I've been watching this thread for quite some time, and to be honest I think that, assuming we accept the premise of Gene Roddenberry proving unable to sell Star Trek to Desilu or anyone else stateside and finding better luck with a benefactor across the Pond, I honestly think a lot of the outlining is far too conservative to what transpired IOTL. The Federation (even if it gets a name change to "Commonwealth", which I actually like on paper), the Klingons, and the Eugenics Wars were all the invention of Gene L. Coon, who joined the show midway through its first season (in late 1966) and was probably the single largest creative influence on the show's direction - head and shoulders above Roddenberry. He hasn't even been mentioned once on this thread, even though most of his contributions have been.
Honestly, if you want to create a British Star Trek, it doesn't make sense to take anything from OTL canon other than the original 1964 pitch, Star Trek is... along with the few scripts that Roddenberry had a direct hand in writing ("Mudd's Women" and "The Omega Glory" come to mind, and that latter episode is also a good example of why I think it would be very difficult to send someone with Roddenberry's ideology across the Pond, but I digress...). As soon as he sold the idea to Desilu, their people (Oscar Katz, and more notably Herbert F. Solow) had an impact on it, as did the executives at NBC (including Grant Tinker), and later, those who worked on the pilot (such as Robert Butler and, of course, Robert L. Justman). And these people are only the ones who influenced the making of "The Cage", and they're all gone. (And so is Majel Barrett - his mistress or not, she isn't going to be following him - and his wife - to England). Funnily enough, I can see a character like Number One - who so famously repulsed NBC executives and American test audiences - "selling" right off the bat in the UK, already accustomed to trailblazers like Dr Cathy Gale. This, in turn, makes Spock so radically different from the character who emerged IOTL (developed in large part, as previously noted, by the also-absent D.C. Fontana) that it wouldn't make much sense to compare the two.
Most glaringly, the episode summaries that have been listed so far resemble the OTL series far too closely:
---
Oddly, one episode that stands a chance of making it across the Pond in pretty decent shape ("Charlie X", based directly on "The Day Charlie Became God" from Star Trek is..., though it was written by Fontana) is omitted. If we include that, we have perhaps five or six episodes that will bear even a vague resemblance to those which aired in the OTL first season (notwithstanding the substantial changes in character, sets, props, costume design, makeup, visual effects, score, etc. etc.).
This is an interesting idea, but I honestly think you're playing it way too safe. Gene Roddenberry did not have nearly as big an impact on Star Trek IOTL as he led everyone to believe (like George Lucas, he was much better at selling himself and creating a mystique). You shouldn't feel constrained by how the mythos developed IOTL.
Honestly, if you want to create a British Star Trek, it doesn't make sense to take anything from OTL canon other than the original 1964 pitch, Star Trek is... along with the few scripts that Roddenberry had a direct hand in writing ("Mudd's Women" and "The Omega Glory" come to mind, and that latter episode is also a good example of why I think it would be very difficult to send someone with Roddenberry's ideology across the Pond, but I digress...). As soon as he sold the idea to Desilu, their people (Oscar Katz, and more notably Herbert F. Solow) had an impact on it, as did the executives at NBC (including Grant Tinker), and later, those who worked on the pilot (such as Robert Butler and, of course, Robert L. Justman). And these people are only the ones who influenced the making of "The Cage", and they're all gone. (And so is Majel Barrett - his mistress or not, she isn't going to be following him - and his wife - to England). Funnily enough, I can see a character like Number One - who so famously repulsed NBC executives and American test audiences - "selling" right off the bat in the UK, already accustomed to trailblazers like Dr Cathy Gale. This, in turn, makes Spock so radically different from the character who emerged IOTL (developed in large part, as previously noted, by the also-absent D.C. Fontana) that it wouldn't make much sense to compare the two.
