Star Trek: Phase II

Fan Film
Title:	Star Trek: Phase II (formerly known as Star Trek: New Voyages)
Creator:	James Cawley & Jack Marshall
Date:	2003-2016
Length:	each episode is around 51 min
Medium:	video, web series
Genre:	science fiction
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
URL:	Star Trek: Phase II Official Site
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

You may be looking for Gene Roddenberry's proposed 1970s' Star Trek: Phase II TV series or the fanfic zine series, Phase II.

Star Trek: Phase II is a fanfilm series that continues on the five year deep space mission of Star Trek: The Original Series where the original series left off at the end of the third year. The series was created in 2003 by James Cawley and Jack Marshall and as of April 2012 has released its seventh episode. There has been tremendous support for the series by many associated by the Star Trek franchise and even involvement from people such as scriptwriters D.C. Fontana & David Gerrold, actors George Takei and Walter Koenig and others. And while CBS (and Paramount) owns the right to the franchise, they allow the distribution of fan-created work as long as no profit is being made. In addition, the series was nominated for a Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form in 2008 but lost to Doctor Who episode Blink.

For a five-episode run beginning with "Blood and Fire" (in December 2008) and ending with "Kitumba" (in December 2013) the series title was changed to "Star Trek: Phase II" before reverting to "New Voyages".

The series wound down operations in 2016. James Cawley now hosts the licensed Trekonderoga events at his Star Trek Original Series Set Tour! in New York.

Cast

(please refer to Star Trek: Phase II Cast & Crew Page for more information)

• Captain James T. Kirk played by James Cawley (0-8), Brian Gross (9-10)
• First Officer Spock played by Jeffery Quinn (0-3), Ben Tolpin (4-5), Brandon Stacy (6-10)
• Doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy played by John Kelley (0-8, 10), Jeff Bond (9)

Episodes

Ten full episodes were released (plus the pilot, "Come What May", aka Episode 0), along with five vignettes.

4x0 (pilot): Come What May

Written and directed by Jack Marshall. After receiving a distress call, USS Enterprise, commanded by Captain James T. Kirk (James Cawley), is assigned to investigate an intruder attacking the Primus IV colony. Once there, the crew encounters a strange alien life form that can produce visions of personal events displaced in time. These visions may hold the key to better understanding the threat they are about to encounter. Recurring TOS actors Eddie Paskey (as Admiral Leslie) and the former Mr Kyle, John Winston (as Captain Jefferies), guest star. This pilot episode was a "test of concept" and is not considered one of the official episodes.

4x1: In Harm's Way

The first official episode of the series was released on October 8, 2004 and was written by Eric Korngold. The episode had three TOS alumni guest star, William Windom, BarBara Luna, and Malachi Throne. In the episode, the crew goes back in time and again encounters the "doomsday machine" which they had originally faced in the TOS episode, The Doomsday Machine. Windom reprised his TOS role of Commodore Matt Decker.

4x2: To Serve All My Days

This was released on November 23, 2006 and was written by D.C. Fontana with a guest appearance from Walter Koenig as an aging Chekov. At the close of an economic conference on Babel, Chekov is exposed to a massive dose of radiation and succumbs to the aging disease from The Deadly Year. A supposed Klingon attack turns out to be from a Federation world; Klingon captain Kargh cooperates with Kirk and the Enterprise crew to defeat the attackers. Mary Linda Rapelye, who acted in the TOS episode The Way to Eden, guest stars.

4x3: World Enough and Time

This was released on October 23, 2007 and guest stars George Takei who played the original Sulu as well as Grace Lee Whitney who played the original Yeoman Rand in Star Trek: The Original Series and in several of the films. In this episode, Sulu and a female crewmember were caught in a time warp and spent thirty years together on an otherwise uninhabited planet they were exploring. When he's found, he brings along his daughter Demora (Star Trek Generations), although she's trapped within a stasis field.

