An Alternate Trek

[Lindseyman]

Dad's Army ITTL

As in OTL Dad's Army first aired on Wednesday 31st July 1968 "The Man and the Hour" and is as revered as a gentle but very successful comedy show which runs for years and is continually repeated up to the present day. However there are some cast differences.

Captain George Mainwaring: Jon Pertwee
Sergeant Arthur Wilson: John Le Mesurier
Lance Corporal Jack Jones: Clive Dunn
Private Joe Walker: James Beck
Private Frank Pike: Ian Lavender
Private James Frazer: John Laurie
Private Charles Godfrey: Arnold Ridley
Chief ARP Warden William Hodges: Arthur Lowe
Mrs Mavis Pike: Janet Davies
Rev Timothy Farthing: Frank Williams
Verger Maurice Yateman: Edward Sinclair
Inspector Harold Hodges: Bill Pertwee

The major changes from OTL are that Arthur Lowe plays Mainwaring's rival ARP Warden Hodges and Bill Pertwee plays his brother Inspector Hodges (in charge of the police in the Walmington on Sea area). These two together with the Verger are a constant irritant in Mainwaring's life although he always comes out on top in any confrontation.

 

[Lindseyman]

Extract from an interview with Majel Barrett-Rodenberry in 1992

Gene was sulking. His baby had been taken away from him and he was getting packed to go back to the states. Then he got a phone call from Brian (Clemens) asking him to a meeting with him, Leonard(White), Malcolm (Hulke) and Terry (Terrance Dicks). Gene's first inclination was to refuse but I persuaded him that he could at least hear what they had to say.

We turned up to the meeting to find not only those four but also Gerry and Sylvia (Anderson). To both Gene's and Gerry's surprise they were both asked how they had seen the next season (series 4 and 5) of Star Trek developing. So Gene told them what he thought and then Gerry. Not surprisingly their ideas were similar as they had discussed the forthcoming season in some detail. Then we were told what they thought should happen. Of course their plans were different but only in detail not in general outline.

The end result was that Gene was satisfied that Star Trek's future was in safe hands and both he and Gerry promised to help as and when requested. It did actually help a great deal that Bill (Cosby) was going to become the Captain of the Endeavour. Having an African-American in charge chimed with Gene's views of the future. It also meant that when the four had their battles with Lew Grade over the 69/70 season (series 6 and 7) they had both Gene's and Gerry's full support.

 

[Lindseyman]

The summer of sport went much as OTL including those salutes at the Olympics (and David Hemery getting the Gold in the 400m hurdles). However there was one change which seemed minor at the time but which had big effects at least on cricket. Roger Prideaux who had pulled out of the 5th Ashes Test OTL with a "sore throat" allowing Basil D'Olivera to play a magnificent game doesn't do so ITTL. He scores the superb century instead and the wet ground and Derek Underwood still play their part in England's victory. However when the touring party for South Africa is announced without D'Olivera (Tom Cartwright still being picked), there isn't the massive outcry that there was OTL (as D'Olivera had had a poor tour of the West Indes the previous winter and had done badly early in the Ashes Series) and the tour starts. ITTL it's what happens when the party arrives in South Africa that causes the problems.

 

[Lindseyman]

Broadcast Dates for Series 4 and 5

London Weekend finally agreed to show Star Trek at 730pm on Saturdays so once again it was broadcast at the same time on all the ITV regions.
Broadcast dates were to be as follows
Sept 7th,14th, 21st, 28th, Oct 5th, Nov 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th, Dec 7th, 14th and 21st (1968)
Jan 11th, 18th, 25th, Feb 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, Mar 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th, Apr 5th (1969).
The observant among you will notice the break from October 5th to November 2nd. This was to allow the broadcast of the 1968 Summer Olympics, from Mexico City, which ITV covered as well as the BBC.

 

[Lindseyman]

The Klingon "Problem"

Even before their clear the air meeting with Roddenberry and Anderson, Hulke and Dicks had pinpointed a problem with Star Trek continuity-the Klingons. It had been established very early on that genetically Klingons were Homo Sapiens Sapiens albeit adapted to their assumed homeworld of kh'Onnos. However they could not be explained in the context of the probe periodically resetting history and creating new Earths as could a lot of the humans found in the Star Trek Universe (even the undiscovered one of Pelham Knorr). They decided that the Klingons had to be an old abandoned colony of one of the earliest Earths who had built their civilisation back from scratch after being abandoned. The discovery of the origin of the Klingons whilst remaining true to Star Trek continuity was a part of the background of the next four series (two seasons in the US).

