Arena

Hey, Joe. Hi. So we're back. We're together again. And it's Festival of the Gorn here on Untitled Star Trek Project. So last time. We did hegemony Parts one and two, which is the big gone 2 parter in Strange New World. Yes. And immediately after that, the 1st thing that you rolled was Arena. So this is Arena, Star Trek, the original series, series one episode 18, depending on how you count, and it was 1st broadcast on the 19th of January 1967. Good grief. I mean, I wasn't even a sparkle in my mother's eye. I wasn't either. Oh, no, you came in at the last episode. I did. I did. That's a theme of your visit here has been enormous lizards. So... May I say that every single enormous lizard episode we've watched I've enjoyed immensely. Yeah. So, uh, we also watched terrarium, which was series 3 just now. Which is series three, episode 9 of Strange New World. which is in many ways a kind of remake. Favoritual successor? Yeah. Yeah. But have they figured out how to make Star Trek? Yeah. So, like, I think it's impossible to overstate how important Arena is to Star Trek. Yeah, influence is everywhere. Yeah. So it's part of the sort of Star Trek folk memory. I mean, when people think about Vasquez rocks, It's that episode they're thinking of more than all of the other times that they show. Oh my god, that's the place where they shot shadows and symbols. Yeah, yeah. Well, they might have... They might have... But I think Vazquez Rox is the home of the Gorn, really. And we don't have the corn in the 90s until Enterprise when Enterprise starts to go crazy. I don't think they're confident that they can do the animatronics justice and they're probably right. I think too, it's just sort of part of that thing that Star Trek the Next Generation, does of trying to move away from original Trek in all sorts of ways. It's not until Manikoto comes in on enterprise and goes, well, I mean, we're doing a pre-TOS series. Why the fuck have we not done the gore? Yeah, we, yeah, we, why aren't we doing Tellerrides? Why aren't there more Vulcans, you know? They still wait till we're in an alternative universe, though surrounded by a folian web. Exactly. just one before that. But this is a very odd episode. I think, because it's when Star Trek hasn't quite decided what it is yet, we're determined the galactic barrier yet. I can't remember, actually. No, I think that doesn't come till Star Trek five. There was a few things. There was a few things when we were watching this and I was looking at you like, what? Like, this is not what Star Trek lands on. No, no. So I think probably the most telling thing is there's a bit of dialogue which suggests that there's an area of space that's under federation control, and this is the 1st time we hear about the federation, and that enterprise is the ship that is patrolling it you know. Policing. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. What is this, the bill in the future? Yeah, yeah. And so Kirk is determined to kill the gore, you know, and that's what easy to run. Upholding those federation values. No, they took out a colony, right? So we've got to go and kill them. Yeah. And it's not, like, it's not entirely on Kirkside. The narrative isn't entirely on Kirkside, and we'll talk about that, but it is an odd thing. And so then they get put on a planet, you know, the 2 captains Kirk and the Gorn captain get put on the planet and have to find it out. And it's an episode that is really memorable, I think, just because of the gone, like it's not the sort of thing that Star Trek attempts very much. No, and visually, it's extremely memorable. We will laugh a lot in this episode, okay? That moving jaw when he does something else. So great. It does blink, though, you know, in the new version. In the new version, sorry. But also there's just some incredible location work as well. Oh gorgeous. And the location work at the start of the episode as well. which I think is in a different place, you said. Yeah, yeah. So it's the Planet Cestus 3. And so it's a colony, but apparently it's the remains of a set that was used in a film in the 1930s and it was the Alamo. You're joking. apparently. The Alamo, apparently. Well, why aren't Miles and Julian heading straight to Cesters free? That's right. So it's redressed slightly and it is a really, really memorable location. And they also just use... Yeah, it's huge, massive. And they use heaps of pyrotechnics as well. Boy, do they? So much so, I think. We were fearing for William Shatner's life because at one point he's clearly doing a roll forward and this enormous gout of flame nearly takes him out. Well, the memory alpha page claims that Shatner still suffers from tinnitus as well. He just wanted to... Of course he is. He's on a retainer ever since. But I think both Leonard and Dee also suffered. As a result. So it was pretty, it was a pretty big deal. And it's easy to imagine because they weren't sort of particularly careful, I think, even with their big stars in the in the 60s. But it's so unusual as well because we always say, don't we? You know, at 50 minutes or rather, you know, Scott McNulty always says, at 50 minutes, Trek is always too long and it's usually because there's a ton of very wordy scenes. About two-thirds of this is action. Yeah, which is that's cinema, right? That's not TV. and it's in a cinema location as well because they've shot Westerns there too. So they they're pushing the boat out here. I think in terms of what TV can do in the 60s. Yeah, there's a big bit in the middle that's all just kind of said on the ship. You know, you've got the initial thing in Cestus 3. It does take us a while to get to the Gorn, so we're about halfway through before we end up on the asteroid where they're gone and Captain Kirk have to find. But, you know, despite how odd it seems, and how only half formed it is as Star Trek, it's the 18th Star Trek episode ever to be broadcast, you know, and we're now up to 960 something. It's that thing when a show is forming and they're just trying lots of different things. Like in a few episodes time, you get, God, what's the one with the water? Devil in the dark. And where they've sort of landed. That's Gene Coon as well. And that's less we're going to go and kill that flying Frisbee and we're going to try and empathise with it and understand it and see why it's killing people. So it is a show that's forming. But I do like that they're trying lots of different versions of Star Trek to see what sort of sticks. Yeah And as I said, I think Kirk is a little bit Captain Ahab in that scene, and I don't think that the narrative sides with him completely, because you've got Spock and Ahura's reaction, and you've got his final decision where he isn't going to kill the goal. You know me. a bit of a sadist. I was hoping that knife was coming down, but no, it's still Star Trek. We would never have liked him. Well, no, because they did do that in terrarium, where it was the other way around. There was no fighting going on in the whole episode, and then at the end... and blows her away. Yeah, I was like, oh, that's me. Actually, the biggest difference, ship side, I realised between arena and terrarium was in arena. There was a lot of scenes of Spock, McCoy and Scottie just standing around going, well, there's nothing we can do. We'll have to just wait until, you know, he's in a big area of space, who knows where, in terrarium. They were literally all of them chipping in to try and figure out where she was. They were putting the ship in a wormhole, like, do you know what I mean? The show's moved on to a point where everybody is utilised to try and be part of the solution. And, of course, that episode has 2 friends for Erica, it has Mrs Gorn down on the planet, and it has agreed. And it has Ahura, you know, like it has Ahura, who the episode really focusses on. She's the secondary focus of the episode. So, please, I got to see her hair, all our fabulous. Yeah, yeah. After the weird. She's no longer Mrs. Conehead. at the start of the season. But also as well, like you've mentioned off mic. Obviously, Dharmok is the spiritual successor to this as well where it starts off very like arena. They've both got weapons. They're clearly supposed to fight each other. That's the idea. That's why they fell on the planet. Or they think that as well, don't they? initially. They think that, but Dathan, the captain, doesn't think that the captain who brought them down there has brought them down to fight together. The way that they learn to communicate with each other and the just the very moving way, then the heat saves Picard. And I mean, you were in tears at the end of that episode. Now you weren't quite as moved by the end, by the end of terrarium. But that again is doing the same thing, isn't it? is you think this is going to be Arena. and they're deliberately making you think that because at the end, a fucking sparkly dress appears out of the Eva, and it's the Metron's come back to... We're still observing you in the gauds. We're not entirely sure, you know, I'll take the data back and we'll be back in for the next series of Star Trek. if we can do this all over again. But I did... I mean, I loved