Androna

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Androna

In a deleted scene from the final Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "All Good Things...", actress Martha Hackett portrayed the Terrellian pilot Androna. She was originally to have appeared in the episode's eightieth scene (included in the episode's seventh act).

Androna was the pilot of a lead ship in an armada of five Terrellian transport ships that, loaded with victims of Terrellian plague, had traveled to an anti-time eruption within the Devron system in the Romulan Neutral Zone, in a past timeline experienced by Captain Jean-Luc Picard. After the USS Enterprise-D detected the Terrellian vessels stationary in the Devron system and Androna's craft hailed the Enterprise-D, she expressed gratitude to see Captain Picard and told him that her armada had been receiving threats from the Romulan Star Empire ever since entering the neutral zone. She also explained to him that she and the other Terrellians had made their journey after having received word that the anomaly – which she referred to as "the Light" – could heal the wounded and elderly people. After Picard expressed uncertainty about the anomaly's capabilities and replied that he might not be able to protect the Terrellian transport ships if the Romulans intervened, Androna told him that she had traveled too far and could not return, before she ended the message. [1]

The fact Martha Hackett had previously auditioned, unsuccessfully, for the role of Jadzia Dax in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine led her to being cast as Androna. Hackett found the duration it took to apply the prosthetics for the role was relatively lengthy. "The make-up was really extreme," she remarked. "It took about six or seven hours." (Star Trek Monthly issue 34, p. 41) During the approximately six-and-a-half hour makeup session, a cast of Hackett's head was made, from which was cast, in her own words, a "lizard headpiece." The makeup was extremely expensive. (TV Zone, issue #85, pp. 26 & 28) Hackett remembered, "It was full-head makeup which totally obliterated my lips, nose and eyebrows. The end result was really quite beautiful, elaborately painted with a lot of purples, greens and gold. The scene was shot in 15 minutes." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #7, p. 7) During that approximate duration, Hackett's scene as Androna was filmed in two takes. The actress reminisced, "The whole shoot ended up being a lot of fun." (TV Zone, issue #85, p. 28) After the filming wrapped, the makeup was removed. "It took a good two hours to remove the stuff!" Hackett exclaimed. (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #7, p. 7)

According to Martha Hackett, the reason her appearance as Androna ended up being deleted was "because they [meaning the writer/producers] decided they didn't want to focus solely on Picard, and wanted to involve the other characters more." (Star Trek Monthly issue 34, p. 41) The scene was, essentially, cut due to time constraints. "And that's how it should have been," the actress commented, "because the focus deserved to be on the main characters in their final story." Despite Hackett's acceptance of the scene deletion, Jeri Taylor felt differently. The actress explained, "Jeri Taylor later told me she regretted that they cut my scene because the Terrellians are so rarely seen." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #7, p. 7) On the other hand, Brannon Braga commented, "The alien looks silly." (All Good Things (Blu-ray) audio commentary)

Despite the scene's deletion, Martha Hackett's uncomplaining stint as Androna allowed the writer/producers to see that the actress could handle a lot of prosthetics. She ultimately suspected that the role of Androna may have therefore helped win her the role of Romulan Sub-Commander T'Rul in DS9: "The Search, Part I" and "The Search, Part II". (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #7, p. 7)

The scene with Androna appears in Michael Jan Friedman's ""All Good Things..." novelization and was later included in the "All Good Things" Blu-ray release. An image of Androna can be found in Star Trek Monthly issue 26 and her costume was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [2]

External link

• Androna at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works