Khan! He’s returning to us in the upcoming audio drama, Star Trek: Khan, which chronicles his time on Ceti Alpha V after Kirk exiled him and his people there in The Original Series episode, “Space Seed,” and before we see him again in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
In the audio drama, Naveen Andrews (Lost, Sense8) voices Khan, taking on the character made iconic by Ricardo Montalban’s portrayal in TOS and the movie. “He created the whole template for that character,” Andrews said about Montalban in my interview with him about Star Trek: Khan. “I greatly respect him, and I thought what he did with it allowed me a way in.”
I talked with Andrews about voicing such a well-known character, how working in audio differs (and doesn’t differ) from other types of acting, and whether he had any thoughts about returning to the Star Trek universe in the future, perhaps as a character on camera.
Read on for our full discussion.
The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
I would love to hear how this project got on your radar and what drew you to it.
I was born in 1969, so I grew up in England in the ‘70s watching Star Trek, among other things. And what I remember from that time, at least, was that what was ostensibly a science fiction show seemed to have this core of moral responsibility to it. It’s almost quite odd, and even as a kid, you think, “Wow, this is interesting!” And I think that’s what drew me to want to do it.
Khan, obviously, is a pretty well-known character in Star Trek. What did you do to prepare for the role?
Ricardo Montalban, for me, created the whole template for that character. So it was entirely down to him, I have to say. I know he’s no longer with us, but I greatly respect him, and I thought what he did with it allowed me a way in. But particularly the episode in the Star Trek show [The Original Series episode, “Space Seed”], that’s what I drew from.
Can you talk about the process of recording the audio series. Were you in a room alone? Were there other actors with you?
Technically, it wasn’t possible to be in a room with other actors, which is obviously a shame, because I draw from who I’m working with in order to hopefully create something. So you have to do the best you can within those limitations. But that can also be an asset in some things, because there’s a certain kind of intimacy, I think, between you and [Wrath of Khan writer-director Nicholas Meyer, who created the story for the audio drama], and in this case [co-writer Kirsten Beyer, who penned the script with David Mack], where it’s really down to the three of you to find this kind of note, if that makes any sense.
That should happen very early on when you start recording: Does it feel right, in very basic terms? And the other thing is the pace, the flow. And if you achieve that early on, then the rest seems to fall together seamlessly. So having said that, I was brought up listening to radio in England. We listened to Radio 4 as kids, and then as a teenager, in my early 20s, Radio 4 in particular. And I always thought that there was a certain kind of magic to radio, so I wanted to try and recreate some of that.
Can you talk a bit more about how you work to create that magic?
A lot of it exists, as radio should do, in the in the imagination of the audience. It’s like the audience does 80 percent of the work in a strange way. I mean, I’m sure you’re aware of when Orson Welles read The War of the Worlds on radio, and the effect that it had. There’s a certain kind of power that can be accessed with that simple medium that you can’t do in the theater or on film. And I think that’s what we’re aiming for.
I think it works in terms of the power of a voice reading a story, say to a child, like I did with both my sons. I mean, they’re grown up now, but when they were little, I read to them. And there’s something almost sacred about that. It still has a certain kind of power that cannot be replicated. The idea of a human voice being able to speak and be heard, I think, is is quite unique, and that’s what I’ve always loved about radio.
Is there anything that jumped out to you when you read the scripts?
I thought it was extremely well written. And what jumped out to me was the amount of literary references, the idea that he was a man of letters, or a Renaissance Man, for want of a better term. So he’s not just an intellectual, given that he is a super being, but he has a genuine interest in literature and poetry.
This is your first foray into the Star Trek universe. Has it piqued any interest in you to potentially return to it, maybe on camera down the road?
I certainly wouldn’t be averse to it. I suppose that’s the medium that I’ve, for better or for worse, I’ve been forced to work in since I was 21.
Any specific character or type of character you think would be fun to play?
Anything that has the depth and complexity and scope of Khan would be very welcome.
The audio drama Star Trek: Khan premieres on September 8, 2025, in honor of Star Trek Day. New episodes will be available weekly on Mondays through November 3, wherever you get your podcasts.
Check out the trailer for the audio drama below.
Actually, there are two writers for STAR TREK: KHAN: Kirsten Beyer and David Mack. The edit to this interview suggests there’s only one. Please give credit where credit is due.
Nicholas Meyer did not direct the podcast as your article implies; IMDb lists Fred Greenhalgh as the director. Meyer only contributed the story outline.
Hi! Thanks Christopher. You are correct (This is Fred Greenhalgh, voice director on Khan. And as you can probably tell from his remarks in this interview, Naveen is a real mensch, I’m honored to have had the opportunity to work with him).
Good to hear from you. As an occasional audiobook writer myself (for GraphicAudio, which uses narration in its full-cast audio dramas), I’m interested by how this production manages to set its scenes fairly effectively without narration or stilted dialogue, although there were a couple of bits where I was slow to catch onto where a scene was taking place.
Thank you! The post has been updated.