An Alternate Trek

Series 5
The Clarke Broadcast March 15th 1969

Mission date 0872.9, whilst mapping the Flammarion System, the Endeavour encounters a graviton ellipse, a massive body of subspace energy that temporarily leaves subspace and travels through normal space for a time. Whilst maintaining a safe distance the crew begin scanning it. They recognize it as a similar phenomenon that reportedly consumed the Clarke IV, a manned spaceship exploring Europa in 2051. That had been the last Earth deep space mission before WWV. A mission sent in 2103 had found no evidence of any wreckage on Europa (although they did find life).

Further scans detect signs of the Clarke IV within the ellipse in a stable field that acts as the eye of the storm, and plans are made to modify the Herschel to allow it to enter this field and attempt to recover the ship. Brynne and Holmes, who are both interested in the early exploration of the solar system, quickly volunteer, while Russell, much to Spock’s concern, also wants to be involved.

The modifications work as expected, and the crew soon finds the ship, nearly in one piece. Stein detects that the ellipse is being drawn towards an asteroid, and warns the Herschel to escape before collision, but Russell insists on leaving with the module, despite Spock's concerns that this will slow the shuttle down. They are unable to clear the ellipse in time and are caught in a shock wave from the collision; Brynne is injured with plasma burns, and the Herschel 's shields and engines are knocked off-line. Spock warns that they only has a few hours to escape before the ellipse returns to subspace, where they would be trapped indefinitely.

After stabilizing Brynne, Russell and Holmes begin effecting repairs. But the Herschel’s power converter is beyond repair. Scotty, on the Endeavour suggests salvaging the power converter from the Clarke IV to bring the power back online. Russell instructs Holmes to go, but asks him to not only collect the part but to take time to download data from the module. Holmes arrives, and powers up the systems. While he works at removing the power converter, the mission Commander's logs of the few days the crew remained alive after being consumed by the ellipse are played out.

Holmes is impressed by what the crew did even though they realised that they were all going to die. They had kept analysing the ellipse and gathered much information about the phenomenon which will be of great use to Commonwealth scientists. With little time left to escape, Holmes spares enough time to download the module logs and helps Russell to bring the crew's preserved bodies to the Herschel. They are able to install the power converter in time to escape the ellipse with the Endeavour’s help before it returns to subspace.

The Endeavour crew holds a formal memorial service for the crew of the Clarke IV to pay their respects. Russell provides an eulogy, praising the crew's exploratory nature that would eventually lead to Endeavour and the Commonwealth.
 
...the Endeavour is intercepted by ships from the two planets, both of which lock their laser weapons upon the Endeavour. Both ships are vastly outclassed (it is remarked that their weapons would be easily defeated by the navigation shields alone). Jhamys (guest star Frank Windsor), from the planet Neutonne, accuses Mudd of impregnating his daughter Wyate, while Caroll (guest star Stratford Johns) from the planet Yven asserts that Mudd has stolen a state treasure, the Jewel of Harmony...During the discussions it becomes clear that Mudd is indeed innocent, used as a go-between by both Wyate of Neutonne and Caroll's son, Barlo...

Neutonne? Yven? Barlo? Please tell me the call-signs for the ships were Z-Victor 1 and Z-Victor 2...:)
 
"Real" World
An Ill Fated Tour-the MCC Tour of South Africa 1968-69

The M.C.C.'s 1968-69 tour of South Africa has its niche in cricket history unfortunately not for cricketing reasons.

When the side under the manager ship of Mr. Leslie Ames, left London Airport it attracted a great deal of attention as the omission of Basil D’Olivera was still causing upset although most reasonable commentators accepted that it had been a decision made on cricketing grounds. However there were demonstrations at the airport calling for the tour to be cancelled even at this late stage.

Colin Cowdrey led a squad which had potential having managed to draw the series with Australia due to Prideaux’s century and Underwood’s bowling on the then rain affected Oval pitch. However knowledgeable cricket enthusiasts gave him hardly much chance of returning towards the end of February with the rubber, for the bowling available to him with the exception of Brown had had little or no experience of South African pitches, while at the same time South Africa had become an attacking and successful team under the captaincy of Bacher. To this was added the fact that once battle was joined the pitches never struck a fair balance between bat and ball after the first Test at Kingsmead, Durban.

Yet Cowdrey and his men went through all the matches that they were able to play undefeated. Seven matches were won and four drawn, it was looking as if this would be even more successful than M.J.K. Smith’s tour of 1964-65. Unfortunately politics intervened.

Cricket is a game played in the hearts and minds of men as well as with the hands and feet and at first Cowdrey and Ames as executives proved to be more than adequate to the task. They developed a superb team ethos which held even under the stresses and strains incurred at the end of the tour.

