Star Trek Phase II test footage?
- Thread starter Trekwatcher
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Of course the lighting was bad -- these were just screen tests as reference for the producers, not actual production footage intended for public broadcast. The final product wouldn't have looked like that. And the sets would've undoubtedly looked better when lit and photographed properly.
Yes, these were to have been the first half-season of shows. The Reeve-Stevens book presents the full story treatments (2-4 pages each, with significant detail) as well as the full script of "The Child" which became a TNG episode. Decker, Xon, and Ilia were major characters in all of these (foreshadowing Riker, Data, and Troi in TNG).
Some of the stories were quite good and would have worked well as full-blown episodes, while some were essentially TOS retreads that would have needed a lot of work to more fully develop them.
There would've been slight modifications to the TOS uniforms for Phase:II. Several of the modified uniforms, completed and uncompleted, were recently auctioned off during the big Christie's auction. Among them was the jumpsuit (a variation of the TOS jumper) used in the screen test. There were plans for a shirt-sleeved version of the tunic ala McCoy's medical shirt in TOS. The trousers would have been the same length but the bottom cuff would have a different cut and a front slit ala the TNG pants.
Kirk would've gotten a new wraparoud but made out of the same nylon material as the regular tunics, giving it more of a gold-green look (this was incomplete and auctioned).
The New Voyages production is using several of these designs in their upcoming shows.
Including Chekov's red Security Chief outfit, and some other Starfleet shirts that had silver trim added to them, from the time they were borrowed for episodes of "Mork and Mindy".
Kryton said:
TNG's "Devil's Due" was also originally a Phase II script with Ardra battling Kirk instead of Picard and company.
Yes, but we sadly only get the treatment for that one, not a full-on script. It may have never progressed that far back in the 1970's.
"In Thy Image" became ST: TMP.
A few of the other treatments are suggestive of later episodes, but only those three above were direct influences.
The episode, "Savage Syndrome", where Will Decker returns from a shuttle mission to find the crew devolved into primitive hunting packs, divided into groups according to their uniform colours, reminds me a lot of the set-up to "Genesis" or "Timescape". But it's coincidence.
Similarly, the two-parter "Kitumba", a journey to the Klingon homeworld, has the broad feel of "Unification", "Redemption" and DS9's "The Way of the Warrior". It also reminds me a bit of the dynamics on board the Romulan vessel in the original treatment of "Return to Genesis", which evolved into "The Search for Spock".
Kryton said:
with Ardra battling Kirk instead of Picard and company.
The female Ardra was the male Komether in the original script. The planet was called Neuterra.
I was actually reading Harold Livingstons script for In Thy Image (in the Phase II book) the other day.
It isnt a final draft, but its a really good introduction for the cast and would have made a great pilot IMO. The early scenes are particulary charming, especially Kirk trying to convince McCoy to return to starfleet (he's now working with animals) as well as his realisation that he's the only starship Captain qualified to command the Enterprise.
In this version, Kirk is essentially bumming round starfleet as an Admiral. Bored basically, with Kirk & McCoy having a very Wrath-of-khan esque exchange. Admiral Nogura drops command of the Enterprise on him due to her Captain being delayed (Capt Wah Cheng IIRC).
Xon is a little uneven (he's essentially comic effect in the early exchanges), but on the whole it would have been interesting to see how this would have panned out.
It isnt a final draft, but its a really good introduction for the cast and would have made a great pilot IMO. The early scenes are particulary charming, especially Kirk trying to convince McCoy to return to starfleet (he's now working with animals) as well as his realisation that he's the only starship Captain qualified to command the Enterprise.
In this version, Kirk is essentially bumming round starfleet as an Admiral. Bored basically, with Kirk & McCoy having a very Wrath-of-khan esque exchange. Admiral Nogura drops command of the Enterprise on him due to her Captain being delayed (Capt Wah Cheng IIRC).
Xon is a little uneven (he's essentially comic effect in the early exchanges), but on the whole it would have been interesting to see how this would have panned out.
Described in the casting notes as "a Michael York-type with pointed ears".
The Phase II book is great. I highly recommend it if you can find it.
It includes the original TV movie script "In Thy Image" along with the script to "The Child" and story summaries for 10 or 11 other episodes. It's very interesting to read a original Star Trek adventure without Spock present.
Of course. The wooden framework structure that held up that bridge/corridor set was still labelled with identification marks for "Star Trek: Phase II" when they pulled the sets apart after "Voyager" ended. It had evidence of wood rot. Those frames aren't expected to stay up beyond a few years.
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