiant was featured heavily in the season 4 episode "Starship Down", where it battled a CGI Jem'Hadar ship in a CGI gas giant's atmosphere.
However DS9 also continued using models where needed, such as the season 4 premiere and the alternate-universe episode "Shattered Mirror". "During the battle sequences between the Federation and Klingon fleets, the effects department used Playmates toys, Ertl model kits and Hallmark Bird-of-Prey Christmas ornaments in the background in an effort to keep production costs down."
The series started using Foundation Imaging and Digital Muse in 1997 for its effects as part of the ongoing storyline of the Dominion occupation of the station. However, the Deep Space Nine station itself remained a physical model throughout the series' seven-year run except for the final scene of the series. In October 2006, the physical model of the station was sold for $132,000 in an auction at Christie's auction house in New York City.
The opening sequence was likewise modified in the fourth season, most notably by the introduction of CGI inserts of construction work being performed on the station's exterior by suited maintenance crews, and more docking and launching activity by ships, along with subtle colored wisps of nebulae added to the background starfield. Accordingly, the solo trumpet featured prominently in the main theme by Dennis McCarthy to accentuate the lonely isolation of the outpost was augmented by a chorus of brass as the station attained a more bustling atmosphere following the presence of the wormhole.
The digital effects were done at television resolution and thus the series cannot be re-released in HD format without re-doing the special effects.

Episodes

Overall 176 episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine would be produced.
The show debuted in January 1993 with the double-episode "The Emissary", half-way through the. This marked the first time that two Star Trek franchise series were airing concurrently, a situation which would continue until DS9 ended in 1999, except for the fall of 1994, when Next Generation ended and DS9 was alone on the air. But in the next year, Star Trek:Voyager aired on the then-new UPN network, so that once again two shows from the franchise aired.
One of the most acclaimed episodes of DS9 is "In the Pale Moonlight", episode 19 of season 6, in which Sisko wrestles with compromising his ethics to win the Dominion War. Other noted episodes include "The Visitor |The Visitor", in which an elderly Jake Sisko tries desperately to undo the loss of his father; and "Far Beyond the Stars", in which Sisko has a vision of himself as a writer coping with racism in 20th-century New York.
Overall, with 176 episodes with an average run-time of 43 minutes each, Geek.com calculated that there was 126 hours of viewing time for the series.
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Reception

Although DS9s ratings remained solid, it was never as successful as the syndicated Star Trek: The Next Generation, with approximately 6% versus 11% of US households watched during sweeps months. However, it continued to perform better than its franchise sibling Star Trek: Voyager, which averaged around 5% according to the Nielsen ratings. One factor was the increasingly crowded syndicated marketplace, which provided viewers with a number of alternative television series to follow. Another factor was the minimal promotion for DS9, as Paramount focused its efforts on its flagship network series . From 1995 onwards, most of the independent stations joined new networks, and these primetime shows gradually pushed syndicated programming into less favorable time slots as the US television market expanded from four networks to six.