From the start the side proved much too good for the Currie Cup and state teams pitted against it. Western Province, Natal, Eastern Province, North East Transvaal, Border and Orange Free State were all decisively beaten. Of all the Currie Cup teams played, Transvaal alone, held on for a draw and when time was called they had but one wicket left standing with a deficit of 86.

No one had any illusions about the difference in the quality of the full South African side but England had a modicum of fortune in the Test matches that were played and extracted full advantage.

Cowdrey won the toss in the first two Tests and the Durban pitch quickly developed a somewhat uncharacteristic taste for spin. Bowling against the comforting cushion of an England lead just short of 450, Underwood and Pocock won the match for England with an innings and time to spare.
They very nearly repeated the performance in the second Test, but South Africa just avoided the follow-on and they were saved when their cause was on the point of foundering by one of many fine innings which brought Graeme Pollock an aggregate of over 500 runs against the tourists.

Thereafter the differential between the teams closed rapidly and never again was Cowdrey able to bid for victory. He lost the toss at Cape Town and Port Elizabeth on plumb wickets and the matches were drawn. However then, at least in cricketing terms disaster struck.

Cartwright revived an old football injury, and Fletcher broke his arm, they both had to return home. The obvious replacement was D’Olivera he was an outstanding batsman and his bowling was more than useful. However the South African Premier Vorster stated that the tour could not continue if D’Olivera came out to South Africa. This put the MCC in a quandary, they wished the tour to continue but they could not let a foreign government dictate who they could and could not pick. They tried at first to fudge the issue by not sending any replacements. However when the news broke there was uproar both in the press and questions were asked in Parliament.

The MCC bowed to the inevitable, they announced that D’Olivera was the chosen replacement and that if he was not allowed in the country they would pull out of the tour with immediate effect. This caused uproar in South Africa and further uproar at home. However even those who argued against the picking of D’Olivera accepted that the MCC could not be told whether a player was acceptable or not by the government of the country being toured.

There were several inflammatory speeches given by Vorster and other members of his government, accusing the MCC of being in league with the anti-apartheid movement and communists (this last was treated with the derision it deserved, even getting a mention in Pravda!).

In all the given circumstances Ames and Cowdrey did what they could, but neither were really prepared for nor able to deal with the political fallout. So in January the party packed its bags and returned home.

In cricketing terms little if anything was learnt that was not already known. Brown, having learned from his previous tour managed to re-adapt his bowling from the often helpful English pitches and conditions, to the decidedly unfriendly ones in South Africa. Knott again confirmed that he was a batsman wicketkeeper of great potential and Boycott and Edrich never failed to post at least a 50 opening partnership all tour.

However the fallout of the D’Olivera affair will have great ramifications in cricket, test cricket in particular. It is difficult to see another MCC tour of South Africa, or for that matter a South African tour of England, for the foreseeable future and indeed both the Australian and New Zealand Cricket boards have informed the South African Board that they will not tour if there are not cast iron guarantees given about freedom of selection. South Africa, despite the ability of its team looks to a future of being outcast from Test Cricket. In cricketing terms this is a cause for sorrow as they have several outstanding players. However this tour has shown that despite the best intentions politics will always trump sport.
 
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Series 5
The Blink of an Eye Broadcast March 22nd 1969

Mission date 0898.9 the Endeavour is mapping the Forward System and discovers a planet that exhibits unique properties. It is discovered that the planet is enveloped in some sort of energy field, giving it an odd temporal nature. The crew becomes fascinated by the strange world, and in an effort to learn more about it, Russell orders the ship to move closer. However, Endeavour is trapped in orbit by a magnetic field from which they cannot escape.

As the Science Department and Engineering try to develop an escape plan, Stein surveys the strange planet and discovers that the Endeavour’s presence is causing occasional quakes on the planet. Further scans reveal that time passes at a much more rapid rate on the planet (roughly at a rate of a century per half hour), and it is inhabited by a primitive humanoid race.

As hours on Endeavour pass, centuries pass on the planet below and its humanoid inhabitants reach a level of technology similar to the 20th century. As the crew discusses the unusually rapid technological progress of the species, a radio message is broadcast at Endeavour. Stein wants to reply, but Russell counters that they cannot because they would be interfering with the species natural development although he admits that their presence may already have done so! Instead, Spock suggests a covert one-man mission to the planet.

Several crew volunteer. In the end Brynne is selected and beams down although M’Beke is worried by the effects of the time differential. Indeed as far as Brynne is concerned his mission lasts five years, even though he is only gone from the ship for just over a minute. Upon returning, and recovering from the stresses caused by the time differential, he reports the Endeavour, simply by its presence, has encouraged the culture to advance as the humanoids attempt to contact the "sky-ship." While some strive to establish peaceful contact others are developing increasingly powerful weaponry in an attempt to shoot down Endeavour.

