Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy

"Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy"
Star Trek: Voyager episode
The Doctor experiences daydreams
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 4
Directed by	John Bruno
Teleplay by	Joe Menosky
Story by	Bill Vallely
Featured music	Dennis McCarthy
Production code	224
Original air date	October 13, 1999 (1999-10-13)
Guest stars
Jay Legget - Phlox Googy Gress - Overlooker Robert Greenberg - Devro Tarik Ergin - Lt. Ayala
Episode chronology
← Previous "Barge of the Dead" Next → "Alice"
List of Star Trek: Voyager episodes

"Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" is the 124th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the fourth episode of the sixth season. The episode has an average rating of 4.6/5 on the official Star Trek website (as of November 25, 2007).

Plot

The Doctor asks to have his program altered so that he can take command of the ship in an emergency. Captain Janeway refuses the request, causing him to implement a daydreaming program instead. Meanwhile, Voyager enters a nebula which appears to be harmless.

Once inside, a hidden Hierarchy ship locates Voyager, and proceeds to use the Doctor's perception of reality to spy on the crew. The plan works at first, but soon the crew of the Hierarchy ship begins to believe that the Doctor's daydreams are the reality aboard Voyager. Despite the perceived danger of the Voyager the Doctor dreams he commands, the Hierarchy ship decides to attack, and steal Voyager's antimatter reserves.

The Hierarchy command agrees with the alien crew and they choose a "Type 3 Stealth Assault" plan to raid Voyager of valuable resources, but one of crew members realizes that he was observing the Doctor's daydream, and warns the Doctor through his daydreams about the situation. To hide his mistake and save both his job and the Doctor's life, the alien informs the Doctor that he should act as the captain because one of the daydreams the Hierarchy saw was the Doctor in command of the ship... Initially after she is told, captain Janeway believes the Doctor has lost touch with reality. Eventually though, she is convinced and the Doctor's original command program is implemented for real. Janeway works from a hiding spot to give the Doctor advice and orders.

Unfortunately, the Hierarchy vessel has obtained permission to proceed to a "Type 4 Assault" instead. When Voyager is fired upon, the Doctor breaks with the plan and threatens to attack with a weapon from his fantasies, a "Photonic Cannon." The enemy believes the bluff and retreats.

The episode ends with Janeway giving the Doctor the Starfleet Medal of Commendation and telling him that she will assign a team to research adding command functions to a hologram.

Production

The episode was originally titled "The Secret Life of Neelix" and intended to be a story about when Neelix's daydreams take on a life of their own when aliens become involved. However it was shifted around and rewritten to become a story involving the Doctor. The premise is based on the short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber in which Walter Mitty daydreams heroic adventures while running an errand for his wife. The title of this episode is a reference to the 1974 spy novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré. The 1979 BBC television serialization of that novel included a character played by veteran Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Patrick Stewart.

Writer Joe Menosky describes the episode as "five days of scriptwriting paradise" because "the story itself becomes your friend and collaborator, it is rich enough to support you and keep feeding you ideas as you execute the script." During the writing of the script, Joe Menosky asked actor Robert Picardo for "a list of what the Doctor's fantasies might be. Needless to say, a life drawing of Seven of Nine was the first suggestion [Picardo] made."

Actor Robert Picardo described the filming of the episode as "the most fun I've had in shooting the entire series ... It was great fun and one of our most successful outings at humor on our show."

Reception

The episode is a significant departure from typical Voyager episodes due to the story's extensive use of comedic elements, making it a favorite among many viewers. It has been cited as "most entertaining episode of the season to date, and a Voyager classic."

References

• Hines, Edward James (October 13, 1999). "Review of "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy"". Trek Nation. http://www.treknation.com/reviews/tinker_tenor_doctor_spy.shtml. 

External links

• Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy at the Internet Movie Database
• "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" at TV.com
• Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy at StarTrek.com