Interior in that approach of just building a relationship between Erica and the Gaunt because it's the last thing you would ever imagine happening. Well, in fact, I think one of the things that makes terrarium superior to this, and obviously it's not as iconic as this or as memorable as this. No, but because you've given Erica an established relationship with the gore. And apparently Captain Kirk doesn't know what the Gorn is. So clearly all of those times Jim goes on to the enterprise. before he becomes the captain, he's always there, but no one seems to have ever mentioned the Gordon Twitter. I think in a little scene afterwards. We didn't see it. It was after the terrible joke at the end, he went, my God, there's this whole party in the database about the Gauls. Oh, for God's sake, couldn't someone send that down to me? No, I think Jim would say, oh, that's right. I remember, that was her entire backstory, wasn't it? I mean, I was very surprised in this episode as well. How many of his clothes that William Shatner kept on. But it was in the sun. I'm sorry he didn't want a sunstroke or anything like that. Well, normally it needs no excuse at all to get his kit off, does he? Yeah, yeah. But it's early days, yeah. It's before he goes quite as mad as he ends up going. And as well as being memorable, iconic, fun, all those things. And I think a good use of 50 minutes. I didn't think it tracked for me. I actually think as well, it wins the recipient of the Star Trek episode. I mean, there's a high accolade, this of the best ever enormous polystyrene rocks. Yeah, yeah. Because there's one sequence where you can hear it tearing apart as shutters, desperately trying to pretend that he's shoving it. I think, like, are there three? I think there are three, there's at least 2 massive rocks. One tiny one, he catapults. No, no, no, he hurts it above his head. I think it may be a rock when he froze it, but it's certainly jabberlite when it ends. No, no, he's doing this is heavy acting. It's definitely jab-lite. I mean, I'll say before we go in, this is iconic for a reason. Oh, yeah. You know, I'm like fucking gold costume. We will get some laughter out of that. But I just kept thinking, my God, this is so well shot. For 60s television. It's amazing. Stylish as fuck. Yeah. I mean, we've said this thing about Star Trek, the original series. Half the time you tune in, you kind of go, whoever thought this was fit for broadcast, and then sometimes you get something like this, which is cheesy and ridiculous in all sorts of ways. But God, it looks amazing. I think it's a time thing, you know. I think one and at least half of 2 falls into the 1st bracket there. Now, the 2nd bracket, sorry. And then three, most are three, and half of two, is where it sort of starts, they start shipping out, you know, and they're not trying as hard. I would like to say as well that, Berman, what were you thinking man, with the music? The music in this? It's doing so much work. It's so great. It's, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. You know, loads of drums and bass and it's really kicking the action onwards. How do we get from that to that strings wallpaper? Yeah, you know, yeah. The cliffhanger's due. Someone put a note in, you know? right. That's right. It's unbelievable. The lessons that they unlearned from the original. I mean, they came in with the terrible shitty studio sets, didn't they, in TNG? And then, yeah, and then they just decided, no, we don't want that exciting music, you know. In fact, season two, we don't even want to go out on location. Exactly. just do it once to ride a horse. That's it. It's bizarre, isn't it? Because it's all there on the screen. Like, what works? Yeah, yeah. Should we see what works? Yeah, I think we should. I'm really looking forward. All right. It's the last time you have to see the mouse, you know. Okay. I will count it in. let's go Wait, five, four, three, two, one, and we're off. We are off with the Edth prize looking sexy as hell. Well, this is the remastered version and the original Cester 3 was just that standard red planet with no features on it. I mean, just already, yeah. Look at all the lovely colours in the screen. Yeah, yeah. Enterprise take note. This is a very strange beginning because they're talking. They're looking forward to going down to Cester 3 because they know that the Commodore, Commodore Travers, and he puts on a really good meal and they're excited to go down there. Is that what? That is... That's where the baseball team was. The pipes is the pioneers. Not yet. They were hoping to have a meal and catch the baseball. Yeah, perhaps. No, so there's only one colony at this point on Cestus 3, but Cestus 3 does get a lot of mentions in Deep Space 9. Ron Moore is so hard for Cestus free. It's untrue. It's definitely a test, you know. Of course, I want to speak to Captain Curr, about fighting the corn. Can I say whoever did the eye makeup for this episode? Honestly, all of these men are looking very metrosexual and I'm here for it. So you missed you missed McCoy doing a racism just now. Where there's so many. Was it about ears? Yes, it was. You bet your pointy ears it was. All right. So now we're down on Cestus 3. It's great. So, I mean, there's just no way they could have afforded to have done this, is there? The background has all mattered in because they were actually houses visible from this. Oh okay. And originally there was just a bit of tinfoil over that part of the, oh, wonderful. So I've seen the screenshot. It is... Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I mean, it is still this huge expansive location that they absolutely make the most of. Well, because it comes in on almost like their feet and then comes up so you can see and then falls back. So it's like, wow, this is a cenar. And it's pretty hard to escape the feeling that the, um, big, the shot going into the opening credits of Best of Both Worlds, part one is based on their memory of this Sister 3 thing. It's obviously more impressive. Are we? We're doing it again. after the drama, after the attack. Let's have gone. They're too expensive to stream. Strange new wells. You could have afforded to do it. Why did you just show? Oh, look, here we go. But this... No, that's not in the original. I bet it does look great. Oh, look, they're hiding behind the big jabber like rock already. There's lots of them here. But it's not here that they come back to you for the fight, is it? Some unnamed asteroids. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It looks like... right. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, look what they've done. There's like smoke everywhere. They've kind of scattered debris everywhere. They've dressed the location. I mean, need I remind you of some of those studios that's in series 3 that we've seen? Oh, yeah, yeah, terrible. But this looks fantastic. It's an effect with those big rocks up on the plane. I know, they put big rocks up on that. That's amazing. I think that's what they've done. And look all the wreckage everywhere. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they've gone to a lot of effort. it looks great. Oh my god. People dying. They've been exploded. So this guy, I don't, is he Trevor? Like, is he the Commodore? I don't even know. he given a name? Oh, no. They were expecting a barbeque and he's been barbecued. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's horribly burned. These are hilarious. There's a moment later where McCoy says right in front of him, oh you know, he'll be dead in half an hour. We don't get a thing. And he doesn't react. He doesn't say what? Excuse me. I feel okay. You better get that fucking shit here. fast, all right? Otherwise you're never getting that meal. No, it's not him. I said, oh, now this, I do love these extreme close-ops we're getting. you know, we were always like, oh, that bit of war is terrible. pointed that out, didn't I? It's a perfectly hexagon cut in the door. That's the door. That's the door. okay. So we've got 3 red shirts. Only one of them is a red shirt and here he is just being killed. He's just been disintegrated. Why does nobody refuse to wear red? Yeah, but the other 2 aren't safe. One's wearing golden ones wearing blue. Yeah, I think they're the tactical people or something. It just leaned on that rock and it moved. Yeah, same. Oh, now, we noticed that Sulu was wearing lovely... He's got lovely eye makeup except in the final scene. What's the fellow's name on the other con? Uh, oh, so that's De Paul. That's his new boyfriend I think. I think he's got, well, no, not yet. He's put the eye makeup on... That in his eyelids. So then when they're hanging around later, waiting for Kirk to come back. So I thought that De Paul looked particularly familiar, and so I checked him up and he is in a taste of Armageddon, which is around about this time, but I don't know it very well at all. But also, he looks really similar to the guy who played Pike. Oh, in the man, no, in the cage. Yeah, the guy, and he looks really very, very much like him. And it turns out, he plays burnt to a crisp pie in your wheelchair in the menagerie and they cast him. They did that 1st and they said, look, you can have 2 episodes out of the makeup. That's what? That's crazy. But you wait and look at him because he really, really does look like that guy. Oh, take it. At the moment, I'm impressed by these amazing pyrotechnics. I know. As enormous mushrooms for flavour. I know, it's wonderful, isn't it? It's so exciting. I did see a slight look of panic on Leonard's face there for a 2nd. But its Vulcan resolve was broken a little bit. Just you wait because Shatner's about to do a big hit of somersault. An incredible stunt. clearly him because you can see his face. I think it is him There are latest scenes where I think I can detect the stunt double, but I thought that that was just kind of Shatner fucking going for it. I love this when I cut to that stock shop. Over there in the rock somewhere, you know? get that twice. Spock, that is a lovely shade of ice. Well, he often wears eye shadows. matches his top. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, here we go. Watch, watch closely. That's still here. That's definitely Shatner. That might not. No, it is. That's definitely him. That's definitely. And literally, there's rocks blowing all about it. This might be the 1st case of blowing rocks, you know. Yeah, this might be where it gets his tin of the strong. He seems to be behind a sofa now. You know, it's like... It does look like I said. A bad old settee, though. look at look at him. Look at him. Don't you think he looks like he looks like the guy who plays? Oh my god. Yeah. Oh, the blue eyes and everything. Oh, wonder, Sulu's dressing up. Do you think this is the guy he has the kid with? No, I don't know. I think he's not Starfleet, actually, his husband did. Not entirenished or he's gay at this point either. He doesn't think he was. George, come on now. I know, I know, but he was the 16. I know, but he also wants to think he can also play straight people, I think, probably. You know, it was the 60s. Everything was game. Okay. Now that is definitely the stunt double. Back to Shatner. right. Look at the I make up. Oh boy. I think he's looking pretty fine. Yeah, wasn't it? Yeah. Oh, he's a very pretty man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm not sure he's the world's finest actor. Later on when he's older and they ask him to come back and do better as bits and bob seeds, a little mannered. shall we? Yes, yeah, yeah. That way episode where, you know, the Voyager one where they're bringing in, what's her name? Grace Whitney. Oh my god. Well, she makes him look like an Oscar with him. She does. A triple Oscar. You know, the stump troubles, they do all the work and then he just comes into shot as if he's the hero. Yeah, that's right. Look at me. Did you see me do that big role? Oh look at the state of his face. It's much worse, I think, when they get him back on board the Enterprise. Not as bad as the faces of that man who have melted in the other corn episode we watched last time. right. I mean, that's all Strange New World innovations, right? Turning people into food. Yeah, all of that. This is the only go on episode. Two explosions. All moment off, and clearly... He's just falling over for no reason now. There's no things just like, oh, shit, I should have fallen over. Unfortunately, he was literally covered in soot. as he was falling into that and now his uniform is perfect. Oh, and now let's try. I don't need that anymore. not working. No. Close it up. It's not blowing it up. You've got this fucking massive cannon with these blue bombs. It's billiards. Give me a hand with this grenade launcher. I mean, we wouldn't be doing this in latter Star Trek, would we? Grenade launches. But I think it's just that, you know, they want to do they want to do explosions in this scene. standard issue, Starfleet equipment. Well, I think it was lying around. I don't think any of them brought them. Oh, I thought that was so. Oh, okay, okay. An evaluation, Mr. Keller, before you die. So, wait, do we see a Kellowitz die? I can't remember. We don't get that special effect. game. They'll stock shot the rocks again. Yeah, yeah. Again, some money out. I don't actually remember if he actually sets off any of these blue bombs, does he? Yeah, he does. Yeah. Huge marbles. don't they? Ready, steady, everyone, get your heads down. Boom. Oh, excellent. I love them throwing pebbles at them and stuff. You're just getting reactions from us now. Kellowitz dead. No, he's still he's still with us. I mean, I still like them, just going. Gung-ho action. Oh, yeah, yeah. Like, this really, like, it's what you often complain about, you know, television just show us some exciting things. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So so the thing, the weird thing is that this really has nothing to do with anything, does it? No, no, no, but it sort of started us off on a dynamic footing. I think that it, like, I think that the destruction of the Cesar Street outpost would have been enough to motivate. Oh, for sure. I wouldn't lose it, no? No, no, but this was really fun. I mean, that was really properly... I mean, otherwise, it's 10 minutes on extra on the ship, where we go, where we're standing around talking, how we're going to find Gotham, you know, do you remember that interminable court case scene with the computer in the Scottie murder episode? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. About the evil... I'd rather buy a load of bombs going off than that. Oh no, that was super... I mean, this is part of why it's so memorable in that scene in particular. Even those beds in McCoy's sick bay look more comfortable than the ones in Dick's Bay. Yeah, but they've got like sequins on them. I just don't think that's very comfortable. sleep in a bed on DS9 you know? Again, you know, this is early Shatner, so he's really underplaying it as well. I really like it. So invested, isn't it? In fact, he's letting this asshole just kind of, you know, chew the scenery. Not only if this was in like season three, not only I don't think would we have the great location work, I think they would try and pull it off in a studio because they didn't have as much money. But Shatner would be mugging all the way through it. But he's really underplaying it in this scene, I think. it's really good Well, I don't know if Trek wasn't like a massive hit was it? Like an immediate hit. I don't know. I don't think it was. Well, I mean, because they cancelled it and then they realised they had a hit. I don't think anyone ever really, like the execs ever really took it that seriously. I don't know. Is it the thing where they discovered that it's like a particularly attractive demographic watching it? Is that the thing? Like even though sheer numbers aren't great. It's like people with disposable income who are going to buy plastic crap are watching. Maybe they just actually sat down and watched it eventually and went, this 1st series is good. Maybe. I mean, this is great. And he's really great. And that weird card, like suddenly we're in the next scene. Do you know what I mean? It's one of the, it's sort of a modern thing where he's saying something which sounds like it's a response to the guy in the bed but it is these guys having a conversation. But what's happening here is you have Shatner declaring that we've got to go as the policeman of this area of federation space. We were so baffled. I know. We have to go and kill all of the people in that other ship, but spot pushes back against it. And Spock is right. We're supposed to be embracing all other life forms. We in the future. He says, what about respect for sentient life forms and Shatner and I think it's actually on the bridge, isn't it? Shatner says Shatner. Kirk says, it's not time for that now. We don't have time for the talk. We don't have time for Star Trek, all right? We got some aliens to murder. And I think then we get an Ahura reaction to that as well. A shaktahura reaction too. We get a couple of shock to who are a reaction. Yeah, we get some pretty terrible. I'll do the impression. Yeah, yeah. But, but, and then, we're going into butts, but notice that we're looking at Spock's face and Nemoy's looking disappointed. Like he's, you know, and... And he's gone all crazy in Captain Ahab as well, like I said. I mean, occasionally we do. Do you remember Janeway in Equinox? Yeah, yeah, yeah, Cisco with Eddington. But, I mean, both of those were the characters clearly acting out. Even O'Hura gave him a sassy look there. Are we really going to do this? Yeah. Yeah. There's a great scene now. Where they're pursued, aren't they? And it plays out exactly like you get in Q Hu when they 1st meet the Borg. They match them speed for speed. Yeah, and then they start getting, and then they just stop and wait for them to catch up. and I'm like, fuck me, they rip this scene completely. Morris Hurley. Yes. You plagiarist. But it's the Metrons, of course, who stop them. And that's the other difference, I think. I know. So, so we may as well talk about it. There is a figure in both Christianity, I think, in Judaism called Metatron, and we don't. know where that name comes from, but it's an angel that is in charge of judging things. And