4x4 and 4x5: Blood and Fire

A two-parter, released December 20, 2008 and November 20, 2009. When a Federation research ship is attacked, the Enterprise, badly damaged from a fight with the Klingons, responds and discovers the ship is infested with Regulan bloodworms. This episode features a homosexual relationship between Kirk's nephew, Peter, and med tech Alex Freeman. The original script was written by David Gerrold, who tried to submit it as a normal episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. According to Gerrold, who is gay, some of the production staff, including Rick Berman, objected to the depiction of a healthy, happy gay couple. Gerrold intended the Regulan bloodworms as an allegory of AIDS, as TOS episodes had frequently addressed controversial subjects and questioned societal norms. He rewrote the story as a novel. Carlos Pedraza rewrote it again for Phase II.

4x6: Enemy: Starfleet!

Released April 15, 2011, this has BarBara Luna (Marlena Moreau from Mirror, Mirror) as an intergalactic terrorist who steals a Federation ship and retrofits it to attack and subjugate all the planets in her sector. Story by Dave Galanter, Patty Wright and Greg Brodeur. Ben Tolpin, who played Spock in "Blood and Fire", directed, while Brandon Stacy played Spock this time.

4x7: The Child

Released April 5, 2012. This was the original Jon Povill script for the original Star Trek: Phase II which would have had Lt. Ilia, and was later made into the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode of the same name, with Deanna Troi as the mother. Povill didn't like the NextGen adaption (it was put together in a hurry because of the 1988 Writers' Guild strike). So, he had a chance to see (and direct) his original idea here. Ilia is replaced by Isel, also Deltan and played by Anna Schneitter. The little girl, Irska, is played by Ayla Cordell.

4x8: Kitumba

Released Dec. 31, 2013, this was written by John Meredyth Lucas and directed by Vic Mignona. It was intended as a double episode for the original Star Trek: Phase II. The Enterprise is sent on a secret mission to the Klingon homeworld, Qo’nos, assisted by a Klingon who is a Federation ally. It looks like the Organians are no longer enforcing the old treaty, and a faction within the Empire, led by young Emperor Kitumba's regent, is gearing up for war. Here, Kirk and crew discover Klingon traditions and values, and what honor means to them. We can see the beginnings of the Empire we came to know in Star Trek: The Next Generation here. This is the last episode that had James Cawley as Captain Kirk.

4x9: Mind-Sifter

Released Dec. 1, 2014, this is based on The Mind-Sifter (Star Trek: TOS story by Shirley Maiewski). Kirk is missing and presumed dead. Spock, now Captain of the Enterprise, knows he is alive, but is hampered in his search by Starfleet bureaucracy until he is able to discover the truth. This has Brian Gross as Captain Kirk, and James Cawley in a cameo role as an insane asylum patient who "thinks he's Elvis" (Gross, as Kirk, mutters "I hate that guy", while on a television set in the background an episode of The Twilight Zone with William Shatner is playing). This was released in two different versions: with modern-style effects by Tobias Richter's Light Works (more like the "remastered DVD" Star Trek episodes); and the other with visual effects by Daren R. Dochterman, closer to those seen on the original series.

4x10: The Holiest Thing

Released Jan. 15, 2016, this was written by Rick Chambers and directed by Daren R. Dochterman. The Enterprise investigates the explosion of a Federation research outpost by a mysterious alien race. Meanwhile, Kirk develops a bond with the outpost's lone survivor: Dr. Carol Marcus. Principal photography began June 9, 2013. This episode was scheduled to be released on February 14, 2014, but was delayed due to a winter storm.

Vignettes

• "Center Seat"
• "Timeline Restored"
• "No Win Scenario"
• "1701 Pennsylvania Av."
• "Going Boldly" (featuring a CGI Lieutenant Arex, originally from Star Trek: The Animated Series, and now voiced by Christopher Doohan).

