“Our Man Bashir” is episode ten of season four of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Dr. Bashir is playing a holosuite scenario in which he plays a jetsetting international spy. Garak invites himself into the programme to see just what has got Julian so fascinated. Garak, who was an actual spy, is rather surprised by this portrayal of the occupation – eventually stating that he joined the wrong country’s intelligence agency.
A runabout with Sisko, Dax, Worf, Kira and O’Brien on it is returning to the station from a conference when it suddenly runs into trouble. The runabout has been sabotaged, and Ops is unable to beam everyone out successfully. The patterns are stored, but they need transferring quickly. They are transferred into the holosuite scenario of Dr. Bashir’s – and the crew members start playing the roles of the actual characters.
If the programme is ended, the crew may be lost. If they are killed in the programme, they will be erased. Bashir and Garak have to try and stay alive – the holosuite safety protocols have failed, something that frequently happened in TNG – and keep the crew alive too, all while running the scenario.
Obviously inspired by James Bond – the doctor introduces himself as ‘Bashir. Julian Bashir.’ and at the end there is a statement saying Julian Bashir will return – but the inspiration is never mentioned by name. Perhaps that would have caused legal problems.