The New Trek Programme Guide

by Paul Cornell, Martin Day, Keith Topping

Genres: Science Fiction

Synopsis

STAR TREK is one of the world's most popular and enduring science fiction franchises, spanning decades' worth of TV, film, comics, books and more. This book - originally published just as DEEP SPACE NINE was first being produced - analyses the rebirth and renaissance of the series in the nineteen eighties and nineties. Along with masses of factual information - plot synopses, cast and crew and, uniquely, British transmission dates - this Programme Guide casts a gently critical eye over the series' continuity (and lack of it) and lingers over the moments of humour (intentional and otherwise). In sum, this is a light-hearted, detailed and affectionate overview of the revitalised version of the classic STAR TREK. Please note that it has not been updated since its original publication.

Release date: October 31, 2013

Publisher: Gateway

Print pages: 192

Sample

Soon after being cast as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Patrick Stewart was asked how it felt to be part of ‘an American icon’. The question is a valid one, and Stewart came to realise that Star Trek was more than a mere TV programme.

Whatever one’s perception of the 1960s Star Trek series, there’s no doubt that it can claim a place in cultural history. Despite an occasional tendency towards hands-on-hips moralising, the show did examine many important and dramatic issues within an optimistic framework that millions of Americans were immediately attracted to.

Star Trek proved quite capable of conquering British audiences, too. In 1973, Clive James professed his love for the programme in his regular TV review column for the Observer, believing that its appeal lay in the ‘classic inevitability of its repetitions. As surely as Briinnhilde’s big moments are accompanied by a few bars of the Valkyries’ ride, Spock will say that the conclusion would appear to be logical, Captain. Uhura will turn leggily from her console to transmit information conveying either (a) that all contact with Star Fleet [sic] has been lost, or (b) that it has been regained. Chekhov will act badly. Bones (“Jim, it may seem unbelievable, but my readings indicate that this man has… two hearts”) will act extremely badly…’ Most importantly, Star Trek ‘has the innocence of belief’. Stephen Fry wrote in The Literary Review that Star Trek shows ‘the fight between Apollo and Dionysus that Nietzsche saw as being at the centre of Greek tragedy’. More simply, the programme was of ‘remarkable quality’.

By the late 1980s, Star Trek as an episodic TV series, a big budget film saga and a corporate merchandising empire, had become a phenomenon.

Star Trek: The Next Generation was the logical next step in that phenomenon. Gene Roddenberry had tried to revive his concept in 1977 with Star Trek II, but the cinematic splash of Star Wars ensured that some of this concept ended up on the big screen. By the mid-1980s Paramount TV executives came to believe that the fan following that had so vociferously attacked the decision to axe the original series might be converted to watch a new one. Although there was no question of using the original characters, the new show clearly had to be an evolution out of what had gone before, rather than a revolution that threw away all of Roddenberry’s core precepts. After months of hard work, ‘Encounter at Farpoint’ premiered across America in the autumn of 1987.

After a shaky first season, Star Trek: The Next Generation matured into a satisfying reworking of the original programme’s ethos. More important even than the special effects and the moral dilemmas were the new characters: to many, Kirk, Spock, et al., could never be replaced, but The Next Generation team became accepted in its own right. By 1990 The Next Generation had passed the original series’ seventy-nine episodes.

The BBC acquired first option on The Next Generation that year, and put the series in their autumn schedules. They had only bothered to secure the series for two years (rumour has it that the BBC executive who purchased the series saw only the pilot and was unimpressed). Given an 18.00 Wednesday slot, the episodes up to ‘The Best of Both Worlds 2’ were shown and gained a following very quickly. Writing in the NME, Angus Batey described the series’ ‘excellent labyrinthine plot structures’ as ‘Back to the Future with a Kurt Vonnegut screenplay’ and noted the presence in The Next Generation of ‘reliable old transporter beams, photon torpedoes and that split infinitive – so fans of the originals are well catered for.’

