The Deadly Years (TOS episode)
Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : The Deadly Years (TOS episode)
"The Deadly Years" is an episode of , first broadcast December 8, 1967 and repeated on August 16, 1968. It is episode #40, written by David P. Harmon, and directed by Joseph Pevney.
Quick Overview: Strange radiation exposes the command crew of the Enterprise to the effects of rapid aging.
On stardate 3478.2, the starship USS Enterprise, on her way to Starbase 10, makes a stop at the planet Gamma Hydra IV, to resupply the research station on the surface. A landing party, consisting of Captain Kirk, first officer Spock, ship surgeon Dr. McCoy, engineer Montgomery Scott, navigator Ensign Pavel Chekov, and Lieutenant Arlene Galway, beams down to the facility.
Once there, they find the station completely empty, and no personnel are seen. This is bizarre since Kirk spoke to the station's leader, Robert Johnson, an hour earlier. Exploring further, Lt. Chekov discovers the body of a man who apparently has died of old age. This is stranger still since none of the station's personnel were older than 30.
Suddenly Johnson appears with his wife Elaine. Both are in their late 20's, yet appear to have aged 50 more years. The landing team beams back to the Enterprise with Johnson and his wife. There are still no clues to what is going on, as the two soon die in sickbay. Dr. McCoy rules their cause of death as "extreme old age".
Commodore Stocker, (who is on his way to Starbase 10) wants some answers. Kirk has Mr. Spock and Dr. Janet Wallace (an old flame of Kirk's) assist in the investigation. The only theory Spock can give at this time is a strange cometlike object passed by Gamma Hydra IV quite recently. It may have emitted radiation that somehow caused the rapid aging effect, but how is not certain.
Soon the landing party begins to experience the rapid aging effect. Kirk begins to have memory loss and arthritis symptoms in his hands. His hair is turning grey and wrinkles are forming on his face. In fact, by McCoy's estimate, he's aging at the rate of 30 years per day. Soon all of the landing party, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and Lt. Galway are all showing signs of rapid aging. Lt. Chekov however, remains unaffected. But Lt. Galway ages more rapidly than the other members of the landing party, on account of her metabolism, and eventually dies.
As Kirk becomes senile, Commodore Stocker rules him unfit for command and takes over the ship. Stocker has no deep space training, but he believes he can command the ship nevertheless. He orders a fast, direct course to Starbase 10, ignoring the warnings that he will take the ship right through the Romulan neutral zone.
Meanwhile, Kirk, McCoy and Spock try to figure out why Chekov has not been affected. They remember Chekov displayed fear during the discovery of the dead body. McCoy surmises that Chekov's increased adrenaline levels at the time may have protected him in some way. He recalls research that showed adrenaline is a natural defense against certain kinds of radiation, but the research was abandoned when other artificial drugs were found more useful. Spock prepares an injection of adrenaline and tests it on Kirk. It seems to work in reversing the aging effect and Kirk's judgment returns well enough to resume command of the ship.
A Romulan ship detects the Enterprise's intrusion and races to intercept them bringing weapons to bear. Kirk heads to the bridge and relieves Stocker. The Romulans threaten to destroy the Enterprise, and Kirk explains that they passed into the Neutral Zone accidentally. The Romulans don't seem to care and close in for an attack.
Kirk however bluffs the Romulans, pointing out that the Enterprise is equipped with the Corbomite Device which will destroy the Enterprise and any ship within a 200,000 kilometer radius. The ruse seems to work and the Romulans back off. Kirk orders an immediate retreat at Warp 8 back to Federation space. With the help of the adrenaline injections, the rest of the landing party eventually revert to their normal age.
Trivia
The fan-created episode To Serve All My Days is a sequel to this episode. The script was written by D.C. Fontana and stars Walter Koenig as the rapidly-aging Chekov.
External links
- [The Deadly Years] at StarTrek.com
- #redirect
- [Five-Minute The Deadly Years] — Parody version
| Last produced: "Mirror, Mirror" | | Next produced: "I, Mudd" |
| Last transmitted: "Friday's Child" | Next transmitted: "Obsession" |
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.