Unfinished Episodes

Several episodes and vignettes remain unfinished and/or unreleased, such as:

• "Origins", a story based on David Gerrold's original pitch, "The Protracted Man", for Star Trek: The Original Series. It was reconceptualized as a Christopher Pike-era story featuring the young Cadet James T. Kirk and his father, Commander George Kirk Sr. In January 2021, the incomplete work print for the abandoned episode was rediscovered and uploaded to Youtube (in two sections) by James Cawley for a few days in January 2021. The episode was later reposted (in one section) by The1JayTee Retro Channel.
  • https://youtu.be/9t05be97TJw
• "Bread and Savagery" (filming started June 2012), a sequel to Bread and Circuses(?), an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. Originally the creators had hoped to film a "lost" episode of Norman Spinrad's, "He Walked Among Us", but CBS/Paramount asked them not to film it.
• "Torment of Destiny". A sequel to the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky". Richard Hatch (Captain Apollo from the original Battlestar Galactica) guest stars as Orthros. In January 2021, the work print for this unseen 2015 episode-in-progress was discovered on the production team's private Youtube channel by James Cawley, who decided to change the setting to "public" for a few days.
  • https://youtu.be/Y3BnQGqVoZw

Promotional posters were created for:

• "The Sky Above, the Mudd Below", by Howard Weinstein and intended to star J.G. Hertzler as Harry Mudd.
• "Rest and Retaliation", a proposed sequel to the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, Shore Leave.
• "Kilkenny Cats", by Jimmy Diggs, originally proposed for a fourth season of Star Trek: Enterprise, and featuring the felinoid Kzinti. Larry Niven's aliens had already featured in his Known Space stories and Ringworld novels, Star Trek: The Animated Series' The Slaver Weapon, and the LA Times Syndicate's comic strip, "The Wristwatch Plantation".
• An earlier (2011) version of "Mind-Sifter", featuring James Cawley as Kirk instead of Brian Gross, who ultimately appeared in the final version.

Tie-in Novelettes

This series of fanfic eBooks is written by Glenn E. Smith and takes part between episodes of the fanfilm series, adding new details, storylines and background to the released episodes.

• Novelette #1: "Friends and Foes" is part 1 of the "Conspiracy" trilogy that takes place several weeks after the live-action episode "Blood and Fire" and shortly before the live-action episode "Enemy: Starfleet!". Captain Kirk is forced to work with a personal enemy from his past while confronting a much more dangerous enemy in the present, all while making first contact with a previously unknown and potentially hostile alien race.

• Novelette #2: "True To His Oath" is a short story based on a concept developed by Charles Root (who played Scotty in the series) and used with permission. The events take place after the live-action episode "Enemy: Starfleet!" and before the live-action episode "The Child". Recently promoted, Scotty meets up with an old flame and tells the story of how that promotion came to be.

• Novelette #3: "The 11th Hour" is Part 2 of the "Conspiracy" saga based on an idea from Barry Gavin and used with permission. The events take place after the live-action episode "The Child" and before the live-action episode "Kitumba". An old friend returns. A new starship launches. The Federation makes an overture to an enemy as the countdown to all-out war reaches... THE 11th HOUR.

• Novelette #4: "The Enemy of My Enemy" is Part 3 of the "Conspiracy" saga. The events take place after the live-action episode "Kitumba". When Romulan Commander Dion Charvon returns home to a reception unlike anything she ever expected, her younger sister, Sub-Lieutenant D’Vahn Charvon of the Tal’Shiar, is afforded one opportunity to make things right and save her sister’s life. Meanwhile, aboard the Starship Enterprise, Captain Kirk begins his investigation into who really stands behind the conspiracy that very nearly plunged the Federation into interstellar war.

• Novelette #5: "Calm Before the Storm" takes place after the eBook "The Enemy of My Enemy". En route to rendezvous with the dreadnought USS Alliance near the Romulan Neutral Zone to pick up Colonel Finnegan and his MACOs, Captain Kirk takes time out to tell his nephew, Peter, about his first mission as captain of the Enterprise.

All five stories can be downloaded free at http://www.stnv.de/novels in several popular eBook formats.

Support

Many individuals associated with the Star Trek franchise have supported Star Trek: Phase II in various roles. The Star Trek series creator, Gene Roddenberry's son Eugene 'Rod' Roddenberry is listed as consulting producer. Both scriptwriters for the franchise D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold are also listed as consulting producers. In addition, D.C. Fontana wrote the second episode of the series To Serve All My Days that starred the original Chekov, Walter Koenig. David Gerrold's original script "Blood and Fire" originally written for Star Trek: The Next Generation was adapted for the fourth and fifth episode. Many of the actors who have acted in the various series of the Trek franchise have appeared in Star Trek: Phase II, including George Takei, Walter Koenig, Grace Lee Whitney, Denise Crosby, and many others.

