---
title: "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"
year: 1993
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/star-trek-deep-space-nine"
fi1m_score: 85
critics_score: 81
critics_reviews: 6
published: "2026-09-16T23:23:42.077706+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-16T23:24:01.661805+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)

Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller · 45m · MPA TV-PG · Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Drama

**Fi1m score: 85** · Critics 81 from 6 reviews

*In a sentence:* Star Trek parks the ship for seven years and finds the neighbours more interesting than the stars

> The Star Trek that stayed in one place is the one that grew up. Two slow seasons and some poor Ferengi comedy stand in the way, but once its neighbours start pressing in, this is the best drama the franchise has made.

## Synopsis

The Cardassian occupation of Bajor is over, and the Federation takes charge of a battered mining station left in orbit above the planet. Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), a widower who would rather be anywhere else, arrives with his son Jake (Cirroc Lofton). His first officer, Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), fought the occupiers and does not much want the Federation either. Chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) tries to make the station work, the shapeshifter Odo (René Auberjonois) keeps order on the Promenade, and Quark (Armin Shimerman) is talked into keeping his bar open. Then a stable wormhole opens near Bajor, and the outpost nobody wanted becomes the busiest crossroads in the quadrant.

## Review

Star Trek had always been about leaving. A ship arrives, a problem is solved, and the ship is gone before anyone has to live with the result. Michael Piller and Rick Berman’s series, which began on 3 January 1993, takes the ship away. Its people are posted to a battered space station above Bajor, a planet that has just seen off a long Cardassian occupation, and they have to stay. It is the slowest of the Star Trek series to get going and, once it does, the best drama the name has produced.

Herman F. Zimmerman’s station tells you the rules have changed before anyone speaks. The Cardassians built it, so nothing in it looks like the Federation: the corridors are dim and ribbed, the doors are ovals, and the control room is a pit with the commander’s office up a short flight of stairs. Marvin V. Rush, Jonathan West and Kris Krosskove light it in ambers and rust rather than flat white. Most of the arguing happens on the Promenade, a curved street of shops with a bar at one end and a temple at the other. Dennis McCarthy’s title music is a slow horn tune over a station turning in the dark, with no ship going anywhere. That is the series in ninety seconds.

Avery Brooks plays Benjamin Sisko as a man who did not ask for the job. In the pilot he has lost his wife at Wolf 359, and when the beings inside the newly found wormhole take him apart they keep returning him to the burning corridor where she died, because he has never left it. Brooks plays it sitting on the floor, quietly, and it got to us far more than a pilot has any business doing: a widower being told, by things that do not understand time, that he is stuck. Brooks has a slow, formal way of speaking that sounds stiff in a staff meeting and immense in a crisis. The series learns to use both.

Nana Visitor’s Kira Nerys spent her youth in the Bajoran resistance and treats the Federation as a second occupier with better manners; Visitor never softens her, and the writers do not ask her to. René Auberjonois’s Odo, a shapeshifter who does not know where he comes from, and Armin Shimerman’s Quark, the Ferengi barkeeper he can never quite arrest, spend seven years needling each other across the Promenade, and theirs are the scenes we would keep if we could keep only a few. Colm Meaney’s O’Brien wants a quiet drink and Alexander Siddig’s Bashir wants to be admired, and their friendship takes years to arrive. Terry Farrell’s Jadzia Dax, carrying the memories of several previous lives, is the calmest person on the station and often the funniest.

The first two seasons are hard going. Twenty-six episodes a year is a lot to fill, and they were filled with visiting aliens, holosuite mishaps and Ferengi comedy that plays as if someone were being paid by the joke. The first reviews in 1993 complained that a station made everything slower than a starship, and for a year and a half they were right. We were bored, on and off, and then irritated, because the people were plainly interesting and the stories kept reaching for the old formula.

Then it changes. Ira Steven Behr, a producer and one of its most prolific writers, and a room that included Ronald D. Moore, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, René Echevarria and Hans Beimler let stories run across episodes and then across seasons. The neighbouring powers stop being scenery and start having interests. The Bajoran religion, which most series would have treated as local colour, becomes a force with its own politics, and Sisko’s unwanted place in it a real problem. In the later seasons the station goes to war, at length, in a run of episodes we will not describe except to say that Star Trek had never before let its heroes be this compromised and meant it. Brooks, Auberjonois and Siddig are among the cast who direct, and the look holds steady across dozens of directors.

