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James T Kirk - William Shatner Spock - Leonard Nimoy Dr 'Bones' McCoy - DeForest Kelley Scotty - James Doohan Uhura - Nichele Nicholls Sulu - George Takei Chekov - Walter Koenig 
OTHER SEASONS Season 1 Season 2 OTHER STAR TREK SHOWS The Next Generation Deep Space Nine Enterprise OTHER TREKS THROUGH SPACE Babylon 5 The new Battlestar Galactica 
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Spock's BrainA beautiful woman in an unlikely outfit appears on the bridge of the Enterprise and renders the whole crew unconscious. When they awake, they find Spock's body on the operating table, his brain removed. Vulcan physiology has kept the body alive and Dr McCoy can keep it so for a further 24 hours. The race is on to locate and replace Spock's brain. This is quite simpy the most deliriously silly episode of this, or perhaps any other, sci-fi show. The cast have to keep straight faces whilst uttering such dialogue as Kirk: 'We'll have to take him with us' McCoy:'Where?' Kirk: 'In search of his brain.. Then there is the sight of a remote control Spock (surely the ultimate in home appliances) and the scene in which Spock helps the Doctor in the operation to reconnect his brain is downright hilarious. Everyone is clearly aware of this as the episode is played out at a pitch that could only be described as hysterical in the hope that the sheer silliness gets lost along the way. One of the most memorable episodes, but for all the wrong reasons. Written by Lee CroninDirected by Marc Daniels Top The Enterprise IncidentUnstable after a stressful time, Kirk takes the Enterprise across the Neutral Zone and into Romulan space. There, they are surrounded by Klingon ships that appear out of nowhere. Spock makes nice with the Romulan commander in order that the ship is not immediately destroyed, but that means betraying Kirk and all that he as stood for. This is a very fine mystery episode that plays out well, keeping its little secrets until the tone flips into action, all is revealed and the race is on to get out of Romulan space at speed. It's appropriate considering that the story is all about secrets and espionage. That we never quite believe in Mr Spock's betrayal or the Captain's state of mind is becuase we know these characters too well and we are only two episodes into the new series. Written by DC FontanaDirected by John Meredyth Lucas Top The Paradise SyndromeBriefly visiting a planet they are to save by diverting a giant asteroid, Kirk falls inside an ancient obelisk and is rendered amnesiac. Emerging, he is taken to the be the God come to save the small tribe of American indians living on the planet. He takes a wife and spends some time as a happily married man, but then the asteroid threatens the whole planet, unaffected by the interventions of the Enterprise, and he is the only one with the secret to save a world - a secret he cannot remember. There is so much wrong with this episode that it is remarkable that it manages to be so diverting. Firstly, there are a whole slew of questions as to why the landing party beam down at all when they could detect humanoid life from orbit and know it was worth saving without going to take a personal look. The obelisk just happens to be opened by the musical tones that make up the phrase 'Kirk to Enterprise'? Nobody thinks to use photon torpedoes when the phasers fail? We have yet another world that is the exact copy of earth with yet another excuse for secondhand costumes (although, to be fair, this one does get explained away). What does work about this is the relationship between Kirk and his bride. As a starship captain, the life of hearth and home is denied him, but here he gets a taste of it and the romance is both touching and, ultimately, tragic. The stoning scene is horribly unconvincing, but that aside this is original and a pleasant change from the more esoteric space adventures. Written by Margaret ArmenDirected by Jud Taylor Top And The Children Shall LeadThe crew of the Enterprise comes to the aid of a colony only to find everyone dead, apparently by their own hand. The only survivors are the colonists' children who seem utterly unaffected by the whole thing. McCoy diagnoses suppressed grief, but when the children take over the ship, a more sinister cause is uncovered. It's Charlie X multiplied by a factor of several. Whilst that episode was about the confusion of puberty, this episode is about a bunch of kids taking over the Enterprise. It is too shallow to have another level. It is hardly believable that the children could be unaffected by the deaths of their parents, but be beaten by suddenly being confronted by the truth of their deaths. If the bodies themselves didn't bring the kids around, why would mere pictures? It's also unbelievable that Uhura would fall apart because she sees an image of herself in old age or that Sulu would be wracked with fear because giant knives appeared on the viewscreen. What weak minds all of the crew must have. Written by Edward J LaskoDirected by Marvin Chomsky Top Is There, In Truth, No Beauty?The ambassador of a race so ugly as to drive men mad is brought aboard the Enterprise for transport to its home. A lovestruck man tries to kill the ambassador and ends up sending the ship beyond normal space. Only a mind meld between Spock and the ambassador gives hope of a return. There some nice directorial flourishes that give the impression