{"id":45503,"date":"2024-02-08T12:00:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T11:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1988149"},"modified":"2024-02-08T13:29:27","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T12:29:27","slug":"best-star-trek-captains-ranked-from-kirk-to-picard","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/best-star-trek-captains-ranked-from-kirk-to-picard\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Star Trek captains ranked \u2013 from Kirk to Picard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Which is your favourite? <\/p>

By Alex Moreland\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 08 February 2024 at 11:00 AM<\/p>

\n\n

As each new Star Trek<\/a> ship starts its ongoing mission \u2013 whether it\u2019s to seek out new life and new civilisations, or to simply complete the long voyage home \u2013 there\u2019s always one presence at the heart of the show.<\/p>\n

Star Trek is usually more of an ensemble drama than anything else, but often you can\u2019t help but focus on the captains at least a little bit (even in series like Discovery<\/a> or Lower Decks<\/a>, where attention is deliberately placed elsewhere).<\/p>\n

After nearly 60 years of sequels and spin-offs, comparisons eventually start to spring up \u2013 which Star Trek captain is the best one?<\/p>\n

Or, if you like, it\u2019s the only question a Star Trek fan ever thought was hard: do they like Kirk, or do they like Picard?<\/p>\n

Best Star Trek captains ranked<\/strong><\/h2>\n

10. Gabriel Lorca (Discovery)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Jason\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Jason Isaacs as Captain Gabriel Lorca in Star Trek: Discovery.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

At face value, Lorca is one of the most interesting captains we\u2019ve seen in Star Trek.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something a little darker about him, something troubled, and he regularly seems to come into conflict with his more conventional crew, but beneath all that there\u2019s an apparently sincere investment in trying to return to the ideals of science and exploration Starfleet has had to move away from.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s eventually revealed, though, that his troubled side wasn\u2019t a piece of clever character writing, but a clue that he was a cackling villain from the Mirror Universe. Oh. (Maybe Jason Isaacs could return as Prime Lorca in a future episode of Strange New Worlds?)<\/p>\n

9. Philippa Georgiou (Discovery)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Michelle\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Michelle Yeoh in Star Trek: Discovery.<\/span><\/figcaption> CBS<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

We don\u2019t spend much time with Captain Georgiou of the Prime Universe \u2013 over the course of Star Trek: Discovery, it\u2019s her mirror universe counterpart who takes centre stage.<\/p>\n

But you get the sense in Discovery\u2019s two-part premiere (and in occasional flashback sequences) that Georgiou was very much the Captain Picard of her era, perhaps a character meriting further exploration \u2013 maybe that long-developing Section 31 movie with Michelle Yeoh should be a Star Trek: Shenzhou prequel instead?<\/p>\n

8. Jonathan Archer (Enterprise)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Scott\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise.<\/span><\/figcaption> James Sorenson\/CBS Photo Archive\/Getty Images<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Scott Bakula takes to the role well enough \u2013 he\u2019s anchored series like this before and since \u2013 but the character of Jonathan Archer never quite coheres around him properly.<\/p>\n

Is he a pioneering test pilot frustrated by the diplomatic responsibilities suddenly thrust upon him? Is he one of the greatest explorers in Starfleet history? Is he George Washington or Jack Bauer? Is he Future Guy?<\/p>\n

He\u2019s all of them and none of them. Maybe the character would\u2019ve become a more complex and well-rounded figure had Enterprise not been cancelled \u2013 but it\u2019s never a great sign if you have to say that about a show that did still manage four seasons in the first place.<\/p>\n

7. Carol Freeman (Lower Decks)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Dawnn\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Dawnn Lewis as Captain Carol Freeman in Star Trek: Lower Decks.<\/span><\/figcaption> Paramount Plus<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

One of the best threads running through Lower Decks is the relationship between Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and her mother Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis).<\/p>\n

It elevates what might otherwise have been a much simpler dynamic between an authority figure and a combative ensign into something far more compelling \u2013 a neat new spin on the parent\/child relationships we\u2019ve already seen in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.<\/p>\n

Plus \u2013 which is as important as anything else for a show like Lower Decks \u2013 Dawnn Lewis has great comic timing and delivery.<\/p>\n

6. Christopher Pike (Strange New Worlds)<\/strong><\/h3>\n