Star Trek: The Original Series
When considering the standards of modern video , Star Trek : The Original Seriescan seem almost quaint by comparison . Captain James T. Kirk ( William Shatner ) andDr . Leonard " Bones " McCoy ’s ( DeForest Kelley)acting is charmingly over the top , evoking standards of theatrical performance rather than the closeness of modern gamey - definition tv set . The sets and particular outcome are magic , if a little quaint . Indeed , theteaser trailer forStar Trek : unusual New Worldsseason 3includes a modernStar Trekcast on a holodeck programme to await like 1960sStar Trek .
From the perspective of modern audiences , it seems almost inconceivable that anything inStar Trek : The Original Seriescould be learn as repugnant or transgressive . Nevertheless , TOSwas a radical television show that broke the mould for storytelling . Gene Roddenberry ’s visionof a post - scarcity classless future was , and remains , aschallenging and root on in the 1960s as any show in the streaming era . As such , it is a small less surprising that fourepisodes ofStar Trek : The Original Serieswere banned in the United Kingdom .
The BBC Banned Star Trek: The Original Series' “Miri”
The Deadly Pathogen And Antagonistic Children Went Off The Air For 20 Years
" Miri " was the first instalment ofStar Trek : The Original Seriesthat the BBC banned from airing in the United Kingdom , but it was not the last . In " Miri " , Captain Kirk lead an away party to the surface of a seemingly abandoned planet in response to a distraint call . Once there , they discover that the former habitant of the major planet had , in the hunt for a curative to aging , created a ugly disease that slow up the exploitation of tike and drove adults into a violent rage .
William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy have both cited this classical Star Trek : The Original Series episode as a favorite , and it ’s easy to see why .
But rather of process the crew of the Enterprise as saver , the children mistrusted them , steal their communicators , and almost let them die as a termination of the disease . Although the episode originally aired in the United Kingdom in December of 1970 , it was not included in any rerun ofStar Trekthroughout the 70s and 80s . The ban on " Miri " was not lift until the 1990s , 20 year after it ab initio aired , and , as lately as 2020 , " Miri " was shown on the horror transmission channel in the UK .
Why “Miri” Might’ve Been Banned In The UK
It Was Too “Unpleasant”
The primary reason " Miri " was not admit inStar Trek : The Original Seriesreruns for 20 years was that , when the installment ab initio air , it garnered a massive slew of complaint . As a outcome , " Miri " and three other episodes ofTOSwere banned in the UK . However , the BBC has never made public what precisely was included in those complaints , nor have they revealed the genuine number of complaints they received . When UK rooter compose in to plain about the ban throughout the 70s and fourscore , they find the same stock response :
There are no plans to screen the four instalment because we palpate that they deal most unpleasantly with the already unpleasant subjects of craziness , torture , sadism and disease . You will appreciate that account must be taken that out of Star Trek ’s large and enthusiastic watch over , many are juveniles who would determine the programme no matter what time of day the serial is put into the syllabus schedule .
What this reply reach clear is the dissimilar mental attitude towardsStar Trek : The Original Seriesamong US and UK audiences . In the United States , Star Trekwas and remains a enfranchisement aimed at all age , but especially older children and adults . In the United Kingdom in the 1970s , however , Star Trekwas treated primarily as a child ’s TV show , and the UK had strict standards about what is appropriate for children ’s TV . In other words , " Miri " was banned because it was deemed too violent and " unpleasant " for young audience .
Custom Image by Ana Nieves
The UK Banned Other Star Trek Episodes Too
Some Were Too Graphic, Some Were Too Political
Miri " was not the only sequence ofStar Trekto be banned in the UK . During the seventy and 80s , three other installment were ban : " Plato ’s Stepchildren , " " The Empath , " and " Whom Gods Destroy . " In all four shell , the BBC considered the material of the episodes to be too graphical for childStar Trekfans . However , it is worth take down that"Plato ’s Stepchildren " is famous for having one of the first telecast mixed kiss , between Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Nyota Uhura ( Nichelle Nichols ) , so the forbiddance of " Plato ’s Stepchildren " in particular caused exceptional outcry among UK viewers .
Star Trek : The Original Series ' most renowned osculation might not have occur if not for Captain James T. Kirk himself , William Shatner .
AndTOSisn’t the onlyStar Trekseries to have installment banish in the UK.“Conspiracy , " fromStar Trek : The Next Generation , had sections cut or ban in the United Kingdom , due to an unco graphic phaser blast . The laterTNGepisode , " The High Ground , " was not show in the UK when it was first release in 1990 because of a occupation from Lt . Commander Data ( Brent Spiner ) referencing " the Irish Unification of 2024 . " The sequence was eventually shown , with the line cut out , in 1992 , butit was not shown unedited on the BBC until an after - midnight rerun in 2007 .
Star Trekhas always labor the limits of satisfactory television
Part of what makesStar Treksuch an amazing dealership is its on-going commitment to conceive of a well future . InStar Trek , contemporary problems of bigotry and inequality are solved , and the characters are explicitly decisive of them . Whether it is Captain Benjamin Sisko ( Avery Brooks ) indicate out that sanitized version of the past times are lie in " Badda - Bing , Badda - Bang , " or the emblem for LGBTQ issues inStar Trek : Strange New Worlds ' , " Ad Astra Per Aspera,“Star Trekhas always labor the limit of acceptable television set . Star Trek : The Original Serieswas the start of that grand tradition .
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