Summary
- Gillian Taylor is a central character in Star Trek IV, a comedy about the twists and turns of the 1980s that helps Kirk and Spock find their way.
- Catherine Hicks’ portrayal of Dr. Gillian Taylor has had a lasting impact and influenced the creation of the whale descendant character in Star Trek: Prodigy.
- Dr. Gillian Taylor’s expertise on humpback whales in Star Trek IV later leads to the development of Starfleet’s Cetacean Operations program.
In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Homedirected by Leonard Nimoy, Catherine Hicks plays Dr. Gillian Taylor, a 20th century marine biologist specializing in humpback whales. To save the 23rd century Earth from a probe that demands to speak to whales, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and The crew of the USS Enterprise must return their stolen Klingon Bird-of-Prey (called HMS Bounty) to 1986when humpback whales were not yet extinct. In 20th century San Francisco, Dr. Gillian Taylor, deputy director of the Cetacean Institute, is instrumental in bringing humpback whales George and Gracie into the future.
Part audience replacement, part potential lover of Admiral Kirk, Catherine Hicks’ Gillian Taylor is a grounding factor in Star Trek IV. Narratively, Gillian Taylor plays the serious man in the comedy about a fish out of water, the The journey home one of the best Star Trek Movies. Despite their initial disbelief in Kirk and Spock’s story, Dr. Taylor will be Kirk and Spock’s guide through the 1980s in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Gillian helps the time-displaced crew of the Enterprise with basic necessities like money and helps them navigate 20th century San Francisco as they rush to rescue George and Gracie, who have been prematurely released into the wild.
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Catherine Hicks played whale biologist Dr. Gillian Taylor in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Gillian Taylor introduced Kirk and Spock to humpback whales
Catherine Hicks plays whale biologist Dr. Gillian Taylor in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Dr. Taylor is a highly professional scientist who is highly knowledgeable and dedicated to the welfare of the humpback whales in her care. It is this dedication that first draws Dr. Taylor’s attention to the mission of the original crew of the Starship Enterprise when Spock enters the whales’ tank to communicate with George and Gracie. The institute loses its funding, so Gillian quickly helps Kirk and Spock bring George and Gracie into the future. Since the whales of the 23rd century and their descendants need someone to look after their well-being, Dr. Taylor eventually joins them.
Catherine Hicks is perhaps best known for Star Trek Fans for her role as Dr. Gillian Taylor in 1986 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Homealthough Hicks also played in Peggy Sue got marriedBefore Star Trek IVCatherine Hicks played other working women on television. Hicks played Dr. Emily Rappant in the TV version of The bears are looseand Dr. Faith Coleridge in the 1970s soap opera Ryan’s Hopein which also Star Trek: The Next GenerationKate Mulgrew. Later Catherine Hicks played the matriarch of the family Annie Camden in Aaron Spelling’s family dramedy A heavenly familyand frequently appeared in guest roles on television and television films.
Catherine Hicks’ Gillian leaves behind a surprising Star Trek legacy
Dr. Gillian Taylor influenced the character of the whale from Star Trek
Catherine Hicks’ Dr. Gillian Taylor has a surprising Star Trek Heritage. In Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2, Episode 5, “Observer’s Paradox”, Starfleet Academy candidate Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui) is assigned to the whale operations division of the Lamarr-class starship USS Voyager-A. Rok-Tahk works directly with (and befriends) a humpback whale named Gillianwho communicates via Voyager’s computer (Bonnie Gordon). Star Trek: Prodigy Writer and co-producer Aaron Waltke confirmed that WonderGillian the whale is a descendant of George and Gracie. The whale’s name Gillian is a direct tribute to Dr. Gillian Taylor and shows the importance of Dr. Taylor’s work with George and Gracie in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Before the debut of Gillian the Whale in
Star Trek: Prodigy,
The first Starfleet whales to be seen on screen were beluga whales named Matt and Kimolu, in
Star Trek: Lower Decks
Season 2, Episode 10, “First Contact”.
The existence of the Cetacean Operations Department in Star Trek: Prodigy also finally answers the question, albeit indirectly, of what happened to Catherine Hicks’ Dr. Gillian Taylor after she traveled to the future with Kirk and Spock on the HMS Bounty. As the only marine biologist in the 23rd century with expertise on humpback whales, Gillian Taylor became a key figure in the development of Starfleet’s whale operations programwho trained whales and dolphins as navigators on Starfleet starships. The humpback whales George and Gracie probably became some of Starfleet’s first whale navigators after Star Trek IV: The Voyage HomeThanks to Dr Gillian Taylor from Catherine Hicks.
