it's Possibly, because Gene Roddenberry was in WW2 as B-17 Pilot in Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides.
that island group near Australia, he could after the War go to Australia to work as Pilot.
An Alternate Trek
- Thread starter Lindseyman
- Start date
it's Possibly, because Gene Roddenberry was in WW2 as B-17 Pilot in Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides.
that island group near Australia, he could after the War go to Australia to work as Pilot.
Garrison
Donor
The best bet might be if ITV decide they want a direct rival to Doctor Who. Sidney Newman at the BBC was quite committed to the Doctor; hence the invention of regeneration to deal with the end of William Hartnell's tenure so not likely to gamble on dumping it for a new show. Might also be interesting if Gene Roddenberry met up with Gerry Anderson...
An all star cast and one that I would not mind seeing on a AH TV.
It's of course highly improbable that this much talent would come together, but in 1967 McKellen, Jacoby, Tyzack, Pearce, and John are all under thirty, primarily theater based up and coming actors. So maybe it's possible to dream they could come together on a show as the supporting actors.
I think George Baker as chief engineer is the least probable, as he's maybe a little too big already not to be rated as one of the stars of the show. I guess this Star Trek could break with the Troika idea. Primary duo Mcgoohan and Mckerns. Subsidiary duo of Phillips and Baker.
With the name of Mcgoohan attached to the show it would get a prime time slot and NOT be in direct competition against Dr. Who.
The Captain (Christopher Pike?) – Jon Pertwee
The Exec ("Number One") – Leslie Phillips
The Chief Engineer – Kenneth Connor
The Alien Helmsman – Spike Milligan
The Russian Navigator – Marty Feldman
(The latter two could possibly be swapped over with each other)
The Communications Officer – Joan Sims
The Unrequited Nurse – Hattie Jacques
The Lovely Yeoman – Barbara Windsor
Doctor Philip Boyce – Charles Hawtrey
Science Officer: Lieutenant Spock (a very different character at this stage, with his main characteristic being "catlike curiosity") - Kenneth Williams (“Oh yes, I’m very curious.”)
Security Officer - Terry Scott
The [slightly bolshie?] Bosun - Sid James
And also starring [as some 'Redshirts' who actually survive from episode to epsiode] Ronnie Barker, Bernard Bresslaw, Peter Butterworth
The Exec ("Number One") – Leslie Phillips
The Chief Engineer – Kenneth Connor
The Alien Helmsman – Spike Milligan
The Russian Navigator – Marty Feldman
(The latter two could possibly be swapped over with each other)
The Communications Officer – Joan Sims
The Unrequited Nurse – Hattie Jacques
The Lovely Yeoman – Barbara Windsor
Doctor Philip Boyce – Charles Hawtrey
Science Officer: Lieutenant Spock (a very different character at this stage, with his main characteristic being "catlike curiosity") - Kenneth Williams (“Oh yes, I’m very curious.”)
Security Officer - Terry Scott
The [slightly bolshie?] Bosun - Sid James
And also starring [as some 'Redshirts' who actually survive from episode to epsiode] Ronnie Barker, Bernard Bresslaw, Peter Butterworth
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Crossed with "This is the voyage of the starship Troubridge".Ah! that sounds like episode 1; Carry on in Orbit!
Fast forward 20 years. The beeb has finally shut down Dr Who and Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred have wandered down that wooded path towards the Tardis for the last time. The ATV(or BBC) Star Trek was very popular and continually repeated (at least in the UK) especially on school holiday mornings and Sunday afternoons.(the US remake in the early 70s with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy bombed). An ITV company,it probably would have to be Granada by this time, sees a gap in the market with Who gone and decides to resuscitate Star Trek. Do they go for a remake of the original with a new cast or do the equivalent of OTLs STNG? If the former who is now cast as the crew, if the latter firstly what is the crew and secondly who is cast?
katchen
Banned
Let's flesh out the original series first. This is getting fascinating. And the Brits would absolutely LOVE it. Star Trek would tap into a lot of angst in the UK over the loss of Great Britain's naval power in the 1960s
Oh yes! Let's not forget. The Endeavour Crew will need at least one Indian in order that Star Trek will sell to Bollywood. Americans forget about India in the 60s but the British don't. (And maybe one Muslim as a nod to Pakistan).
Let's pay attention to the Star Trek Universe. How much of that Universe (Klingons, Romulans, Organians, Endorians,, Zefren Cochrane ect. would have been in Gene Roddenberry's head when he trooped off to England. The Zefran Cochrane story might be an early movie spinoff, even before the original series folds (if it folds and dosen't simply go on like Dr. Who, folding seamlessly into DS-9 and Next Generation) and instead of taking place in Montana, might well take place more credibly in Australia in the ruins of Woomera (and possibly even be filmed by Peter Wier).
