The Doomsday Machine (episode)

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"The Doomsday Machine"
TOS, Episode 2x06 Production number: 60335 First aired: 20 October 1967 Remastered version aired: 10 February 2007
←	36th of 80 produced in TOS	→
←	35th of 80 released in TOS	→
←	20th of 80 released in TOS Remastered	→
←	35th of 726 released in all	→
Written By Norman Spinrad Directed By Marc Daniels
4202.9 (2267)
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The Enterprise discovers a superweapon capable of destroying entire planets, and a Commodore whose crew was killed by the machine jeopardizes the crew on a crazed mission of revenge.

Contents 1 Summary 2 Memorable Quotes 3 Background Information 3.1 Cast 3.2 Sets and Props 3.3 Story and Production 3.4 Effects 3.5 Significance and legacy 3.6 Apocrypha 3.7 Remastered Information 3.8 Production timeline 3.9 Video and DVD releases 4 Links and References 4.1 Starring 4.2 Also Starring 4.3 Guest Star 4.4 Featuring 4.5 With 4.6 Uncredited Co-Stars 4.7 Stunts 4.8 References 4.9 External link

[edit] Summary

"Captain’s log, stardate 4202.1. Exceptionally heavy subspace interference still prevents our contacting Starfleet to inform them of the destroyed solar systems we have encountered. We are now entering system L-374. Science Officer Masada reports the fourth planet seems to be breaking up. We are going to investigate."

(Log entry made by Commodore Matt Decker of the USS Constellation)

The USS Enterprise receives a faint and garbled distress signal. It is apparently a starship's disaster beacon, but they are unable to make out any words aside from 'Constellation'.

Enterprise enters system L-374 and finds her sister ship, the USS Constellation, a powerless wreck, drifting and abandoned. Captain James T. Kirk and a damage control party transports aboard Constellation and finds Commodore Matthew Decker, the sole survivor aboard.

Decker, barely lucid, informs Kirk that something "straight out of hell" has destroyed his ship, which had been investigating the breakup of the fourth planet in system L-374. His ship damaged beyond repair, Decker beamed his crew down to the third planet, only to have the planet killer consume that planet too, killing the entire crew while Decker watched helplessly.

Decker explains that the planet killer uses a pure antiproton beam as its primary weapon, and creates an interference that prevents subspace communication. Kirk postulates that the planet killer is a machine, a "doomsday weapon", a bluff, and never meant to be used. This one is roaming the galaxies, consuming for fuel everything in its path, including whole planets. Its alien makers are long since dead.

Kirk and Scotty remain on board the Constellation to rig her for towing, while McCoy returns to the Enterprise with Decker.

When the planet killer returns, it attacks the Enterprise, but then veers off and heads for the densely-inhabited Rigel system. Commodore Decker pulls rank and assumes command of Enterprise (using General Order 104, Section B, Paragraph 1a) over the objections of Spock.

Decker orders an attack on the planet killer despite Spock's protest that its hull is made of neutronium and is therefore impermeable to attack from a single ship. Spock recommends escaping the subspace interference in order to warn Starfleet Command, but a mentally unstable Decker will not hear of it.

He orders Enterprise to move in closer, and the planet killer knocks out the Enterprise's deflector shields and transporter. Decker orders another pursuit, but Spock warns him that if he does not order a withdrawal, he will relieve Decker of command using evidence of attempted suicide as proof of Decker's instability. Decker orders Sulu to veer off, but it is too late; the planet killer locks the Enterprise in a tractor beam, and begins pulling her inside.

Kirk and Scotty, still on board the Constellation, manage to repair the impulse engines and recharge one of the phaser banks. Constellation distracts the planet killer, and both ships escape.

Kirk contacts the Enterprise, and upon hearing that Decker has assumed command, expressly orders Spock to relieve the Commodore "on my personal authority as Captain of the Enterprise." Decker resists what he views as insubordination, but Spock is firm enough in his actions to make the Commodore step down. Spock orders Decker to be taken to sickbay under armed escort.

Suffering from a mental breakdown brought on by the extreme guilt over the loss of his crew, Decker escapes custody and steals a shuttlecraft from the Enterprise, piloting it on a suicide course directly into the weapon's orifice, where he is destroyed.

The Enterprise sensors detect a small drop in the power output of the planet killer. The shuttlecraft's explosion, however small, had in fact caused some minor damage to the weapon's interior.

Realizing that Decker's idea, on a larger scale, might work, Kirk orders Scotty to set the Constellation to self-destruct and then return to Enterprise. Kirk pilots the Constellation on a direct course toward the weapon.