Most glaringly, the episode summaries that have been listed so far resemble the OTL series far too closely:
Okay, written by Roddenberry, so it's a likely candidate (though, IOTL, Solow claims that it was ghostwritten by someone else).Lindseyman said:1. The Cage(The Cage)
Written by story editor John D.F. Black. He worked so long and so hard on this script that he actually neglected his duties as story editor, and had to be replaced. This episode is not mentioned anywhere in Star Trek is..., which means it wasn't devised by Roddenberry.Lindseyman said:2. Inhibitions (The Naked Time)
Apparently the idea to make this a two-parter with "The Naked Time" originated in the writers' room after the show was picked up - this episode doesn't appear in Star Trek is... either. Written by D.C. Fontana - and Gene's secretary isn't going to follow him to England just for a long-shot at writing for a TV show.Lindseyman said:3. Yesterday is Tomorrow (Tomorrow is Yesterday)
Written by S. Bar-David; not mentioned in Star Trek is...Lindseyman said:4. The Herschel (The Galileo 7)
One of several episodes commissioned from high-profile science-fiction writers IOTL - the title appears in Star Trek is... but refers to a different plot.Lindseyman said:5. Old Wounds (The Man Trap)
Written by S. Bar-David; not mentioned in Star Trek is...Lindseyman said:6. The Mind Sifter (Dagger of the Mind)
Written by Jerry Sohl; not mentioned in Star Trek is...Lindseyman said:7. The Federation (The Corbomite Manouver)
Written by Gene L. Coon. Kiss this one (and Khan) goodbye, it's not happening.Lindseyman said:8. Shiva (Space Seed)
Written by Harlan Ellison; even if they get him, it won't be anything like the episode as aired (written by D.C. Fontana) or as Ellison wrote it (his original script was unworkable).Lindseyman said:9. The Guardian of Time (City on the Edge of Forever)
Commissioned from Samuel L. Peeples as a second pilot script; notably the only one of the three choices not written, at least in part, by Roddenberry, and yet it's the one that NBC chose. The idea was derived from "The Day Charlie Became God" in Star Trek is..., so an episode vaguely like this is feasible for the British Star Trek.Lindseyman said:10. Where no one has gone before (WNMHGB)
Written by Richard Matheson. Somewhat resembled an outline from Star Trek is... called "The Mirror" (which also inspired "Mirror, Mirror", of course).Lindseyman said:11. Yin and Yang (The Enemy Within)
(Co-)written by Roddenberry himself, and based directly on an outline from Star Trek is... called "The Women". A safe bet.Lindseyman said:12. The Aphrodite Syndrome (Mudd's Women)
Written by Robert Bloch; not mentioned in Star Trek is...Lindseyman said:13. Sugar and Spice (What are little girls made of?)
Apparently a story idea original to TTL - by my reckoning, there should be a lot more.Lindseyman said:14. The Lost
Written by freelance teleplay writer Barry Trivers, who never made another sale to Star Trek.Lindseyman said:15. Elsinore (The Conscience of the King)
Written by Theodore Sturgeon, but similar to an outline in Star Trek is..., so we'll give this one half-credit. (It wouldn't have that title, at least.)Lindseyman said:16. Shore Leave (Shore Leave)
Story by Gene Roddenberry, based on an outline in Star Trek is..., this one's a go.Lindseyman said:17. The Forgotten(The Return of the Archons)
Written by Paul Schneider, who also created the Romulans. They or any race based upon them won't appear in this series, and neither will this superb episode. Granted, it is based on an old movie (The Enemy Below), and Roddenberry did base early Star Trek on Forbidden Planet... but that is a highly tenuous connection.Lindseyman said:18. MAD (Balance of Terror)
Written by Gene Coon, so it's gone. Purportedly based on a short-story by Fredric Brown, but bears only a superficial (and apparently coincidental) similarity thereto.Lindseyman said:19. Triskelon (Arena)
Written by Don Mankiewicz and Steve Carabatsos (who replaced Black as Story Editor). Does not appear in Star Trek is...Lindseyman said:20. Court Martial (Court Martial)
Written by Jerry Sohl; heavily re-written by D.C. Fontana to highlight Spock (the beginning of her love affair with the Vulcan). Given that, ITTL, Number One would remain the emotionless one, this episode would turn out very differently (IOTL, originally Sulu was the one who fell in love).Lindseyman said:21. The Spores (This Side of Paradise)
Written by Gene Coon - in one weekend, so the legend goes - to make use of a costume designed by Janos Prohaska (who performed as the Horta in the resultant episode).Lindseyman said:22. The Miners (Devil in the Dark)
Written by Gene Coon, so say farewell to the Klingons (though that name might still appear, because it comes from Lt. Bill Clingan, Roddenberry's fellow pilot in the USAAF).Lindseyman said:23. Organia (Errand of Mercy)
Written by Steve Carabatsos; does not appear in Star Trek is...Lindseyman said:24. Brothers (Operation:Annihilate)
Story by Robert Hamner; teleplay by Gene Coon. Another one gone.Lindseyman said:25. The Computer War (A Taste of Armageddon)
Written by Don Ingalls, so good riddance to this wretched monstrosity (he also wrote "A Private Little War" - yes, they actually brought him back).Lindseyman said:26. Janus (The Alternative Factor)
---
Oddly, one episode that stands a chance of making it across the Pond in pretty decent shape ("Charlie X", based directly on "The Day Charlie Became God" from Star Trek is..., though it was written by Fontana) is omitted. If we include that, we have perhaps five or six episodes that will bear even a vague resemblance to those which aired in the OTL first season (notwithstanding the substantial changes in character, sets, props, costume design, makeup, visual effects, score, etc. etc.).
This is an interesting idea, but I honestly think you're playing it way too safe. Gene Roddenberry did not have nearly as big an impact on Star Trek IOTL as he led everyone to believe (like George Lucas, he was much better at selling himself and creating a mystique). You shouldn't feel constrained by how the mythos developed IOTL.