Paramount Stage 16 Paramount Stage 16 is located on the Paramount Pictures lot in , and is the largest sound stage on the lot . Stage 16 was used in the production of and and was lovingly referred to as " Planet Hell " . One of the stage ' s usages was housing temporary swing sets . As such , Richard James dreaded episodes that were set largely on Stage 16 . " " The real killer episodes for us are the ones where the action takes place for the most part on the new sets – what we call the swing sets – those are built on Stage 16 , " " James explained . " " If we get an episode with only one or two days shooting in the permanent sets on [ Stages ] 8 and 9 , and five days of shooting in the new sets on 16 , the impact on us is just killer . It leaves us scrambling to get the new sets built on 16 for the next episode , because we can ' t start building those sets until we tear down the old ones . It ' s the kind of schedule I look at and say , ' Oh , no ! " " ( " " , pp . 64 - 65 ) Stage 16 is most known , however , for being the home of " Star Trek " s various cave sets . For the filming of TNG pilot episode in , Paramount Stage 16 was used to house the set of Q ' s courtroom . ( " Information from Larry Nemecek " ) Filming took place between Monday and Thursday . On Wednesday , Thursday 15 October 1987 , and Friday 16 October 1987 , Paramount Stage 16 housed the sets of Karnas ' office and the tunnel systems on Mordan IV for TNG Season 1 episode . On and 27 July 1990 , Paramount Stage 16 was used for filming the racquetball court scenes and the scenes of the Talarian ready room for the episode . On , the stage was used for the Dixon Hill office set for the episode . The cave set with the fountain was also created on this set in , for . ( " " , p . 212 ) In , Paramount Stage 16 was used for filming the scenes inside the Nottingham Castle for the episode . Following a day on location at Descanso Gardens , several reshoots and close - ups were required and filmed outside of Stage 16 . Also in , it was used as the interior set for the Rura Penthe scenes in . It was additionally used for several shots on the surface of El - Adrel IV in the episode . These scenes were filmed on . On Thursday , several close - ups of Jonathan Frakes for the episode were filmed outside of Stage 16 . Primary location photography for this episode was filmed on location at the Golden Oak Ranch . In , Terry Farrell went to Stage 16 to visit her friend Marina Sirtis after her auditions for the part of Jadzia Dax were finished , then Farrell got a message from Rick Berman to come to his office and got the part . ( DS9 Season 1 DVD special feature " Section 31 - Hidden File 06 " ) In , an artificial cliff was built on Stage 16 for . ( " Starlog Science - Fiction Explorer " , issue # 8 ) That same year , Stage 16 housed at least two sets for : specifically , the interiors of both an illusory barn and a section of the Caretaker ' s array wherein the crew are suspended . ( ) In , Stage 16 was used for the set of the drawing room from Janeway ' s Gothic holonovel , in a scene produced for but included in . ( " " , p . 19 ) For the second season episode , Stage 16 housed the marketplace and surrounding alley sets . The scenes were filmed on Friday and Monday . For the third season episode , Stage 16 housed the sets of the Ilari Imperial Hall , the shuttle interior , the prison cell , and the Paxau Resort holoprogram . In , Stage 16 housed the interior sets of the Reman Warbird " Scimitar " for the production of . " Star Trek " production returned to Stage 16 in , where greenscreen footage for the premiere episode of , , was filmed . ( )