of the madness bestowed upon the characters with skewed angles and distorted perception, the ambassador's door being the only one coloured red, some really effective music. In pretty much every other respect it is standard STAR TREK stuff. The task that the ambassador carries out whilst linked with Spock seems far too easy and the use of stock footage from Where No Man Has Gone Before is too obvious and looks cheap. This episode features an appearance by Diana Muldaur who appeared as a doctor on a later Enterprise. Written by Jean Lisette AroesteDirected by Marc Daniels Top Spectre of the GunKirk ignores the warning of an alien race not to enter their space and the team that beams down to the planet find themselves in an eerie recreation of the hours before the gunfight at the OK corral, cast in the roles of the losers. As the time of the gunfight grows ever closer, they search for a way to avoid their fate. The synopsis might make this episode sound like another episode using up second hand props and costumes, but nothing could be farther from the truth. There is a genuine reason for the location and the manner in which the town is recreated (all holes and missing pieces) lends a surreal and spooky backdrop to the tale. The problem facing the team is ingenious and the solution turns out to be equally ingenious. The use of the time ticking away smacks of HIGH NOON, but it is so well done that you can forgive that abnd it really does build up a sense of genuine threat and real tension. The moment when the Earp gang open fire on the crew is a genuinely eerie one. The ease with which the aliens forgive the trespass at the end is the only false note in an otherwise excellent episode. Written by Lee CroninDirected Vincent McEveety Top Day of the DoveInvestigating a distress call, the crew captures some Klingons who believe that the Enterprise attacked their ship. An alien is feeding their anger and hate to cause a situation where they will fight and die, thus feeding it with their negative emotions. Emotion-eating creatures aren't exactly new in science fiction, and this one doesn't exactly set the screen alight. Apart from the poor nature of its visualisation, its early appearance means that the audience knows what's going on from the very beginning, this the story relies on its action to keep it going. Sadly, swordfights have never been very good in this show (see, for example, Bread and Circuses) and the ones here are no better. Michael Ansara makes for a convincing Klingon, but is given too little to do to make any real impact. Written by Jerome BixbyDirected by Marvin Chomsky Top For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the SkyNormal medical check ups show that the crew is in fine shape with the exception of Dr McCoy who has contracted an incurable disease. On a mission into the interior of a hollow asteroid on a collision course with an inhabited world, he falls in love with the High Priestess of a religion that punishes those that think other than they should. The spotlight falls on Dr McCoy for a change, so it's a shame that he gets saddled with a bit of a duffer. The initial concept of a hollowed out asteroid being used as an ark to save a dying race is interesting enough to get Mr Spock to say 'fascinating', but it soon devolves into another tale of a malfunctioning computer looking out for a primitive race, very much like The Paradise Syndrome. In fact it's pretty much the same story substituting McCoy for Kirk and putting it inside the asteroid, rather than having the asteroid threatening the planet. On top of all that, McCoy's illness is cured by the fortuitous discovering of an ancient medical database that just happens to have the cure that nobody else has managed to develop. The fact that we noticed that this episode has the silliest costumes of the series to date further illustrates how it fails to hold the attention. This is one of the lesser efforts. Great title though. Written by Rik VollaertsDirected by Tony Leader Top The Tholian WebThe Enterprise enters into an area where the very fabric of the universe is weak and unstable in search of a missing ship. After beaming over to the stricken vessel, Captain Kirk is trapped, phasing in and out of our universe. Meanwhile, an alien race known as Tholians initiate a combat that leaves the Enterprise adrift. Wary of the ship's phasers, the Tholians begin construction of an energy web that will entrap the Enterprise forever. The Tholian Web is one of those episodes of STAR TREK that stick in the memory as being great, but on review turns out to be less impressive than you thought it was. That it is memorable at all is solely down to the web itself, a wonderful plot device that allows for a slow build-up of tension as the crew fight against time to get the ship working again before the web is completed. Sadly, the episode misses out on those possibilities by choosing to concentrate on the crew going slowly mad through the mind-warping nature of the region of space, something that could have been left out and allowed for a more streamlined and exciting adventure. On top of that, the absence of the Captain is used as a chance to create dramatic conflict between Spock and McCoy. The fact that there is no real conflict means that McCoy is given all kinds of quite ridiculous and out of character emotional spats that further undermine the episode and the character. Written by Judy Burns and Chet RichardsDirected