There might be more emphasis on the Romulan menace than the Klingons; simply because the name Romulan triggers British subliminal fears of Europe. And the Klingons, with their emphasis on honor might look a lot more like a cross between Mongols and Japanese.
And here's a wild idea. Bring J.R.R. Tolkien in as a screenwriter. Tolkien is still alive in the late 60s and nobody can construct an Alternate Universe like Tolkien. Who by now could use the money.
Oh yes! Let's not forget. The Endeavour Crew will need at least one Indian in order that Star Trek will sell to Bollywood. Americans forget about India in the 60s but the British don't. (And maybe one Muslim as a nod to Pakistan).
Let's pay attention to the Star Trek Universe. How much of that Universe (Klingons, Romulans, Organians, Endorians,, Zefren Cochrane ect. would have been in Gene Roddenberry's head when he trooped off to England. The Zefran Cochrane story might be an early movie spinoff, even before the original series folds (if it folds and dosen't simply go on like Dr. Who, folding seamlessly into DS-9 and Next Generation) and instead of taking place in Montana, might well take place more credibly in Australia in the ruins of Woomera (and possibly even be filmed by Peter Wier).
There might be more emphasis on the Romulan menace than the Klingons; simply because the name Romulan triggers British subliminal fears of Europe. And the Klingons, with their emphasis on honor might look a lot more like a cross between Mongols and Japanese.
And here's a wild idea. Bring J.R.R. Tolkien in as a screenwriter. Tolkien is still alive in the late 60s and nobody can construct an Alternate Universe like Tolkien. Who by now could use the money.
High Plains Drifter said:
McGoohan, McKellen, & Jacobi... *drool* (If you can get...damn, what's his name, played Crowley in "The Professionals", I'd sell you my first born.
{Then again, I have no kids, so...})Damn, where did I park the transdimensional transmogrifier?
One thing, tho: Brit TV's SF is more mature already, so I wonder if *Colt would be the damsel or closer to Yar? And honestly, I always hated Chapel... Now, if they (okay, me
) borrow from the film, why not make it Uhura? In effect, a bad breakup she handles less well than he does--or less well than he seems to, anyhow...
ITC Star Trek Handbook
The Alternate Trek Universe with analogues from OTL Star Trek
1.The Federation exists except it is called the Commonwealth of Planets
2.The Commonwealth headquarters are in New York, built on the ruins of the old UN building
3. Starfleet is the Commonwealth Navy and the Commonwealth Fleet, the Navy handles the defense of the Commonwealth whilst the Fleet handles exploration and research. There is some commonality of ship design and also some conflict of interest.(Think of the conlict between the RAF and Admiralty over the Fleet Air Arm- asimilar conflict exists between the navy and Science bureau of the Commonwealth.
4.The Navy is a PROPER Navy run by an Admiralty and with lots of tradition. It sees itself as the heir to the USN, RN,Russian Fleets etc that survived WWV). It is very traditional with respect to rank and chain of command.
5. The Fleet is far looser and closer to the approach of Starfleet in OTL Star Trek.
6. WWIII is the name now given to the cold war and decolonisation conflicts from the Suez crisis onwards to about 1980
7.WWIV is the anologue of the Eugenics Wars and happened in the mid 1990s
8.WWV is the analogue of Star Trek's WWIII and happened in the 2050s
9. First contact happened much as in OTL Star Trek (without the Borg) when Christopher Cochrane makes the First warp flight from Woomera in the Phoenix.
10 The Vulcans in this timeline are just as logical as in OTL Star Trek but not as controlling of Earth as implied in Star Trek Enterprise.
11. The Commonwealth is founded by Earth with surviving independent worlds of the collapsed Bajoran Empire in about 2180. (Bajor occupied by the Cardassians). This empire collapsed under attack from the Klingons, Rhihannaun and Cardassians much as the Terran Empire did in the Mirror universe. Also in the Commonwealth are Vulcan and Andor.
12.The Klingons are the honourable version from STNG but look like those from TOS (remember this is a British TV production, money is even tighter!)
13. The main enemy are the Rhihannaun(pronounced Rheenan which the Earth people hear as Roman!) Think of a cross between the TOS Klingons and STNG Romulans and nastier!
14. CSS Ark Royal is one of 7 Endeavor class heavy cruisers fitted for exploration as opposed to the 18 Illustrious Class Battleships in the navy which are identical in exterior design but with far more power devoted to weapon systems.
