Number One (Star Trek character)

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Character
Name: Number One (aka Una)
Occupation: helm officer and First Officer
Relationships:
Fandom: Star Trek: The Original Series; Star Trek: Discovery
Other:
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Number One is a supporting character in the unaired first pilot of Star Trek, "The Cage". Footage of that appearance was incorporated into the two-parter, "The Menagerie". She was played by Majel Barrett, but credited in the two-parter as M. Leigh Hudec. The character's home planet of Illyria is suggested in the D.C. Fontana novel, "Vulcan's Glory". Number One's real name was not revealed canonically in TOS, although several licensed novels and comics have suggested some possibilities, including Timothea Rogers, Morgan Primus, Diana Winters, Lefler and Robbins (Pike is interrupted saying her first name and only verbalises "Eure-"). In the Greg Cox novel, "Legacies: Captain to Captain", she is referred to as "Una". The name "Una" was also used in the David Mack Star Trek: Discovery novel, "Desperate Hours".

The character returned in Season Two of Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Short Treks, now played by Rebecca Romijn. She refers to herself as Number One in a briefing by Starfleet, but Captain Pike also calls her "Una", thus canonizing the name in the finale of the season, "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2". "Una" also appears on a PADD in "Q&A" (Star Trek: Short Treks), but she requested that Spock call her "Number One".

Articles about Number One

"It's a Small Galaxy" by Ruth Berman, in Inside Star Trek #5, is a 1968 article about 'Star Trek' actors who play more than one role on the show [excerpt: "In the first pilot, 'The Cage' (later used in the two parts of 'The Menagerie'), Majel Barrett played 'Number One,' Captain Pike's second-in-command. NBC executives — liked the idea of the show but none of the characters, and told Gene Roddenberry to get rid of all of them — especially Spock, Roddenberry managed to keep Spock, but lost the rest. Miss Barrett became Nurse Christine Chapel. The departure of Number One (no doubt promoted to command of a ship of her own) [1] meant a promotion for Mr. Spock. He was already Science Officer in 'The Cage,' but, by the time of 'Where No Man Has Gone Before,' he had become second-in-command as well. Between the first and second seasons he was promoted again, from the rank of lieutenant-commander to commander."]

See also Star Trek Format: The Original Star Trek Idea As Submitted To NBC by Gene Roddenberry.

"An Afternoon With NUMBER ONE" and "Majel Barrett interview' by Barbara L. Snowberger, are included in Elysia #2, 1987.

The Fanon Number One

Number One has more alternate names in fanon, including the fan-created zine, USS Enterprise Officers' Manual by Geoffrey Mandel, and a Leslie Thompson article in The Best of Trek paperbacks (reprinting the prozine, Trek), which both suggest that her name is "Leigh Chapel", and that she is the elder sister of Christine Chapel.

In "The Last Talosian" by Ian McLean, a fanfic published in both Beyond Antares and Katra #8 (1986), the enigmatic Number One is now known as Admiral Leigh Certaine.

Other appearances of Number One in fanfic include:

Online comic strips:

Number One Gallery

  • Cover of "Orion Archives: 2234-2265: The Beginnings"

  • Dedication page from "Dilithium Crystals" #2, by "Brown", 1982

  • Interior art from "The Women's List" #2 by Shari Schnuelle, 1986

  • Comic strip art from "Basis of Proof" by Mark Farinas, 2015

Resources

References

  1. ^ No doubt.
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