by Herb Wallerstein Top Plato's StepchildrenA distress signal brings the Enterprise to a planet ruled by beings with immense psychokinetic powers. Dr McCoy heals one of them and they insist that he stay. In order that he should agree, they use their powers on Kirk and McCoy, turning them into living puppets and humiliating them for their own personal pleasure. Alien beings with the powers of Gods are ten a penny in the STAR TREK, but few of them are depicted with quite the same vindictiveness as those in Plato's Stepchildren. The depths of their mental cruelty to those who do not have the power is shown unblinkingly and at surprising length as Kirk is made to whinny like a horse and Spock is made to laugh and cry like a loon. The impact of these humiliations upon them is underplayed, but we have spent enough time with these characters to know how deeply they are wounded. Furthermore, their initial victim is a dwarf, made to act as jester and fool. All of this is deeply unpleasant, something that brings an edge to this episode that is completely missing in everything that we've seen so far. It is also the reason why this episode went so long unseen in the UK, deemed too strong for TV audiences over here. It also elicits performances of surprisingly selflessness from both William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy that are easily the best work that they have done, not simply in the flashy, acting against their will, moments but also in the dead-eyed aftermath. The episode is also notable for being the one that brought an interracial kiss to mainstream american TV for the first time (albeit forced upon both participants by alien mindpowers). Plato's Stepchildren is the absolute pinnacle of what this show has been able to acheive, showing a maturity and bravery in its plotting that has all too often been lacking. Written by Meyer DolinskyDirected by David Alexander Top Wink of an EyeAnother distress signal (the galaxy seems to consist of nothing else) brings the Enterprise to a planet that appears uninhabited. Then a crewmember disappears, followed soon after by Captain Kirk who finds that the ship is at the mercy of creatures who live at a different rate of time, hours for them passing in every second. They intend to turn the ship into a deep freeze full of companions for their future lives. After the chilling darkness of Plato's Stepchildren, this is a bright and fluffy episode that mixes a fun gimmick (the fast-moving aliens) with a love triangle. It's all very much inconsequential, but entertaining nonetheless. Written by Arthur HeinemannDirected by Jud Taylor Top The EmpathA research station on one of the planets of a star about to go nova needs to be evacuated, but the crew have gone missing. Whilst looking around, Kirk, McCoy and Spock are transported to a black void where they encounter a mute empath woman and a pair of powerful aliens intent of carrying out deadly experiments upon them. The Empath is an interesting episode, not because it is good, but because it is visually interesting and maintains its sense of mystery much longer than most. The void in which the trio find themselves makes for a fascinatingly blank backdrop that enhances the strangeness of what is being played out in front of it. That it is being played, stage-managed by the two aliens, is clear enough, but what is the purpose of the torture and is the empath woman the leader, another prisoner or what? The ultimate resolution of the mysteries is disappointingly flat and comes in a welter of explanatory dialogue that is cringe-making, undermining and ultimately ruining the good work that had gone before. Kathryn Hays plays the empath with a series of sad eyed expressions and dance-trained movements that start off interestingly different but soon become annoying when it becomes clear that this is all that she is going to do. Because of her muteness, it was important that she could project a range and subtlety of emotions through body language and expression, something that she fails to do. On top of that, the episode is hampered by a truly awful and intrusive musical score. The Empath is an interesting visual experiment that sadly fails on all other levels. Written by Joyce MuskatDirected by John Erman Top Elaan of TroyiusThe warrior representative of a race embroiled in war is to be taken by the Enterprise to be the wife of the leader of the enemy, thus gaining peace for both worlds. The fact that she doesn't want to go and is willing to kill the ambassador from the other side are big enough problems, but then the Klingons start attacking and the dilithium crystals have been rigged to blow up if used. The theme of a reluctant bride being used in political peacemaking is one that would be returned to several times in later series in the STAR TREK canon, but this is the first. France Nuyen makes her spoiled and savage warrior queen an interesting, if annoying, character. A brat she may be, but she is clever and uses the bewitching power of her tears with calculated accuracy. Less satisfactory is the resolution of the sabotaged engines plotline with replacement crystals appearing from the Deus ex machina cupboard of plot contrivance. Still, it's bright and frothy and lots of fun. Written by John Meredyth LucasDirected by John Meredyth Lucas Top Whom Gods DestroyThe Enterprise brings a new cure for mental illness to the final asylum where the Federation's few incurable lunatics