Neelix= Jar Jar Binks.

Absolutely, but lame as the Star Wars prequels are, one can’t help but admire the direction Jar Jar was taken in.

In Attack of the Clones he is left as acting representative to Naboo in the Galactic Senate (with predictably disastrous results). He calls for a vote to give Palpatine emergency powers - a decision which leads, ultimately, to the creation of the Galactic Empire! It’s like a Three Stooges short where the lads are left in charge of a china shop.

Does this show that, contrary to all appearances, ol’ fat-head Lucas actually has a sense of humour?

The Doctor was crap too. Another “hilarious” side-kick type character who dragged the show further into the realms of a kiddy, sci-fi, sitcom.

As for Janeway’s voice (which I can still do a fair impression of), it was never more tooth-grindingly awful than when pleading the right of “Mr. Tuvix” to live, love and be free. Oh and the other 1/2 of the Tuvix symbiote (Tuvok) was rubbish as well.

Come to think of it, that holographic doctor was pretty annoying, too. Not to mention Capt Janeway’s annoying voice.

Jeez - no wonder that crew was so tense. Whatever part of the ship you tried to hide in, you could guarantee that someone really annoying would be along in a minute.

I’d still opt for Neelix as most irritating character. He just ticks every conceivable box of awfulness. Wesley, in fairness to him, did become slightly less annoying as the years passed. His colourful, intergalactic, transdimensional love affair with that traveller fella from Tau Alpha C (or wherever) was also far less winsome than Neelix’s relationship with that pixie woman.

As for Trek - yes, the Tuvix episode sucked but it wasn’t as bad as that TNG episode where Beverley Crusher had a fling with a Scottish ghost. (Sub Rosa)

I’m still undecided as to which is the most irritating Star Trek character - Neelix or Wesley Crusher. You certainly wouldn’t want to get stuck in a lift with those two.

Here comes a mental squint.

I (like a lot of Sci-Fi fans I’d imagine) have mixed feelings about the Star Trek “franchise”. I (still) love the original series, and loved both The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine…at the time.

Leaving aside the original series, and taking the others in turn, here are a few brief thoughts -

TNG - Occasional preachy tone and comfy, self-satisfied “lounge in space” feel often threatened to scupper it. What saved it were numerous very well-written and well-executed episodes and the superb central performance of Patrick Stewart. I honestly feel if it weren’t for him lending gravitas and depth (in a sea of daytime TV regulars) the show would have flopped and the subsequent iterations would never have gotten going.

Deep Space 9 - Possibly my favourite of the bunch (apart from the original). Took ages to get going but the arrival of the Defiant really opened things up. Often epic in scope and mercifully willing to take a critical look at the scarily squeaky-clean Federation (Julian’s encounters with Star Fleet secret service etc).

Voyager - Criticising it is like punching dead kittens in a barrel of shit but this is undoubtedly where the wheels came off. Weak cast, soap-style emoting, juvenile comedy, a laboured and tiresome premise, endlessly rehashed narratives from previous shows and (lest we forget) the worst moment in Trek history…the Tuvix episode.

Enterprise - Nice attempt at a grittier, more “human” and home-made brand of Sci-Fi. Tried to match (and anticipate) some of the things that made/make Firefly, Battlestar Galactica (etc) so involving. Ultimately failed by (once again) retreating to familiar ground (Not another “crash-landed on a planet with your nemesis” episode, please!!), and turning an intriguing premise into something pretty banal and boring.

Overall the Trek universe lacks the balls to go to the dark (or, even, “less than perfect”) place often enough. Less carpeting, less shininess, less “self help” touchy-feelliness, and lots more dirty, flawed, ambiguous “stuff” is needed if it’s ever to bounce back.

I’d also offer lazy writing rather than knowing intertextuality with the TARDIS reference.
This really reminds me of that sequence from Speilberg’s Taken where the kid follows the cartoony-looking squirrel into a cartoony-looking house and as the squirrel closes the door he pauses and sneers through the gap. It was one of the most (in this case deliberately) sinister moments I’ve ever seen on television.