1.The Federation exists except it is called the Commonwealth of Planets
2.The Commonwealth headquarters are in New York, built on the ruins of the old UN building
3. Starfleet is the Commonwealth Navy and the Commonwealth Fleet, the Navy handles the defense of the Commonwealth whilst the Fleet handles exploration and research. There is some commonality of ship design and also some conflict of interest.(Think of the conlict between the RAF and Admiralty over the Fleet Air Arm- asimilar conflict exists between the navy and Science bureau of the Commonwealth.
4.The Navy is a PROPER Navy run by an Admiralty and with lots of tradition. It sees itself as the heir to the USN, RN,Russian Fleets etc that survived WWV). It is very traditional with respect to rank and chain of command.
5. The Fleet is far looser and closer to the approach of Starfleet in OTL Star Trek.
6. WWIII is the name now given to the cold war and decolonisation conflicts from the Suez crisis onwards to about 1980
7.WWIV is the anologue of the Eugenics Wars and happened in the mid 1990s
8.WWV is the analogue of Star Trek's WWIII and happened in the 2050s
9. First contact happened much as in OTL Star Trek (without the Borg) when Christopher Cochrane makes the First warp flight from Woomera in the Phoenix.
10 The Vulcans in this timeline are just as logical as in OTL Star Trek but not as controlling of Earth as implied in Star Trek Enterprise.
11. The Commonwealth is founded by Earth with surviving independent worlds of the collapsed Bajoran Empire in about 2180. (Bajor occupied by the Cardassians). This empire collapsed under attack from the Klingons, Rhihannaun and Cardassians much as the Terran Empire did in the Mirror universe. Also in the Commonwealth are Vulcan and Andor.
12.The Klingons are the honourable version from STNG but look like those from TOS (remember this is a British TV production, money is even tighter!)
13. The main enemy are the Rhihannaun(pronounced Rheenan which the Earth people hear as Roman!) Think of a cross between the TOS Klingons and STNG Romulans and nastier!
14. CSS Ark Royal is one of 7 Endeavor class heavy cruisers fitted for exploration as opposed to the 18 Illustrious Class Battleships in the navy which are identical in exterior design but with far more power devoted to weapon systems.
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katchen
Banned
YES! The Rheiiaun would be identical in many ways with the Breen. The Kzinti belong in there somewhere (were they part of Gene Roddenberry's original contribution:?) When was the Dominion conceived of? If so, behind the Rheeaun, will be found, soon enough, the hand of the Dominion.
And at some point, if the two shows are not in competing time slots, if by 2nd Generation we can have the Q, and we have hints of a deus ex machina from several centuries later, why not have The Doctor make a cameo appearance on the hangar deck in one episode to resolve something that cannot be resolved any other way?
After all, it gets audiences watching both shows avidly.
And at some point, if the two shows are not in competing time slots, if by 2nd Generation we can have the Q, and we have hints of a deus ex machina from several centuries later, why not have The Doctor make a cameo appearance on the hangar deck in one episode to resolve something that cannot be resolved any other way?
After all, it gets audiences watching both shows avidly.
The Kzinti were created by SF author Larry Niven for use in his own works. They entered Star Trek through a story in its animated series.
If we go with High Plain's Drifter's cast list (and it IS a lot better than my attempt) then the recurring Admiral could be played by Gordon Jackson (Cowley from CI5) but there could be guest Admiral appearances from John Mills, Richard Attenborough and hopefully Nigel Green (in Ipcress File mode).
Sorry the Kzinti are Larry Niven's and this version of Trek would run into copyright problems UNLESS Larry Niven rewrote the "Slaver Weapon" for this version of Trek.
If the beeb did this version of Trek, then the Eugenics wars(sorry WWIV in this timeline) could be the result of meddling by the Master. Ricardo Montalaban's Khan facing off both Jon Pertwee's Doctor and Roger Delgado's Master before escaping would be a sight to see!!(OR being transplanted by the Doctor and actually founding the Rhihannaun Empire on Remus?). Sorry I'll stop there this is getting very silly!
Sorry the Kzinti are Larry Niven's and this version of Trek would run into copyright problems UNLESS Larry Niven rewrote the "Slaver Weapon" for this version of Trek.
If the beeb did this version of Trek, then the Eugenics wars(sorry WWIV in this timeline) could be the result of meddling by the Master. Ricardo Montalaban's Khan facing off both Jon Pertwee's Doctor and Roger Delgado's Master before escaping would be a sight to see!!(OR being transplanted by the Doctor and actually founding the Rhihannaun Empire on Remus?). Sorry I'll stop there this is getting very silly!