Unfortunately, the transporter malfunctions at that moment, forcing Scotty to frantically make repairs. Scotty gets it working again and Kirk is beamed out at the last second. The Constellation's engines detonate directly inside the planet killer's orifice, bypassing the neutronium hull and destroying it from within.

Following the battle, Captain Kirk noted in his log that Commodore Decker gave his life in the line of duty.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"I checked the engines. The warp drive, that's a hopeless pile of junk."

- Scott

"We tried to contact Starfleet... no one heard – no one! W-we couldn't run!"
"Matt, what happened to your crew?"
"Oh, well, I had to beam them down. I mean, we were dead – no power, our phasers useless. I stayed behind. The Captain... last man aboard the ship; that's what you're supposed to do isn't it? And then it hit again, and the transporter went out. They were down there, I'm up here..."
"What hit? What attacked you?"
"They say there's no devil, Jim... but there is – right out of hell, I saw it!"
"Matt, where's your crew?"
"On the third planet."
"There is no third planet."
(sobbing) "Don't you think I know that? There was, but not anymore! They called me, they begged me for help – four hundred of them! I couldn't... I-I couldn't..."

- Decker and Kirk

"This whole thing's incredible; a machine, a device like that – who would build it?"
"We don't know; an alien race, possibly from another galaxy."
"But why?"
"Bones... did you ever hear of the doomsday machine?"
"No; I'm a doctor, not a mechanic."
"It's a weapon, built primarily as a bluff; it was never meant to be used. So strong it could destroy both sides in a war... something like the old H-bombs were supposed to be. That's what I think this is – a doomsday machine that someone used in a war uncounted centuries ago. They don't exist anymore, but the machine is still destroying."

- McCoy and Kirk

"Captain, the impulse drive control circuits are fused solid."
"What about the warp drive controls?"
"Aye, we can cross-connect the controls, but it'd make the ship almost impossible for one man to handle."
"You worry about your miracles, Scotty; I'll worry about mine. Get to work."

- Scott and Kirk

"Scotty, where's that power?"
"Coming, sir. If I push these impulse engines too hard in their condition, they'll blow apart."

- Kirk and Scott

"Random chance seems to have operated in our favor."
"In plain, non-Vulcan English, we've been lucky."
"I believe I said that, doctor."

- Spock and McCoy

"We're moving, and the Enterprise isn't. Maybe that thing will see us, and let the Enterprise go. If I only had some phasers..."
"Phasers? You got 'em – I have one bank recharged."
"Scotty! You just earned your pay for the week – stand by."

- Kirk and Scotty

"Mr. Spock... I am officially notifying you that I am exercising my option under regulations as a Starfleet Commodore, and assuming command of the Enterprise."
"You have the right to do so, sir – but I would advise against it."
"That thing must be destroyed!"
"You tried to destroy it once before, Commodore. The result was a wrecked ship... and a dead crew."
"I made a mistake then; we were too far away. This time, I'm going to hit it with full phasers at point-blank range."
"Sensors show the object's hull is solid neutronium; a single ship cannot combat it."
(slaps the conn) "Mr. Spock, that will be all. You have been relieved of command – don't force me to relieve you of duty, as well."

- Decker and Spock

"You can't let him do this!"
"Doctor, you are out of line."
"So are you... sir! (to Spock) Well, Spock?"
"Unfortunately, Starfleet General Order 104, Section B, leaves me no choice; Paragraph 1A clearly states—"
(rolling his eyes) "To blazes with regulations! You can't let him take command when you know he's wrong!"
"If you can certify Commodore Decker as unfit for command, I can relieve him under Section C."
(slaps the conn) "I'll certify that right now!"
"You will also be asked to pull your medical records to prove it."
(pause) "Now, you know I haven't had time to perform an examination on him."
"Then your statement would not be considered valid."
"You may leave the bridge, doctor."
"What about the captain? We can't just—"
"Doctor, you may leave the bridge."
"Spock? Do something!"
"Mr. Spock knows his duty under regulations, Doctor... do you?"

- McCoy, Decker and Spock

"Upon finding your First Officer reluctant to take aggressive action—"
"You mean you're the lunatic who's responsible for almost destroying my ship?..."
"I told you, I am in command and I will give the orders, captain; we are going to turn and attack."
"Not with my ship, you don't! Mr. Spock, you are to relieve Commodore Decker immediately — that's a direct order!"
"You can't relieve me, and you know it! According to regulations—"
"Blast regulations! Mr. Spock — I order you to take command on my personal authority as Captain of the Enterprise."

