Christine Chapel

Christine Chapel

Promotional image of Majel Barrett as Christine Chapel in Star Trek: The Original Series
Species	Human
Affiliation	Starfleet
Posting	USS Enterprise nurse, doctor Starfleet Command
Rank	Ensign Lieutenant
Portrayed by	Majel Barrett
First appearance	"The Naked Time"

Christine Chapel is a fictional character who appears in all three seasons of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Original Series, as well as Star Trek: The Animated Series and the films Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Portrayed by Majel Barrett, she was the ship's nurse on board the Starfleet starship USS Enterprise. Barrett had previously been cast under her real name as Number One in the first pilot for the series, "The Cage", due in part to her romantic relationship with the series creator Gene Roddenberry. But following feedback from the Network executives, she was not in the cast for the second pilot.

The character made her first appearance in "The Naked Time" following a re-write of the script by Roddenberry. He had been inspired after Barrett read a proposal for the episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and bleached her hair blonde to better fit a role in that episode. The change of color caused Roddenberry to believe that NBC executives might not notice that Barrett had returned against their wishes. The executives immediately recognized Barrett. The character was featured in several episodes covering several broad themes, such as showing her feelings for Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and why she joined Starfleet. By the time of The Motion Picture, Chapel was a Doctor and during the events of The Voyage Home, she was stationed at Starfleet Command.