Here are some more images of my 1/1000 scale kit bash of the Phase II Enterprise from the failed late 70's television program.
Looking
at the interweb I've noticed that there various interpretations of what
the Phase II Enterprise would have looked like if it were completed. So
I figured what the heck I might as well throw mine into the mix as
well.
F
rom Wikipedia"
Star Trek: Phase II was a planned television series based on the characters of
Gene Roddenberry's
Star Trek, which had run from 1966 to 1969. It was set to air in early 1978 on a proposed
Paramount Television Service (a forerunner to
UPN). The series was to follow the adventures of the
Enterprise crew on a second five-year mission, and be a continuation of the
Star Trek franchise.
Several attempts at a
Star Trek motion picture were made in the 1970s, including
Gene Roddenberry's 1975 treatment
The God Thing, and a later attempt called
Planet of the Titans, which proceeded to script stage only to be abandoned in 1977. It was decided instead to create a new
Star Trek
television series, for a new national television network to be owned
by Paramount. This was announced on June 17, 1977 with a projected
start date of May 1978.
Pre-production work started, with sets built, several television grade models (including the Enterprise
itself and many of the pilot episode's models) made, deals made to
bring back most of the original series cast, and several actors cast. It
was planned to use the original series uniforms. Principal photography
had not started, but test footage had been shot. Story writing had
proceeded to thirteen scripts, enough for a half-season.
Several
minutes of test footage, including a view of a redesigned Engineering
Room, costume tests with crew, screen test footage of
David Gautreaux as Xon and costume test footage of
Persis Khambatta as Ilia, were included in a featurette on the DVD release of the Directors Edition of
Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
The series was planned to have included
William Shatner and
DeForest Kelley reprising their roles as
James T. Kirk and
Leonard McCoy. Conspicuous by his absence was
Leonard Nimoy, who declined to return due to a marketing issue over the Spock character, his displeasure over Roddenberry's screening of
Star Trek blooper footage at various conventions and obligations to the play
Equus, although early scripts included him.
Scotty,
Uhura,
Sulu, and
Chekov
were all to return, with promotions to Lieutenant Commander for Uhura
and Sulu, and to Lieutenant for Chekov. Chekov would have been chief of
security. The character of
Christine Chapel would also return, having become a doctor since the original series, in which she was a nurse.
Phase II would also have marked the return of
Janice Rand to the Enterprise.
The
series would have included several new characters, such as Commander
Willard "Will" Decker, the Executive Officer, Lieutenant Ilia, and the
Vulcan Lieutenant Xon.
According
to the series bible, Xon was to be a full Vulcan, and unlike Spock,
fresh out of the Academy at 22. Doctor McCoy was to have been
protective about him. The character of Xon did not appear in
The Motion Picture,
although David Gautreaux had been cast in the role. When Leonard Nimoy
finally agreed to reprise Spock, his Vulcan replacement as Science
Officer became Commander Sonak, and appeared briefly in the film; after
only a few lines of dialogue, he was killed in a
transporter
accident. This was to preserve Xon, and the actor who had so carefully
developed him, for a possible future production. David Gautreaux made a
cameo appearance in the movie as a human, Epsilon 9's Commander
Branch.
The
concept of the brilliant young Vulcan scientist, Xon, almost survived
into a later movie. One premise developed as a possible sequel to the
first movie included a male Vulcan called Doctor Savik.
A variation of that name,
Saavik, was later given to a female Vulcan when elements of several premises were combined for
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and elements of Xon, such as his search to understand humans, would be transferred later into the character
Data on
Star Trek: The Next Generation. Also, the concept of a full-blooded Vulcan dealing with humans is explored with
T'Pol on
Star Trek: Enterprise.
Wil
Decker is established in the show as coming from a long line of
Starfleet officers. The early script notes that he was the son of
Commodore
Matt Decker, who had been featured in "
The Doomsday Machine" (an episode of the original television series), and would "command some landing parties", anticipating the
TNG situation where the first officer usually took down
away teams. The role of Decker remained uncast until after the film project officially began, at which time
Stephen Collins was cast.
Lt. Ilia, a Deltan, is established as an empath. Both the Decker and Ilia characters appear in
The Motion Picture, although neither of them survive it.
The Motion Picture establishes that Decker and Ilia had a pre-existing relationship.
Persis Khambatta was cast as Ilia for
Phase II and was carried over onto the film. The
TNG characters
William Riker and
Deanna Troi
are derived from Decker and Ilia. A number of screen-test shots of
Persis Khambatta in Ilia makeup were taken, as well as footage of
costume tests.
Several episodes of Star Trek: Phase II were scripted: