One of Star Trek's most charming and inventive characters, or the programme's greatest ever irritant? Ethan Phillips's portrayal of Voyager's Talaxian trader has produced as many fans as it has detractors.

A native of the Delta Quadrant who specialised in trading junk, Neelix debuted in the Voyager pilot Caretaker, playing a vital role in defeating the Kazon-Ogla threat. Afterwards he managed to persuade Captain Janeway that she should appoint him the ship's unofficial guide to the sector and, with his partner Kes, became a member of the Voyager crew.

Neelix also appointed himself morale officer on the ship and - concerned about the crew's dependence on replicated food - requisitioned the mess hall as a kitchen, where he serves up an exotic selection of Delta Quadrant dishes. During Voyager's years lost in space Neelix has had to cope with a variety of potentially self-esteem-sapping challenges: having his lungs pinched by the Vidians, being merged with the surly Tuvok in a transporter accident, and losing his lover Kes after she inadvertently became a ball of light.

Voyager's writers tend to use Neelix as token light relief on the show, but as a whimsical stooge, the character often grates. The rather gauche make-up and Poundstretcher-style costumes do not help either. But there are signs that Neelix could go on to convert sceptics. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is arguably when Neelix is presented in more sombre terms, with a degree of depth, that he becomes more endearing. If the producers took this route rather than allowing Neelix to be the burbling repository of Star Trek's corniest ever lines, he might just make some progress on the voyage back to Earth. Otherwise, he should be locked away in the kitchen. Baldoxic salad, anyone?