Despite this, the series was sometimes dropped to make way for sporting events, and one episode was postponed because of programme overrun, which caused a fan outcry. The BBC’s decision to transmit the series in an early evening time slot also brought casualties: the Alien-influenced ‘Conspiracy’ was hacked to pieces by the censors (although ten seconds of cut footage was left intact in ‘Shades of Gray’), and ‘The High Ground’, with its allusions to contemporary events in Northern Ireland, was banned completely. The BBC objected, amongst other things, to the character of Finn having an Irish name.

In 1992, the rights to the series transferred to the Astra satellite company BSkyB, which came up with the novel idea of turning The Next Generation into a daily soap. Scheduling episodes at 17.00 (with a 22.30 repeat) Monday to Friday, Sky One began re-broadcasting the series from episode one. (Despite the fact that there were rarely links between episodes, the previously-mentioned NME article suggested that Star Trek: The Next Generation made a great deal more sense in this fashion. ‘Don’t let the SF trappings put you off – this is basically Neighbours in outer space with less implausible stories and several times more addictive.’)

Such was the confidence surrounding The Next Generation that by 1993 it was able to produce a sibling of its own, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a much darker area of the Star Trek universe. Thirty years after it all began, Deep Space Nine is carrying the concepts of Roddenberry and his successors forward towards a new century. As this book was being completed, The Next Generation had already been turned into the first of a probable series of feature films (Star Trek: Generations). Additionally, the new TV spin-off Star Trek: Voyager is returning the concept to its original roots in space exploration.

The New Trek Programme Guide is a book aimed at the casual viewer and the dedicated fan alike, a companion to The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine videotapes and a concise work of reference. Our aim is to highlight the elements that make both series so popular, whilst also giving a general guide to the quality of the individual episodes themselves.

In this guide we have used the American transmission order: although we want the book to reflect a British approach to The Next Generation and DS9, UK transmission dates are, as indicated below, less than straight-forward. Stardates are of little help (take a close look at the first season), and production order comes a cropper in stories like ‘Unification’, where the second episode was filmed first. Very occasionally the American transmission order clashes with that of the video releases, but we feel that the sequence we have is the most sensible compromise.

The American dates given are those on which Paramount transmitted the episodes by satellite to the various US TV stations for transmission during the following week. Although this usually occurred on the following Saturday, these have become accepted as the de facto transmission dates for The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.

All of the UK transmission dates we quote from ‘Family’ onwards pertain to the Sky transmissions. A couple of special cases are ‘The High Ground’, which received its British TV debut on Sky out of sequence with the rest of the series, and ‘Unification’ parts one and two, which were first shown in truncated form on Sky’s Movie channel. Deep Space Nine made its UK debut on Sky in a Sunday early evening slot (also used for season seven of The Next Generation).

UK transmission dates were taken from the Radio Times and more recent US dates (including the information in the Appendix) were derived from TV Zone and DreamWatch. We use American spellings for the episode titles and on-screen credits (so don’t write in to say that isn’t how you spell ‘honour’), but British conventions elsewhere. Our production credits, cast lists and all other information has been taken from what featured on the screen, with one or two exceptions. Occasionally we have mentioned the pseudonyms used by writers, as noted in Larry Nemecek’s book (see Acknowledgements). The Star Trek Encyclopedia was our ‘bible’ for spellings. We would like to state, however, that the substance and the majority of the content of this book came through watching the episodes themselves: our primary interest is what actually appeared on screen.

Although the end of the final season of The Next Generation and the second season of Deep Space Nine provides our theoretical cut-off point, so much is happening in the Trek universe that we felt we should at least try to reflect this, and bring our book as up-to-date as possible. Therefore, we have an appendix which features as much information on the third season of Deep Space Nine and the first of Star Trek: Voyager as we could glean before this book went to press. Be warned if you haven’t seen these episodes and want the surprises left intact.

The factual information is self-explanatory, although it’s worth pointing out that the regular cast lists come in two sections. The first covers those who get a standard credit during the title sequence; the second covers characters like Pulaski, Guinan, Q, Lwaxana Troi and any crossovers between The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.