Critical reception

DS9 was well received by critics, with TV Guide describing it as "the best acted, written, produced and altogether finest" Star Trek series. Despite debuting in the shadow of The Next Generation, DS9 achieved a considerable level of success in its own right. According to a press release through Newswire on April 7, 1999, it was the #1 syndicated show in the United States for adults 18–49 and 25–54. The characters of DS9 were featured on the cover of TV Guide ten times during its run, including several "special issue" editions in which a set of four different-covered versions were printed.
The series won a number of awards. It was nominated for Emmy Awards every year of its run, including for makeup, cinematography, art direction, special effects, hairstyling, music, and costumes. Of these, it won two for makeup, one for special visual effects, and one for its main title theme music. It was also nominated for two Hugo Awards in the category of Best Dramatic Presentation for "The Visitor |The Visitor" and "Trials and Tribble-ations".
Deep Space Nine drew praise from African-American, Latino and other minority viewers for its handling of the minority characters, particularly the Sisko family members. In addition, actor Alexander Siddig expressed his enthusiasm for the fact that he, with his English accent, unusual screen name at time of casting, and North African heritage was a main character on a prominent television series despite being not as easily racially identifiable to audiences as many other actors and characters were on TV at the time.
Andrew J. Robinson commented on DS9 not being as popular as its predecessors: "It's not the most popular because it's the most morally ambiguous... Whenever you have characters who are gray rather than black and white... Although they are more interesting, they are more difficult for people to get a handle on. I loved DS9 because they were gray, because the characters were not easily definable, but that's not for everybody".
Author Terry J. Erdmann commented: "DS9 was never as popular as its two predecessors, although it arguably was a more critically acclaimed series". In 2018, IndieWire ranked Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the 3rd best space science fiction show set in outer space, while placing Star Trek in 8th place and Star Trek: The Next Generation in 12th place among other shows in this genre, including 18 overall.
In 2016, The Washington Post ranked "In the Pale Moonlight" the 4th best episode of all Star Trek and called the Dominion war arc possibly the "richest narrative" of the Star Trek universe. However, they noted that individual episodes of the Dominion war do not stand out particularly besides from this one. One reason they felt it is an important episode is that it highlights the moral confusion and compromises that can occur during wartime.
In 2016, in a listing that included each Star Trek film and TV series together, this series was ranked 3rd by the L.A. Times.
In 2017, Vulture ranked Star Trek:Deep Space Nine the number one best live-action Star Trek television show.
In 2019, Popular Mechanics ranked Star Trek: Deep Space Nine the 16th best science fiction television show ever.

Former cast members and staff

In a 2007 interview with If Magazine, George Takei, who had played the character Hikaru Sulu in The Original Series, criticized DS9 for being the polar opposite of Gene Roddenberry's philosophy and vision of the future. However, D. C. Fontana stated in an interview that Roddenberry would have liked it and its dark themes, since he was a World War II veteran. Bjo Trimble, one of the major forces behind the letter-writing campaign that helped renew The Original Series for its third season, commented that she thought Roddenberry would have "come to like DS9, had he lived to see it," and that "the only reason there were not full battles in early Star Trek is lack of funds to pull it off, and lack of technology to show it. Otherwise, GR would certainly have added it; he knew what audiences liked".
Roddenberry is quoted in The Making of Star Trek DS9 as having doubts that a non-exploration show could work, and being displeased with early concepts presented to him in 1991. However, Rick Berman stated in the that Roddenberry had given him his blessing for developing it close to his death.
At Shore Leave 14 in July 1992, Majel Barrett commented on Roddenberry's involvement, saying: "He knew about it, but he was not about to become involved. He had done what he wanted to do and that was it. He just wished them Godspeed and go ahead. And as long as the name Star Trek is on it, yes, the estate will have a part of the action."
Ronald D. Moore, one of the series' main writers, praised the show as the "ultimate achievement for the franchise" in 2002:

I think Deep Space was the show that really took Star Trek as far as you could take it. You have The Original Series which is a sort of a landmark, it changes everything about the way science fiction is presented on television, at least space-based science fiction. Then you have Next Generation which, for all of its legitimate achievements is still a riff on the original. It's still sort of like, ok, it's another star ship and it's another captain – it's different but it's still a riff on the original. Here comes Deep Space and it just runs the table in a different way. It just says ok, you think you know what Star Trek is, let's put it on a space station, and let's make it darker. Let's make it a continuing story, and let's continually challenge your assumptions about what this American icon means. And I think it was the ultimate achievement for the franchise. Personally, I think it's the best of all of them, I think it's an amazing piece of work.