Hulke and Dicks also decided that the Tellurians would be Grade's desired recurring "Big Bad". However they subverted this by making it clear in the confrontations with the Commonwealth that the Tellurians were NOT evil just that they had clashing priorities with the Commonwealth and because their outlook on life was coloured by the constant invasions by "visitors" during their history. In later interviews both Hulke and Dicks made it clear that they based the Tellurian/Commonwealth relationship on that between Britain and France during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries with a bit of the Anglo-German rivalry pre WWI thrown into the mix.

 

[Lindseyman]

The "New" Tellurians

It was decided that Russell would keep bumping heads with one Tellurian Star Ship (and her captain) in particular.It would have a similar mission to that of the Endeavour and so would keep meeting the Endeavour.

There was some thinking about the design and the name. Given the information given in Series 3 it was decided that the ship would be called the KSS Revanche. As to the design a redressed model of the Endeavour would be used (it was assumed that the Tellurians would come up with similar solutions to the same problems).

It was also decided that the same actor would play the Revanche's Captain. As luck would have it there was a suitable actor available and willing, as his previous series had entered a production hell due to an inability to replace a departed actress. So Patrick Macnee became Kapitan Henrich Willenbrock.

 

[Lindseyman]

Interphase Broadcast September 7th 1968

Mission Date 4060.1. It has been 24 hours since the encounter with the probe. The Endeavour still has not been able to contact the Commonwealth and as disturbingly has also not been able to contact Tellus, despite being within its solar system. Scotty has not been able to get either the jump or warp engines to work despite swearing that they have been repaired and that there is no reason for them not to be working. However the sensors do seem to be working albeit in a limited fashion and they begin to detect nearby dimensional fractures in space.

Tempers are getting shorter and there are more and more reports of fights breaking out between the crew some of which are beginning to result in severe injuries. Then suddenly they start to receive signals again. However they are very confusing as they seem to indicate that the Tellurians keep losing contact with the Endeavour! Then just as suddenly they lose them again. This is repeated several times in the next couple of hours. Scotty and O’Gorman are going frantic in the engine rooms as the engines are working and then not working! Eventually they put two and two together and realise that the engines work when they can receive signals and stop working when they lose them.

Meanwhile, Summers suddenly goes berserk and attacks the bridge personnel. When restrained he suffers a seizure and drops dead! Also Spock injures himself when he puts his hand on the science station and it goes right through. He surmises that they are suffering phase shifts and it is this that is stopping the Endeavour from working and that is causing psychotic effects in the crews’ brains, and this is causing the hostilities that are affecting the Endeavour 's crew. When he reaches the Medical Centre he finds that it is being overwhelmed with injuries caused by the increasing fights that are breaking out between the crew. Fyneley and M’Beke think that the fighting is going to get worse the longer that this situation continues and Spock concurs and passes this conclusion to Decker.

Decker meanwhile is having problems of his own as he and the bridge crew gradually succumb to the psychosis and act increasingly irrationally. Then the Endeavour phases into normal space again. Spock attempts to signal Tellus with a compressed signal; however the ship phases out before he knows whether he has been successful.

Tempers are becoming shorter and in many cases reaching breaking point. It is only the professionalism of the crew that is stopping them from attacking each other as old frustrations and imagined slights become more and more the focus of every ones thoughts. Just as Decker and Reynolds finally break and attack each other the Endeavour phases back into normal space.

Immediately Spock receives a signal from a Tellurian vessel, the KSS Revanche. It and scientists on Tellus have been working on the problem. They think that the destruction of the probe has destabilised a portion of space and that the Endeavour is trapped within the unstable portion. The crew are shocked to hear that almost a year has gone by as far as the Tellurians are concerned because as far as they are concerned it has been at most a couple of days! The Tellurian Captain indicates that they are ready to try and rescue the Endeavour but it phases out again before the attempt can be made.