Meanwhile the species below develops technology sophisticated enough to send astronauts on a manned mission to make contact with the sky-ship. A capsule is launched and succeeds in docking with Endeavour. Its two astronauts Morro and Toulahn (guest stars Prentis Hancock and John Lyons), begin to explore the ship but fall unconscious from the stress of adjusting to the different space-time. The bodies are found on the bridge and are taken to sickbay. The two find it hard to handle the shock but both recover after an hour or so. Meanwhile 200 years has gone by on the planet and Endeavour is now being hit by anti-matter shells.

Russell urges the astronauts to return to the planet and convince them to cease the attack. They agree to do so but are worried about what has happened on their planet whilst they’ve been gone. However the two would seem to be successful as the barrage stops just before Endeavour’s shields collapse.

As the crew sigh in relief, two star ships appear alongside Voyager, and using tractor beams, tow the vessel out of the planet's field. Endeavour is contacted by one of the ships which informs them that contact will be limited as they do not wish to affect the development of the Commonwealth! It would appear that the planet’s civilisation is now well in advance of that of the Commonwealth. Russell signals that he understands and thanks them for their help.

Once freed from the tractor beams Endeavour leaves the system.
 
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Series 5
First Impressions Broadcast March 29th 1969

Mission Date 0956.7 the Endeavour when mapping the Dickens system discovers that Dickens II is inhabited by an industrial civilisation. Carefully scanning the planet from the orbit of Dickens III they find that the planet’s humanoid civilisation has roughly reached the level of Earth’s 1930s. Certainly they can see steam trains that look much like the streamliners of that time! However the scans also detect technology which does not correspond with the planet's technological level giving readings indicating a level equivalent to Commonwealth technology.

Russell decides to investigate. So Russell, Holmes and Blamire beam down on the edge of an abandoned area near to the anomalous readings. Once there, Holmes notices that the inhabitants appear sick. Scans lead them to an old curio shop, but they encounter a force-field blocking the way. They are then confronted by a local chemist, Suthlan (guest star Ian Cuthbertson) outside his shop. Blamire stuns him, and when he awakens, Russell persuades him that they are government investigators looking into the mysterious sickness.

Russell and Blamire revisit the shop during the day posing as antique collectors. They find to their amazement that the proprietor Schmitt (guest star Anton Diffring) is human. After he has confirmed that they are also human, he freely admits his origins: he is part of a survey mission from Tellus, and the power source is merely a fabrication unit to provide food and clothes. Russell tells him about the illness, but he claims it is an incurable indigenous virus. Holmes, however, discovers that the water near the shop has been contaminated with a highly toxic chemical and that this feeds into the local water supply for the city.

Russell and Blamire observe the shop at night to try and see what is being delivered to Schmitt. They follow a man leaving the shop with a delivery. He leaves the crates in a forest clearing and they are beamed up by a ship. Under the shop, they then discover that Schmitt is mining a veridium isotope, however the poisoned water is not a by-product of this process as the Tellurians are taking great care that there is as little disruption of the life of the natives as possible. Schmitt and his associates capture Russell and Blamire and have them beamed up to the Tellurian ship. To Russell’s great surprise they are met by the ship’s captain, it is Willenbrock (guest star Patrick Macnee). He is not happy that the Commonwealth has discovered this Tellurian operation as it will now have to be shut down.

However Willenbrock and Schmitt do manage to finally convince Russell that the poisoning of the water supply has absolutely nothing to do with their operation. Although the Tellurians are not as restrictive about exploiting mineral resources of “Visitor” planets they are just as careful (if not more so) about ensuring that their operations do not affect the natives.

Holmes, back on the planet, makes a surprising discovery. The contamination is coming from water which has left Suthlan’s chemist shop. It would appear that the poisoning is a by-product of his production of a medicine that cures another native illness. Suthlan is horrified on being informed of this and promises to stop the production of the medicine using that method especially when Schmitt shows him an alternative production method that does not produce the poisonous by-product.

The Endeavour crew beam back and the Endeavour leaves the system. The Tellurians remain and say that they are about to shut down their operation. Russell isn’t totally convinced but chooses to believe them.
 
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Series 5
A Good Deed Broadcast April 5th 1969

Mission date 1012.4 the Endeavour is mapping the previously unexplored Zhang Sui system. When they scan the gas giant, the crew detects an unexpected power signature and bio-signs in its lower atmosphere. Brynne, O’Gorman and Travis take a shuttle to investigate and discover an unknown vessel, close to being crushed by the planet's atmosphere.

