ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

[scotpens]

[Pow]

Marc Cushman's book. From NBC press release, issued on September 22, 1967:

A strange device that is programmed to destroy every planet in the galaxy also threatens the Enterprise, in "The Doomsday Machine" on NBC Television Network's Star Trek colorcast of Friday, Oct. 20.

Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and some of his crew find the wreckage of another star ship, the Constellation. The only survivor is its dazed commodore, Matt Decker (guest star William Windom), who reveals that the alien machine attacked his ship.

Decker and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelly) are beamed back to the Enterprise, where Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) has been left in command. Kirk and Scott (James Doohan) remain aboard the Constellation to attempt repairs. Decker, crazed with grief over the loss of his crew, takes over command of the Enterprise and orders an attack upon the destructive machine.

Sidebar: The TV Guide line that the Doomsday Machine "is programmed to destroy every planet in the galaxy," is certainly p. r. hyperbole.

As awesome this ancient weapon is, I sincerely doubt that it could ever achieve such a task, or anything close to it. We are talking about the entire galaxy...kind of vast in scale.

[Pow]

In an interview with Starlog Magazine, Norman Spinrad said that his original concept was : "it is not a machine, but a living organism with a nuclear metabolism.

Had they gone with Spinrad's original idea, it would have preceded "The Immunity Syndrome" living outer space being premise which was used on that episode.

[Pow]

Starlog interview with author Norman Spinrad.

"I was told to write a part for Robert Ryan, an actor to whom they wanted to give a good role. So, I developed the idea of Ryan playing a Captain Ahab-type character. Then they got William Windom for the part and the character had to be adjusted to some extent. I had to make Decker a little softer and I think it might have taken some of the edge off of the story. In the original story, Decker wasn't slumped over in the ruined ship. Instead, they find him staring out through the viewscreen, and in a very bad mood."

Spinrad recalled, "There was the feeling that a guest star with that kind of presence would overshadow Captain kirk, and therefore his character had to be toned down and his lines reduced. There is a point where they have to give their lead characters prominence."

Sidebar: I can appreciate that the lead characters must not be outshined by guest stars. However, there is the problem of balance. If the guest star has a compelling role on an episode and a terrific actor is cast in that role, then the episode must reach its fill potential. In other words, if they water down a guest stars character, then doesn't the episode suffer and the audience lose out? "The Ultimate Computer" is made better because of the masterful performance of the superb William Marshall as the crazed genius Dr. Richard Daystrom. Had he not been allowed to give the role his all, the story is diminished. Everyone loses out to some degree.

I'm guessing that Marshall's talent (and size at 6' 5") were seen as a threat by Shatner. I can sympathize to a degree with Bill on that. Yet, if Marshall was directed to tone down his sensational performance simply due to another actor's ego & insecurities, we would not have had as powerful an episode as we did get. And from what I can see, Billy Shatner managed just fine as Kirk and he wasn't pushed into the background.

Originally, Gene Roddenberry asked Spinrad to design the Doomsday Machine. According to the outline dated March 6. 1967, it's "a kind of cylindrical 'living atomic rocket' at least 10 times the size of the starship Constellation . . . with a posterior rocket and a great anterior funnel-mouth big enough to swallow a ship. In addition, there are a cluster of atomic blaster beams and tractor beams around the funnel. It is not a machine, but a living organism with a nuclear metabolism."

"Whatever they used to make the Doomsday Machine was absolutely ridiculous," sighs the author. "I don't know what it was supposed to be."

Sidebar: I've always liked how alien looking the Doomsday machine was for this episode. It looked nothing like Starfleet technology at all. I guess I'd have to see a drawing of the design Spinrad had in mind, but it sounds rather lame to me. Like a poor comic book concept. His "cylindrical rocket" shape harkens back to the 1950's science fiction films and television shows. Isn't that the type of ideas that Trek was attempting to reinvent with the 1966 TV series? They wanted to go in a fresh, new approach as to the looks of spaceships and not simply repeat what had gone before them.

The Doomsday Machine remains one of the finest episodes produced and is personal favorite of mine. And to think it was created by Norman Spinrad in order to help the series save money on their budget. Amazing!

[Pow]

Some ST novels & fan theories regarding the Doomsday Machine.

The planet killer was constructed by the Preservers from "The Paradise Syndrome." Mr. Spock states that they were a highly advanced civilization that existed long before the Federation of Planets ever existed. They passed throughout the galaxy rescuing primitive cultures in danger of extinction, and seeding planets.

The planet killer was built by the preservers to be used against the Borg. The Borg designated the Preservers as species 4672. The Borg ultimately vanquished the Preservers.

A living being/pilot is locked into a crystalline stasis chamber and merged to the doomsday machine.

The doomsday machine/planet killer contains a core known as the Repository of the creator's souls, or a computerized version of their minds. It serves as the guiding force of the vessel, however, a physical living being is required to unite them all in their purpose.