- Decker and Kirk

"Commodore Decker — you are relieved of command."
"I don't recognize your authority to relieve me."
"You may file a formal protest with Starfleet, assuming we survive to reach a Starbase; but you are relieved... Commodore, I do not wish to place you under arrest."
"You wouldn't dare... (Spock motions for security) You're bluffing."
"Vulcans never bluff."
(long pause)"No... no, I don't suppose that they do. Very well, Mr. Spock; the bridge is yours."

- Spock and Decker (The "Vulcans never bluff" dialog has been deleted in syndicated versions of this episode)

"You said it yourself, Spock; there is no way to blast through the hull of that machine, so... I'm going to take this thing right down its throat."
"This is Kirk – Matt, you'll be killed!"
"I've been prepared for death ever since I... ever since I killed my crew."
"No one expects you to die for an error in judgment."
"A commander is responsible for the lives of his crew, and for their deaths. Well, I should have died with mine."
"You cannot succeed, Commodore; your only logical alternative is to return to the ship."
"Matt, listen to me – you can't throw your life away like this. Matt, you're a starship commander; that makes you a valuable commodity. We need you, your experience, your judgment. Matt – (Decker switches off) we're stronger with you than without you!"

- Decker, Kirk and Spock

"Sir – may I offer my condolences on the death of your friend; it is most... regrettable."
"It's regrettable that he died for nothing."

- Spock and Kirk

"Captain, you're getting dangerously close to the planet killer."
"I intend to get a lot closer – I'm going to ram her right down that thing's throat!"
"Jim ... you'll be killed; just like Decker."
"No, Spock, I don't intend to die. We're rigging a delayed detonation device; you'll have thirty seconds to beam me back to the ship."
"Your chances of survival are not promising. We don't even know if the explosion will be powerful enough to destroy it."
"A calculated risk, Mr. Spock."
"There is one other factor to consider. The transporter is not operating at 100 percent efficiency; thirty seconds is very slim timing."
"A chance I'll have to take."

- Spock and Kirk

"A cranky transporter's a mighty finicky piece of machinery to be gambling your life on, sir."

- Scott

"Gentlemen, I suggest you beam me aboard."

- Kirk, as the overload countdown ticks away

[edit] Background Information

[edit] Cast

• Norman Spinrad has expressed disappointment that the actor whom he envisioned playing Decker, Robert Ryan, was not cast. Ryan was unavailable due to other commitments. [1]
• In an interview with William Windom, he joked that Marc Daniels, the director, didn't know what to do with the scene of Decker describing what had happened to the Constellation, so he told Windom just to "improvise", during which time the director simply left the camera running and walked out to work on something else. Windom actually made a totally improvised, 10-minute speech, and in the end, they only used about a minute and a half of it. He was referring to the laid-back style of directing used.
  ^{(citation needed • edit)}
• The three crewmen who beam over to the Constellation with Kirk, McCoy and Scott were named after three of the series' assistant directors. Washburn's namesake was Charles Washburn; Russ's was Rusty Meek, and Elliot's was Elliot Schick.
• A blooper from this episode features Leonard Nimoy saying, "If you do not veer off, I shall... blow my brains out!"
• Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) does not appear in this episode. Uhura's duties were assumed by Lt. Palmer, played by Elizabeth Rogers.

[edit] Sets and Props

• This episode marks the debut of the re-designed engineering set. The dilithium crystal storage units now occupy the center of the floor (complete with recycled Horta eggs); a ladder and upper level have been added into what was just a high bank of lighted panels in the first season. The set also is entered through a short spur hallway now, rather than as a side door off a main corridor. The console across from the forced-perspective impulse engine end of the set has been replaced by a doorway and moved to the main wall to the left of the red grid. The huge structures among which Kirk's evil self and Ben Finney once hid are not seen in detail again, but the emergency manual monitor set was built on stilts on that spot, making its debut in "Mirror, Mirror".
• The engine components appear and disappear as scenes dictated: they show up in "Day of the Dove" and "The Paradise Syndrome" but are absent completely in "Elaan of Troyius".

• The equipment Scott pulls out of the new storage area near the doorway to engineering is the same prop Spock uses in "Metamorphosis" as he works on the shuttlecraft, and which Ensign Harper uses to plug in the M-5 in "The Ultimate Computer". It is identified in The Making of Star Trek as a "Ray Generator and Energy Neutralizer (Spock-Built)."
• The modified Nuclear-Chicago Model 2586 Radiation Survey Meter is again used by a member of the landing party as a sensor device.
• The auxiliary control room is first seen in this episode aboard the Constellation. Its large viewing screen was previously used in the briefing room in "The Menagerie, Part I", "The Menagerie, Part II", and "Space Seed", and on the bridge set used in "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
• There are usually two full stations between Spock's library computer station, and the half station adjacent to the viewing screen. Yet, as Kirk and Spock walk by that area, only one station can be seen.
• The picture of the star field on the bulkhead of the transporter room makes its last appearance in this episode.

