WI 'Star Trek' made by British commercial TV?

[Petike]

Hehe, I like this thread.

Also, in keeping with realism, Scotty should get a really Scottish sounding name. "Montgomery Scott" just reeks with "lame" and "we were to lazy to do some basic research".

Hm, so... I don't know... Scotty a.k.a. Ian MacPherson ?


And how will the Enterprise look ? I doubt they'd come up with the exact same design.

And what about the names of all the various Trek gadgets and all the fondly remembered and loved technobabble ? Do we still get phasers, tricoders, warp speed, beam transporters, etc. ?

And what about the poor old "redshirts" ? Are there still unlucky expendable crew members like that ?

Or the costumes - will the crew still wear tight trousers and pyjama-like shirts ?
I would suggest more "glorious but gritty space navy" clothing, like the ones introduced in the Wrath of Khan and seen in all subsequent TOS movies. They definately had a sort of "historical" or Horatio Hornblower vibe to them...

 

[Mark-ITSOT]

More importantly... Will the female crew members still wear mini skirts?

This being the UK circa 65 to 67 I'd suspect so

 

[Magniac]

If we're talking late 60s then the UK TV and film industry already has a number of talented SFX teams (2001 was shot in the UK), we also have a number of excellent studios with large sound stages and there are several American born actors who've made their homes and careers here (Ed Bishop for Kirk, perhaps?). If you really want a Canadian Kirk how about Keir Dullea? I'm sure he'd have jumped at the opportunity to spend a few more years in the UK and avoid flying back to Canada.

Writing talent may be a problem, but not insurmountable. US Trek (TOS) made use of a number of literary SF authors (Harlan Ellison, D.C. Fontana, etc) and the UK isn't short of those... Imagine Star Trek episodes written by Arthur C C, Michael M and Brian A. Remember: The Enterprise is just a vehicle to transport the characters to the story most of the time, not the story itself.

As far as the number of episodes goes, don't forget that The Avengers was averaging around 26 one hour episodes per season by 1964. If you ameliorate the cost of the standing sets over 26 episodes I'm sure it would be within the means of a company as well funded as ITC to produce at least one series. And being outrageously British didn't do The Avengers any harm when it came to being sold to a US network. So Trek UK should have even less problems.

Casting? Well... We could have a properly Scottish Scotty (subtitles provided For the American audience ) for one. Not sure who that'd be though.

Gah, I'd forgotten about The Avengers!

It must have been the most watched Brit ITV show in the US during the era. But wiki says it was picked up for American syndication when it was still a videotaped, studio-bound program--only later did it become the high quality shot-on-38mm production. I'd hate to see 'Trek' done that way, it really should look like the upscale shows of the late sixties. Hell, if it's shot b&w on Ampex tape we'd end with whole seasons getting scrubbed.

I don't know about Clarke writing for TV while he's working with Kubrick, but I can see the likes of Roald Dahl and Colin Wilson penning episodes. Maybe if Lord Grade flashes his chequebook around we see 'quality lit' authors writing some episodes. Kingsley Amis?

 

[richie42]

Or Mr....KHAN!!

 

[NCW]

And how will the Enterprise look ? I doubt they'd come up with the exact same design.

Well, if this is being made in 1965 and the Andersons are involved, then it is going to be made instead of Thunderbirds [1]. So, maybe something like Thunderbird 2

Cheers,
Nigel.

[1] Which was also made with the hope of penetrating the US market.

 

[Stephen]

If they are working with people from thunderbirds, does that mean they get the shutle models completed on time and vus no transporters! Yay no transporter beams and replicators the most improbable technologies in Star Trek! And then they dont have to have continually breaking in order to have a plot.

 

[oberdada]

Not if he's still Bond

And even if he isn't he's far too famous to play a supporting character in a TV show circa 67.

But he made ZARDOZ, didn't he?




another thought: british Star Trek might not only have a Russian, but also a German crew member to show that the world
realy is united.
"Patterns of Force" is unlikely to be included than.

 

[Geekhis Khan]

But he made ZARDOZ, didn't he?

The horror...

 

[Stephen]

ZARDOZ was awesome!

 

[Magniac]

Well, if this is being made in 1965 and the Andersons are involved, then it is going to be made instead of Thunderbirds [1]. So, maybe something like Thunderbird 2

Cheers,
Nigel.

[1] Which was also made with the hope of penetrating the US market.

That vessel looks too small. There must be secondary models from the Thunderbirds that were used only once that resemble a potential Starship, right?

In my OP I imagined that the ATL 'Trek' doesn't replace any of the Andersons' super marionette shows, though if Grade has to dump one show during this era to pay for a Roddenberrian vision then I suppose The Baron is the one that doesn't make it to air. I mean, this show was an unsuccessful rip-off of 'The Saint'. Come to think of it, the American lead actor might have been better cast in a space-opera...

If they are working with people from thunderbirds, does that mean they get the shutle models completed on time and vus no transporters! Yay no transporter beams and replicators the most improbable technologies in Star Trek! And then they dont have to have continually breaking in order to have a plot.

Gerry and Sylvia Anderson would be involved in this show to a large extent with the modelling. If 'Brit Trek' goes for multiple seasons then they may not make UFO, instead focussing there energies on the ATL show.

I'm surprised no one has brought up any Comic Book Guy style objections to the makers of Thunderbirds, UFO and Space: 1999 getting their grubby mits on TOS!

 

[NCW]

That vessel looks too small. There must be secondary models from the Thunderbirds that were used only once that resemble a potential Starship, right?

I was thinking more of the general shape rather than the size. Actually, if you take Thunderbird 2, remove the wings and change the colour, it doesn't look too dissimilar to some of the ships from the later ST series.

In my OP I imagined that the ATL 'Trek' doesn't replace any of the Andersons' super marionette shows

True, but do you think that the Andersons could do the modelling effects for two large productions at the same time ?

Cheers,
Nigel.

 

[Petike]

Hm, couldn't they hire the British portion of the model designers for 2001 ? An Enterprise in the vein of Discovery could be pretty interesting.

And seriously, won't they alter some of the terminology ? This is the early pre-production stage and Roddenberry's geenral idea probably doesn't include definite technobabble terms like "phasers", "tricorders" or "warp speed".