On board, Brynne finds three dying crewmen on the bridge, and further scans detect residual elements of a carbon dioxide-based neurotoxin. Blith (guest star Donald Pleasence), a surviving crewmember, escapes in the away team's shuttlepod. Endeavour traps it, but not before he broadcasts a distress signal. They then attempt to descend to rescue the rescue party, but the pressure is too high.

Meanwhile, O’Gorman finds the captain's log, which states that the ship was badly damaged in a skirmish with another ship, and that the Captain (who it turns out is Blith) ordered his ship into the gas giant's atmosphere to effect repairs. O’Gorman also locates the port fusion-injector on a schematic, and the team make their way to Engineering to attempt repairs.

On board Endeavour, Russell talks to Blith in Sickbay. It turns out that Blith and his crew are called the Homm and that they have been engaged in a war with an alien empire which Blith calls the Carnayte. Blith is convinced that the Endeavour is a new type of Carnayte ship especially as the Endeavour’s crew look like Carnaytes. Russell is able to begin to convince Blith that they are not Carnaytes by showing him some edited versions of his logs.

Fynely learns that the toxin was bonded to a molecule in a strong alcoholic drink and is able to produce an antidote. It is this production of an antidote that finally appears to convince Blith that he is not on a Carnayte ship; Russell convinces Blith to help them rescue his ship and remaining crew.

On the other ship, Brynne uses shock-waves from the ship’s torpedoes in an attempt to raise the ship and lower the hull-pressure. This allows Spock and Blith, in a reinforced shuttlepod, to reach them. Spock tells Blith that the Endeavour’s crew risked their lives for his ship, and that they are not leaving until it is safe. O’Gorman together with the now revived ship’s engineer is able to jury rig the engines and effect temporary repairs to the ship. These will enable the ship to reach Homm space.

Spock and the others arrive back on Endeavour just as the recovered alien ship hails them. Blith thanks them for their help and promises that the Homm will contact the Commonwealth in order to establish diplomatic relations. However he also says that this might be a long time as his race will need a lot of convincing that Humans are not Carnayte as they are so similar in biology.

As the Homm ship leaves Russell looks at Spock and sighs. He comments that it would appear that there are even more Humans out there than they or the Klingons had ever imagined!
 
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Series 5
Series 5

So Series 5 (second half of season 3) has come to an end.
The episodes were:

1. Morgannig Jan 11th 1969
2. Zetar III Jan 18th
3. Ancient Philosophy Jan 25th
4. Those pesky…. Feb 1st
5. The Parasite Feb 8th
6. Uneasy lies the crown Feb 15th
7. Clear as Mudd Feb 22nd
8. Springheel Mar 1st
9. Njark Mar 8th
10. The Clarke Mar 15th
11. The Blink of an Eye Mar 22nd
12. First Impressions Mar 29th
13. A Good Deed Apr 5th

Star Trek was once again by far the most popular programme broadcast on a Saturday evening. However those figures were far more erratic than previous series with a distinct dip after the first two episodes with viewing figures only recovering for the last 3 or 4 episodes.

Lew Grade was beginning to lose interest especially as Star Trek still couldn’t crack primetime viewing in the US despite the changes. However those discussions with NBC had distinct possibilities!
 
"Real" World
Part of an interview with Terence Dicks in 1990

We didn't realise it at the time,but did after the series (5)ended. The BBC had hit upon a successful counter to Star Trek. Putting on Morcambe and Wise at 8pm on a Saturday decimated our audiences when they were shown, the viewing figures revived when they were not on. This was because Morcambe and Wise were aimed fairly and squarely at the parents (ie those who actually paid the licence fee) and they insisted on watching what they wanted! No VCRs in those days to record one of them!

Of course it helped that everyone did find them funny and enjoyed their shows even those who originally wanted to watch Star Trek. The ITV companies were worried and started looking at alternative broadcast times to Saturday evening. The unified time of 7:30pm on Saturday went for series 6 and 7 and the viewing figures suffered accordingly. This was one of the excuses to cancel the show for which Lew (Lew Grade) was looking. He was bewitched by breaking the US market and the deal that he was brokering with NBC seemed to offer that.

Of course he found other reasons as well.....
 
"Real" World
More from the interview with Terence Dicks

The big bombshell came after filming Series 5. Stuart Damon made it clear that he wished to leave. He was worried that he was going to be Spock for ever more. (This was despite having guest appearances in other ITC productions such as the Saint.) He was willing to appear in future episodes but that the next series was going to be his last. This gave us a major headache as to a large extent Spock was Star Trek. He had been in from the start, as admittedly had other actors such as Michael Sheard (Scotty), but in many ways Spock had become the most important character despite not being the Captain.

