Voyager From The Unknown is a direct-to-video movie that combines the Pilot and "Voyagers of the Titanic." I was critical of this film in the past because it's simply two edited episodes, and the continuity between them fails. Bogg's physique is suddenly more muscular; he has darker hair with a shorter cut, and Jeffrey has a growth spurt within the span of one voyage.
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In a revealing comment on the Voyagers Guidebook Facebook Page, "Voyagers!" creator James Parriott revealed he had nothing to do with "Unknown." –
"Actually, that's from the original pilot for the series, which was cobbled together with another episode by a studio editor, long after production ended, without any input from the series creator (yours truly), or anyone on the show. It pains me when people talk about that "movie" like any of us had anything to do with it - or would've wanted our names on it."
It was humbling to learn this. For years, I had thought that the concept of "Unknown" was very unlike the actual series in tone and style. I'm glad Mr. Parriott made this confirmation!
That being said, some of the new elements introduced made Voyager From The Unknown dp stand out, and I've grown an appreciation for them.
It featured a Control computer with a female voice making snide comments about Bogg. It's like the predecessor of "Ziggy" the female computer with an ego on Quantum Leap. The scenes when Bogg and Jeffrey's time travel cut away to a gigantic processor with zooming lights. There are random inserts of early 80s computer technology calculating time-travel with equations from Einstein's theory of relativity. I like the idea that the Headquarters monitors all their Voyagers with technology and supercomputers. One part of Headquarters is 19th Century, and the other is futuristic. It's a Steampunk world, and that works for me.
The voyage through the cosmos featured shiny blue wormholes and green and yellow flashes of lightning with a metallic sound. Bogg and Jeffrey literally fly in never-before-seen clips. The flying was very cool but strange, as people would surely see them when coming in for a landing. The flying shots seemed to be deleted footage from the original Pilot and "Voyagers of the Titanic" episode.
This is a very rare VHS Dummy sheet featuring the original cover artwork for Voyager From the Unknown.
"Far out in the cosmos, there exists a planet known as Voyager, where the mystery of travel into space and through time has been solved. It is inhabited by a race who call themselves Voyagers. Their purpose is to keep constant surveillance on history. These people have a time machine device, the Omni, which will take them into the past, present or future. As each Voyager graduates, he is given an omni and a guidebook. One such graduate, Phineas Bogg, was assigned as a field worker to operate in certain time zones."
At first, this quote didn't make sense since Phineas Bogg explains in the Pilot – "We're the people that are plucked out of time and trained to travel through the ages..." (See Mr. James Parriott's comment above - now we know why much of this script makes no sense!)
In "Old Hickory and the Pirate," Bogg reveals that he was once a pirate, not a native of Planet Voyager. From the Pilot, it's obvious by his outfit. Phineas is simply a field worker plucked out of time and trained for the work. On Planet Voyager, a ruling race of people has discovered the secrets of Time and space manipulation. These Voyagers appointed themselves or were appointed, as authorities over Earth's history. Fans of Doctor Who may be reminded of the Time Lords.
Planet Voyager's backstory is narrated in Voyager from the Unknown. We never actually see them. However, on the show, we meet a Tribunal of judges, Garth, Brindle, and Kane, who were Phineas' former Academy Professors.
The Voyager Council must decide whom to pick for their ranks after scouring the time-zones for candidates. People like Phineas Bogg go through a rigorous training and education process at the Academy to get brought up to speed with Earth's history. We could've gotten more world-building of Planet Voyager and its goals if Voyagers! had a longer run on television.
In Voyager From the Unknown Bogg tells Jeffrey:
"Where's Columbus, kid? Where am I? What'd I do wrong?"
"It was Control Computer's idea to come into Dayton!"
Those are new lines of dialogue. The downside was that Meeno hit puberty. So his voice-over dubs were too deep compared to his pre-pubescent voice. It was a shame they couldn't have produced 2 new adventures. Or one movie to tie up loose ends from the show. But Jon-Erik had already moved on to Cover Up and less than a month later had his tragic accident.
Because Voyagers! It lasted 1 season, and memorabilia tie-ins were hard to find. No Bogg and Jeffrey action figures, play-sets, and toy omnis, no coloring books or snazzy tin lunch boxes. There's only one tie-in book published by Scholastic Inc., yet it's the company that co-produced Voyagers! There should've been a book series on their end. The book didn't even have pictures, save for the cover. Usually those 70s & 80s novel Tie-ins had a middle section for photos. Scholastic produced one illustrated poster with history activities to promote Voyagers! in schools. According to James Parriott, between 1982 and '83, the Scholastic Weekly Readers Newsletters given out in schools made mention of Voyagers!, but those are hard to come by.
Jon-Erik tried to save the show by making appearances and guest spots on the radio across the country. Meeno appeared at conventions, and James Parriott and his team did their very best to create interesting episodes. A lot of money was pumped into advertising "Cleo and the Babe," produced in honor of the World Series, but that game prompted Voyagers!, and the budget dropped.
PHOTO GALLERY
Screen Captures of the new scenes and original artwork
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A fascinating aspect of Voyager From the Unknown is the beautiful artwork by Jerry "Jaroslav" Gebr, which can be seen in the opening and closing credits. It envisions Planet Voyager as a vast, unexplored wasteland with a futuristic complex designed to house the Academy.