The categories are as follows (a variation on this format is used for the Deep Space Nine episodes):

Stardate: In this, we note the first Stardate given in each episode and, where applicable, how this is relates to ‘real’ dating. ‘The Neutral Zone’ provides an exact date for the era in which these events take place (2364 and beyond).

Strange New Worlds: The names of planets, stars, or other cosmic bodies visited or mentioned during an episode.

New Life Forms: Alien life forms encountered or alluded to, including extra facts about races already known.

Introducing: The first story of semi-regular characters.

Technology: Brief snippets about the gadgets and scientific achievements of the Federation and her allies and enemies.

Technobabble: American fandom coined this term to cover the meaningless pseudo-science that the writers seem to take great pleasure in having characters (especially Geordi) say.

Poker Game: A plot device first used in ‘The Measure of a Man’. Often these events can be very illuminating, with hidden character traits (such as Riker’s mean streak) bubbling to the surface.

Picard Manoeuvre: Patrick Stewart’s habit of tugging at his uniform when sitting down or standing up in early episodes became a running joke on the show, with other actors performing the same nervous twitch, usually when in charge of the ship.

Riker’s Conquests: You don’t really need this one explained, do you?

Deanna Underused?: The poor counselor was usually the first character to get cut out of an episode if there wasn’t enough action to go round.

Data’s Jokes: A major focus of the early episodes was Data’s role as the comic relief (a substitute Spock as noted by just about everyone). Later seasons somewhat transferred this role to Worf, but we do note here Data’s funny lines – intentional or otherwise.

Dialogue Triumphs: Those little glimmers that can make a tired hack reach for the notebook. (Occasionally we’ll list an absolute stinker or a line that sums up the tone of the whole episode.)

Future History: References to the development of the politics and culture of Earth (and the Federation) after 1988.

Notes: A collection of facts too detailed or too trivial for the other headings.

As with our previous books we also provide short reviews of the episodes. It’s worth stressing that all things are in the eye of the beholder and that whilst our opinions are as valid as anyone else’s, they aren’t the Holy Writ. So, come Star Trek Judgement Day, don’t have us cast into the pit just because we don’t appreciate your favourite episode as much as you do.

Remember, it takes all sorts to make a universe.

24 45-minute and one 90-minute episodes

Created by Gene Roddenberry

Executive Producer: Gene Roddenberry (7–9, 11–25)

Co-Executive Producers: Rick Berman (18–25), Maurice Hurley (18–25) Producer: Maurice Hurley (2–17) Co-Producers: Robert Lewin, Herbert Wright (1–20, 22) Supervising Producers: Rick Berman (1–17), Robert H. Justman (1–17) Associate Producers: D.C. Fontana (1–12), Peter Lauritson Consulting Producer: Robert H. Justman (18–25) Line Producer: David Livingston (18–25)

Executive Story Editors: Hannah Louise Shearer (16, 18–25), Tracy Tormé (20–25) Story Editors: Hans Beimler (18–23), Johnny Dawkins (2–3, 5, 15), Richard Manning (18–23) Creative Consultant: Greg Strangis (11–13)

Regular Cast: Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Commander William Riker), Le Var Burton (Lt Geordi La Forge), Denise Crosby (Lt Tasha Yar), Michael Dorn (Lt Worf), Gates McFadden (Dr Beverly Crusher), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), Brent Spiner (Lt Commander Data), Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) Colm Meaney (Ensign1, 1, 6), John de Lancie (Q, 1, 9), Majel Barrett (Lwaxana Troi, 10)

1: ‘Encounter at Farpoint’

90 Minutes

US Transmission: 28 September 1987

UK Transmission: 26 September 1990

Writers: D.C. Fontana, Gene Roddenberry

Director: Corey Allen

Cast: Michael Bell, DeForrest Kelley, Cary-Hiroyuki, Timothy Dang, David Erskine, Evelyn Guerrero, Chuck Hicks, Jimmy Ortega

Taking command of the USS Enterprise, Captain Picard’s first mission is to ‘solve the mystery of Farpoint station’. Travelling to the outpost the ship is pursued by a powerful entity, Q, who places mankind on trial for its alleged crimes. Picard offers to prove his race’s worth at Farpoint and, discovering that the station’s power source is an enslaved life form, releases it. A fascinated Q tells Picard that the Enterprise has not seen the last of him.