''Babylon 5'' controversy

Babylon 5, another science fiction series with a similar premise, set on a space station, aired around the same period as Deep Space 9. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski indicated that Paramount Television was aware of his concept as early as 1989, when he attempted to sell the show to the studio, and provided them with the series bible, pilot script, artwork, lengthy character background histories, and plot synopses for 22 "or so planned episodes taken from the overall course of the planned series".
Paramount declined to produce Babylon 5, but later announced Deep Space Nine was in development, two months after Warner Bros. announced its plans for Babylon 5. Straczynski stated that, even though he was confident that Deep Space Nine producer/creators Rick Berman and Michael Piller had not seen this material, he suspected that Paramount executives used his bible and scripts to steer development of Deep Space Nine. He and Warner did not file suit against Paramount, largely because Straczynski did not see it as a productive option, with negative repercussions for both TV series. In 1993 he responded to a Deep Space Nine fan who saw the lack of legal action as proof that Straczynski's allegation was unfounded, "If there is any winking and nudging going on, it's on the level of 'Okay, YOU know what happened, and *I* know what happened, but let's try to be grownup about it for now,' though I must say that the shapechanging thing nearly tipped me back over the edge again. If there are no more major similarities that crop up in the next few weeks or months, with luck we can continue that way."

Place in the ''Star Trek'' universe

Deep Space Nine is contemporaneous with both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager, with the last two seasons of The Next Generation set in the same years as the first two of Deep Space Nine, and the last five seasons of Deep Space Nine with the first five of Voyager. There are crossover character and plot connections between the series. For example, the characters of Worf and Miles O'Brien originated on The Next Generation before becoming main characters on Deep Space Nine, and the Maquis plotline introduced on Deep Space Nine is part of the premise of Voyager, on which Federation and Maquis crews must merge on a single starship. In addition, in the Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations", produced as part of a 30th-anniversary celebration of the Star Trek franchise, Deep Space Nine characters travel back in time to participate in the events of the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Trouble with Tribbles".

Music

On June 30, 1993, between seasons one and two, DS9 followed the example of other Star Trek series in releasing the original score from its pilot episode on CD. The title theme was also made available as a CD single. Music from several other episodes is included on The Best of Star Trek releases.
Originally created in the hope that Frank Sinatra Jr. would take the role, the character Vic Fontaine was introduced in the sixth-season episode "His Way". The character was a self-aware holographic Las Vegas lounge singer and night club owner from the early 1960s. Vic was popular with the station's crew and performed many period songs by, among others, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. Darren's role allowed him to release This One's from the Heart on August 24, 1999, featuring songs that Vic sang in the show and other period pieces.
On February 12, 2013, La La Land Records released a limited edition, four-disc soundtrack collection entitled the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Collection. The discs contain various cues from episodes scored by Dennis McCarthy, Jay Chattaway, David Bell, Paul Baillargeon, John Debney, Richard Bellis and Gregory Smith. Only 3000 copies of the collection were printed.

Home media

Episodes of DS9 were made available on VHS cassettes. The series was released on VHS in the United Kingdom starting August 2, 1993. Each video cassette contained two episodes and unique artwork and character/plot information. The first VHS release in the United States came on November 19, 1996.
Beginning in 1996, DS9 began releases on LaserDisc. Picture and sound quality in this format was significantly better than that of VHS cassettes; however, the Laserdisc format was discontinued in 1997. Only 30 discs, or the first 60 episodes, were released, comprising the first, second and part of the third season before Pioneer halted its production of Star Trek laserdiscs in October 1999. DS9 LaserDiscs were also produced for the Japanese and European markets. In Japan, the first five seasons were released in a series of ten boxed sets before they were canceled around the same time as the US releases. In Europe, a select few DS9 episodes were released on PAL laserdisc: "Emissary", also included in the boxed set Star Trek: The Pilots; "The Way of the Warrior", parts 1 and 2; and "Trials and Tribble-ations" from DS9, "The Trouble with Tribbles" from Star Trek: The Original Series, and "More Tribbles, More Troubles" from Star Trek: The Animated Series.
Following the DVD release of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 2002, DS9 was released on DVD beginning in February 2003. DS9 was released in boxed sets of one season each, which were released approximately one month apart. Each season contains several "special features", including a biographical look at a main character, information from make-up designer Michael Westmore on how various aliens were created, and interviews with cast members and crew members.
The sets also include "Section 31" easter eggs that give a brief look at other aspects of the series. The Region 2 and 4 DVDs also come with bonus CD-ROM discs that allow users to build a "virtual" DS9 on their computer with each release. On October 26, 2004, a boxed set of all seven season sets was also released.

