Fascinating? - A Star Trek Podcast

Metamorphosis was the ninth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with an historic figure from Earth’s past coming face to face with Kirk. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss strange cloud formations. While transporting Commissioner Hedford (Elinor Donahue) for urgent medical treatment, the shuttlecraft Galileo encounters an unknown phenomenon that forces it down to a nearby...

I, Mudd was the eighth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with a returning foe and an array of specially designed sex robots. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the power of amateur dramatics. When an android called Norman (Richard Tatro) commandeers the Enterprise and brings it to a planet, there is much to be concerned about. This is only exacerbated when a visit to the surfa...

Catspaw was the seventh episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with witches, a black cat and curses laid between Kirk and his missing crewmen. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss tiny blue space chickens. When two crewman fail to return from a routine landing mission and a third beams up dead, Kirk takes Spock and McCoy with him to retrieve the missing men, despite a ghostly warning...

The Doomsday Machine was the sixth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with a traumatised starship commander intent on revenge against the machine that killed his crew. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the design aesthetics of planet killers. When the Enterprise encounters a distress signal from the USS Constellation , Kirk and the crew are concerned to find the ship apparentl...

The Apple was the fifth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with a native population cruelly disrupted by a careless landing party. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss disposable crewmen and mechanical deities. When redshirts start expiring at an alarming rate, Kirk encounters Akuta ( Keith Andes ), leader of the Feeders of Vaal. Taken back to his village others, including Makora...

Mirror, Mirror was the fourth episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with several key crewmen transported to a parallel universe. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the multiverse theory and some interesting facial hair. When an ion storm combines with a transporter malfunction to switch Kirk, McCoy, Uhura and Scotty with their less civilised parallel universe counterparts, they mu...

The Changeling was the third episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with the Enterprise threatened by a sentient spacecraft intent on destroying imperfect organic life. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss artificial intelligence and the man versus machine debate. When the Enterprise brings a probe aboard it reveals itself to be Nomad (voiced by Vic Perrin), a probe launched from Ear...

Who Mourns for Adonais? was the second episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with an ancient Greek god looking to rekindle past glories. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss a giant green hand and a green-eyed monster. When the Enterprise is caught by a big green hand while orbiting a planet, Kirk and some crew members are summoned to the surface by a being claiming to be the Greek...

Amok Time was the first episode of Star Trek’s second season to air, with Spock drawn back to his homeland by a primal urge. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss situations where the best course of action is to convince a colleague they’ve killed your boss. With Spock displaying increasingly erratic behaviour, Kirk ignores an order from Admiral Komack (Byron Morrow) to stay on missio...

Operation — Annihilate! was the twenty-ninth episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with a colony under attack and a valued crew member in great distress. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss family, friendship and medical malpractice. After tracking a pattern of unexplained erratic behaviour across a sector of space, the Enterprise crew discover the affliction has reached a Fed...

The City on the Edge of Forever was the twenty-eighth episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with a love affair threatening to change history as we know it. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss killers, assassins and murderers with a pinch of time-travel for good measure. After an accidental overdose and a temporal anomaly combine to send McCoy into the past, Kirk and Spock must trave...

The Alternative Factor was the twenty-seventh episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with a mysterious stranger locked in a struggle against his inverse self. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss a quite magnificent beard. After a massive and unprecedented phenomenon puts the rest of Starfleet into retreat, the Enterprise is left to investigate what is feared to be an invasion. At the...

Errand of Mercy was the twenty-sixth episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with a seemingly primitive, pacifist race facing a Klingon occupation. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the relative merits or freedom and order. As war breaks out between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, the Enterprise is sent to Organia, a strategically important world, in order to head off enemy e...

The Devil in the Dark was the twenty-fifth episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with a mining community terrorised by a silicon-based lifeform. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the use of cement as a healing agent. The Enterprise crew are sent to the mining colony on Janus VI to ascertain whether the problems that have seen production drop dramatically can be solved. Meeting Chi...

This Side of Paradise was the twenty-fourth episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with a colony spared certain death by spores that also affect their mood and personality. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the best techniques for playfully dangling from trees. Kirk and his crew are tasked with confirming the demise of a colony founded under bombardment from berthold rays, since di...

A Taste of Armageddon was the twenty-third episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with a civilisation locked in perpetual war against its neighbour. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the merits of self-disintegration. When the Enterprise is refused permission to approach the planet Eminiar VII, visiting Ambassador Robert Fox ( Gene Lyons ) overrules Kirk’s instinct to comply...

Space Seed was the twenty-second episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with an ancient Earth spacecraft delivering some surprising, if sleepy, guests. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the fine qualities of twentieth century men. When the Enterprise comes across the SS Botany Bay , drifting in space, a landing party is surprised to find a number of humans on board in suspended ani...

The Return of the Archons was the twenty-first episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with a peaceful civilisation challenged by visitors from the Enterprise . In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the body and the glory of Landru. Peace be with you brothers and sisters. When Sulu returns from a scouting mission declaring the planet below a paradise and praising Landru, Kirk and a land...

Court Martial was the twentieth episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with Kirk under suspicion and his own ship providing the most damning evidence. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss legal representation and the importance of court procedures. After losing a crew member in an ion storm, Kirk must report to the nearest starbase and give his report of the event to Commodore Stone (...

Tomorrow is Yesterday was the nineteenth episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with the Enterprise trapped in the past and some unfortunate airmen getting more than a glimpse of the future. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss time paradoxes and before that they discuss the outcome of that conversation. Escaping a black hole, the Enterprise is thrown back in time to the 20th century...

Arena was the eighteenth episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with a colony under siege and Kirk forced into a one-on-one battle for survival. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss thinking you’re smarter than the other guy while he listens in and plots your demise. After chasing an invading force away from a Federation colony, Kirk and the Enterprise continue the pursuit until...

The Squire of Gothos was the seventeenth episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with an impetuous adversary testing Kirk’s skills to the limit. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss planets that chase you, however hard you try to escape. On their way to deliver vital supplies to a colony, the Enterprise and her crew are waylaid by an impossible planet, previously uncharted. When...

The Galileo Seven was the sixteenth episode of Star Trek’s debut season to air, with a stranded shuttle crew facing a race against time to alert rescuers to their predicament. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss leadership and the importance of sound decision-making. En route to a rendezvous with vital supplies to help fight a pandemic, the Enterprise stops off to examine a pulsar formati...

Shore Leave was the fifteenth episode of Star Trek‘s debut season to air, with unlikely events interrupting an idyllic respite for the Enterprise crew. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss wrestling with tigers and the fine line between chivalry and inappropriateness. After recent traumatic events, Dr McCoy is keen for the crew to enjoy a little shore leave and leads an exploratory team to consi...

Balance of Terror was the fourteenth episode of Star Trek‘s debut season to air, with a skilled adversary presenting a tough examination of Kirk’s battle craft. In this episode Gerry and Iain debate the rights and wrongs of bearing grudges from your ancestors’ wars. Responding to a distress call from an outpost bordering the Neutral Zone between Federation and Romulan space, Kirk and t...