Stardate: 41153.7

Strange New Worlds: Deneb 4 (‘beyond which lies the great unexplored mass of the galaxy’).

New Life Forms: The Bandi of Deneb 4. The nameless energy creatures. The Ferengi are mentioned.

Introducing: Q, a powerful entity with shape-shifting abilities and a curiosity about humans in general and Picard in particular.

Technology: Warp 9.3 is described as ‘the red line’.

Technobabble: The bridge viewscreen uses ‘high resolution multi-spectral imaging sensors’.

Riker’s Conquests: Riker and Deanna are former lovers.

Dialogue Triumphs: ‘You’ve got a lot to learn about humanity if you think you can torture or frighten us into silence.’

Future History: In the mid 21st century, ‘the post-atomic horror’ was a period during which diplock courts dispensed justice on a ‘guilty until proved innocent’ basis and governments appeared to control their military with drugs.

In 2036 the new United Nations decreed that no human could be made to answer for the crimes of his forebears. By 2079, however, the new UN had been abolished.

These events take place in the late 24th century (Picard describes the Cold War as having taken place ‘400 years ago’: see ‘The Neutral Zone’).

Notes: ‘Let’s see what’s out there.’ This pilot begins very well, with a great OTT performance from John de Lancie, some good ‘get to know us’ dialogue for the regulars and a charming scene featuring DeForrest Kelley linking The Next Generation to its predecessor. However, the ending is mawkish and obvious with much padding. Picard is different from his later character, in places nervy and unsure of himself. Colm Meaney’s unnamed conn ensign is revealed to be O’Brien in ‘All Good Things’.

Admiral McCoy is 137 years old, which means that The Next Generation is set approximately 75 years after the events of Star Trek VI. Picard was a former crewmate of Dr Crusher’s dead husband. He quotes Shakespeare and is nervous of children. Riker, who recently served aboard the USS Hood, refused to let his former captain DeSoto beam into a dangerous situation on Altair 3. Data is an android who has been programmed with a complete human vocabulary. He graduated from the Starfleet class of ’78 (presumably a Stardate rather than a year), with honours in exo-biology and probability mechanics. Geordi says he was born blind. Deanna is half-Betazoid (a telepathic race). Her father was an Earth Starfleet officer. The Enterprise (NCC 1701-D) has two sections, the stardrive (which includes the battle bridge) and the saucer.

2: ‘The Naked Now’

US Transmission: 5 October 1987

UK Transmission: 3 October 1990

Writers: J. Michael Bingham (a pseudonym for D.C. Fontana), from a story by John D.F. Black, J. Michael Bingham (D.C. Fontana)

Director: Paul Lynch

Cast: Brooke Bundy, Benjamin W.S. Lum, Michael Rider, David Rehan, Skip Stellrect, Kenny Koch

Disaster strikes the research vessel SS Tsiolkovsky, observing a collapsing star. When the Enterprise investigates, its crew begin to exhibit signs of intoxication and frivolity. Riker works out that the legendary Psi 2000 virus is at work. When the known cure fails to work, it seems that the Enterprise will plunge into the star, but Data’s speed and coordination saves the ship.

Stardate: 41209.2

Data’s Jokes: ‘There was a young lady from Venus, whose body was shaped like a…’

‘If you prick me, do I not… leak?’

