"Star Trek" The Doomsday Machine (1967)

User Rating:

8.9/10   

Director:

Marc Daniels

Writers:

Norman Spinrad (written by)
Gene Roddenberry (creator)

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

20 October 1967 (Season 2, Episode 6)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The USS Enterprise encounters the wrecked USS Constellation and its distraught captain determined to stop the giant planet destroying robot ship that killed his crew.

Plot Keywords:

Destruction Of Planet | Federation | Space | Starship | Computer

Cast

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
William Windom	...	Commodore Decker
James Doohan	...	Scott
George Takei	...	Sulu
Elizabeth Rogers	...	Lt. Palmer
John Winston	...	Lt. Kyle
Richard Compton	...	Washburn
John Copage	...	Elliott
Tim Burns	...	Russ
Jerry Catron	...	Montgomery

Runtime:

USA:60 min | Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Desilu Productions

Trivia:

The Constellation's registration number has the same numbers as the Enterprise, just in a different order.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The background star field can sometimes be seen through certain light color parts of the planet killer model.

Quotes:

Capt. Kirk: [a limp and disabled starship, the USS Constellation, paints the view screen] She was attacked.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Free Enterprise (1998)

One of the very best original Star Trek episodes

After 'Mirror Mirror' this episode ranks as one of the very best Star Trek shows in the second season of the Original series. It is even better than 'The Trouble with Tribbles.' I just viewed a taped copy of it and the sci-fi work done here was incredible for a 1960's era show: you get to see the Enterprise's shuttle bay when Commander Decker exits the ship and unforgettable images of the Doomsday machine itself. NBC must have spent a ton of money on this particular episode.

Kirk, Spock and Decker's performances here are superb as all three get their turn playing cat and mouse with a deadly planet eating machine. It flat out deserves a 10 out of 10 ranking in my view and should be among anyone's top 10 Star Trek picks. Scotty also has a starring role--saving Kirk's life at the very last minute. The only missing original Trek character is Uhura who was played by Lieutenant Palmer (the late Elizabeth Rogers) for this particular episode.