they are calling the Metrones. Like the Metron voice. The guy who plays the voice calls of Metrons, but the spot calls of Metrons, and I think so does, um, so does, uh, Kirk. And that's from a Greek verb that's related to our word metre which means measure, but it can mean to kind of mete out payment or reward. So the idea is, and the Metron form sounds like the present participle of that. And so, so what are they supposed to be meeting out? They're judging human behaviour. They're measuring human behaviour. Who wrote Encounter a Farpoint? You owe Gene Coon some money. I know, but I mean, you know, like, like, that is every other team. Yeah, that's right. See, also Day of the Dove, you know, like, well... TAS episode rewatched. That was on godlike beings, wasn't it? That was the devil. Oh, he was great. Great guy. Yeah, this, I merely suggest that a regard for sentient life. and Kirk just says there's no time for that. And then she looks at him. looks at him and then he gives her side eye as well. Is there enough pushback then? Well, also that that's good. Because the episode then decides, no, this is fine. We can have done. at the end, yeah, but no one really challenges... Kirk after this. No, but you can see him. He's almost doing dumb insolence there. He's saying very well, captain, you know, like he's just refusing... Which is Rick? Kirk. I'm delighted, Mr. Small. Yeah, excuse me. Sassy bitch. So this is not where we land and this isn't what we would get. Scotty for a look. I said, everyone's sort of unsure. Are we really going to do this? But of course, you know, like we we land on. This is great. Warp factory. Oh my god. And everyone's like, oh, that's great. Although George is doing his job. Just you wait guys until threshold, all right? That's right. Thank God we're not going at warp down. I mean, God, it'll be fucking salamand. They're on the bridge. Salamand. I'm very middle class. Oh, the stars look much better in the new version, don't they? Well, in fact, as they go to warp, you look at the look at what we see in the viewscreen, because we're going super fast, look at that smoky eye that look he's giving. Oh, his curve. He's batting his eyelids occur. Always go for them out at the top. Yeah. I mean, what is Scotty? He just standing there in the city. Go down to engineering. Like Ahura's not even getting a shot, so don't worry about it. Some fabulous blunder, the console. Yeah, sort of behind another woman. I think it may be Helen Shapiro. She was around in the scene. None of our Americans. I just say you are so gorgeous. Oh my words, you are gorgeous. I mean, I said to you, I can absolutely believe that Senior Gooding. Oh yeah. Celia Gooding and Nichelle. I mean they're as pretty as each other. Yes, unfortunately, Celia gets more to do, more nuanced characterisation. She's funnier, more agency. And equal. I think we're probably equal when it comes to singing. It's hard to tell. That's right. Well, I know both sort of have her cone head occasionally because sometimes Ahura's hair is massive. That's true. It was the 60s. Yeah. So they're being no hostilities, sir. were we being scanned? So this is the metrons, I think. So terrarium obviously, you know, introduces that wormhole, which is clearly caused by the Metron. So the matrons, even though they're not revealed until the very end, like here, they're more involved in the sort of setup. Here we just encroach on their space. And so it's when we get to this point that the metrons appear. We still not quite halfway into the episode. I think, I think the ad break where Kirk 1st confronts the Gorn is about halfway. I do think the structure, the 10 minutes of the bombs on the planet and the colony and all of that. Really great shape. then 10 minutes on the ship and then you get sort of half an hour on the planet. Yeah, yeah, on the asteroids? yeah yeah And the 10 minutes on the ship is all character stuff about how mad Kirk is, you know. What kind of apple? Just how to calm down. You're not the police, you know, we've had this conversation already. Yeah, we keep telling you. Maybe a sort of facile question, but I do want to ask it. How do you imagine Ahura keeps that thing affixed in her ear? Oh, super glue. It never comes out. Oh, God. Well, Fox sometimes has it as well. Yeah, it's massive though. It's jammed right in a fucking elo. Yeah, bless her. Oh, okay. See, the blonde woman, the blonde woman did some great kind of thing. Yes, Scott is just sort of hanging off the rail. They're doing great deceleration acting. Oh, there's Michelle having a bit of a go. She doesn't get many loins in this, so she has to do a lot with reactions. Oh my god. I may ask you, when Captain Kirk is beeped out in a second. Her almighty scream. It's so weird, isn't it? That's right. He's just literally beamed out. She does it all the time. All the time. Every time it happens, we just cut away. And she's like, oh, see her go, oh, someone beamed. Oh, she could be like Dr. Pulaski. She got a phobia of beaming. Ah, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was just, it made all 3 of us laugh. So funny. She gets 2 great reactions, actually. I mean, she's still sort of fabbing herself when we go back to her. She hasn't quite recovered. But I think that's it. It's like, I am going to be noticed no matter how few lines they give me. She's a Sigourney weaver. She is, that's what she's basic. You're going to remember it. We'll never forget it, Michelle. Never. Oh, will never forget the show. Jesus, remember on top of that rice doing her naked dancing? Ah, yeah. Good for her. That's crazy. Oh, now what's going on here? So we have been stopped. We are now facing the gone ship was, which was not visible originally. It's just been put there for the special edition. Ah, okay. Does it match up with the gold ship? Oh, shit. No way. No mist around it or anything. And so here's the Metrons addressing us. That's right, this fabulous sort of colour TV static. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, it's a bit weird, you know? It's a bit odd. Remember when we were in Spectrum at a gun going through that weird sort of void at the start? It was a bit like that. Yeah, yeah. I love all that stuff. That's one of the things that we want from Star Trek. So this voice. Now, I think this guy, I think it's called Vic Perrin, and he is also the voice of Nomad. Oh, Captain Carr. I know. I'm just going to Hover over here. Somebody cut my string. I think, and again, he's not credited, and I couldn't make it out from memory alpha, but I think he also sort of ADR's, the Metron that we'd see at the end. Unbelievably weird effect because it's, you assure me, it's an actress. Yeah, but she is playing a man. with a man's voice dubbed over it. Which is why the Metron, I think, at the end of terrarium is all sort of fabulous. I was punching the air when I saw it. It's just when I saw that similarly sort of bling dress. I was like, it's the metro. Yeah, it was great. But again, you know, there was a queerness to them in the way that there is to the Metron that we're going to see at the end of this episode. Well, I liked as well is, was that they, you know, usually strangely well, so the dialogue's far more polished than in TOS, of course it is. It's 50 years later. But for the Metrons, they had their similar, you know, you and the gore. Yes. Okay, Kurt really loves this stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait, so what I said last time, you know, every generation deserves. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here, go, watch it, watch it. It goes boop. And then she leaves... Put the hat to your face. Go on, girl. And then, did you know? Yeah, Spock just pushes past. and pulls her hands away. will you stop that? All right, here's the gone. Oh, fuck. It's so great Wait, watch it blink. There we go. Yeah, we had a bit of a disagreement about the gone body. Because, you know, I think it looks quite tempting. Well, look, if it had been a big muscular guy painted green with a big rubber lizard head on, I'd have been... Excuse me, at least I'm getting hot and bothered about a man with muscles. You was doing it with the ball queen. Oh, I actually was covered in KY jelly. Oh, now look at this. A proper Western shot. Up the side, in a sort of desert, standing a distance away from each other. And as you said, this is a location where they used to shoot Westerns. They've really given their muscly cars. Oh, he's some massive carbs. Yeah, yeah, split. They're split. They look great. Oh, man. Alpa, he runs around the deck of his shit quite a lot, that corn you know. So he's grabbing the biggest stick he can find. And then Shatner gets a really shitty tiny stick. And then does he decide to grab the rock and see? No, no. When he sees the Gord approaching with the massive fuck off stick. He just throws his stick away. Fuck that. I love a crash zoom in the 60s. And of course, the music's going, da, da, da, da, right now. We're getting roaring from the corn. What are these red things on the rocks? It's it's mineral deposits. Of course it is. Oh, because we need sulphur laser. Right. There's a big clue there, then. That's right. Now, this is a wonderful fight done in slow motion. I mean it's not done in slow motion, but you would think it was. But last week the gone were clambering in huge numbers over the ceiling, remember? And leaping down, flying Erica with one hand. Zero gravity, you know, it's exploding, that sort of thing. Now we're hugging. Now we're hugging, we're getting a kiss. If a Kurtzman gone. Got this close to a person. They literally would have been torn in half. by now. All full of eggs. Oh, oh, Kirk does sort of knock his head and he's like, oh, that really hurt. I think they're his ear holes. Oh, is that right? Do you think? Because he's clutching his earholes. There are holes set, right? So now we're picking a rock. Shatner's doing his best. This is not polystyrene at all acting. Whoa. Oh, it's nice. And then that's off the call. That's clearly polystyrem. Do you know, it's wonderful. The mineral deposits look just like a load of tin foil over the rocks. Look at the sky. Like the Nile, it's blue sky. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the space. They just got... No, it's incredible. So they can do really impressive wide shots. Yeah. So you call that a rock, Shatner? This is a rock. fucking hell. Straight over his head. Yeah, you bit around. Imagine being the guy who got to throw that at chat. Shatner. That didn't bounce too much. No, that was free. Joe, I love these shots up of Shatner on the rocks. Notice how many sort of power shots he gets with his legs wide open, shooting up at him. Don't you reckon the stage hands or the, like, the guys on the crew were fighting over who gets to throw the giant pole? No, it was Michelle, Jimmy. Everyone who doesn't get a line. They wanted to throw it at Chatna. Why are you all here, Keira? We've drawing lots, all right? Who looks the most smug in this scene? the one who got to do it. So, Michelle's calmed down now. But she does get one other reaction, I think. Look at these fuzzy lenses when she gets a close-up. It's so annoying that whenever women get close up. Why? But so they look beautiful. Oh, she looks beautiful. I know. I know they're doing it to Michelle, who's incredibly young. You know, like doesn't have a lot of wrinkles to conceal unbelievable. Imagine doing that in strange new worlds. I mean, they'd have to be fuzzy all the time. There's so many women. No, yeah. Jess would punch you in the dicks if you're trying. There are mineral deposits everywhere. Gaunt linked. No, the Gordon's poking his head up. The rocks go, hello. No, he's listening. You see, he's listing on his lightsaber. sort of unfortunate face where it looks like he's grinning all the time. Scrubby, I blinked again. He looks so happy. I'm so happy to be killing humans again. Look at the blue of the sky behind. Yeah, I know. That is technicolour. Incredible. Yeah, gorgeous. Yeah. And I think Shatner's really good in this too. Yeah Yeah. Scrub, brush, rocks, bits of tinfoil. I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking for. Powder, white powder. He comes across this area where it's just covered in yellow powder. No, the one where he comes across it, white powder and he goes, hmm this looks like... But I do think, right? I don't think the gaunts, you know, have gunpowder. I think there's an advantage to human beings. How does the Gordon know how to turn all that into a weapon? Well, he just, he just carves it. He just makes himself a knife. Oh, yeah, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. That's right. Yeah, actually, Kirk's pinned down under a rock, right? And the go comes running up to him, to guru. pulls the rock off and he's so slow with a knife, just runs away. Well, yeah. I mean, done most savage creatures in the galaxy, my arse. Well, they're slowed. Like in this in dialogue. Kirk says this slow. They're nimble. Can we have a strange new world episode, please, in Sirius 5. How many episodes is there 6 in series five? Can we have just one, which explains an evolutionary throwback. All the Gorn get really slow and cumbersome. People were actually theorising during series. No, they weren't. That was on its way. That explanation. Look, people were theorising about how the Klingons changed and they gave us that episode. I think that we just decide that it's a TV show made considerably later. I think he was right, you know, he sort of got this bamboo now that they've put up against the rocks. But I do think bamboo can actually be turned into explosives. I, so, again, I think memory alpha and I didn't pay very close attention to this, but someone like Mythbusters or someone, did you know, can you make a projectile out of saltpetre and, and, um and they said that... Maybe teaching kids this sort of thing. I think so. Okay. It's chemistry. It's strange. If you really, really, tune your ears in. Can you hear that? Dr. Wyckoff, here's come to the isolation for Dr. Wyckoff. There we go. Oh, no way. get something else. Death is your gift. These are very niche references, I'm afraid. All things that were shot at Vasquez Rocks. And we treat Carvardine untitled Star Trek Project, but not the Buffy one. Yeah, that's true. So, yes, yeah. I think Roswell went there as well. you know, the team everyone went there. There's a, I think Bill and Head go there. Look, I mean, he's just found a sort of diamond. giant diamond. Yeah? That can't be turned into a weapon. You are not very, you can't improvise, and I could turn a diamond into a weapon. Like force feed it. No, I'd literally make it sharp as possible and then catapult it into his eye. How do you make it sharp? What, bash it against the rocks? It's harder than the rocks. It would break the rocks. Well, look, it's sharp ones, yeah, next. Yeah, they are sharp and remember that's what happens is that he propels sharp diamonds into the corn and then they're sticking out of his shoulders. They just keep throwing big rocks at each other. No, no, he'll fire dimes. That's much more fun though. Yeah, yeah. I mean, the rock that he fucks over the edge in a minute is fucking enormous. Yes. So we're going up to the top of this thing. I know, that's gross. You're talking about the location. I am talking about the location. There it is. The Rock is waiting for him at the top. Another big rock. The Gorn is sort of making his obsidian knife down the ball. He's not doing a very good job because he's holding it in one hand and he's hitting it listlessly with the other one. He's not like putting it on the rock and like using the rock. Do you know what I mean? Like, that's not going to do anything. What's what's that? I think the line to shut the air was just look up there and go, oh how convenient. An enormous rock. But that's the stunt double. Yes, of course. I mean, in fact, that's a real rock, I think. isn't it? Look at it. No, no, no. That's just the problem. I mean, he's not up there when he's pushing the policy, isn't he? Now, what's so funny? We can't hear the sound, but you can hear it all popping and creeping. Yeah, yeah. Chin it over. And it's also a very different colour from the app from the other rock. Yeah, that's right. But yeah, so how is he how is he sharpening it? I don't know, but I don't think that shows great tactics on the Gaul's part. He's literally there underneath. I mean, yeah. All Kirk needs is the height advantage and he's won. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true. He can be a bit of rocks and shoals, actually, you know, when they add the upper position. Ah, yes, yeah, yeah. That's right. Whee down. My word. Oh, shit. Look at his reaction. Look at his reaction. I watch crushed flat ears. It's right underneath it. Oh, no. He thought he was dead. And look, well, yeah, I wasn't sure how far in we were. Okay, yeah, yeah. Chatter's like, woo. Yeah, that's right. That's the other thing. And he looks excited and he's pleased. You are a bully, Captain Kirk. All right. And then he has 2nd thoughts, obviously. I love all these shots in the rocks. Yeah. It just, I don't know. just the realism to all of it. Oh my god, you see him slap his hand. He's alpha male, he is. He has that superpower that some people have in genre shows of reacting to things that haven't happened yet. So he reacts to the gone stirring. Then we get a shot of him still and then he starts moving. for Janet Fielding. There it is. exactly right. Sorry, Dr. represents this again. Now, the gore must be so strong because that was a bloody big rock. This big rock, he managed to... And there's another big rock that fell on show. I'm sorry, that rope was so visible. How did you not see it? My God. you know what? This hasn't been that visible since that time when Odo was taken on the Bajorans on the promenade and he turned into a massive rope and tripped them all up. Yeah. Oh, he's, he's behind you. No, these shots are great. There's a few shots. So it's the other shot when he's assembling the mortar thing. You know what, Kirk's thinking? Oh, no, he isn't. Oh, no, this is the bit now. Look. So it cuts to the advert, bro. My God, he's under a rock. It's going to be the knife coming. The one tosses the rock off, and Kirk just runs away. He trips. gone. You are some shit. How is he going to tell those to his superiors? Oh boy, boy. That, the, the, Mrs. Gorn from terrarium had a broken leg and she was... Might be Mrs. Gorny. He was wearing a dress. Well, no, I think the mess. I just love that. Yeah, she came right up to the camera. So much so he blurred. Yeah, that was really good. I think this is well directed. I think it's bloody world. Well, it's hard to not be with this much location work, I think. Oh yeah, location works easy, but I think just generally this is well done. It looks good. I think it's mostly well written as well. Like, I know, like we said, they're feeling their way in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But Gene Coon understands a dramatic scenario. Yeah. See, the one thing that we missed, this is not just the 1st one to mention, um, the Federation, but this is the 1st one where we have a photo on torpedo, torpedoes as well. Oh, and the noise. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I don't know if the noise is in the original. I think it is. But I love that noise. It was in the computer game. Now, there seems to be a lot of Coleman's mustard powder. Scattered about here. So that's sulphur. That's right. So is this right? You can put sulphur and sulphur and saltpeder, make. Gum powder. Okay. Yeah. And in fact, when this was broadcast in the UK, all the times it was broadcast until about 1992, they cut all the references to how to make gunpowder so that the children at home, maybe it was an Irish thing. Anyway, so that people weren't making gunpowder at home. Did I really think people were going to? I don't know. We're not sending it over to the Irish one. It was on the BBC and wasn't it? Star Trek was on the BBC. I like to compare now the solutions because obviously Captain Kirk you know, heads back in time, however many 100s of years, and makes gunpowder to why. Erica, in terrarium, sets fire to the entire fucking planet. I think hers is a bit more impressive. That was pretty great. I mean, he's more practical because, you know, she is on the planet, which is the board to play chess. Oh that's great. great. But I mean, see the thing is, oh, this, we had this before, didn't we? You know, I think, um, didn't Baylock tell them all to pray to whatever god they believed in before they got exploded? We very often get a disembodied voice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's usually a peculiarly English voice. No, no, it's a, no, it's part, it's some educated American. Are there any? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, one or two. Yeah. For now. Leonard? Nichelle, although we can't tell for the material they give up. No, she does some solid television watching a bit later too, I think. Well, I mean, they're us now. Yeah, literally us. It's Star Trek night on the Bridge of the Enterprise. and say, oh there, look at, look. She's put her put her hand over her mouth. She's so shocked by what's happening. I like to think that if this was strange new worlds in this same scenario, right? The new Scotty would have gone off to get some nips and some Scotch. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he'd be sitting there sipping his trip going. Wow, you know. Erica likes snacks too. Oh, there it was. She be the one on there in the new one, wouldn't she? Yeah, that's true. So he's going to do a line of this, I think. That's fantastic. Oh, okay, it's not poke then. Oh, I thought you meant a script line. You meant a line of drugs. Okay. No wonder he's so effective in a minute. Yeah, that's right. Boost your brain power. It is Hollywood. I don't think he hasn't, you know? Sorry, we're not casting aspersions. Look at that long shot. Yeah, gorgeous, isn't it? You're right. It's space. It's just space. He's selling it as well. Yeah. Yeah, he's running with a with a sore leg. Come on, that head of that go on, it's so ridiculous. This should be unwatchable. And yeah, it's just brilliant. So now we actually hear the go and speak, which is not something that we've ever seen on Strange New World. No, but I'm looking the puppeteer doing the mouth there, you know inside. Can you see the actor a little bit? Yeah, it's just the actor's chin that's moving the mouth, right? I can see that through a little bit. Maybe they should have gone to a shadowy area. Yeah, I don't think it's not that peaceful. I think it's pretty good. I do prefer the aesthetic to arena for terrarium. I prefer the brightness. Oh, yes. sun. It's just more visually appealing. Yeah, it's superbly done in terrarium and the use of the wall is stunning. But, you know, we've been on a lot of stormy planets. But and I think, like, I don't think we've been on a Stormy Planet quite as spectacular as we get in terrarium. But, um, it's very definitely trying to do a contrast. Oh, yeah, absolutely. And, and, you know, nothing beats being on location. Nothing beats real sunlight. It looks amazing. In arena, they're trying to bludgeon themselves to death with rocks. In terrarium, we're basically in a sitcom by the end of the episode of all of that. agree and disagree going on. I mean, Marv Roth told me he's going to start communicating only with the worst agree and disagree. he will do it. Look, now we're on, so the Dawn is in the studio there. Oh, is he? Yeah, yeah. Well, get you one of those dresses, you know, Christmas. That looks great. You look great. Sexy go on Halloween. Sexy Halloween. Will you wear it? Come off the train station wearing the gaund dress, okay. Right, so long as I get a lizard head as well. whole thing. So a euphemism. What's kind of strange, Australian neutralism what you're talking about there. Look, Spock is gripped. He's like, he's watching Severance or something, you know? Yeah, my God. No, but he's kind of going, oh, you know, Shatner's not as dumb as I thought. So he is the audience then. He's going, my God, yeah, he's figuring it out. Yeah. I mean, they're not quite doing that. But what, I mean, why are they watching it on television? Do you know what I mean? Like, why? No, literally why are they doing it? Like, why is that there? I think it's for the for the job or the reactions. Yeah, I think that's it because otherwise we've got to invent reasons for them to talk to each other back on the ship. Who is allowing them to see it? The Metrons? But they're the ones that are going from lots of different angles. I mean, they've got plenty of cameras. They've got a whole crew right out there. But yeah, do you know what he did? He pulled in that crew from that Roman episode. They had on a camera. Can you just film this from as many shots as possible? Thank you. And we don't want it in the press, all right? And we know what you like. Now they're just absolutely like it. Look at her. Lean in. she Is he going to be able to make gunpowder in time? Will the go on catch up with him? Well, because there's a great shot, isn't there, where the Gorn is approaching him like while he's desperately trying to make it? I mean, the corner's been smash bar rock and he's not even like limping. He is a tough bitch. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. Look, here he comes. Now we're not hearing it, but he's saying... Quite a lot, yeah. Now they've taken that away in Strangely Wells, haven't they? They sort of go. Yeah, they have clicking and tutoring and stuff. much scarier. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it's because dude, you don't know they're there and then you hear the clicking and chitter. Also, it's an actor going, as well. Why are you saying that? It's a bad thing. I'm going to stop doing it on this now. Very B movie. I want to hear it's talking now. I forgot what his voice was like. Yeah, I was doing... Was it kind of rough like that? It wasn't Cookie Monster. Cookie Monster. What's going on? Arena sending us mad? Oh, yes. Spino's loving this. on. He's got sulphur? Cole. What else? Uh, saltpetre. So they've scattered all the elements of gunpowder about. I like to think there's all the elements of a gaunt weapon as well just too thick to realise that. No, he made a big knife out of, he made a big knife out of thing. Nice, versus gun powder. Well, fine, you can have a knife. I love a gun powder. Nearly, he very nearly got him. Oh here we go. He's tipping out all of his bits. Yeah. And now, like it's approaching him, but they'll be in the same shot in a second. Who was that? That's the desert science all around. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, man. Like, he's doing a proper thing. He's not an idiot. Yeah, look, this, because they're going to be in the same shop. Yeah, sand gets everywhere. Yeah, I've heard that. Oh, that's so... Here he comes. Look at his thighs, man. And he can crack a walnut with those giant, giant pods. He doesn't skip leg day. He's a good blizzard. Do you know what? I think I would. Oh, you really? I can put something on his head. Do you remember in Stranger World's have got space helmets? Yeah, into the space helmet. Shove my nose on his head. It'll be fine. Now, now, what really impressed me here as well. was the editing because it's usually fairly bad in TOS. But as the gore gets closer, and he's the, he's trying really hard to get the gunpowder in, and you cut back to the enterprise and more reaction shots, and the music was building, and I'm like they're really giving this a sense of occasion at the end. And like the thing that shape. Yeah, back to Shatner. But you do have them showing us how exciting intensity is, you know, because we have a surrogate audience reacting to her. I actually think those air holes, maybe, just allowing the action to the studio. No, no, I think it's got a straw there. I actually wonder what the actor's looking at. Oh, smoke's coming off the sofa. Come on. Oh, no, not the soul for the coal. