Season 3, Episode 12 “The High Ground” of TNG features Dr. Beverly Crusher taken hostage by a warring faction on a planet. It’s a pretty interesting episode, all things considered, and even features somewhat rare action scenes for Captain Picard.
There are some politics in it, however, that refer to a unification pact in 2024 that remain controversial, some 30 years after the episode originally aired in 1990.
According to a 2007 BBC report, at the time the episode had “never been shown on terrestrial TV in UK or in the Republic of Ireland and initial airings on Sky One were edited”. Entertainment.ie corroborates assertions that the episode was rarely broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland, noting: “the BBC specifically pulled the episode on its first-run transmission in 1990,” and that RTE, the broadcast organization in Ireland “reportedly never screened the episode”, even by 2020.
A Classic ‘Star Trek: TNG’ Episode Was Banned Overseas | Heavy.com
The title of this post is a bit deceptive considering streaming and physical media options are available to see the original episode uncut. At least, I think it can be purchased regionally without the editing. Please use the comments to tell me differently.
On our recent vacation, we encountered a full-size sit down Star Trek Next Generation slot machine, pictured atop this post. It was one of the first slot machines we saw when we exited the plane at the Vegas airport. It was also at South Point casino, the first casino we visited on our trip. Tight machine for us, anyway. We didn’t really care for it.
Star Trek has always been a little political, similar to how the original Twilight Zone commented on current events but in a fantasy and sometimes science fiction setting. Also some of the technology displayed on early Star Trek has become a reality. It’s part of what makes the property endearing through time that it was forward looking.
No idea if Ireland will ever do what Data said happened in 2024, nor do I really want to get into those politics here — I’m just not that informed on the conflict to discuss it intelligently or openly — but do find this element of Trek storytelling compelling. Alternate reality stories can be very interesting, especially if/when they come true.
Some episodes of the original series were also edited notes the article. “The High Ground” isn’t one of my most favorite STNG episodes, it’s probably somewhere in the middle, but the first three seasons of TNG are my most favorite and most watched, other than a few episodes from seasons 4-7 (the Borg cliffhanger conclusion, of course!). I liked “Relics” featuring Scotty and “The First Duty” in season 5.
Do you have any favorite Star Trek Next Generation episodes that you rewatch periodically?
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