Documentary ''What We Left Behind''

In 2017, Ira Steven Behr announced he had reconvened much of the former cast and crew of Deep Space Nine for a documentary film entitled What We Left Behind. It had a very positive response and surpassed its fundraising goals, and this success lead to ground-breaking conversions of Deep Space Nine footage into higher definition although it caused some delays. A screening version was released in late 2018 in Hollywood, New York, and at the Destination Star Trek convention in the U.K.
By February 2017, the documentary was partially finished, according to Behr, with an Indiegogo fundraising page set up to crowdsource the rest of the money needed to complete it. In addition to interviews with cast and crew, the documentary will explore Deep Space Nines legacy; Behr also reconvened the series' old writers' room to develop a script for the first episode of an imagined eighth season, which will be featured in the film. In 2017, a tentative release date was set for 2018. In the summer of 2018, the makers scheduled special release events starting in October 2018. A version was able to be screened at these special release events at Paramount in Hollywood and some other locations, but a decision was made to delay the media release to increase the amount of high-definition conversions.
In 2017, a fundraiser for the documentary surpassed its target of nearly $150,000 within a day of going live. It went on to raise over $500,000 by March 2017, almost four times the amount requested. When it concluded it had raised over $631,000 from thousands of donators.
Development of What We Left Behind took extra time due in part to the large amount of material for editing and technical challenges. This includes crafting special effects footage and working with CBS to make high definition scans. The makers also expanded the amount of footage that is being remastered, and innovated with a 16:9 scan of the original DS9 film.
In August 2018, it was announced the documentary would have original music scored by Star Trek veterans Dennis McCarthy and Kevin Kiner. The documentary's producer is Kai de Mello-Folsom, in consultation with others from the original creative team including Star Trek franchise legends such as Michael Okuda, Jonathan West, and Doug Drexler.
It premiered in late 2018 at the following locations:
The strong community support and overall response, as well as the creative team's access to resources to create the high-definition sequences led to a delay to increase the sequences filmed in higher-definition for the documentary. Although the screening version was complete and could have been released as-is, a creative decision was made to undertake converting more sequences into high definition.
One teaser showed concept art of a Star Trek spacecraft, which appears in the documentary in an animated sequence. The spacecraft design was by John Eaves, who designed many spacecraft in the franchise's television shows and theatrical films.
On May 13, 2019 there was a limited theatrical release. It played at about 800 theaters and grossed over $380,000. The film reviewed various aspects of the series from a perspective of twenty years later, explored a plot for a notional 8th season, and included many clips re-scanned from original footage in high definition.
On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 100% based on reviews from 5 critics.

Books

has published several dozen books based on DS9. Some of these were novelizations of memorable episodes, such as "Emissary |Emissary", "The Search |The Search" and "What You Leave Behind", which were usually published a few days after the episode aired in the United States. Several novels were part of "crossover" series between the Star Trek franchises, while others were part of other franchises but dealt with events laid out in DS9. For example, The Battle of Betazed tells of how Deanna Troi attempted to resist the Dominion occupation of her world. Most focus on the station and its crew, with a notable exception being Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe's Legends of the Ferengi.
The "Millennium" series by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, published by Pocket Books beginning in 2000, consists of The Fall of Terok Nor, The War of the Prophets, and Inferno. The series lays out an alternate ending to DS9 in which a second wormhole is created by the actions of a number of shady characters, destroying the station. In the space-time distortion that occurs, most of the crew are transported 25 years into the future—a future in which the Federation and its allies are virtually crushed and a fanatical sect of Bajorans who worships the Pah-wraiths have ascended to power and plan to destroy the universe to bring about a higher state of existence. Inferno ends the series as an unexpected mode of time travel is discovered after the end of the universe, allowing the DS9 crew to alter past events.
Avatar, a two-part novel published on May 1, 2001, picked up where the series left off. It began of DS9, into which A Stitch in Time was incorporated retroactively. The events of "What You Leave Behind", DS9s series finale, caused some radical changes to occur in Season 8. As Benjamin Sisko had entered the Celestial Temple, Colonel Kira was given command of the station while a new commander named Elias Vaughn took over her position, Garak became the leader of post-war Cardassia, Odo helped the Changelings rebuild, and Rom presided over the Ferengi Alliance.
Other publications, such as the Deep Space Nine Technical Manual and , are common to most of the Trek series. The DS9 Companion contains detailed episode guides and interviews with actors, writers, directors and other staff members.
DS9 series influences were included in role-playing game reference books from Last Unicorn Games and Decipher, Inc. Additionally, several novels have also been released in audio form, narrated by René Auberjonois and Armin Shimerman among others.

