| "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" | |||
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| Star Trek: The Original Series episode | |||
USAF Captain John Christopher |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 19 |
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| Directed by | Michael O'Herlihy | ||
| Written by | D.C. Fontana | ||
| Original air date | January 26, 1967 | ||
| Guest stars | |||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of Star Trek: The Original Series episodes | |||
"Tomorrow Is Yesterday" is a first-season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It is episode #19, production #21, first broadcast on January 26, 1967, repeated July 13, 1967, and was remastered in 2006 for syndication broadcast on May 5, 2007. The teleplay was written by D.C. Fontana and directed by Michael O'Herlihy.
Overview: The crew of the Enterprise travels back to 1969 Earth and must correct damage they caused to the timeline.
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On stardate 3113.2, the starship USS Enterprise NCC-1701, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, is thrown back in time to Earth in the year 1969 by the effects of a high-gravity "black star". Enterprise ends up in Earth's upper atmosphere, and is picked up as a UFO on military radar.
A U.S Air Force jet interceptor piloted by Captain John Christopher (Roger Perry), is scrambled to identify the craft. The pilot, surprised to see the strange craft floating above him, is ordered to stop the Enterprise from escaping and to shoot it down if necessary. Kirk is forced to take defensive action using a tractor beam on the jet, which accidentally tears the plane apart. Acting quickly, Kirk orders the pilot to be transported aboard the Enterprise.
The man at first is confused with his new surroundings but is amazed to learn all that the future has to offer. He discovers that Enterprise is one of 12 such starships under the authority of a combined service known as the "United Earth Space Probe Agency", and that the computer calls Kirk "dear", having been overhauled on the female-dominated planet Signet 14 (who thought the computer needed a personality).
Fearing Christopher could disrupt the timeline if returned to earth after seeing a glimpse of the future, Kirk decides to take the pilot back with them to the future. However, after Spock discovers that the pilot's own as-yet-unborn son, Shaun Geoffrey Christopher, will play an important role in a future space mission to Saturn, Kirk must somehow return Captain Christopher to Earth without any knowledge of Enterprise or other future events.
After learning of the existence of film taken of Enterprise by Christopher's wing cameras, Kirk and Mr. Sulu beam down to the airbase to recover it, along with any other evidence of Enterprise's appearance which might alter history. Upon obtaining the sensitive computer tapes, Kirk and Sulu are captured and disarmed by an Air Policeman.
When Mr. Spock tries to contact the Captain, the policeman accidentally activates an emergency signal, and is immediately beamed aboard the Enterprise, frozen in shock. With yet another abducted native to deal with, they decide to confine him to the transporter room to limit his exposure to future events. While searching for film and any remaining evidence of their time intrusion, more airmen stumble upon and capture Kirk, but Sulu manages to escape. Kirk is taken away for questioning.
Spock and Sulu, with the help of Captain Christopher, beam down to rescue Captain Kirk. After Kirk's guards are subdued, Christopher finds a gun and demands to be left behind. Spock, suspicious of Christopher, steps into another room and has himself transported to a position behind Christopher, where he disables him with a Vulcan nerve pinch.
After they return to the ship, Spock and Mr. Scott inform Kirk they have an idea for returning to their time by slingshotting the ship around the Sun, explaining that time will reverse as the ship races toward the star, then quickly run forward again as the ship breaks away. But since even a small miscalculation could destroy the ship, or make them miss their own era, precise navigation and braking are required.
As the risky maneuver begins, time onboard Enterprise moves backwards and Captain Christopher is beamed back to his fighter jet at the instant he first encountered Enterprise, preventing any evidence of the ship being produced, and the sighting is written off as just another UFO. The security policeman is also returned to his own time, just moments before he first stumbles upon Kirk and Sulu. Enterprise then successfully returns to the 23rd Century.
This episode was re-mastered in 2006 and was first aired May 5, 2007 as part of the remastered 40th Anniversary original series. It was preceded a week earlier by the remastered version of "A Piece of the Action" and followed a week later by the re-mastered version of "Errand of Mercy". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the Enterprise that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:
Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an 'B-' rating, describing it as "so-so" and "passable".[2]
The episode was originally conceived as part two to an earlier episode, "The Naked Time"; when the ending to that episode was revised, "Tomorrow is Yesterday" was reworked as a stand-alone story.[3]
Associate producer Robert Justman devised the original idea for the story, and it was handed to Dorothy Fontana to create a teleplay. Justman received neither credit nor payment for doing so, whereas Roddenberry's agent charged the studio up to $3000 for his own stories and rewrites.[4]
The second issue of IDW Publishing's comic book series Assignment: Earth (a continuation of the episode of the same name, drawing on the episode's status as a failed backdoor pilot for a spin-off television series) shows the protagonists, Gary Seven and his assistant Roberta Lincoln, becoming peripherally involved in the events of "Tomorrow is Yesterday", acting on their own to prevent the Enterprise's presence from affecting history. Due to peculiarities of time travel, the Enterprise crewmembers have not yet met Seven and Lincoln at this point, but it is Seven's and Lincoln's second encounter with them (though they are careful to avoid direct contact, so as not to alter the proper course of events).
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