Wondering why Quos (Earl Cameron) seems much less affected than others by the psychosis. Holmes and Stein notice that he is dosing himself with a traditional Klingon cold remedy. Using this they develop a preventative agent for the madness from the phasing effect. The crew are all injected but in some cases it causes seizures and in some cases death. Decker and Reynolds both suffer a seizure and Pike (Christopher Plummer) takes command.

The Tellurian message has given them hope, but Pike and Spock are both worried that it appears to be just the Tellurians that are attempting to rescue them with no help from the Commonwealth. Then the ship phases back into normal space, the Endeavour is seized by a tractor beam and is pulled away from the unstable area of space. As soon as they clear the area it collapses in on itself and disappears.

Pike signals the Revanche and is greeted by its Captain (special guest star Patrick Macnee). He welcomes them back to normal space as Heroes of the Empire and offers them the full facilities of the Tellurian Fleet to repair the Endeavour. He proves very evasive about why the Commonwealth has not been involved in the rescue attempts just saying that they will be informed whilst the Endeavour is being repaired.

Reluctantly accepting this the Endeavour sets course for Fleet headquarters having been assured that the non-human members of the crew will not be separated as they were last time the Endeavour visited the system. At the end of the episode we see both Pike and Quos, each having received signals from their respective commands talking worriedly although we only catch the words “all-out war”.

 

[Lindseyman]

Quandry Broadcast September 14th 1968

Mission Date 4103.5 the Endeavour is finally on its way home. The past week has been spent repairing the warp and jump engines with Tellurian help whilst keeping the Tellurians from accessing too much information about the capabilities of the Commonwealth Navy and planetary defences. They also had to keep the Klingon Stealth Device a secret. Pike had many “discussions” with the Admiralty of the Tellurian Fleet especially Admiral Von Werra (special guest star Hardy Kruger) about exchange of technology and information. In the end it was agreed that this would have to be the province of diplomatic exchanges.

It was Von Werra who had explained why it was just the Tellurians and not the Commonwealth that had mounted the rescue operation. The Commonwealth had seemingly been having problems with the Rememberers and they had concentrated all their efforts on creating defences against the Androids. They had made some suggestions towards the rescue effort but that was all.

Decker and Reynolds had recovered from their seizures but neither were in a condition to be able to resume their duties. Indeed M’Beke had intimated to Pike that it might take several months as both had exhibited severe allergic reactions to the Klingon remedy which had helped reduce the interphase psychosis. Pike (Christopher Plummer) basically leaves Spock in charge thereby giving him further command experience.

However when the Endeavour received a Priority One signal from Earth it was Pike that took it. It is a signal from the CinC of the Fleet, Admiral Ehm (guest star Bernard Lee). In it he orders the Endeavour to take Quos back to kh’Onnos and then return to Earth. There is a second highly encrypted message hidden in this transmission in which Ehm implores Pike to seek refuge in the Klingon Empire. It says that the Rememberers have all but taken over the Commonwealth and to trust NO Commonwealth orders from now on!

An hour later a second Priority One message is received from an Admiral Amhain (special guest star Robert Vaughn) which states that Admiral Ehm had been suffering from stress and that the Endeavour should return to Earth IMMEDIATELY.

Pike holds a command briefing. Quos tells them that the Klingons have become increasingly concerned about Commonwealth politics and diplomacy since the Endeavour left on its supposedly quixotic mission. Without actually breaking any treaties or breaking the code, the Commonwealth was becoming more ruthlessly logical in its operations and was shutting the Klingons out of the loop. Quos continues “The High Command knows something is wrong but they don’t know what exactly.”

Pike orders the Endeavour to make the jump to kh’Onnos. As they reach the jump pont they are surrounded by Commonwealth vessels which lock their weapons on the Endeavour. Admiral Amhain appears on the screen and orders Endeavour to surrender!
To be continued

 

[Lindseyman]

A Solution? Broadcast September 21st 1968

Missiondate 4110.2, whilst Pike is still thinking about what to say to Amhain (special Guest Star Robert Vaughn) he gets a message from Engineering. Scotty tells him that he and O’Gorman can replicate the effects of Trinity without having to shut the Endeavour’s systems down. Pike tells him to proceed. Just as Amhain is getting impatient the Endeavour’s shields pulse four times. The effect is immediate and they see the other ships all shut down. Pike orders D’Alembert to move the Endeavour to a safe distance as the other ships are still blocking the route to the jump point although they are drifting out of control.

After 10 minutes they receive another signal from Amhain. He is looking dishevelled and a little jumpy. He reports that all of his senior bridge crew shut down when the pulses occurred as did a lot of the other crew! His remaining crew have managed to contact the other ships and they are in as bad a condition regarding their crew if not worse. For example they are not able to re-establish contact with the Warspite which does not show any signs of life at all.

Pike agrees to a meeting and Amhain is beamed aboard the Endeavour. He is met by an armed guard and marched to the briefing room although treated with the respect due to an Admiral. He is met by Pike, Spock, Scott, Quos and also Decker and Reynolds. Amhain starts by apologising for his actions but that he was following orders direct from the Admiralty. He then goes on that he had thought that Ehm was mad going on about a takeover of the Commonwealth by the Rememberer androids but it would seem that he was correct.

Reynolds wonders how so many of the Navy had been replaced by android duplicates. Amhain replies that he suspects that it was happening at the Naval Dockyards in orbit around Mars. These had been shielded from Trinity by their position at the time and so many naval vessels had been sent there to be reprovisioned whilst the dockyards elsewhere were being restored to full functionality. However Amhain continues many ships would have been repaired and reprovisioned at dockyards around Vulcanis and Andoria so they might still be under the control of actual Commonwealth citizens. Spock demurs saying that the Rememberers had obviously been planning this for a long time. The android substitutes were complex enough to foil ordinary scans (and their colleagues) and that given that there was an android version of him nobody could be trusted! They may even have infiltrated the Klingon Empire. It would seem that they were pushed into earlier action than they had originally planned because of the arrival of the probe.

Decker asks if there is anything that can be done. It may already too late as it seems that the Navy is compromised and given what Quos had said about the Commonwealth politicians acting strangely it would seem that the leadership of the Commonwealth has been as well! At this Pike becomes angry and says with that sort of reasoning Earth would have just surrendered to the Klingons at the start of that war and much earlier in 1940, Britain would just have surrendered to the Germans! There had to be a solution!

Scotty looks thoughtful and says when the android Spock was on board just before Trinity he acted just as Spock would have done. If they could remove the link between the androids and their home base then they would act just like the people that they replaced. The problem is where is their home base? Amhain then says that a Naval Task Force had been ordered to Pollux II despite the system being under quarantine. Decker, Reynolds and Spock exchange glances. “Isn’t that the system where we found Harry Mudd and those other androids?” asks Decker. Spock agrees, but Reynolds then says “We could identify those androids! We can’t these!” Quos chuckles “What better cover for them? Once you found those androids you quarantined the system and left them alone.”

It is decided that the Endeavour and Amhain’s ship (CSS Victory) will jump to the Pollux system and cause the star to go supernova using Victory’s jump engines (as they are far more powerful) within the corona. The supernova will destroy everything within the orbit of Pollux III a lifeless body not much bigger than Ceres. “This action is against all regulations” Pike warns “Any objections will be noted and any personnel who object can be beamed to one of the other ships. They certainly need the crew!”

Only a few ask to be transferred and preparations commence.

To be continued

 

[viewcode]

Nice to see you back, Lindseyman.

 

[Imperator Maximilianius]

Nice to see you back, Lindseyman.

Indeed it is.

 

[CrazyGeorge]

Great update

 

[Lindseyman]

Thanks for the posts. I'm trying to give Bradford and Corbett (Decker and Reynolds) a decent closure to their time on Star Trek.

ITTL Hulke and Dicks decided to use the episodes before the Olympics to finish their time on the Endeavour and start with Russell (Bill Cosby) when the programme resumes after them. They consider these 5 episodes to be what is now termed a mini-series.

Any comments on it so far?

 

[Lindseyman]

Revelations Broadcast September 28th 1968

Missiondate 4121.7 the Endeavour and the Victory make the jump to the Pollux system. As soon as they enter the system the Endeavour engages its Klingon Stealth Device but the Victory has to use more mundane evasion tactics such as running on reduced power and trying to act as much like a comet as possible. However there is a distinct lack of reaction from the Commonwealth Navy ships that are in orbit around Pollux II.