Paramount/CBS's Reaction

Paramount and CBS seemed to be fine with the amateur productions as long as that was really what they were. In the wake of the lavish film Prelude to Axanar, a 20-minute trailer to a planned feature film, which has professional actors and production and for which huge amounts of money were raised through crowdfunding, Paramount issued a set of "guidelines" which amounted to a crackdown on fan films.

Some bloggers and reviewers rationalized this decision by saying that it will actually protect fans who create amateur works, Devin Faraci of Birth Movies Death saying that "fans shouldn't be making multi-season TV series featuring characters someone else owns." However, the majority of reactions were negative, and Paramount/CBS are perceived as having killed off any chance for new Star Trek, Original Series style or anything else.

Regarding a Nebula Award

(comments by a fan regarding fanworks, tie-ins, fan films, and legitimacy)

• Decision on the Nebula eligibility of "World Enough and Time" by michaelcapo (February 2008)
• SFWA screws the pooch by kradical (February 2008)
• More Crap from KRAD by Randall Landers (March, 2008)

Fannish Reaction

Fans of the original series have been very supported and many fans have donated or volunteered their skills to Star Trek: Phase II. From makeup artists to special effects, skills that normally would cost the series upwards in the millions are done for free by people involved because they are fans of the show.

Making Fake 'Star Trek', 2019

Not all fans were happy with access decisions. In September 2007, a fan complained about some of TPTB's decisions to control access:

What if suddenly, without any notice, without getting the input of you, our devoted readers, we decided to secure all our stories so that you couldn't just pop in and read them at your leisure? What if we suddenly said, "Hey, we're created this registration required format so that you had to register in order to visit our site"? What if we locked the files so you couldn't save them, you could only read them while on site instead of downloading them and reading them later? What if the excuse that we gave you was "We want better control of our property" and "We want to track the numbers of our readers more closely"?

How many of you would put up with this sort of nonsense? Not many, I'd bet.

And yet this is the very thing that Star Trek: New Voyages intends to do. One of their strengths was the easy availability of their fan films throughout the Internet. You could find the episodes pretty much anywhere on the net, download them, save them to your computer or to a CD or DVD, and watch them at your leisure.

But they've got plans to change all that.

They're going to make it so that you can only sit down and watch a streaming video that will be security locked so it can't be saved to your computer or saved to CD or DVD so that you can sit down with your family. And if you do, they will say you've "stolen" their property. The executive producer of New Voyages says he wants accurate numbers of people who are viewing their films, when in truth, he's just decided that he wants to limit where and when you can view the episodes. Admittedly, they're his property, but by limiting access in this manner, he's limiting his audience!

This marketing blunder falls on the heels of the world-wide web debut of their newest episode "World Enough and Time": yet another marketing blunder of outstanding proportions. The premier was to be held live at a red-carpet event and the episode was scheduled to be debuted live streaming on the web. They were completely unprepared for the event and the logistics of such a streaming video event. The event never made it live to the web (although a few people managed to save the file to Torrent-style sites). It was a nightmare trying to log on to view the episode and those that managed only saw a few minutes of the episode as the server quickly crashed. It quickly became a non-premier.

The folks at Star Trek: New Voyages have done a phenomenal job in bringing the original series back to us fans. It's a pity that they're now doing their best (unintentionally, to be sure) to take it away from us fans. Their actions are going to kill the very audience that they want to reach.

And that's a damn shame.

In 2019, a self-published trade paperback by Andy Bray (Young Chekov) & John Lim (Sulu) entitled, Making Fake 'Star Trek': The True Story of a 'Star Trek' Fan Film With the Real Walter Koenig, was released. The book relates anecdotes about the D.C. Fontana-penned episode, "To Serve All My Days", and has a brief introduction by Walter Koenig. This was followed by 2020's Making More Fake 'Star Trek': The True Story of a 'Star Trek' Fan Film with the Real George Takei, also by John Lim & Andy Bray, and discussed the episode "World Enough and Time" and had a foreword by George Takei. The authors also produce Making Fake Star Trek: The Podcast on this subject.