Lew (Lew Grade) wanted at least 22 more episodes (to make the magic 100 which would ensure syndication)but Stuart would only commit to 13. Intense negotiations ensued but we all felt that Lew's heart wasn't really in it any more. He was becoming increasingly excited by the NBC proposals for an American version of Star Trek which offered him a chance for Prime Time US Television. Reluctantly we began the search for a replacement but we all knew in our hearts that now series 6 and 7 would be the last.
 
"Real" World
A Review of "The Daleks"Special Edition DVD boxset August 2013

Released in the run up to the Doctor’s 50th anniversary, this special edition of the 1969 spinoff series “The Daleks” can be seen as a case study in how not to replace a well-loved show!

The scripts are cliché ridden, the acting is wooden at best and the less said about the special effects the better! It makes the last series of the Troughton era look like a Hollywood spectacular. It really does make you wonder about the sanity of the member of the BBC hierarchy who thought that this was a better bet than another series of the Doctor!

However, remember that the Doctor was losing viewers. It was being unfavourably compared to Star Trek especially in the quality of production. The best science fiction script writers had been cornered by ITC and it was still in Black and White. The BBC had to do something and however misguided this was their reaction.

Actually, once you get over expecting to either see Patrick Troughton or the Tardis at every cliff-hanger or when things go wrong for the SSS (what were they thinking when they named the organisation that!), this is actually better than most of the Sci Fi being produced at the time and in Mark Seven it actually has a breakout character who transcended the series (this character would eventually become one of the Fourth Doctor’s companions) much like Spock in Star Trek. Also it did try to show that the Doctor would not always appear to save the day (much as in “Torchwood: The Children of Earth” in 2010).

However that is all with hindsight. At the time it was crucified for not being the Doctor and exhibiting all the worst traits of Doctor Who and none of its redeeming features such as humour. Watch this and wonder especially at the self-delusion that some of those involved (especially Terry Nation) display in interviews recorded at the time.
 
No more posts until August (family holiday etc) but as a teaser for what follows.
Problems with series 6 and 7 of Star Trek, but they are produced.
The Americanised version enters production, there are some familiar faces involved.
The fallout from the disaster that is "The Daleks" results in the resurrection of the Doctor but he's not whom you might think!
 
"Real" World
Part of an interview with Brian Clemens in 1982

Although Lew (Lew Grade) had obviously lost some interest in Star Trek, as he was heavily involved in the upcoming co-production of the Americanised version with NBC, he did want to make series 6 and 7 (season 4) to get to 100 episodes so he did, in the end, get involved with the negotiations with Stuart (Stuart Damon). Eventually it was agreed that Stuart would appear as Spock in series 6 and then in the final episode of series 7 which would be the final episode of Star Trek.

We then began to cast about for a replacement character. He wouldn’t be Vulcanian, it had been made clear that there were not that many Vulcanians in the Fleet in earlier episodes and anyway people would just see a Vulcanian as Spock under a different name. In the end we decided on a British Second in Command who would be very different to Spock. This just left the decision on whom would play this character.

Several actors were considered but in the end we decided to cast Harold H Corbett as Commander Albert Sanford. He had had difficulties in getting roles as everybody still saw him as Harold Steptoe despite the fact that he was an accomplished actor (for example having had good reviews playing Richard II in the Shakespeare play). Once he was convinced that Sanford would not be a version of Steptoe (for example he would be a stickler for uniform) he leapt at the chance as he saw it as a way to get the public to see him as someone else in a popular show.

It also helped that he was going to be able to draw upon his own military experiences when playing the character. So he was signed up to appear in the last story of series 6 and all of series 7. To be fair it also in a way gave us a replacement for Milo (Milo O’Shea) who, because of his commitments to the BBC production “Me Mammy” would not be available. In the long run it did help Harry as the role broke the hold that Steptoe had had on his public perception and in a way laid the ground work for his later, very successful, stint as another icon of British Television.
 
"Real" World
Part of an interview with Barry Letts in Doctor Who Magazine February 2005

The failure of “The Daleks” had the BBC frantically casting around for a replacement Saturday early evening show. The news that Star Trek would be finishing in 1970 concentrated minds wonderfully. This was the chance to recapture the audience that had left to watch Star Trek. Several ideas were bounced around but eventually the obvious solution was adopted. The Doctor had to return.

I had been slated to direct some of the aborted 1969 series and was asked if I would be interested in producing the new series. I wasn’t sure but was promised that it would be in colour and that the budget would be more on a par of Star Trek than the previous Doctor series. There was then the problem of finding suitable script writers!

Luckily as Star Trek was finishing both Malcolm (Malcolm Hulke) and Terry (Terence Dicks) were interested in reviving the Doctor. They insisted on finishing their commitment to Star Trek and then would be available to work on Doctor Who. This was acceptable to the BBC and so contracts were signed. Lew (Lew Grade) wasn’t overly happy at losing these two but problems with the new all American Star Trek were taking up more and more of his time and so he accepted it. Part of the reason that the two were happy to come over was that it was clear that they weren’t really wanted because firstly NBC wanted American script writers so that they could keep a tight editorial control and secondly this American Star Trek would be less cerebral than the original.