Decker who has now recovered somewhat from his allergic reaction to the Interphase vaccine is sat at the spare tactical station and he shares a glance with Pike and says “Those ships MUST have detected the Victory by now even assuming that the androids manning them are only half as good as the crew they replaced!”. Pike nods in agreement “This bears all the hallmarks of a trap”. He turns to Spock “Is there ANY sign that either of us has been detected?”

Spock carefully scans the Navy ships. He turns from his station with a frown on his face which is extremely unusual. Pike queries about the cause. “Not only are there no life signs on those ships, they have been gutted. The engines are still in place but all the generators which power them and the life support have gone!” Spock then continues “There are only sporadic life signs on the planet. The generators are there and appear to be powering something but what I can’t tell. The nearest analogy that I can make are the readings that we get from the machines on the Guardian’s planet.”

“Scan that moon where we found the other androids” orders Pike. Spock does so and looks surprised. ”There are lots of life signs” he reports “and also signs of damage consistent with a battle of some sort. There are multiple signs of phaser damage and a lot of the surface buildings have been destroyed.” Just then they receive a signal from the moon (although it is intended for the Victory).

There are TWO Admiral Blakes (special guest star Trevor Howard) “Good God YOU came to investigate Amhain! You NEVER show that much initiative. We would have put our houses on it being a Fleet Ship, probably the Endeavour with Pike and Decker as they could probably get past you with no problems!” “Thank you for the resounding vote of Confidence Sirs” Amhain (Robert Vaughn) replies. ”Don’t get insubordinate with us Amhain” continues one of the Blakes “You would never have made Admiral under normal circumstances and you know it!”

“Anyway” the other Blake says “You’ll have to do. You need to get to Pollux II and destroy the machine that the Rememberers have built. They have scavenged some technology from some planet or other and plan to reset time since the Endeavour managed to prevent the probe from doing so. Apparently with each pass they become more powerful and take over more of the galaxy.” Amhain respectfully questions why he should believe them as he has no proof that either of them is the original Admiral Blake and even so that makes one of them (at least) an android so why would he want to stop the others from resetting time?

The Blakes explode “Good God man, when did you develop the ability commensurate with your position! Who do you think you are? Paul Metcalfe?”.” “No Sirs” replies Amhain, who is struggling to maintain his composure, “But I need more than you’ve given me so far.” The Blakes sigh “There’s a faction fight within the Rememberers. Those who wish everything to carry on as before with time being reset and those who wish to live with us peacefully given the new situation. The fanatics are in the minority but they do comprise most of the leadership of the Rememberers.”

“Thank you, Sirs, that’s enough to believe you.” “What’s your plan then Amhain?” asks one of the Blakes.”Sorry but I’m not telling you. Amhain out”.
Back on the Endeavour, Pike grins. “I never thought that he had it in him! I suspect that if we survive this he’ll either be in charge of an Ore Carrier or in the Fleet! Blake would never let him get away with that behaviour even if he’s proved right! Right then lets continue.”

Just then a fleet of the small Rememberer ships appears from behind some asteroids where they had been hiding and attacks the Victory. There is a running battle as the Victory continually edges closer to the sun but the Victory is getting damaged even though it manages to destroy its attackers. The last remaining Rememberer ship rams the Victory and takes out its jump engine although the ship survives. The plan is in deep trouble.

To be continued.

 

[Lindseyman]

Resquiat in Pace Broadcast October 5th 1968

Missiondate 4122.6 the Endeavour has disengaged the Stealth Device and is holding position next to the Victory. Scotty has beamed over and has inspected the remains of Victory’s jump engines. He reports that he can repair them to be able to make one jump but they would not be able to generate the power required to make Pollux go nova UNLESS they were engaged within the star itself. This causes problems because they would not be able to start the engines by remote control if the ship was within the star rather than its corona.

Pike holds an emergency meeting with both the Endeavour’s and Victory’s command crews. “Even damaged the Victory’s engines are more powerful than the Endeavour’s” Scotty reports “However there is no way that they can be engaged apart from manually and we would not be able to beam that person back from within the star. I’m afraid that it’s a suicide mission!” Pike asks if there are any other options. “Doesn’t the Victory have a “Planet Buster”?” Amhain looks sheepish and replies that the Admiralty had ordered them removed from all Battleships the previous month. “Obvious now that it was to stop us using one on Pollux II” he continues.