Notes: ‘I think we shall end up with a fine crew if we avoid temptation.’ A sequel to (and virtual remake of) the original series classic ‘The Naked Time’ with the story set entirely on board the ship. Continuity references to these events (‘complex strings of water molecules acted with the carbon in the body to produce an effect similar to intoxication’) and to Captain James Kirk are pleasing. Wesley is particularly irritating in this episode, although he does save the ship. A Beverly/Picard relationship is briefly alluded to, and there are several fine comedy set pieces for some of the regulars (Brent Spiner is exceptional).

Tasha was abandoned as a five-year-old and survived the rape gangs on her planet before escaping when aged fifteen. Deanna calls Riker ‘Bill’ on one occasion. Worf doesn’t understand Earth humour. Data is listed in several bio-mechanical text books. He is capable of intercourse (‘I am programmed in multiple techniques’) as Tasha discovers (to her later embarrassment). The ship’s chief engineer is Sarah MacDougal.

3: ‘Code of Honor’

US Transmission: 12 October 1987

UK Transmission: 10 October 1990

Writers: Katharyn Powers, Michael Baron

Director: Russ Mayberry

Cast: Jessie Lawrence Ferguson, Karole Selomn, James Louis Watkins, Michael Rider

The search for a vaccine to the anchilles fever takes the Enterprise to Ligon 2. The Ligonian leader, Lutan, is impressed with Tasha Yar and wants her to be his ‘First One’. Thus, following Ligonian tradition, he kidnaps her and says she must fight to the death with his current First One, Yareena. Picard, knowing he is unable to break either the Ligonian’s code of honour or the Prime Directive to get Tasha back, uses the ship’s transporters to provide a novel way out of the stalemate. Beverly cures Yareena from deadly poisoning, and honour is satisfied.

Stardate: 41235.25

Strange New Worlds: Ligon.

The anchilles fever seems to be confined to Styris 4.

New Life Forms: The Ligonians, a race with a culture implied to be similar to the American aboriginals and the Chinese Sung dynasty.

Technobabble: Data on the Ligonians’ transporter technology: ‘It uses the Hegelian shift to convert energy and matter.’

Picard Manoeuvre: First appearance: Jean-Luc hitching down his uniform in frustration on two occasions.

Data’s Jokes: The ‘includeling the kidelies’ tongue-slip.

Future History: Data describes the French language as ‘obscure’, much to Picard’s chagrin.

Notes: ‘Honour is everything.’ Worthy, but plodding (and with a twist at the end that is so obvious it’s painful). Tasha’s fight with Yareena is stagey but curiously effective. Denise Crosby seems very uncomfortable with much of her dialogue.

Tasha is an expert in aikido.

4: ‘The Last Outpost’

US Transmission: 19 October 1987

UK Transmission: 31 October 1990

Writers: Herbert Wright, from a story by Richard Krzemien

Director: Richard Colla

Cast: Armin Shimerman, Jake Dengel, Tracey Walter, Darryl Henriques, Mike Gomez

The Enterprise and the Ferengi ship it is chasing find themselves caught in a trap, suspended above an unknown planet, once part of the long-dead Tkon Empire. Both crews agree on a joint expedition to the surface, but this collapses into conflict, only halted by the appearance of the humanoid Portal, last remnant of the Empire. He tests Riker’s wisdom and, when he passes, allows the Enterprise to leave. Portal also accepts Riker’s plea for mercy for the Ferengi, allowing them to leave once they return the T-9 energy unit that they stole from the Federation.

Stardate: 41386.4

Strange New Worlds: The Delphi Ardu system (which contains eleven unexplored planets). There is a crewless monitor post on Gamma Tauri 4.

New Life Forms: Portal, the humanoid guardian of the Tkon Empire, which died out 600,000 years ago, when their sun went supernova, in their age of Makto. The Guardian is from the age of Bastu, with the ages of Cimi and Xora also preceding Makto.

The Ferengi, previously unseen by the Federation. Their technology is equal to Starfleet’s (including transporters). They use power-flinging whips, and have very sensitive ears. They are dishonoured by unconditional surrender, and visual communication is against their custom, the Ferengi Code. Deanna can sense nothing from them.