So I was in place, Malcolm and Terry were ready to start but Patrick (Patrick Troughton) nearly caused the whole thing to be aborted as he refused to come back. He was still upset at the way the series had been cancelled in 1968. After long discussions he relented enough to do the regeneration scene at the start of the new series.

This left us with the problem of whom to cast as the new Doctor. We eventually found someone who was willing to take the risk, especially as he wanted to break away from his previous role as Illya Kuryakin and was finding hard to get roles in the US. David McCallum was to be the third Doctor.
 
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"Real" World
Broadcasting for series 6

The broadcasting of series 6 of Star Trek was no longer at a uniform time of 7:30pm on a Saturday evening. However the ITV companies did agree to show Star Trek episodes in the same week. The viewing figures became fragmented, however when later analysis was carried out if you added together the viewing figures for Star Trek from each individual company then the viewing figures held up and were of the same order as previous figures.

With 20:20 hindsight the ITV companies’ reaction to the fall in viewing figures during series 5 (which only occurred when the BBC showed Morecambe and Wise) was both hasty and ill conceived. The major change was that in the London area, Thames now showed Star Trek rather than London Weekend.

Broadcast times for each company were as follows for series 6

ATV, Harlech, Westward and Southern 7:30pm Saturday

Thames, Anglia, Yorkshire and Tyne Tees 8pm Monday

Granada, Ulster, STV, Grampian and Border 8pm Wednesday

The weeks of broadcast were as follows (all run from the Saturday to the following Friday)

Sat Sept 20th, 27th, Oct 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th, Nov 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, Dec 1st, 8th, 15th
 
Series 6
Lazarus Broadcast the week beginning Saturday September 20th 1969

Mission date 1432.6 several planets within the Commonwealth have been struck down by a plague which although it has similarities to the Black Death of Earth history has proven resistant to all known vaccines. The one effective cure is based upon an extract of a plant Aethaylas which is very rare in the Commonwealth. To make matters more difficult the plague only responds to the actual plant extract, synthesised versions only seem to mitigate the symptoms not cure them. Several Commonwealth ships, including the Endeavour have been sent to find other sources of the plant.

The Endeavour arrives in the remote Inklin system. To their surprise, sensor scans show that Inklin IV is covered with the plant. However the sensor scans also detect human life signs upon the planet.

Spock, M’Beke and Travis together with two security men beam down to the planet to investigate and are attacked by a pack of large wolf like dogs. The pack is called off by an old man, who identifies himself as Brak (special guest star James Donald). Brak claims that the landing party is trespassing, and orders them to leave immediately. M’Beke tells Brak about the disease threatening the Commonwealth and their urgent need for Aethaylas. Brak displays emotion when he hears M’Beke's comparison of the disease to bubonic plague, and describes the agonies suffered by the stricken in London in the summer of 1665.

He gives the landing party two hours to gather the Aethaylas. M’Beke and the security guards begin to collect the plant which surrounds them in great abundance whilst Brak escorts Spock and Travis to his home, which has an impressive collection of Earth artefacts (including paintings by Michelangelo and a hand written King James VI Bible). Spock, however, is puzzled when his tricorder scans indicate that the works are recent creations with contemporary materials.

The party is surprised by the appearance of Brak's beautiful young ward, Ada (guest star Jill Townsend). Ada likes Spock, who is impressed by her knowledge of physics. According to Brak, her parents were employees who died in an accident. Travis plays billiards with Ada, and they dance to a waltz played on the piano by Spock. The Vulcanian calls the waltz an unknown piece by Franz Liszt, written in manuscript with contemporary ink.

Spock contacts the Endeavour and asks Stein to research Brak and Ada. Stein learns that the rights to Inklin IV were purchased thirty years earlier by Gates, a private investor. With a surreptitious tricorder scan, Spock learns that Brak is over 5,000 years old.

M’beke and the security guards arrive and M’beke announces that they have collected enough Aethaylas to cure the entire Commonwealth twice over. Ada comes to say goodbye to Travis, who has fallen in love with her and begs her to accompany him. Meanwhile Spock follows tricorder readings to a chamber with the bodies of other Adas—all androids similar to Rememberers.