It is not a small commitment: seven seasons, 173 episodes of about 45 minutes each, and the good ones are not at the front. Watch the pilot, skip freely through the first two years, and stop skipping the moment the Cardassians start talking rather than shooting. From there it earns every hour.

*Fi1m score 85, published 16 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics rate Deep Space Nine highly, and several call it the strongest series to carry the Star Trek name. The praise clusters on the writing: keeping the station in one place lets the series build serialised stories about post-occupation Bajor, a Federation at war and the politics of the Dominion, rather than visiting a new planet each week. Its readiness to dwell on racial tension, religious fundamentalism and moral messiness comes up repeatedly, as does the ensemble cast, with Avery Brooks’s Commander Sisko singled out.

The spread is narrow apart from one outlier. The Independent, reviewing only the premiere in 1993, finds it recognisably Star Trek down to the technobabble, and argues the fixed setting makes the storytelling slower and more cumbersome. Later critics look at the same premise and call it the point; several note that the darker, serialised approach divided viewers at first and has come to look far-sighted.

### Reviews we read (6)

- **IndieWire** (90/100, inferred): The critic highlights how DS9's serialized storytelling, complex characters, and darker tone paved the way for modern Trek like Picard and streaming TV in general. It praises the show's willingness to explore conflict, multiculturalism, and moral ambiguity as forward-thinking elements that were initially divisive but later vindicated. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/2023/04/star-trek-deep-space-nine-picard-tv-show-1234829883/)
- **Radio Times**, Alex Moreland (90/100, inferred): Deep Space Nine is ranked the best Star Trek series overall. Staying in one place allowed it to become the franchise’s most effective drama, with thoughtful depictions of post-occupation Bajor and the Federation at war singled out for praise along with its unmatched character moments. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/star-trek-series-ranked/)
- **The Guardian** (90/100, inferred): The critic calls Deep Space Nine one of the smartest things to come out of mainstream science fiction, praising its dialogue-heavy focus on racial tension, religious fundamentalism, moral messiness and social issues over typical Star Trek adventures. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/nov/02/the-underrated-star-trek-why-you-should-watch-deep-space-nine)
- **Empire**, John Nugent (85/100, inferred): DS9 is the most critically acclaimed entry in the Star Trek canon for daring to be more grown-up and exploring darker themes. It is the boldest series bearing the Star Trek name, with the Dominion War and Klingon wranglings singled out as highlights of its fearless approach. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/star-trek-tv-worked-next/)
- **The Independent** (50/100, inferred): The critic finds the premiere episode of Deep Space Nine instantly recognizable as Star Trek, complete with familiar technobabble and storytelling tropes, but notes some updated 1990s elements such as single parenting and therapy. The space station setting is highlighted as making the narrative slower and more cumbersome compared to the Enterprise voyages. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/television-inner-space-1461429.html)
- **Paste**, Lauren Coates (85/100, inferred): The critic praises Deep Space Nine as one of the franchise's most compelling and masterfully crafted series, highlighting its shift to serialized storytelling, political intrigue, and complex characters that set it apart from prior Star Trek entries. They single out the strong ensemble cast and Avery Brooks' multifaceted performance as Commander Sisko for particular acclaim. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/cbs-paramount-plus/star-trek-deep-space-nine-cast-episodes-streaming-legacy-franchise)