[edit] Story and Production

• Moby Dick was one of Norman Spinrad's inspirations for the original story of this episode. [2]
• William Windom has said at conventions that he had his character compulsively fiddle with cassette cartridges as an homage to Humphrey Bogart, whose Captain Queeg did the same thing with ball-bearings in The Caine Mutiny.
• This is the first time the Enterprise has encountered another Constitution -class starship with the entire crew dead. This later occurs in "The Omega Glory" and "The Tholian Web".
• Footage of Scotty being tossed around engineering is stock footage from "Tomorrow is Yesterday". A console that appears only in that episode can be seen. Scotty wears a tricorder throughout this episode. But when the old footage of him being thrown against the grating in "Tomorrow is Yesterday" is spliced in, the tricorder vanishes.
• Kirk's second season green wraparound tunic debuts in this episode and will appear intermittently throughout the season. Although edged with gold, its collar lacks the black trim it will eventually have in such later second season episodes as "The Apple" and "The Immunity Syndrome". The main difference between the first and second season green tunics is the absence of the rank braids on the shoulders, which were seen only in the first season, as well as the use of the command insignia as a fastening device. This version of the tunic sports the standard braids on the sleeves. Kirk never wore the green tunic in the third season.
• In most of the earlier drafts of the screenplay, Decker did not sacrifice himself, but instead survived to admit his mistakes and voluntarily retire. The core of this scene was later recycled into the ending of "The Deadly Years", where Commodore Stocker admits to Kirk that his taking command of the Enterprise was in the wrong.

[edit] Effects

• The year this episode was filmed, AMT produced the first Enterprise model kits. One such kit was used to make the model used for the destroyed Constellation. The decals for the ship's registration numbers are just a rearranged version of "1701." The model does not have the details of the regular Enterprise miniatures.
• Norman Spinrad was displeased with the model used for the planet killer. As he told Allan Asherman in The Star Trek Interview Book, he envisioned a doomsday machine bristling with all sorts of evil-looking weapons.
• Sol Kaplan's suspenseful "countdown" music, written for this episode, was re-used in many Second Season episodes.
• In many of its profile shots, the planet killer is semi-transparent and stars show through it. This was an overlay of film footage of the doomsday machine model over an existing star field. This money-saving technique also was used in "The Squire of Gothos" when Trelane's planet blocks the Enterprise's path.

[edit] Significance and legacy

• This episode was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1968 as "Best Dramatic Presentation".
• The episode is constantly ranked in the top five of any "top ten" polls taken among fans with regards to their favorite Star Trek episodes.
  ^{(citation needed • edit)}
• James Doohan in a mid 1980's appearance at UNLV (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) responded to the question from a audience member "what was your favorite episode of Star Trek", his response was "The Doomsday Machine" (there were a few groans from the audience at his response).
• This episode has five alumni from The Twilight Zone: Shatner, Nimoy, Doohan, Takei, and Windom.

[edit] Apocrypha

• In Gene Roddenberry's novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Will Decker is identified as Matt Decker's son:

"It hasn't been easy for him to live down the old man's legacy. Apparently, losing a Federation starship is still frowned on, whether it is the captain's fault or not."

• Susan Sackett's book, The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, contains character background information (originally written for the aborted TV series Star Trek: Phase II) in which Will Decker is identified as Matt Decker's son.
• In James Blish's adaptation, Decker's first name is "Brand" and he doesn't pilot the shuttlecraft into the planet-killer. In addition, after being ordered off the bridge by Decker with "Mr. Spock knows his duties under regulations, doctor... do you?" Blish gives McCoy one final retort: "Yes, sir -- go to sickbay and wait for the casualties you're about to send me."
• According to the game Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, there is a school of thought that speculates that the galactic barrier around the perimeter of the galaxy was created to keep these planet killers out.
• Peter David's TNG novel Vendetta connects the planet killers with the Preservers, an ancient race first mentioned in "The Paradise Syndrome", who have fought the Borg as well as created the galactic barrier. This method of attack used against the Borg would be consistent with that seen used by Species 8472 in Star Trek: Voyager. Also, David's description of the new planet killer's look matches Norman Spinrad's original conception.
• The doomsday machine appears in Amarillo Design Bureau Inc.'s Star Fleet Battles first monster-based scenario (SM1.0) as "The Planet Crusher" (or "The Creature that ate Sheboygan III"). It was a basic monster scenario enabling a beginning player to learn how to fight his starship. The monster moved by automatic rules, allowing for one person to play the scenario.
• Keith R.A. DeCandido showed an earlier meeting between Kirk and Decker in The Brave and the Bold, Book 1, which included the rest of the crew of the Constellation, including Masada (given the first name Guillermo), the only crew member named in the episode besides Decker. That same crew was used by David Mack in Vanguard Book 1: Harbinger, and Mirror Universe versions were seen in Mack's The Sorrows of Empire.

