Looking Back at Her Star Trek Legacy with Diana Muldaur

Tomorrow's release of Star Trek Explorer #9 is here to deliver on all your Star Trek cheer for the holidays!

Not only that, our friends over at Titan have a special Star Trek Black Friday/Cyber Monday that runs through November 30 where you can get a savings of 30% when you snag their promotion of 4 issues for just $24.99. Interested in the offer? United Kingdom fans head here, while United States/Canada/Rest of the World fans can head here.

Within the pages of Star Trek Explorer #9, you'll find an issue jam-packed with interviews, features, and brand-new fiction. On the interviews front, catch up with Star Trek: Picard's Todd Stashwick (Captain Liam Shaw) and Michelle Hurd (Raffi Musiker), Star Trek: Lower Decks' Kether Donohue (Peanut Hamper), Star Trek: The Next Generation's Diana Muldaur, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' costumer Bernadette Croft. Plus, read a never-before-published interview with the late Star Trek film producer Harve Bennett.

The latest issue also features their very first original short story set in the world of Star Trek: Discovery along with an original series short story in which Captain Kirk has an unexpected encounter with an old foe.... There's also the definitive guide to Star Trek: Prodigy, the magazine's top 10 captains ranking, a spotlight on vintage Star Trek comics from the UK, and more!

Thanks to our friends at Titan Magazines, we have an exclusive excerpt on actress Diana Muldaur's feature below!

Diana Muldaur portrayed Dr. Katherine Pulaski during the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, temporarily replacing Gates McFadden’s Dr. Beverly Crusher (McFadden was let go at the end of the first season). This was not her first foray into Trek, having appeared on Star Trek: The Original Series as Dr. Ann Mulhall, in the second season episode "Return to Tomorrow," and as Dr. Miranda Jones in the third season episode "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" She also appeared in Roddenberry’s made-for-television film, Planet Earth, in 1974.

Her first TV Role was playing Ann Wicker on The Secret Storm. Muldaur guest-starred on Dr. Kildare, I Spy, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Hawaii Five-O, Mannix, et al. She spoke about The Original Series and why she played two different characters.

"It was just the way it was. It had nothing to do with me at all. They were both so very different, which was wonderful," says Muldaur. "It was so creative walking onto the Star Trek set. Everybody who was part of it was creative. It was before the business side dominated film and television. It was just a thrill."

Muldaur has fond memories of her second episode, "Is There in Truth No Beauty?"

"The second show was fascinating, because we had a reading, and they threw the script away," she recalls. "We would get a new scene every morning, read it, rehearse it, learn it, and shoot it out of context, which was fascinating to me because I was from the theater. It came together as one of the best Star Treks they ever had. It made total sense. It absolutely fascinated me how we shot scenes; we had no idea where it came from and where we were going, but it all worked! It was absolutely, incredibly creative and marvelous!"

"You have to understand, I loved acting," she continues. "I loved finding something in every human being I’ve ever played that had a kindness and a humanity. Even if it was a falling-down drunk, I had to find that in that person and in that character. All of the Trek characters fit into that magnificently, even if they weren’t people (i.e., androids)."

Muldaur spoke highly of William Shatner.

"I find him to be wonderful," she adds. "He’s a brilliant actor. I’ve seen him do things before he did [Star Trek] and he was really well respected, and well-known."

Although Maldaur had a good working relationship with Roddenberry, they had lost touch for years when he called her about the role of Pulaski on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

"It was out of the blue. I didn’t read for that one, I’ll tell you," Muldaur recalls. "I remember wanting a name change. I can’t remember what [Gene] wanted it to be originally, but I suggested Katherine. He said, 'All right, if you want.'"

The full interview is in Star Trek Explorer #9 — on sale November 28! Pick up the issue to read Muldaur’s version of her exit from The Next Generation, recollections of working on L.A. Law as hard-nosed attorney Rosalind Shays; and memories from a star studded career! Plus, Interviews with Star Trek: Picard’s Todd Stashwick and Michelle Hurd; all-new short fiction; all your favorite features, and much, much more!