## Details

- **Created by:** Rick Berman, Michael Piller
- **Creator:** Rick Berman, Michael Piller
- **Director:** David Livingston, Les Landau, Allan Kroeker, Winrich Kolbe, LeVar Burton, Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, James L. Conway, Michael Vejar, Cliff Bole, Kim Friedman, Jonathan West, Alexander Singer, Reza Badiyi, Paul Lynch, Victor Lobl, Corey Allen, Stephen L. Posey, David Carson, Jonathan Frakes, Jesús Salvador Treviño, Michael Dorn, Chip Chalmers, Anson Williams, John T. Kretchmer, Alexander Siddig, Tony Dow, Allan Eastman, Andrew Robinson, Gabrielle Beaumont, Robert Legato, Robert Wiemer, Robert Scheerer
- **Writer:** Ira Steven Behr, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Hans Beimler, Ronald D. Moore, René Echevarria, Peter Allan Fields, David Weddle, Bradley Thompson, Michael Taylor, Michael Piller, Mark O'Connell, Bill Dial, Morgan Gendel, Jim Trombetta, James Crocker, Joe Menosky, Evan Carlos Somers, Gerald Sanford, Hannah Louise Shearer, David Mack, Sally Caves, Gary Holland, Naren Shankar, John J. Ordover, D. Thomas Maio, Paul Robert Coyle, Jane Espenson, Sam Rolfe, Katharyn Powers, Gordon T. Dawson, Flip Kobler, Mike Krohn, Lisa Klink, Steve Warnek, Jill Donner, John Whelpley, Cindy Marcus, Martin A. Winer
- **Story:** Ira Steven Behr, Jim Trombetta, Hilary Bader, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, Mark O'Connell, James Crocker, Joe Menosky, Pam Pietroforte, Tom Benko, Robert Lederman, Jack Treviño, Ethan H. Calk, Philip Kim, Toni Marberry, Bryan Fuller, Rick Berman, David R. Long, Ronald D. Moore, Hans Beimler, David Weddle, Bradley Thompson, Peter Allan Fields, Evan Carlos Somers, Gerald Sanford, Kurt Michael Bensmiller, Hannah Louise Shearer, David Mack, Sally Caves, Gary Holland, John J. Ordover, Nicholas Corea, Richard Danus, Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci, Lisa Rich, Robbin L. Slocum, Gabrielle Stanton, Kelley Miles, Edmund Newton, Majel Barrett, Louis P. DeSantis, Christopher Teague, Truly Barr Clark, Harry Werksman, Robert J. Bolivar, Bob Gillan, Rick Cason, Jimmy Diggs, Barbara J. Lee, Jenifer A. Lee, Gabe Essoe, Marc Scott Zicree, Spike Steingasser, David Livingston, Pam Wigginton, Daniel Keys Moran, Brice R. Parker, Scott J. Neal, Gene Wolande, L.J. Strom, Lynn Barker, Christian Ford, George A. Brozak, Roger Soffer
- **Teleplay:** Ronald D. Moore, Ira Steven Behr, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Hans Beimler, René Echevarria, Michael Piller, David Weddle, Bradley Thompson, Mark O'Connell, James Crocker, Frederick Rappaport, Peter Allan Fields, Joe Menosky, Michael Taylor, Evan Carlos Somers, Kurt Michael Bensmiller, Naren Shankar, Nicholas Corea, Richard Danus, Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci, Lisa Rich, John Shirley, William Crawford, D. C. Fontana, Jose Molina, Steven Baum, Philip LaZebnik, Richard Manning, Michael McGreevey, Don Carlos Dunaway, Nell McCue Crawford
- **Cinematography:** Jonathan West, Marvin V. Rush, Kris Krosskove
- **Editor:** David Ramirez, Stephen Tucker, Richard E. Rabjohn, Michael Westmore II, Robert Lederman, Tom Benko, Terry Kelley, Jonathan Paul Ramirez, John Farrell, William B. Stich
- **Music:** John Debney, Dennis McCarthy, Alexander Courage
- **Production design:** Herman F. Zimmerman
- **Producer:** Michael Piller, Rick Berman, Ira Steven Behr
- **Cast:** Avery Brooks as Benjamin Sisko; Nana Visitor as Kira Nerys; Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien; Terry Farrell as Jadzia Dax; Alexander Siddig as Julian Bashir; Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko; Armin Shimerman as Quark; René Auberjonois as Odo
- **Runtime:** 45m
- **Certificate (MPA):** TV-PG
- **Release (the US):** 3 January 1993
- **Genres:** Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Drama

## Where to watch in the US

- Paramount+: streaming
- The Roku Channel: add-on, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on
- Amazon Prime Video: buy, sd

*Checked 2026-09-16.*

Also available in: AT, AU, CA, CH, DE, FR, GB, IE, IT, NO, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Primetime Emmy Awards 1993: Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music (won)

## If you liked this

- *Babylon 5* (1993): The other station drama of 1993, rougher and stranger, and plotted like a novel.
- *Battlestar Galactica* (2004): Ronald D. Moore takes the war and the compromises further, without a Federation to lean on.
- *Deadwood* (2004), Fi1m 91: A frontier camp where nobody chose their neighbours, arguing its way towards being a town. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/deadwood.md)
- *Blake's 7* (1978): British, cheap and bleak; the rebels are not much nicer than the empire they fight.
- *Andor* (2022): An occupation seen from the ground, and what it costs the people who resist it.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/star-trek-deep-space-nine