Spock asks for an explanation, and Brak confesses that he was born in Egypt in 2743 BC. A soldier, after falling in battle he discovered he could not die. Brak lived "lifetimes" as Michelangelo, Liszt, Solomon, Alexander, Lazarus and others. Indeed he thinks that he is the basis for the legend of the Wandering Jew. He discovered Rememberers living on Earth during the chaos following WWV when following up rumours of other people who also did not die. Using the information gathered at this time he made Ada as a mate who would "live" forever, and refuses to let them leave knowing his secret. According to Brak, Travis has taught Ada how to love and he wants Travis to redirect her love to himself. Travis, horrified, refuses to cooperate, but when the party try to beam back to the Endeavour they are prevented from doing so by an impenetrable force field.

However he is shamed into dropping the shield when M’Beke confronts him about the untold deaths which will occur if the Endeavour cannot return to the Commonwealth with the Aethaylas. Driven to despair Brak attacks Travis. Ada tries to stop the fight, her feelings torn between the two men, and she collapses as her circuits cannot cope with the emotions caused by the fight between the two men that she loves. Brak and Travis, grief-stricken, stop fighting.

Brak allows the party to leave with the Aethaylas. On the Endeavour, Spock discovers from his tricorder readings that Brak is dying. Although earthly conditions made him immortal, living outside that environment has caused him to gradually age, albeit at a substantially reduced rate. As a gesture of goodwill Russell has all the information that the Commonwealth has gathered about the Rememberers transferred to Brak’s computer. However Travis is distraught over Ada, and throws himself into his work in an effort to forget her.
 
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Series 6
Without End Broadcast Week Beginning September 27th 1969

Mission date 1724.6 the Endeavour, which is mapping the Anson system, experiences a localized time-distortion. Soon afterwards the ship's sensors detect a lone shuttlecraft drifting through empty space with no power or fuel reserves. Russell orders that they bring it on board so Brynne locks onto it with a tractor beam and it is gently brought into one of the shuttle bays. Scotty and an engineering team go to inspect the shuttle. To their surprise they find it is called the Herschel and is identical in all respects to the Herschel which is in the same shuttle bay down to a damaged patch of paintwork which was scheduled to be repaired the next day. To add to their confusion in the pilot’s seat there is a double of Russell, barely clinging to life.

After the double is taken to Medical Centre for treatment, Scotty and Holmes power up the shuttle, but only after a lengthy period of trial and error. It is then discovered that the shuttle's internal clock is about five hours ahead of the ship's chronometer which means that the shuttle, and therefore Russell's double, is from five hours into the future. They recover a very poor quality sensor log video that shows the shuttle falling into an energy vortex
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M’Beke determines that the incoherent double's biological functions are out of sync, but are improving as the future Russell draws nearer to his own time. Russell orders that his future self be revived, but is unsuccessful in extracting any information from him. Russell is disquieted at the idea that he would abandon his ship and its crew.

Meanwhile Spock and Brynne had traced the origin of the distortion to a small scientific outpost on Anson V. As the ship draws closer, they receive a distress-call from a Dr. Horace Vernet (guest star Douglas Wilmer). Spock recalls that Vernet was ejected from the Commonwealth Science Institute for conducting unauthorized experiments. Spock, Brynne and a security team beam down to the base. They are met by a worried Vernet who explains that his team were doing experiments involving time and gravity in an attempt to further improve the warp designs of the Rememberers so that they would not require so powerful an energy source and ships would no longer be constrained to jump points but be able to explore the regions between the stars as well.

However Vernet confesses that his latest experiment is running out-of-hand. His assistant Dr Ormond Sacker (guest star Nigel Stock) has been behaving increasingly erratically and unilaterally changed some of the parameters of the last test, resulting in the time distortion. He has since locked himself in the laboratory and is even now programming more changes into the computer which controls the experiment. Even as they speak there is a scream from the laboratory and to their horror they see a time vortex forming which rapidly expands into space towards the Endeavour.

The Endeavour is unable to escape, even with the engines at maximum output, and only becomes drawn in further. They send a probe into the vortex which immediately explodes. Scans emanating from the vortex appear to focus on Russell, and an energy beam strikes him, leading him to theorize that there is an intelligence controlling the vortex which seems to be interested in him personally, and that his double left the ship to draw its attention.

Russell's double, now almost completely aware and coherent, sets out to leave the Endeavour as he did before. Russell follows him, asserting that there must have been another option, though the double only mumbles about it being impossible. As the double is boarding the shuttlecraft, Russell proclaims “No you don’t” and fires at him with a phaser. Russell then boards his version of the Herschel and takes off.

He flies the shuttle directly into the mouth of the vortex. As soon as he does so the vortex closes and disappears, leaving a stunned Endeavour crew. Spock and Brynne beam back to the Endeavour, leaving the security team and Holmes to shut the outpost down and get the scientists ready to be transported to the nearest Commonwealth base.

