Star Trek: Phase II
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| Star Trek: Phase II | |
|---|---|
 Model built for Phase II. |
|
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Creator(s) | Gene Roddenberry |
| Starring | William Shatner DeForest Kelley |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | Never Aired |
| Broadcast | |
Star Trek: Phase II, or Star Trek II was a planned television series based on the characters of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. It was set to air in Spring 1978 on a proposed Paramount Television Service (a precursor of sorts to what would become UPN). The series was to describe the adventures of the Enterprise crew on a second five-year mission after the completion of the first series.[1]
Contents |
Conception and abandonment
Several attempts at a Star Trek motion picture were made in the 1970s, including Gene Roddenberry's 1975 treatment The God Thing, and a later attempt called Planet of the Titans, which proceeded to script stage to be abandoned in 1977. It was decided instead to create a new Star Trek television series, for a new national television network to be owned by Paramount. This was announced on June 17, 1977, with a projected start date of February 1978.[2]
Pre-production work started, with sets built, several television grade models (including the Enterprise herself and many of the pilot episode's models) made, deals made to bring back most of the original series cast, and several actors cast. It was planned to use the original series uniforms. Principal photography had not started, but test footage had been shot. Story writing had proceeded to twelve scripts, enough for a half-season.
The proposed Paramount Television Service folded, and the planned pilot episode, "In Thy Image", following the success of the science fiction movies Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, became instead a theatrical movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Cast and characters
The series was planned to have included William Shatner and DeForest Kelley reprising their roles as James T. Kirk and Leonard McCoy. Conspicuous by his absence was Leonard Nimoy, who declined to return due to a marketing issue over the Spock character and obligations to the play Equus, although early scripts included him. Nimoy turned down an offer to appear in two of every eleven episodes.[2] Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Pavel Chekov were all to return, with promotions to Lieutenant Commander for Uhura and Sulu, and to Lieutenant for Chekov. Chekov would have been chief of security. The character of Christine Chapel would also return, having become a doctor since the original series, in which she was a nurse.
The series would have included several new characters, such as Commander Willard 'Will' Decker, the Executive Officer, (possibly introduced to eventually replace Kirk as William Shatner was only signed for 13 episodes), Lieutenant Ilia, and the Vulcan Lieutenant Xon.
According to the series bible, Xon was to be a full Vulcan, unlike Spock, and fresh out of the Academy at 22. Doctor McCoy was to have been protective about him. The character of Xon did not appear in The Motion Picture, although David Gautreux had been cast in the role. Spock's Vulcan replacement as Science Officer, called Commander Sonak, appeared only for a few minutes in the film and had a few lines of dialogue before being killed in a transporter accident. The actor who was to have played Xon in the series, David Gautreaux, instead made a cameo appearance in the movie as Epsilon 9's Commander Branch. [3]
Decker is established in the bible as coming from a long-line of Starfleet officers. The bible notes that he will "command some landing parties", anticipating the TNG situation where the first officer usually took down away teams. Ilia, a Deltan, is established as an empath. Both the Decker and Ilia characters appear in The Motion Picture, although neither of them survive it. The Motion Picture establishes that Decker and Ilia had a pre-existing relationship. Persis Khambatta was cast as Ilia for Phase II and was carried over onto the film, but Decker remained uncast until after the film project officially began. The TNG characters William T. Riker and Troi resemble Decker and Ilia.
At one early stage, the character ultimately named Xon had instead been given the name Savik. A variation of that name, Saavik, was later given to a female Vulcan in the next movie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Episodes
Two scripts for the series ("The Child", "Devil's Due") were rewritten for use in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Several episodes of Star Trek: Phase II were scripted:
| Episode | Writer | Description |
|---|---|---|
| "In Thy Image" | Harold Livingston | The two hour pilot that eventually became Star Trek: The Motion Picture. It was based on a premise written by Gene Roddenberry for Genesis 2, named "Robot's Return". A huge starship crosses the universe looking for its creator on Earth. |
| "Tomorrow and the Stars" | Larry Alexander | During a Klingon attack, Kirk orders an emergency beamup and is transported to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii just before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The plot is surprisingly similar to that of the 1980 film Final Countdown. |
| "Cassandra" | Theodore Sturgeon | The Enterprise mediates a dispute between two worlds over "The Monitor", while a clumsy ensign takes care of an infant alien who can foretell the future. Based on the story of Cassandra. |
| "The Child" | Jaron Summers and Jon Povill | A being of light impregnates Ilia to experience life as a Deltan. The Enterprise's hull begins to fail as they come across a strange nebula. The idea for this episode was later used as the basis for a Next Generation episode of the same name. |
| "Deadlock" | David Ambrose | While searching for a missing starship, the Enterprise is recalled to a Starbase to engage in a very strange war game. |
| "Kitumba" | John Meredith Lucas | The Enterprise is sent to the Klingon homeworld to help Ksia, the underage Klingon leader, stop his regent from making war on the Federation. This would have been a two-part episode. |
| "Practice in Waking" | Richard Bach | The Enterprise comes across a sleeper ship where Decker, Scott and Sulu get trapped in a simulation of the 16th century witch burnings. |
| "Savage Syndrome" | Margaret Armen and Alfred Harris | While investigating an ancient starship, the Enterprise is hit with a blinding light which brainwashes the crew reverting them to savages. |
| "Are Unheard Melodies Sweet?" or "Home" | Worley Thorne | While searching for a missing starship, the Enterprise comes across a world in need of men. |
| "Devil's Due" | William Douglas Lansford | The Enterprise has a first contact with the planet Naterra just as a mythical creature, who was sold the planet in exchange for peace millennia earlier, appears. The idea for this episode was later used as the basis for a Next Generation episode of the same name. |
| "Lord Bobby's Obsession" | Shimon Wincelberg | The Enterprise comes across a derelict Klingon Cruiser with one life form aboard - one Lord Bobby from Earth's late 19th century. |
| "To Attain the All" | Norman Spinrad | The Enterprise gets caught in a solar system sized logic game where, if you win, you "attain the All," a huge repository of knowledge. |
| "The War to End All Wars" | Arthur Bernard Lewis |
Several writers, including Shimon Wincelberg, Norman Spinrad, Theodore Sturgeon, Margaret Armen and John Meredyth Lucas had written Star Trek episodes before. Worley Thorne would get story credit on, and wrote the teleplay for, the first season TNG episode "Justice".
Ship Upgrades
 The upgraded Bridge |
 Recreation deck |
 Recreation deck |
 Sickbay |
Legacy
Although the series was never filmed and is thus not considered part of the Star Trek canon, several sources, such as the Star Trek Chronology, acknowledge the basic premise of the series, and have Kirk conduct another 5-year mission after the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
References
- ^ Reeves-Stevens, Judith and Garfield. Star Trek: Phase II: The Lost Series. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-56839-6.
- ^ a b Joy, Nick. "The Human Adventure Begins...", Star Trek Magazine, Titan Magazines, January 2007.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0310390/#actor1970
External links
- Star Trek: Phase II article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
- Star Trek: Phase II at Science Fiction Buzz
| Star Trek television series and feature films | |
|---|---|
| Television series | The Original Series (Eps)· The Animated Series (Eps)· The Next Generation (Eps) · Deep Space Nine (Eps)· Voyager (Eps) · Enterprise (Eps) |
| TOS-era Feature films | The Motion Picture · The Wrath of Khan · The Search for Spock · The Voyage Home · The Final Frontier · The Undiscovered Country · Star Trek (planned release 2008) |
| TNG-era Feature films | Generations · First Contact · Insurrection · Nemesis |