Comics

Outside its line of novels, DS9 has been the subject of several comic books published by Malibu Comics, Wildstorm Comics, Marvel Comics and IDW. One—Marvel's —is a spin-off detailing Nog's experiences as a cadet at the title academy in San Francisco. Another DS9 comic series became an example of licensed Star Trek works influencing each other as Tiris Jast, a major character from Wildstorm's N-Vector, appeared in the novel Avatar, Book One.

Games

Several video games focusing on DS9 have been released. The first was ', a 1995 side-scrolling game released for the Super NES and Genesis. The game takes place around the time of the series premiere, borrowing some stories from early episodes such as "Past Prologue" and creating others. A number of problems reportedly impeded the game's development process, and it was met with mixed reactions.
Three DS9-themed games were released for the PC: ' in 1996, ' in 2000, and ' in 2001. A board game was released as part of the now-defunct "component board game" series, which included an intercompatible board game for Star Trek: The Next Generation. DS9s role-playing book was one of several that failed to be released into wide circulation when Decipher, then publisher of the Star Trek role-playing game, discontinued its line.
The series features prominently in the Star Trek Customizable Card Game, particularly its second edition. In the game's first edition, Deep Space Nine is the titular fifth set, followed by one entitled "The Dominion" and several other DS9-themed sets. In the second edition, there are two types of cards for the United Federation of Planets, which may be placed at Earth or Deep Space Nine. The Ferengi, Dominion, Cardassian, Bajoran, and Maquis affiliations are primarily DS9-derived material, while the Klingon affiliation also borrows strongly from it.
The PC game Star Trek Online features Deep Space Nine as a trading hub. The lower ring contains vendors, and the upper ring offers views of surrounding space. In addition, the expansion “Victory is Life” is focused around DS9 and the Gamma Quadrant.

Other merchandising

Along with the rest of the Star Trek franchise, DS9 has been the subject of much merchandising. Action figures, keychains, models, and other items have been released. The station itself, which is highly recognizable and iconic of the series, is the subject of many of these items. Paramount also sells Starfleet uniforms; among the styles is the so-called "DS9-style" uniform, which is primarily black with a division color on the shoulders and a grayish-purple undershirt is seen underneath the uniform.
DS9 was represented at, an attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton that recreated both Quark's Bar & Restaurant and the Promenade. The former served Star Trek-style food and drinks, and hosted gatherings such as conventions. The latter sold various souvenirs; among the items for sale were "official" Starfleet uniforms and action figures. The attraction closed in September 2008.
In 2019, a new Star Trek: Deep Space Nine themed video game gambling machine was announced, with a tie-in promotion to the Las Vegas Star Trek convention. The maker's noted "Star Trek commands one of the world's most passionate fan bases, and we're thrilled to reveal the new Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Red Alert game." In the product, gambler-gamers defend the newly freed people of Bajor and the eponymous space station from Gamma Quadrant threats using a virtual Runabout and Defiant, some of the famous spacecraft from the hit TV show.