Fascinating? - A Star Trek Podcast

For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky was the eighth episode of Star Trek’s third season to air, with a displaced civilisation unknowingly on course to destroy an inhabited world. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the difference between known unknowns and unknown unknowns. Intercepting an asteroid bound to destroy the world of Daran V, the Enterprise crew discover it is in...

Day of the Dove was the seventh episode of Star Trek’s third season to air, with an alien being pushing the Enterprise into conflict with a Klingon crew for its own benefit. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the persistance of racial hatred. Drawn to the same planet by false distress calls, Kirk and his Klingon rival Kang ( Michael Ansara ) commence a bloody engagement under the manipul...

Spectre of the Gun was the sixth episode of Star Trek’s third season to air, with an alien race punishing the Enterprise’s unwelcome visit with a theatrical form of execution. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the nature of reality. On a mission to make contact with the reclusive Melkotian race, Kirk orders the Enterprise to ignore a warning buoy and approach the alien planet. On...

Is There in Truth No Beauty? was the fifth episode of Star Trek’s third season to air, with a telepathic envoy’s besotted colleague causing problems for the Enterprise . In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the challenges associated with extreme beauty. When a Medusan ambassador, Kollos, comes aboard the Enterprise along with his human envoy Dr. Miranda Jones ( Diana Muldaur ) and on...

And The Children Shall Lead was the fourth episode of Star Trek’s third season to air, with a group of children attempting to take control of the Enterprise with the aid of a ghoulish green apparition. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the old adage about working with children and animals. After the death of all the adults on a Federation colony, the apparently unaffected children come...

The Paradise Syndrome was the third episode of Star Trek’s third season to air, with an amnesiac Kirk adopted as a god by the inhabitants of an earth-like planet. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the pitfalls of divinity. With an asteroid en-route to create an extinction level event on the planet Amerind, Kirk and Spock take time for a quick tour before setting off to prevent the colli...

The Enterprise Incident was the second episode of Star Trek’s third season to air, with an ambitious Romulan Commander looking to recruit Spock as well as claim the Enterprise . In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss divided loyalties and the route to Spock’s heart. When an erratic Kirk leads the Enterprise into Romulan space it is soon surrounded by enemy vessels seeking to capture or...

Spock’s Brain was the first episode of Star Trek’s third season to air, with juvenile aliens removing Spock’s brain to serve as the central processor for their life support system. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the ethics behind using a brainless corpse as a remote control toy. When Spock’s brain is stolen, but his body left intact, Kirk leads the Enterprise to Sig...

Assignment: Earth was the twenty sixth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with an intergalactic secret agent battling to stop a twentieth century nuclear holocaust. In this episode Gerry and Iain discussed the appropriate clothing for time travellers. On a mission to observe a key period of Earth history, the Enterprise intercepts Gary Seven ( Robert Lansing ) and his cat Isis as t...

Bread and Circuses was the twenty fifth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with an alien world seemingly maintaining a Roman-style culture into their equivalent of Earth’s 20th century. In this episode Gerry and Iain discussed coming, seeing and conquering. When the Enterprise intercepts a domestic television broadcast from a primitive world, it seems to show crewmen from the...

The Ultimate Computer was the twenty fourth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with a new AI system tested on board the Enterprise . In this episode Gerry and Iain discussed the familiar love story between a man and his new computer. When legendary computer scientist Dr Richard Daystrom ( William Marshall ) comes on board the Enterprise to install his new Multitronic M5 computer, K...

The Omega Glory was the twenty third episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with alien communists oppressing noble alien Americans. In this episode Gerry and Iain discussed the constitution of the United States and its suitability as a blueprint for a new society. After discovering a ship with a disintegrated crew, Kirk, Spock and McCoy are advised in a dying declaration by the ship&#8...

By Any Other Name was the twenty second episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with intergalactic aliens determined to travel home by hijacking the Enterprise . In this episode Gerry and Iain discussed long journeys and the need to have a few good podcasts queued up in advance. Visiting a planet believed to be uninhabited, Kirk and Spock are captured by a handful of aliens from the nei...

Patterns of Force was the twenty-first episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with a Federation observer leading an alien world to create their own version of the Nazis. In this episode Gerry and Iain discussed whether there is any problem to which resurrecting the Nazis would be a good solution. Travelling to find what has become of Federation observer John Gill ( David Brian ), Kirk...

Return to Tomorrow was the twentieth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with an advanced but near-extinct alien race forced to share human bodies to survive. In this episode Gerry and Iain discussed giant glowing orbs. Summoned by means unknown to a planet as yet uncharted by the Federation, Kirk and the Enterprise crew encounter Sargon, one of three survivors of an ancient race th...

A Private Little War was the nineteenth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with two tribes on a planet forced to take up arms against one another by outside agitators. In this episode Gerry and Iain discussed the value of communal haircuts. Visiting a planet where he was once posted as a young Lieutenant, Kirk is surprised to see an old friend, Tyree ( Michael Witney ) and his wife...

The Immunity Syndrome was the eighteenth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with a single celled organism threatening to engulf the galaxy. In this episode Gerry and Iain discussed some unusual crew behaviour. When the USS Intrepid , a ship crewed entirely by Vulcans, disappears investigating a new phenomenon, the exhausted Enterprise crew are tasked with investigating the situatio...

A Piece of the Action was the seventeenth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with an impressionable society discovered under the influence of an old Earth book. In this episode Gerry and Iain considered the benefits of bossing your own territory. Arriving on a planet whose society is based entirely on a book about Chicago gangs of the 1920s, Kirk, McCoy and Spock are immediately ac...

The Gamesters of Triskelion was the sixteenth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with an intergalactic gladiatorial contest set up by some disembodied brains. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss whether Uhura’s ordeal was handled badly. After being zapped across a dozen light years or more, Kirk – along with Uhura and Chekov – are declared Thralls and told by t...

The Trouble With Tribbles was the fifteenth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with the fate of grain bound for a disputed planet near Klingon space at stake. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss furry critters and their evidentiary value. After being summoned to Station K-7 by Nilz Baris ( William Schallert ), a Federation bureaucrat with a valuable grain shipment to protect, Ki...

Wolf in the Fold was the fourteenth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with Scotty facing multiple murder charges on an otherwise peaceful and idyllic planet. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss a preponderance of evidence and some shaky legal arguments. After an accident leaves Scotty showing signs of concussion and misogyny, Kirk and McCoy accompany him to a hedonistic planet...

Obsession was the thirteenth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with Kirk embarking on a revenge mission at the risk of failing to carry out his original mission and potentially killing his entire crew. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss vengeance and when it’s best to let things go. When Kirk identifies the presence of a cloud monster that killed his first captain his in...

The Deadly Years was the twelfth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with the sudden onset of old age threatening Kirk’s captaincy, his competency and his life. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss ageing gracefully. After all six members of a colony are discovered dead from rapid onset of old age, curiosity turns to desperation as an Enterprise landing party – includi...

Friday’s Child was the eleventh episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with the return of the Klingons and the birth of a child who would be king. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss inappropriate touching. Hoping to negotiate a mining treaty, Kirk, Spock and McCoy visit a settlement where the doctor previously spent time before his posting on the Enterprise . There they meet...

Journey to Babel was the tenth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with diplomats en route to a crucial vote gathered together on the Enterprise . In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the subtle art of diplomacy. While transporting key diplomats to a conference on a planetoid codenamed Babel, Kirk is surprised to learn that the Vulcan delegation are actually Spock’s parents,...