Dialogue Triumphs: ‘Merde,’ mutters Picard.

Ferengi comment on Yar: ‘You work with your females, arm them, and force them to wear clothing. Sickening.’

Future History: Riker’s ancestors were American. The military theories of Sun Tzu are taught at the Academy.

Notes: Watch out for a huge anti-climax, Geordi’s jive dialogue, and many longueurs. Very poor.

5: ‘Where No One Has Gone Before’

US Transmission: 26 October 1987

UK Transmission: 17 October 1990

Writers: Diane Duane, Michael Reaves, Maurice Hurley (uncredited)

Director: Rob Bowman

Cast: Biff Yeager, Stanley Kamel, Eric Menyuk, Herta Ware, Charles Dayton, Victoria Dillard

Lt Kosinski, a Starfleet propulsion expert, and his alien assistant arrive to increase the Enterprise’s engine output, but Kosinski’s theories don’t make sense. Wes befriends the assistant, and distracts him during an experiment, sending the ship 2.7 million light years across space. An attempt to get the ship home sends the Enterprise to an even stranger place, an area where thoughts become real. Wesley discovers that the assistant, the Traveler, is responsible for the journeys, and the alien agrees to try to return the ship home. He does so, seemingly destroying himself in the process, but not before he has told Picard of Wesley’s vast potential, leading to his promotion as acting ensign.

Stardate: 41263.1 (and a point when a Stardate would be ‘meaningless’).

Strange New Worlds: Galaxy M33, on the far side of Triangulum, 2,700,000 light years from Earth (which would take 300 years to get back to at maximum warp (so maximum warp is about one light year per hour) or 51 years ten months for a subspace message). Then a strange place one billion light years from the Milky Way.

New Life Forms: The Klingon Targ, a pig-like pet.

The Traveler, a being from (not exactly) a different time. He focuses thought to travel through space, and his race have never visited humans before. (He’s said to be a native of Tau Alpha C, a very distant planet.) He’s a blank to Deanna.

Technobabble: ‘I applied the power asymptomatically,’ says Kosinski (he means asymptotically), but since he talks nonsense, this might be a clever joke.

Notes: Wil Wheaton acts really well in this episode.

The USS Ajax and USS Fearless are two starships older than the Enterprise who’ve had their engines adjusted by Kosinski. Eleven per cent of the galaxy has been charted. Picard likes his tea strong. His mother is dead. The Traveler thinks Wesley is going to be a great genius, so he’s given the rank of acting ensign. Unusually, Data uses the contraction ‘it’s’.

6: ‘Lonely Among Us’

US Transmission: 2 November 1987

UK Transmission: 24 October 1990

Writers: D.C. Fontana, from a story by Michael Halpern

Director: Cliff Bole

Cast: John Durbin, Kavi Raz

While taking representatives of the warring Antican and Selay races to Parliament, the Enterprise passes through a strange cloud. A bolt of energy secretly passes through several crew members in turn, possessing them as it goes, and finally enters the ship’s computer. Several systems fail, including warp power. The energy bolt kills investigating Chief Engineer Singh and Data, acting as Sherlock Holmes, deduces that the ambassadors weren’t responsible. Troi hypnotises Beverly and Worf, and discovers their recent ‘possession’. The energy bolt enters Picard, causing him to turn the ship around and go back to the cloud. Revelling in the power to explore, he beams into the cloud, but finds that he can’t be one with it, and returns to the ship, himself once more.

Stardate: 41249.3

Strange New Worlds: Parliament, this sector’s neutral conference planet. Selay and Antica, worlds which have had contact with the Ferengi. Two planets in the Beta Renna system are home to the Anticans and Selay.

New Life Forms: The cat-like Anticans and reptilian Selay, warring species, and the sentient energy being from the cloud.

Technobabble: A lot of silliness about Picard floating around as energy.

Dialogue Triumphs: Beverly’s greeting to Wes: ‘Solve any new problems today?’