remain. Once on the planet, however, they discover that the lunatics have, indeed, taken over the asylum under the control of ex-starship captain Garth. Garth wants to escape with his band of the disturbed, but is held at bay by Kirk's codeword. A battle of wits and cruelty begins, Garth having an advantage in the fact that he can change his appearance to mimic others. Following so closely after Plato's Stepchildren, it is a surprise to find another story that is so edgy and which has cruelty at its core. Forgetting about the story's treatment of mental illness for a moment, this is the brutal stuff with torture and cold-blooded murder carried out on screen and in full view. This makes for pretty powerful stuff, added to by the claustrophobic nature of the setting, confined as everyone is to the heavily shielded asylum complex. True, there are problems such as the lack of guards at the facility and how Garth came to be able to create or possess a powerful explosive under such controlled surroundings, but these are quibbles. Steve Ihnat gives an excellent performance as Garth and Yvonne Craig makes an impact as a green-skinned inmate. Whom Gods Destroy is one of those episodes that stays with you after the credits have rolled. Written by Lee ErwinDirected by Herb Wallerstein Top Let That Be Your Last BattlefieldA stolen shuttlecraft is recovered and proves to contain a being who is half white and half black. Shortly thereafter, another being who is half black and half white comes aboard and claims that the other is a dangerous criminal. That prompts a counterclaim that he is a revolutionary. When the ship's controls are hijacked and a course set for the home planet of the pair, Kirk determines to destroy the ship rather than let it be used outside of his control. The remarkable makeup of the two aliens is the most striking thing about this episode. It seems such a simple thing, but proves to extremely effective. The rest of the episode is less striking, the story proving to be less than gripping until it comes to its conclusion with two aliens locked in eternal hate on a planet that is now empty, two whole races destroyed by that same hatred. This, and imagery of a world in flames, makes an impact, but not enough to save the episode. Written by Oliver CrawfordDirected by Jud Taylor Top The Mark of GideonThe planet of Gideon wishes to join the Federation, but has refused all attempts at contact. Now they have agreed to meet with a single negotiator, Captain Kirk. When he beams onto the planet, however, he finds himself back on the Enterprise, but a ship that is empty except for himself and a strange woman who tells of a planet where there are so many people that it is hard to breathe. This episode begins with an interesting premise, that of the Captain alone on his ship with no idea why or how. Then we see the normal ship and its situation and it is clear immediately what is going on. The arrival of the girl makes the story tread a more ordinary path and all of the initial atmosphere is lost, except for the moment when the viewport opens and instead of open space Kirk looks upon a sea of faces pressed together. The imagery of overpopulation so great that it is barely possible to move is kept in the background, but is all the more potent for it. Certainly more potent than the reasons that the script gives for it. There is also a potential hidden message regarding the rights and wrongs of euthanasia in there as well, though that might just be stretching it. On an more practical note, how did the Gideon high council get plans for an exact duplicate of the Enterprise? Does the Federation hand out this sort of sensitive material to all candidates for admission? Written by George F Slavin and Stanley AdamsDirected by Jud Taylor Top That Which SurvivesA strange planetoid that resists all attempts to explain its existence comes to the attention of the ship's crew. Kirk, McCoy and Sulu beam down to investigate and are then stranded when the Enterprise is thrown a thousand light years away. Whilst Spock attempts to bring the ship back to the planetoid at the highest speed without it blowing up, the landing party are menaced by a woman whose touch can disrupt every cell in an entire body. This is a fairly straightforward story with a disappointingly standard explanation behind all the mystery, but it is enhanced by the manner in which the woman appears and disappears. She turns sideways, into a line and then vanishes. This is genuinely creepy, but then she can kill with a touch, but only the person that she is sent for. The landing party can dance out of her way by hiding behind each other, but when three of her turn up they are in serious trouble. Shame that the rest of the episode isn't up to her standard. Written by John Meredyth LucasDirected by Herb Wallerstein Top The Lights of ZetarA new crew member on the Enterprise helping with the installation of equipment on the new Federation is affected when a community of light beings touches the ship. The community threatens the ship, but the phaser attack on the aliens hurts her. It becomes clear that her mind and the aliens' thought patterns are converging. Considering the usual fates of people who fall in love with principal characters in the show you would imagine that the crew of the Enterprise would be treated as pariahs and outcasts. It is inevitable, therefore, that Lieutenant Romaine is going to have a bad time of it. As it is, Scotty's