They are greeted by a rather shaken Russell, who explains the incident from his perspective. He remembers it all except what happened when he flew through the vortex to reappear five hours earlier. Brynne surmises that they have created a closed temporal loop but he is worried as there seems no explanation for why Sacker should have created the vortex in the first place nor the scans that emanated from it. They have to hope that the records recovered will give some clues as Sacker vanished along with the vortex.

Russell turns command of the Endeavour, temporarily, to Spock so that Fynely and M’Beke can give him a full medical and psychological appraisal.
 
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Series 6
Leave Broadcast week beginning October 6th 1969

Mission date 1790.2 Russell has been suffering from nightmares and a subsequent lack of sleep. He has a meeting with Fynely to discuss his recent medical and psychological evaluation. Fynely informs him that he should really fail him on the examination but given the circumstances, as Russell has four weeks leave not used, he is willing to let Russell take the leave and then re-examine him before passing his official judgement. After careful thought Russell agrees to take his owed leave.

He leaves the Endeavour at CSS Archimedes and takes a Navy shuttle back to Earth. He arranges to spend the month with his cousin Franklin Russell (special guest star Thomas Baptiste) who is currently working at the Ashmolean in Oxford. He has been employed to recatalogue some of the Neolithic material, which has been donated to the Ashmolean over the centuries.

For the first two weeks Russell just plays the tourist in Britain visiting various famous buildings and historical sites.(we see that the same man is always at the same places. Russell doesn't realise this). Franklin is so absorbed in his work that he only rarely spends any time with Ben apart from in the evenings when he does introduce Ben to the British pub!

However one day Franklin comes back to his house in an agitated state. Ben who has just come back from visiting York finds him pacing up and down in his study muttering about the incompetence of previous cataloguers of the collections. Intrigued, because Franklin is usually very placid in temperament, Ben asks him what is causing him to be so upset. Franklin informs him that he has found a small collection of objects that just cannot be Neolithic in age although they are labelled consistently with other items in the collection which obviously are of the right age! After some thought Franklin says that it will be easier to show Ben rather than talk about it.

They set off to walk to the Ashmolean. After a few minutes both the Russells are convinced that they are being followed although they cannot spot anyone obvious. They spend the next few minutes playing cat and mouse through the streets of central Oxford and around the Colleges, but still cannot firmly identify their suspected tail. On reaching the museum, they sign in with the guard (guest star Peter Vaughn) who tells Franklin that some strangers have just been inquiring about him and his work. Thoughtful they go to the office where Franklin is carrying out his work. Franklin goes straight to his desk and pulls out the items which are causing him such concern. They are only fragments of cloth but they are of a material and weave which it would have been impossible to produce in Neolithic times, or indeed before their present day!

Franklin then informs Ben he had had the items dated and that they indeed showed results that would indicate that they were of Neolithic age. Ben registers Franklin’s comments but he is shocked. He recognises the material. The fragments are from a Fleet uniform! He asks Franklin what was wrapped in the cloth. Franklin explains that it was so degraded that they couldn’t tell what it was but it looked like papyrus. This was again a mystery as papyrus had never before been found in Neolithic Britain.

Just then two men burst into the office waving phasers at them and demanding the pieces of cloth. Franklin is stunned but just as Ben is just about to hand over the pieces of cloth the two men are beamed out of the office. A minute later whilst Ben is checking that Franklin is alright they are beamed out of the office and arrive on a transporter pad. They are met by a medic and a guard both in Navy uniform. After the medic revives Franklin the guard asks them to come with him and they are escorted to an office and asked to wait.

Soon afterwards Admiral Campbell-Foreman (guest star Peter Cushing) of the DTI walks into the room. He tells the Russells that they have been very lucky. The DTI had been aware of the materials, since the part of British Intelligence that dealt with this type of thing had been aware of the inconsistency since the material had been bequeathed to the Ashmolean in the late 19th century. One of its operatives a Captain of some sort had recognised what he thought were fragments of a military uniform but had made the decision that the collection was the safest place to leave them until they could be properly analysed. However with one thing and another they never had. Franklin should have never been allowed access to that part of the collection. There had been a snafu and heads would roll!

Campbell-Foreman admitted that the DTI had no idea for whom the two men who attacked the Russells worked but that the DTI did have some interesting ways of extracting information! They also had to ensure that the Russells never told anyone about the incident. Campbell-Foreman leaves the room and immediately there was a bright flash of light. When the Russells came to they were in Franklins front room with two empty bottles of whiskey on the table between them and massive headaches! On the desk was a message from Fynely saying that on reviewing the last tests he had changed his mind and that Russell was reinstated as Captain of the Endeavour. The cousins blearily decide that they must have overdone the celebration of this news.

As the shot pulls away we see through the window that there are two mysterious men observing the house who quickly walk down the road when Franklin opens the curtains.
 
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