Selay’s excuse for netting a crewmember: ‘Sorry, wrong species.’

Notes: One fun, interesting plot, and one gallopingly stupid babblethon. Obviously, the latter gets centre stage.

Humans create meat in the replicator, and no longer keep animals for food. Dr Channing’s theory concerns forcing dilithium into more useful crystals. The Enterprise is a year out of spacedock. Argyle, from the last episode, is still chief engineer. Riker regards Sherlock Holmes as an historical character.

7: ‘Justice’

US Transmission: 9 November 1987

UK Transmission: 28 November 1990

Writers: Worley Thorne, Gene Roddenberry (uncredited), from a story by Ralph Wills (a pseudonym for John D.F. Black), Worley Thorne, Gene Roddenberry (uncredited)

Director: James L. Conway

Cast: Brenda Bakke, Jay Louden, Josh Clark, David Q. Combs, Richard Lavin, Judith Jones, Eric Matthew, Brad Zerbst, David Michael Graves

The Enterprise crew beam down to the paradise world of Rubicun 3 only for Wesley to be sentenced to death for a trivial offence. When Picard, despite the Prime Directive, argues against the punishment, the ‘god’ of the Edo (actually a number of multi-dimensional beings in a sort of spaceship) appears next to the Enterprise. Through Data the Enterprise is warned to leave its children alone. Picard brings an Edo on to the ship to see the reality of her ‘god’, but the sentence against Wesley still stands. Picard is forced to order the rescue of the boy from the unresisting Edos, but the ‘god’ creature stops the away team beaming back to the ship. Picard’s impassioned speech on the injustice of such stringent laws saves the day.

Stardate: 41255.6

Strange New Worlds: The Enterprise comes to Rubicun 3 after delivering Earth colonists to a similar class M planet in the nearby Strnad system.

New Life Forms: Rubicun 3 is inhabited by the fun-loving Edos. The women are busty and the men wear daft costumes. They run everywhere, and their society is free from crime, as any committed in the randomly-selected punishment area is automatically punishable by death.

The Edos are watched over by a protective ‘god’ spacecraft. It is suggested the creatures in the craft once had a ‘normal’ existence.

Worf says that he would have to restrain himself if having sex with a human: compared to Klingons they are ‘quite fragile’.

Riker’s Conquests: We dread to speculate. His comment on the Edo women – ‘They certainly are fit’ – says it all.

Dialogue Triumphs: Geordi: ‘They make love at the drop of a hat.’ Yar: ‘Any hat.’

Worf, after being embraced by an Edo female: ‘Nice planet.’

Picard (exasperated at the sensor’s vague information about the object off the starboard bow): ‘Why has everything become a “something” or a “whatever”?!’

‘Sharing an orbit with god is no small experience.’

Future History: Picard believes that Earth law now ‘works’ as the seeds of criminal behaviour can be detected. Capital punishment no longer takes place.

Notes: ‘There can be no justice so long as laws are absolute. Even life itself is an exercise in exceptions.’ Poorly directed, with Wil Wheaton seemingly out of his depth (although some of the lines he is given – ‘You’re not involved in this decision, boy.’ ‘I’m sorry, sir, but it seems like I am.’ – would be a challenge to any actor). Although the Edo god spaceship is good, the rest of the story looks cheap. The resolution is awful, with the Prime Directive casually broken and the Edo ‘god’ convinced with two or three lines of horrible dialogue. Like a number of Trek episodes this story argues that religious belief is just a stage that humans (should) evolve out of.

Picard calls Data his friend and Wes ‘the Crusher boy’.

8: ‘The Battle’

US Transmission: 16 November 1987

UK Transmission: 7 November 1990

Writers: Herbert Wright, from a story by Larry Forrester

Director: Rob Bowman

Cast: Frank Corsentino, Doug Warhit, Robert Towers

Ferengi DaiMon Bok has found the Stargazer, Picard’s old ship, and wants to give it to the Federation. It was damaged a