Pike is anguished “I cannot in conscience ask anyone else to do this. It will have to be me.” There is uproar as everyone else present volunteers to carry out this duty. “Enough” Pike roars. This is so unlike him that everyone else falls silent “The decision is made! Scotty finish what repairs you can make and rig the engines so that I can carry out the plan. We really have no other option!”

Reluctantly Scotty beams back over to carry out his orders. Pike records some farewell messages and makes arrangements to put all his affairs in order. After an hour Scotty along with the last of Victory’s depleted crew beam back to the Endeavour and Pike beams to the Victory.
He engages Victory’s warp engines and sets course to the star. Then suddenly Holmes who is sat at the Science Station, as Spock is in the centre seat (although Amhain outranks him and is on the bridge he has let Spock take the centre seat as Endeavour’s senior bridge crew. Scotty has refused to leave the engine room as he does not want to watch his old CO’s final act), starts. “Sir, two people have beamed over to the Victory!” A moment later a stunned Pike is beamed onto Endeavour’s bridge.

Spock angrily says “Who beamed over?” Pike recovers from his stunned state and asks the same question. Just then they receive a signal from the Victory. It is both Decker and Reynolds. “Sorry, Admiral” Decker says to an incandescent Pike “but neither of us could let you do this. We are never going to recover from our predicament and M’Beke only gives us months at best. This allows us to go out making a difference.” Reynolds then adds “You can court martial us after this is over, Admiral!”

“Get them back!” Pike orders Holmes. “I’m sorry, but it isn’t possible Sir. They’re within the corona”. Pike reluctantly orders D’Alembert and Mitchell to get them to a safe distance. As they pass Pollux II they pick up strange readings from the planet. “They’ve started their machine, Sir” reports Holmes “It is now a question of who succeeds first!”

Just then the star begins to act strangely and expands rapidly. The Endeavour is only just able to keep in front of the shock wave and radiation front. The nova engulfs first Pollux I and then Pollux II and as predicted stops just short of Pollux III. Pike orders a full stop when the Endeavour is out of danger. Pike comments “Well we’re still here so I assume that we’ve succeeded at the cost of two very brave men.”

They hold a memorial service for Decker and Reynolds and then Pike orders them back to Earth. ”Let’s see what we find when we get there!”

EDIT Sorry for making so many posts so quickly but I wanted to finish this part of the series before I start back at work tomorrow.

 

[viewcode]

Thanks for the posts. I'm trying to give Bradford and Corbett (Decker and Reynolds) a decent closure to their time on Star,Trek.

ITTL Hulke and Dicks decided to use the episodes before the Olympics to finish their time on the Endeavour and start with Russell (Bill Cosby) when the programme resumes after them. They consider these 5 episodes to be what is now termed a mini-series.

Any comments on it so far?

Comments? Unfortunately, my PCs are being refurbished ( it's a new year thing) so I'm stuck with this darn tablet (how do you do cut-and-paste on a tablet?), so close textual analysis is impossible. Consequently I am missing the in-jokes ( although I did note the Paul Metcalf reference, and presumably the duplicated character is a nod to `spock must die`).

Additionally, this timeline is maturing, becoming dense with detail and back story. That's an inevitable consequence of a successful long-running atl, but it makes casual viewing more difficult

When my pcs are back up ill try to put this timeline on the wiki: that should make it easier

 

[Lindseyman]

Tablets can be a real pain in the fundament

Thank you for calling this thread successful. I know it gets read but as other people have said in their threads the lack of comments can sometimes be a little discouraging. However I'm a stubborn "old git" so carry on regardless!

I am surprised that you think it's worth a wiki entry but many thanks all the same.

Having got into the habits of writing arcs(which probably wouldn't have been that successful in the late 60s), I'm going to try and keep the rest of this series as single episodes for the start of Benjamin Russell's tenure as Captain.

I know what I'm planning to do with the surviving Rememberer Androids but I'm interested in what others think should happen to them.