The planet killer eradicated planets that the Borg assimilated.

The planet killer can achieve warp 10, but it is rarely used by the gargantuan machine.

One story has that it was built 50,000 years prior to the Federation encountering it. Another story says it is billions of years old and came from outside our galaxy.

Once the Enterprise rendered the doomsday machine inoperable, it was secretly moved to a facility called "The Yard" in order to have the leading scientific minds study it.

It was later moved to Epsilon Sigma 5, nicknamed "Trophy World" and converted into a Starfleet museum.

[Pow]

In the beginning of this episode, we see the communications officer (not Uhura, guest star Elizabeth Rogers as Lt. Palmer) report to Captain Kirk that "heavy subspace interference" is making it impossible to send out any messages to Starfleet.

Not long afterwards, Lt. Sulu reports that he has scanned the area and no other starships, other than the Enterprise & Constellation, are present. Wouldn't the same subspace interference in this area that is preventing sending any communications back to Starfleet also cause issues with the Enterprise's sensors?

[Bud Brewster]

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Wow, Mike, I certainly enjoyed your great posts! Thanks.

Concerning the whole idea of the saucer section separting, we don't actually share the same emotional response to that concept. You obviously love it . . . but I've never cared much for the idea.

Please understand, Mike. My lack of enthusiasm is not based on logic!

I guess it has more to do with my artistic temperament. Call me crazy, but it troubles me to think of a beautifully designed starship coming apart and spoiling the majesty is possesses when it's intact!

As I said, it's definitely an emotional reaction, not a logical one.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Yep, I'm a sucker for any kind of sf vessels that have separation capabilities. Always looks so darn cool to me.

The Enterprise, Thunderbird 2, Skydiver & Sky One, the Federation starship Prometheus from an episode of Star Trek: Voyager. All vehicles had sections which could detached from primary body of a craft. The Prometheus could split into 3 different ships! Of course, I want a logical explanation for the reason these crafts need to separate, no matter how nifty it looks.

[Bud Brewster]

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Wow, I'd forgotten about the Prometheus! That was indeed a pretty cool ship.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

[Pow]

Fireball Junior!

[Bud Brewster]

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I guess I just prefer the idea that the main ship can deploy smaller craft to venture out and do the things which don't require the entire spacecraft.

That's why my novel, Sail the Sea of Stars, features the GSC Candlelight, (seen here, rising up from inside a hurricane! Read the novel, please).





The Candlelight includes several stellascouts which can be launched from the starship, the way fighter aircraft can be deployed from aircraft carriers.





To me, a ship that can launch smaller craft is like a parent who can send out it's grown offspring to do something noble and important for the family!

Conversely, a ship which breaks apart . . . seems impersonally.

It makes me think of a Swiss army knife.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Differences from the James Blish Star Trek 3 novel adaptation of TDM compared to the aired episode..

Brand Decker, not Matt Decker, is Commodore Decker's first name.

Isotope dating indicates that the DM is at least three billion years old.
Sidebar: I don't think the episode places a specific date upon the DM?

The DM has a neutronium hull as mentioned on the episode but nothing more is said about what it is. Neutronium is formed in the cores of white dwarf stars, with fusion going on all around it. It's collapsed matter so dense that a cubic inch of it would weigh a ton.

The following dialogue is missing on the episode.

Kirk said, "Mr. Spock, since it's a robot, what are our chances of deactivating it?"
"I would say none, Captain. I doubt that we would be able to maneuver close enough without drawing a direct attack upon ourselves. We could of course beam men aboard in spacesuits, but since the thing is obviously designed to be a doomsday machine, its control mechanisms would be inaccessible on principle."

Commodore Decker comes to his senses in the novel with the destruction of the DM while on board the Enterprise. He does not swipe the shuttle craft and die piloting it down the mouth of the humongous alien robot.

Decker, "When a man stops learning, he's no longer fit for command."
"That," Kirk said, "is a judgment upon yourself that only you can make. My opinion is that it is a wise and responsible judgment."

[Bud Brewster]

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To be honest, I've never felt that William Windom was a good choice for the roll of a starship captain. And when he played a starship captain who got all emotional and weepy, he completely lost his credibility.

If different actor had played Decker, and if the producers had used the changes you described, Pow, I think the episode would have been greatly improved.

As for the idea that the Doomsday Machine was made of neutronium, Space.com states that a cubic inch of that material (the stuff that neutron stars are made of) would weigh over 10 billion tons!

So, the gigantic Doomsday Machine would have so much mass that any planet, moon, and asteroid it went within a thousand miles of would be pulled into it and squeezed into a thin layer along the hull! So, obviously the Doomsday Machine would have no need for the mouth-like opening that sucked in material.

However, the Doomsday Machine couldn't actually go anywhere! It's mass would be about the same as the sun, so no propulsion system could move it!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)