I love it
You can bet there's probably more emphasis on 'lost colonies' and military tensions between the other powers though, right alongside the classic sci-fi adventures.
Mind you I can also see the term redshirt not coming into use with this. Maybe green shirts or tan shirts in reference to military uniforms of the time?
The Klingons in this version of Trek might end up looking rather African... at least in terms of the looks of their weapons, tactics, culture, etc. Would the BBC be unsubtle enough for them to be played by black actors without alien costumes?
Yes they could! However they wouldn't see it that way. They would probably think that they were honouring the Zulus.
Uniforms would probably be more like the Star trek Enterprise uniforms than TOS.
Instead of Redshirts how about redberets as they see themselves as the heirs to the US Marines and British Paras etc.
Can we call the Vulcans "Vulcanians" like they were in the early TOS episodes?
Speaking of Vulcan/ians, previous posters may be right that suits are cheaper than makeup (although I dunno -- detailed alien suit vs simple dirt-cheap rubber prosthetics, and if it really was cheaper Star Trek probably would've done it in OTL). The problem is that a full alien suit will restrict the actor's ability to emote. But anyway, do you reckon British TV may be more willing to run with Roddenberry's idea of making Spock look like the Devil, even to the point of perhaps having a tail and fangs? There's precedent in British SF, with Clarke's book Childhood's End.
Speaking of Vulcan/ians, previous posters may be right that suits are cheaper than makeup (although I dunno -- detailed alien suit vs simple dirt-cheap rubber prosthetics, and if it really was cheaper Star Trek probably would've done it in OTL). The problem is that a full alien suit will restrict the actor's ability to emote. But anyway, do you reckon British TV may be more willing to run with Roddenberry's idea of making Spock look like the Devil, even to the point of perhaps having a tail and fangs? There's precedent in British SF, with Clarke's book Childhood's End.
Done for Vulcanians. I know Dr Who had the Daemons in the 70s but I can't see either the Beeb or ITV letting Vulcanians being full devils but perhaps they would be red rather than green in complexion?
In the 1960s what the Bishops thought was somewhat important to to the BBC. They were both part of the Establishment.
Who, what, when, where, why
Speaking as somebody who (for reasons too implausible to repeat) is committed to doing a timeline of a Canadian version of "Babylon 5" starting in 1989, I may have some useful insights here. They are
Good luck
Speaking as somebody who (for reasons too implausible to repeat) is committed to doing a timeline of a Canadian version of "Babylon 5" starting in 1989, I may have some useful insights here. They are
- If you are doing a British Star Trek in the 60's then you have to go the Roddenberry-meets-Lew-Grade route. This is problematic (you might end up butterflying away "Stingray"). But Lew was the only person who could realistically produce a military sci-fi series (in colour!) professionally enough for international distribution - contemporary BBC series like "Doctor Who" had to trade on things other than the efficacy of their SFX.
- If you are doing a special-effects show in England in the 60's then you have to have Derek Meddings involved at some point
- If you are doing a sci-fi show in England in the 60's then you have to have Shane Rimmer in a bit-part
- Look at the shows of the time. Are there any you could butterfly away to free up their cast? If you butterfly away "The Champions" for example, you free up Stuart Damon, Alexandra Bastedo and William Gaunt, who could easily be cast as Kirk/McCoy/Rand. If you butterfly away "Public Eye" you free up Alfred Burke (who was born to play Spock). And so on.
- Where is it filmed? Pinewood? Shepperton? Pick one, work out what else was being filmed there at the same time, and use their supporting cast and technical crew.
- Who is paying for this? Who is your producer, where is he getting the money from? He's the ringmaster and showrunner and has to get everybody to work together. Since your obvious choice is Lew Grade, that solves a lot right there but there will be ripples: if you cast Patrick McGoohan then eventually he (Patrick) will leave because he's too alpha male to cede control entirely
- What technical limits are there? Is this on film? (Crude) videotape?
- Bear in mind some choices will leave: Ian Hendry is a good choice but IOTL he left the Avengers to do films. People have ambitions which may not include a three-year contract
- It will eat up your life. I spent a couple of hours working out how the coordinates of a pointer on a Steadicam mount could be fed into a late-80's computer (the trick is to realise you capture angle and length of a telescopic rod on a rotating..er, rotaty thing). Just wait until you realise your main actor wants to work in the States...
- Who are the writers? DC Fontana invented the Vulcan mythos ab initio. Take her away, your pointy-eared green-blooded folk will be entirely different...
Good luck
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