 

[Lindseyman]

Cast Changes

Here is the main cast for the rest of the current series:
Captain: Benjamin Russell (Bill Cosby)
First Officer: Commander Spock (Stuart Damon)
CSO Commander: Richard Brynne (Julian Glover)
CEO Commander: Montgomery Scott (Michael Sheard)
Navigation: Lieutenant Caroline D'Alembert (Alexandra Bastedo)
Helm: Lieutenant Gary Mitchell (Ed Bishop)
Chief of Security:Lieutenant Commander John Travis (Bryan Marshall)
Chief Communications Officer:Lieutenant Commander Esther McKenzie (Carmen Monroe)
Chief Yeoman: Jennifer Rand (Jacqueline Pearce)
CMO: Lieutenant Commander Richard Fynely (William Gaunt)

Other recurring characters
CPO Aedh O'Gorman (Milo O'Shea -now appearing less and less as his BBC Comedy "Me Mammy" enters production)
Doctor M'Beke (Johnny Sekka)
Relief Communications:Lieutenant Linda Colt(Caroline John)
Yeoman:Amy Johnson(Gabrielle Drake)
Chief Nurse:Christine Chapel(Majel Barrett) plus various British female actors as required.
Security:CPO Charles Blamire (Michael Bates)

Holmes (Ian Richardson) and Stein (Brian Blessed) still appear in the odd episode

 

[Lindseyman]

Colossus Broadcast November 2nd 1968

Missiondate not applicable, the Endeavour has spent the last year since returning to Earth having a major refit including a revolutionary tactical and control computer called "Colossus", designed by the brilliant Dr. Richard Turing(guest star Maurice Denham) (who had also been involved in creating the original computer systems whilst still a postgraduate at Cambridge). Colossus will handle all ship functions without human assistance. To oversee these tests Captain Benjamin Russell (Bill Cosby) has been appointed captain of the Endeavour as he has a degree in Computer Design.

Spock and Scott are not very happy about the situation as they feel that the other new systems needed to be fully tested before trying out a new computer system but the Commonwealth Science Institute insisted, especially as the other suitable ships were fully engaged in patrolling the Commonwealth looking for the surviving Rememberer Androids. These had mutinied just after the Endeavour’s return and had fled in several Navy vessels but no one knew where they had gone. Also adding to their unhappiness at the situation is the fact that as it is intended that Colossus will run all systems there is only a skeleton crew on board

When Turing is beamed on board we see the new screening process that has been implemented to detect whether a new crewman is an android. M’Beke takes a blood sample from a randomly selected part of the body. (Androids would not be able to produce a blood sample).

At first Colossus works well, performing ship functions more quickly and efficiently than a living crew. Later, Colossus exhibits quirks such as turning off power and life support to unoccupied parts of the ship. It draws increased power for unknown reasons. But Turing maintains that Colossus is working properly.

In a drill, Colossus defends the Endeavour against mock attacks from CSS Excalibur and CSS Saratoga. The Endeavour is declared the victor, prompting Admiral Jellicoe (guest star Walter Gotell) who is in overall charge of the trials to tell Russell that it looks like Captains are now redundant.

Soon after, Colossus detects the Brendan, an unmanned freighter that is not part of the test, and attacks with real weapons, destroying it. Russell orders Colossus taken offline, but Turing continues to believe it is working correctly, and refuses. Russell tries to disconnect the unit containing Colossus from the rest of the computer system, but discovers it is protecting itself with a force field. Scotty tries to unplug the main connection, but is stunned in the process. Spock and O’Gorman desperately attempt a manual override, but they discover Colossus has bypassed its power source and now draws energy directly from the ship's jump engine generators. Turing persistently defends Colossus and refuses to disconnect it.

Spock questions Turing on his computer design. Turing reveals that he has programmed human engrams into Colossus. Pressed further, he admits that the engrams he used were his own, meaning Colossus thinks similarly to Turing himself. With increased stress and anger, Turing appears unstable. Colossus now shows similar instability. Another attempt by the Endeavour crew to isolate Colossus from the ship also fails.

Meanwhile the other ships in the test continue unaware of the problems with the Endeavour. Next follows a war game against Excalibur, Saratoga and Isandlwana. Colossus detects the ships, but does not treat them as part of the trial, instead firing on them with full-strength weapons. Turing states Colossus is programmed to preserve itself by any means. Although he is surprised by Colossus’ actions and admits that these "mistakes" are costing lives, and the computer must be shut down.