relationship gives James Doohan a chance to act like a lovesick puppy and he proves to be completely unconvincing in the role of enamoured lover. As for the rest, it is standard STAR TREK stuff, slickly done, but hardly memorable. How they come to the final solution is never quite clear. Written by Jeremy Tarcher and Shari LewisDirected by Herb Kenwith Top Requiem for MethuselahThe Enterprise is in the grip of Rigellian fever. Ritalin, the cure, is found on only one nearby planet where it is guarded by a man who claims to be old beyond understanding. He also protects a secret in a beautiful companion who is eager for contact with the newcomers. There is more than a heavy hint of FORBIDDEN PLANET in this particular episode. There's a protective guardian, a beautiful young innocent, even a Robby the Robot replacement, albeit one obviously hanging off wires. There is no real threat and the mysteries are far too obvious, even the revelation of the girl's true identity. As a result, this is a minor entry into the canon. And surely Spock's last action is one of ultimate betrayal. Written by Jerome BixbyDirected by Muray Golden Top The Way to EdenThe Enterprise chases a stolen ship and manages to beam aboard the theives just before it blows up. They are members of a cult looking for the fabled planet of Eden. Whilst they hippy ways beguile the crew, they are working at something more underhand, stealing the Enterprise and taking it deep into Romulan space. If Charles Napier ever looks back on this he will surely cringe. His hippy character, Adam, is the one that gets the most ridiculous outfit and a permanent smile that seems more like someone on drugs than someone looking for a lost planet. Worse are the musical interludes in which he gets to sing some awful songs with accompaniment on his super space age guitar. They work as padding for the not very involving plot, but really are as out of date as the hippies that they took their ideas from. They might have struck a chord at the time, but no longer. Only the ironic ending in which Eden turns out to be as beautiful as promised, but utterly inimical to human life proves to interesting. Written by Arthur HeinemannDirected by David Alexander Top The Cloud MindersStratos is a city that floats in the clouds, but the chemical that the Enterprise needs to save an entire planet is found on the planet surface, mined by troglodyte workers who are subjugated by the cloud city people who believe them to be subhuman. The workers have rebelled and are witholding the chemical. Kirk will need all of his unconventional brand of diplomacy to work this one out. Industrial relations have never proved to be a sound basis for entertaining science fiction and so it proves once again. Apart from the basics of the plot, the script is pretty duff with a monologue voiceover from Mr Spock at one point that has to be heard to be disbelieved. Written by Margaret ArmenDirected by Jud Taylor Top The Savage CurtainWhilst in orbit around a planet thought to sustain life, but clearly not able to, the crew receive an invitation from Abraham Lincoln to come and visit. Kirk and Spock accept the invitation and find themselves forced into a battle against a quartet of history's most evil people, all for the education of the planet's rock creature inhabitants. Aliens doing terrible things in the name of knowledge, most especially making life forms fight each other, is a tried and tested story throughout the STAR TREK canon. The initial appearance of Lincoln is intriguing, but it leads nowhere but to this rather old and tired story. Written by Gene Roddenberry and Arthur HeinemannDirected by Herschel Daugherty Top All Our YesterdaysKirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to a planet threatened by the imminent nova of its star. There, they find a library full of tapes of the planet's history. A machine has transported the whole population into the past to live out their lives there. The Enterprise trio find themselves trapped in two different pasts and both of them containing deadly danger. The set up to this story is great fun. The idea of time travel has been touched on before and there is more than a hint of City on the Edge of Forever, only this time it is Spock falling in love with the woman (Mariette Hartley, making quite an impact in very little screen time). The way that the plot progresses and runs out, however, is standard stuff and somewhat disappointing. Written by Jean Lisette AroesteDirected by Marvin Chomsky Top Turnabout IntruderAn emergency call from a remote planet brings Captain Kirk into contact with an old friend who determines that she ought to be in charge of the Enterprise, not him. She acheives this by swapping her mind into his body and vice versa. All she has to do now is to pull off the charade, but will the crew of the Enterprise fall for it? Body-swap episodes are a delight for performers because they get to act out a whole new character and William Shatner does pretty well in showing the gradual breakdown of the bodynapper's control under the demands of the crew and the position. Of course, scenes of the captain filing his nails ought to have been a ded giveaway and surely a mind meld would have sorted it all out a bit quicker, but it's a good enough episode for the show to be going out on. Not classic, but solid. Written by Arthur SingerDirected by Herb Wallerstein Top |
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