[edit] Remastered Information

The remastered version of this episode premiered in syndication the weekend of 10 February 2007, and was one of the most heavily-enhanced episodes to date. There were 105 effects shots in the remastered version, in contrast to the 20 or 30 in an average episode. [3]

The planet killer received a major update, as did its antiproton beam. The Constellation received far more detailed damage than was previously possible, gnarled warp coils visible in certain shots. The shots of the shuttlecraft leaving the bay with Commodore Decker aboard were completely re-done. Decker lifts the shuttlecraft off the deck before the bay doors are fully open, and there is a new shot of the craft (renumbered "6") from the exterior of the Enterprise. The discrepancy in relative sizes between the planet killer, the two starships and the shuttlecraft from the original version has been adjusted.

The original planet killer

... and its remastered counterpart

The 1960s Constellation

... and its remastered counterpart in 2007

• The staff of CBS Digital (creators of the Remastered FX) played a prank on Senior FX Supervisor Niel Wray by creating a fake version of the Remastered episode trailer (with a shot of the Constellation relabeled as "Consolation") and a fake version of TrekMovie.com ([4]) populated by fake comments (attributed to real users of the site) on the "mistake." The results of the prank can be seen here.

[edit] Production timeline

• Story outline by Norman Spinrad, 6 March 1967
• Revised teleplay, 5 April 1967
• Final draft teleplay, 8 May 1967
• Filmed in late June 1967
• Premiere airdate: 20 October 1967
• Remastered episode airdate, 10 February 2007.

[edit] Video and DVD releases

• Original US Betamax release: 1986.
• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 19, catalogue number VHR 2352, release date unknown.
• US VHS release: 15 April 1994.
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 2.2, 24 February 1997.
• As part of the UK VHS collection Star Trek - Greatest Battles: 16 November 1998.
• Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 18, 24 October 2000.
• As part of the TOS Season 2 DVD collection.

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Starring

• William Shatner as James T. Kirk

[edit] Also Starring

• Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock

And

• DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy

[edit] Guest Star

• William Windom as Commodore Decker

[edit] Featuring

• James Doohan as Scott
• George Takei as Sulu
• Elizabeth Rogers as Lt. Palmer

[edit] With

• John Winston as Lt. Kyle
• Richard Compton as Washburn
• John Copage as Elliot
• Tim Burns as Russ
• Jerry Catron as Montgomery

[edit] Uncredited Co-Stars

• William Blackburn as Hadley
• Eddie Paskey as Leslie

[edit] Stunts

• Vince Deadrick as William Windom's stunt double

[edit] References

antimatter; antiproton; antiproton beam; atmospheric pressure; auxiliary control; asteroid; class F shuttlecraft; coffee; communication system; computer system; Constellation, USS; Constitution-class; control circuit; damage control; dampening field; deflector; delay detonation device; devil; disaster beacon; distress call; doomsday machine; Einstein; emergency condition 3; English language; evasive action; filtration systems; force beam; fusion; generator; H-Bomb; Hell; impulse control system; inverse phasing; L-374 I; L-374 II; L-374 III; L-374 IV; lead; life support system; main energizer; Masada; megaton; microtape; mile; neutronium; nova; phaser bank; planet killer; pounds per square inch; power cell; power plant; program-defensive sphere; radiation; reserve energy bank; Rigel colony; Rigel system; shuttlecraft bay; solar day; starbase; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Regulations; star chart; starship; subspace interference; subspace transmitter; suicide; System L-370; System L-374; total conversion drive; tractor beam; trident scanner; viewing screen; warp drive pod; yellow alert

[edit] External link

• The Doomsday Machine at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works

Previous episode produced: "Amok Time"	Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2	Next episode produced: "Wolf in the Fold"
Previous episode aired: "The Apple"		Next episode aired: "Catspaw"
Previous remastered episode aired: "Journey to Babel"	TOS Remastered	Next remastered episode aired: "Amok Time"