The crew watches as Colossus pounds the other ships relentlessly. The Endeavour fires on the Excalibur, damaging her killing some crew, then completely cripples the Isandlwana leaving her to drift in space. From the Excalibur, Jellicoe contacts the Admiralty for permission to destroy the Endeavour. Since Colossus has disabled communications, Russell is unable to contact Jellicoe and explain what is happening. Russell demands that Turing act, but the scientist just curls up into a ball and rocks backwards and forwards.

Russell has Turing taken to Medical Centre and then talks to Colossus to see whether he can persuade it to stop the attacks. The Colossus acknowledges Russell, who asks Colossus what its purpose is. Colossus responds "To save men from the dangerous activities of space exploration". Russell replies that it just acted contrary to its purpose by killing some of the Excalibur’s crew. Colossus recognizes this, so it shuts itself down. However in doing so it also shuts down all the ship’s systems.

Having permission from the Admiralty, the other ships now close on the Endeavour to destroy it. While Scott and O’Gorman frantically attempt to regain control of the ship, Russell decides to let the ship drift with shields down, hoping that Jellicoe will investigate what the situation is aboard the Endeavour. The gamble pays off as Jellicoe orders his ships to stand down at the last moment and beams a boarding party onto the Endeavour’s bridge.
EDIT actually need an actor for Turing!

 

[Lindseyman]

Stein's Epiphany Broadcast November 9th 1968

Mission Date 0042.4 the Endeavour is on a shakedown cruise under the command of Benjamin Russell in order to sort out the computer systems after the Colossus incident. Although Colossus has been dismantled the rest of the upgrades have been left in place and they have improved the performance of the computer system immensely although it is taking time to iron out the bugs. Russell, Spock, Stein and the new Chief Scientific Officer Richard Brynne (Julian Glover) are actively enjoying this (the rest of the crew less so as continual computer glitches keep affecting random systems).

The Endeavour is redirected to investigate the shutdown of the Braude X Array, a deep-space telescope and radio antenna. Scott and Stein take a shuttlecraft to examine the array closely, discovering the presence of an alien probe nearby; the probe fires a pulse as they near it, disabling the shuttlecraft and knocking out Stein. The Endeavour recovers the shuttle and are forced to destroy the probe when it follows the ship, believing that the Braude was affected by a similar pulse. Stein recovers, but the crew finds him to be much more intelligent than before, his IQ steadily rising. However he is also much more able to interact with the crew without making hackles rise.

The Array starts to undergo a series of catastrophic failures. Stein, with his newfound intelligence, firstly has got the new computer systems operating efficiently (much more so than the design parameters would have suggested) and then casually explains how they can use the Endeavour computers to prevent the failures, a task that will only take them two days to complete, much to Brynne’s disbelief. Though Stein's solution works temporarily, the rate of failure drastically increases, and Stein finds the Endeavour’s computer too slow to keep up with it. He creates a device that allows him to interact directly with the Endeavour and Braude computer systems, putting an end to the Braude's failures. The crew finds that Stein has become too integrated with the computer, and when they try to shut down the computer, Stein sends the ship into a "subspace inversion", jumping the ship across a great distance faster than warp travel.

They arrive at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy, and are met by a holographic representation of a race of beings called the Xenatians, who are far more advanced than the humans and find amusement in their "bipedal locomotion" and "hierarchical collective command structure". Stein, who has removed himself from the computer and has lost his heightened intelligence, arrives on the bridge to help explain what has transpired. The Xenatians (who it turns out are an offshoot of the Organians and are very interested in the Endeavour’s meeting with them) are friendly explorers like the Federation, but instead of traveling themselves to meet other races, they instead have launched probes that instil the necessary knowledge into beings to make them come to the Xenatians. The probe mistook the Braude and shuttlecraft for intelligent beings, and thus caused the failures in their systems. The Endeavour stays with the Xenatians for ten days, exchanging knowledge that will take decades to fully recognize. The Xenatians then return the Endeavour to the Braude Array. Stein finds himself back to normal, although he keeps vivid memories of his temporary transformation and is able to play 3D chess to grand master level even though he has never before played the game with any skill. He also retains his new found ability to interact with people without annoying them (well at least not as much as before!).

NOTE:This is based on the Next Generation episode "The Nth Degree" with Stein taking the Reg Barclay role.