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But this shot, this shot here, it's great, isn't it? It is like a panto, though. He is behind you right now. Yeah, it's awesome. And he's really happy about it. Oh, we've seen him. He's seen him. It's right. Yeah, yeah. He's like, you can smile all you want. You're about to get your head blown off. Oh, don't ruin the dress. So nice. That is a Versace gaunt dress. Oh, no. That's it. Boom. No, he gets just a couple of diamonds embedded in his shoulders. Well, you see the blood, though. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, red blood. Yep. Lizards don't have red blood, do they? I think so. Oh, look, I think there is one in the dress. There's some blood on the dress, I'm afraid. Now he's going to stab him. Stab him. He was never going to stab him. You've watched this show. Look at his diamond, don't we? His eyes were made of diamonds. They look great, don't they? Instead of multifaceted eyes, like a no, he says, I won't kill you. No, because killing people is bad, Jim. I will blow a load of diamonds into your body, but I won't kill you. Well, he won. Do you know what I mean? I think that's kind of a thing. No, no, no. Let you do the horror movie trope now, and the door gets up and starts... Feels in full of eggs. I mean, look at his clothes. He should have just used those. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that one did it to Erica, didn't you? Yeah, absolutely. Stabbed her right in the gut with his claws. Yep. So he's shouting out to the gods now. You're going to have to find your entertainment I love that line actually, because we've been entertained as well. Like we've been enjoying this battle between the 2 of them. Oh here we go. So, this actor playing the Metron. is called Carol Shalin. Carol, you make a wonderful Metron. She plays a female engineer in home soil in series one of... Female engineer, which you remember series one, they had a whole bunch of different engineers, like everything? No, there's a different engineer. They didn't have a regular as the engineer. Geordie gets remoted to chief engineer in series 2. I remember and they had a... Mr. Singh, no. Yes, Mr. Singh, Mr. Argyle. There was a lady. There was this lady... No. We haven't progressed that much, then, have we? So, but what I really like. Like, this is clearly an effeminate, like it's a woman, right? In a sort of dress. She's look, she looks like a Greek god, I guess. They're addressing him as a man. Yes, yeah. And it's the voice is male as well. Kirk says that he looks like a boy, right? And and so the queerness of it, you know, you've got these guys who are doing primitive violence and stuff and the gods are above and beyond that, you know, he doesn't want to get that dressed. Exactly. But that's exactly it. He doesn't want to get the dress dirty. He's above the sort of filth and the violence and stuff. Look at all those lovely things around his legs. Yeah, yeah, but again, that's just like, that's like classical like a, like a Greek god. yeah? And we do see, you know, in who mourns for adonize. We see, you know, Apollo and stuff. So it is a thing, like that is, the Greek gods thing is a thing that you use at this time to indicate in the Strange New Worlds episode. It's a man and a woman's voice overlapping, isn't it? It's a voice that's just a male actor. Or a non-binary actor. could be. Do you know what I mean? Like I don't know. And the shaved head, it's still queer. Well, they don't have to go that far from the original, which is actually really nice. And so it's still cheesy and hilarious and kind of weird science fiction-y, but it's updated for 2024. so it doesn't look as silly. Are you listening to me or you anti-wope bastard? No one watch Arena, all right? was there all along. Exactly, of course. one of your favourite episodes? Exactly. Do we ever actually sort of visit the Metrons? No, but they just... I think they get mentioned as a possible candidate for the 10 C. in Discovery Series 4. I mean, I just could have seen a lower decks episode when they visit the realm of the Metrons, you know. Well, do you remember that, do you remember that there is a great goddess in, um, on the in the crew, uh, in the towards the end? Oh, of course. It was her next logical step. We've met so many Greek gods. Exactly. So now we have the crap joke at the end. There wasn't the music, though, was it? No, there wasn't the music. It's not a huge crap joke. Like, it's a little sort of slight joke, but, but, so Star Trek now locates humanity's development and enlightenment to the, you know, where we are, you know, to the 23rd century or whatever. Do you know what I mean? And this episode locates it to a 1000 years in the future. A 1000 years, captain? Well, it does give us a little time. Yeah, yeah. So that's a slightly crap job. Joseph Pevney, I salute you, sir. That was some fine direction. and Gene L Coon. You might not be there yet. But that was a good script I think. Well, Gene Elcoon's producing series one. Yeah, there was some real friction between him and Roddenberry. 2 ways of writing Star Trek. But he, I think, is the one who created, we've said this before on the podcast. He created lots and lots of elements, including like photon torpedoes in the Federation. Just give you a few examples. Klingons wrote Devil in the Dark. Yep. Rottenberry wrote justice. Yeah, yeah, exactly. You know, like there was there was a clear talent dividing. Exactly. Roddenbury knew it. And that's why he wanted him removed from the show. That's why in that last series, Coon is going, I'm going to see under a pseudonym, isn't it? Yeah. I thought that was blissful. Oh, yeah, I think it's great. I think it is great. And, you know, it's iconic. We said it before. It's absolutely iconic and it's the sort of thing that Star Trek is in dialogue with over and over again in the subsequent 60 years which is ironic because that had a lot less dialogue in it than Star Trek 60 years ago generally has. Yeah, well, like, and I said before, uh, you know, we're getting moments of operation annihilate, which I don't know at all, but that's what's... We're on an air base now, however. Yeah, that's right. In the present day. I don't know what's going on. It's a colony well based on an airbase, you know? So... There we go. But, you know, like, I think perhaps the best thing to come of Arena is Dharmok, which is absolutely Star Trek, the Next Generation's answer to Arena. And I don't think it works. I mean, I think it works on its own terms, but it works also as something that's a dialogue to Arena. So these who are brought down to the planet, the Gourn and Kirk are brought down to the planet, whereas Dathan and Picard are brought down to the planet in order to learn to cooperate to face a common adversary. What's so interesting is so many of the other shows on Strange New Worlds, TNG. I'm sure we could find examples in Voyager. We went looking hard enough. I've all tried to do their own spin on this. I think the enemy in Star Trek the next year. Yeah, definitely. Like, I will always say this. DS9 is the outlier. They just would never do this story. Like, the closest I think you get is walls when you have 2 enemies down on a plate, and that's just a psychological drama inside a cage, which is really dialogue. No action in it hardly at all. And when we visit Vasquez Rocks, it's a religious experience finding back in boxing the profits. Yeah, yeah. But I think as well, terrarium, a really good episode of Strange New Worlds, but totally subverting all of your expectations of what you said to me, it was a modern day arena. That's how you pitched it to me. So I thought, right, great. Erica's going to get her sleeves up on that planet and find them gone. And then when they were sort of playing house together. What is going on? And then I started to be very moved by it. And then fucking like, arm turned up and shot the bloody woman to death. And Erica's furious, and that was a bit like the duet ending where somebody, the Erica should consider an enemy being killed and she's just deeply moved by it because they formed a connection. That is Star Trek as well. so much. And the lessons that you learn by close quarters with a race that you just can't communicate with properly. It's amazing stuff. and it all springs from this. So much. Absolutely. man. So iconic and hugely influential and very enjoyable. Massively enjoyable. Wonderful big rocks. All right, it's the end of the episode and it's time for us to work out where we're going next. This one was your choice, and so it's my turn. We've done a reasonable amount on Kurtzman track. We have. I'm going to ruin it because our 2nd least covered, and it may actually be the least covered because I'm not going on completely up to date statistics is Star Trek the next generation. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Second least covenant. I feel like we've done so many next year. It just feels like we've done. Well, I mean, I will say, while Nathan's been here, we have been watching fabulous clips of Marina Surtis at a convention, you know? Yeah, yeah. Insulting the deaf and all sorts. She is nuts. So to go and see it, I mean, the irony would be is you get one of those. episodes where she doesn't appear at all. Let's find that rare. Let's see how we go Roll it, gatesy. Oh my god. No. No. Stop the randomiser. We've got a true classic on our hands. So it's season one, episode three. The 1st regular episode of Star Trek, the Next Generation, the Naked Now. It's got everything you could possibly want. Wesley saves the ship. People are frozen. Everyone's having sex. Robotic human relationships. We could even watch. We could even consider watching the naked time between now and then. No, hang on. let's do the fall. We'll watch the naked time and fascinations as well. That's the other love virus episode. Oh, okay. Should we do that as sort of research? Why not? We'll compare, which is the best one. It's the naked now. I don't know what it is. At least Laxana's in fascinations. Yeah. Um, I see some unusual parents. lots of scant in it, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. which is really fabulous. And I can't even remember what the danger is beyond... There's a big rock. I think there's a big rock that's heading for the ship. Yeah, or some kind of... But they're all too busy fucking. Yeah, or they're too drunk. No, because there's that guy. There's the fat guy who takes all of the isolated chips out of the thing. Who's the chief engineer? Yeah, he is that week. He's the chief engineer that week. He's in a boiler suit. This is where next gen hadn't quite gotten there yet, you know? Um, but funny. I thought, you know, because I'm sad because we will be remote again. Yeah, yeah. which is truly that's just I don't like doing that anymore. I demand you move to this racist country immediately. But what a way to start back. Yeah, yeah. Okay, that'd be fun. Are you gonna be fully functional for this? Yeah, I'd be well versed in a number of positions. You've been listening to Untitled Star Trek Project with Joe Ford and Nathan Bottomley. We're online at untitledstar trekproject.com where you can find subscription links and links to our social media accounts. Our podcast artwork is by Kayla Ciceran, and the theme was composed by Cameron Lamb. This episode was recorded on the 28th of September 2025 and released on the 10th of October. We'll see you next time for Star Trek the Next Generation, The Naked Now. Oh, what a great choice. Oh, my God. Oh, God, it is so, so terrible. Oh, yeah, yeah. Wait. I've got a question for you For the, for the outro, yeah. Okay, you ready to describe? Okay. The folks is going in. Oh. I'm not nervous now. I'm not sure I can perform on these circumstances. Well, do I have a question for you, though. Well, you know, like the Gorn or the great lizards of Star Trek aren't they? You know, the great lizard monsters. Well, what are the other great lizards in franchise? Is there any in Star Wars? Um, is a big lizard guy who is one of the uh, bounty hunters. Is he a lizard in the cantina band? No. Oh, okay. No, there's just those guys. wouldn't you? Yeah, but it's one of the bounty hunters in Empire Strikes Back. You know, there's there's some English guys and there's a robot and stuff and then there's a lizard bounty hunter, but I don't know what he's called. Of course, Malcolm Hulkin, Doctor Who, uh, writes giant lizards. Oh, of course, every story. So they got turned into a lot of people in the new series. No, but no, no, but they're still lizard, man, but Malcolm Hulk includes a lizard, a giant lizard, you remember there's fake lizards in colony in space. Oh, that's right. And there was originally going to be a lizard in frontier in space but instead they couldn't do a lizard, so they've decided to do a scrotum instead. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. So he's the lizard guy. Paul, there are lizards in invasion of the dinosaurs. I mean, they are living. And there's an actual lizard in, as well as the Silurians remember? a Tyrannosaur or something. If you're a sort of a Star Trek fan that's never explored, Doctor Who, I may suggest, just type in the word for Marcy and the leisure hive, and you'll see the sort of high sort of fabulous costumes that we'd normally get in, Doctor, because they're lizard people as well, aren't they? But I mean, like that thing in Star Trek, the Next Generation, only 90s straight generally, where the aliens are just that Americans with like latex on their face. Except the salai. They're lizards. Yeah, they are. And there's sort of glisten, they look fabulous. They're good. Like the Anticans and the Seleans before they land on the just will give them an extra... Did I get around the wrong way? I don't know. No, no, I think the Anticans are the... That's Markalemo. No, no, Soleil. They've got those dreadful. You know, the things you get at music festivals, the sort of hoops on the end of a stick that glows. And he throws it over Riker's neck and he goes, oh, sorry, rang species. Right. Yeah, I think this is actually pretty hard. They're high effort, aren't they, Lizards? Yeah, but it's not the sort of, it's not the sort of thing that you do in the 90s after, like, because there's also the fish people. Remember the fish people with it's Mick Fleetwood as a giant fish? You know, I think that's in series 2, isn't it? Well, yes, Dr. Pulaski feeds them a load of fish. Yeah, and they sort of wobble in the... That's right. They're terrible. And wharf says they're beautiful. This is very funny. Wolf, you're in love. It turns out those fish were a load of assassin. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. They were going to blow up someone. Fucking flea wood. I know, what not? Sikes. But do you ever remember the snake monster in Buffy, where it was sort of a physical prop, which they had on the end of series three? That's in series 5. It's a snake that's going after Joyce, you know, who's got having brain tumours and things. Oh, okay. It's on a hydraulic lift. And so they sort of can lift up the physical prop. So he's sort of hissing and rearing in the air. Well, then it cuts to really primitive CGI. where it's slivering in long shot and it just looks so terrible. Yeah. Well, I mean, I mean, the way they're going look now, where it's a combination of puppets and animatronics and, you know, like an actor in a suit, and particularly in terrarium, where, like, they even give her a broken leg so that she doesn't move around very much, so he's just the thing in the suit. terrarium. I did say to you, didn't I? The, the, the, the face, and that. It was all, it was much less mobile than they were in all the other, but they're hissing and screaming and salivas coming out and they're attacking people. I think that was to make the link between that and arena. Oh, yeah, also, it's still great. I think it was to humanise it a little bit too. Yeah, yeah. Well, and it's got a hood over its head. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I've got to say, though, the puppets are my favourite Australian world. The CGI is great, but when the puppet comes up in the screen, throw it in your face. It's generally that thing. Like if they haven't tried to do like a pure CGI monster like they did with the Species 8472 back in Voyager, that they've decided that mostly puppets are what works. No, no, they weren't listeners, but they were the 1st kind of completely CGI, you know, Star Trek Alien. But the, the Gauns are mostly props, and it is only when they're kind of moving, doing like that quick movement, or whatever, or when, you know, the one in the, like the one in the, in the spacesuit, in Hegemony part one. Like that's like in close-up is a puppet, isn't it? I would imagine so, yeah. But... The difference is so. It's like, you know, nowadays they wouldn't do what they did in arena, they wouldn't have, you know, whopping great close-ups for them in the sunlight because then you can see just how shitty those costumes are. In fact, yes, that's right. Now they can edit and light and shoot. So we're sort of getting enough. And it's so fast. And terrarium is very dark. It's very dark. So it does. I think that was a deliver... Oh, yeah. Like, I think it's deliberately trying to contrast a arena, but I think it also helps to hide the puppet. There are any future producers of science fiction listening to this? Doubtful, but if there are, you know, if you're going to do lizards, one, make them puppets, and two, make a dock. Yeah. Yeah. I just wanted to talk about... no, that's awesome. It's been the lizard. It's been like... Oh, my God. And we'd have to miss a week. As well. You can have your own day and we don't miss a week. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.