The Star (The Twilight Zone)

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“The Star”
The Twilight Zone episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 13, Segment 3
Written by Alan Brennert
(Based on the short story "The Star", by Arthur C. Clarke. The story was first published in Infinity Science Fiction November 1955.)
Directed by Gerd Oswald
Guest stars Fritz Weaver : Fr. Matthew Costigan
Donald Moffat : Dr. Chandler
Elizabeth Huddle : Captain Durant
Original airdate December 20, 1985
Episode chronology
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"But Can She Type?" "Still Life"
List of Twilight Zone episodes

"The Star" is the third and final segment of the thirteenth episode from the television series The New Twilight Zone. It is based on a short story, "The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke, which was first published in Infinity Science Fiction (November, 1955).

However, while Clarke's story ended with the priest in despair after the revelation that the alien civilization had perished in order to light "the Christmas star," the TV episode included the addition of an epitaph by the aliens, revealing their optimism about their place in the universe.

[edit] Synopsis

On an interstellar journey, far in the future, an astrophysicist and a priest learn they have discovered a long-dead world that has been emitting a signal for eons. They discover that the planet holds the last remains of a civilization, which died when their star went supernova. To his dismay, Father Matthew discovers this star was the same star that shone down on Earth the day Jesus was born, "The Star of Bethlehem". Dr. Chandler comforts him by reading a poem he found among the archives of the advanced culture. It says that they had no regrets, they had "fulfilled their duty," and passed the torch to others. This quiet artifact consoles and encourages the priest.

[edit] External links