The Four Banned Star Trek: TOS Episodes in the UK

You may be looking for the 1985 article Star Trek: The Banned Episodes published in Beta-Niobe. 
For many years, the episodes "Miri," this episode was one the presidents of STAG had on loan, and in 1978, were able to show it in fans' homes during informal gatherings, see STAG #29 for more info "Plato's Stepchildren," "The Empath," and "Whom Gods Destroy" were banned in the UK. 
 Star Trek was considered a children's program and these episodes were deemed too intense for minors. The episodes' subject matter was also unacceptable "because they all [deal] most unpleasantly with the already unpleasant subjects of madness, torture, sadism and disease." from a letter from the BBC reprinted in the March 1976 issue of STAG 
==The Promise in 1974==
Three of the banned episodes were to have been shown at the first British Star Trek convention, something that was to have been one of its major draws. 
==A Taste in 1975==
According to a con report, "The Empath" was shown at the second British Star Trek convention, but only because an American fan "brought a copy over." from IDIC #12 
==Another Taste in 1976==
From a fan's con report: "Then came the event of the day - the showing of MIRI and THE EMPATH. Remember, this was pre-video, and pre-reruns, and these two prints had been purchased by Empathy at some expense. The episodes were punctuated with considerable cheering, and the atmosphere, watching STAR TREK for the first time with other fans, was quite unbelievable. from IDIC #3 
==Letter Writing Campaigns==
Fans were urged numerous times to write letters to television TPTB and ask for these episodes to be shown.
In January 1974, a fan urges others to write the television station. She urges fans to "be polite, but FIRM." from STAG #5 
From March 1976:
The STAG newsletter in June 1976 also included a reprint of an article from The Sun from 3 April 1976 called "The Little Band of Trekkers Make the BBC Toe Their Line" about the number of letters the BBC had received from Star Trek fan clubs in the UK -- the BBC estimate: 1300 letters since 1971, the fan clubs' estimate 3000-4000 letters since 1971.Some of these letters may not have been specifically about asking to see the banned episodes, but may have also been requests to have all the episodes shown in re-run again, as some fans had still not been able to view even all the "unbanned" episodes as of 1976.
In late 1977, another fan campaign was proposed:
In mid to late 1980, a fan petition was sent to the BBC:
==1984 Comments by Roddenberry==
These comments were made by Gene Roddenberry during an August 24th news conference in Newcastle, England where Roddenberry was asked about the controversial banning of these four episodes:
==Other Fan Reaction==
From December 1978: 
From a fan in February 1985: 
From a fan in early spring 1985: 
==Some of the BBC's Responses==
In June 1976, STAG #18 reprinted the letter the BBC sent out to fans in response to their letter campaign to have these that were banned in the UK shown. An excerpt: 
In August 1979, three fans reported receiving letters from the BBC in response to their inquiries about the four banned episodes. An excerpt from the BBC's response: 
==Shown at Cons==
Some of the four original banned episodes were shown at cons time to time. Two examples: in 1975, "The Empath" was shown at the second British Star Trek convention, but only because an American fan "brought a copy over." -- from IDIC #12 and in 1979, "Miri" was shown at Terracon.
The lure of these banned episodes created was huge and certainly made some con attendance greater. Con reports for these conventions often described the showing of these episodes as a highlight. One fan writes: 
==The VCR Starts to Become a Game Changer==
New technologies start to hint that fans in the UK may not always be dependent on the BBC and network television for what they want. A fan in 1980 writes:
The BBC screened Star Trek part of the year every year from 1969 onwards and ended it's run with "Operation Annihilate" shown as a left over in 1981. The series didn't return to BBC1 until 1984. In the meantime, CIC Video released 2 episodes on tape. "Miri" and "The Empath" were available as a rental tape but during that time most video stores didn't stock anything that had already been shown on tv including movies . When the show returned to the BBC in 1984 CIC capitalised on the ban by bringing out "Plato's Stepchildren" and "Whom Gods Destroy" on another rental tape. Not sure it did the series any favours as it made the viewer wonder whether the BBC had actually banned them for being embarrassing rubbish. It would be a few more years until CIC started to release the uncut episodes on VHS for £9.99 a tape
For more, see Other BBC Censorship.
==When the Episodes Were Finally Shown==
Miri was shown by the BBC in 1970 and it was the broadcast that brought in enough complaints for its teatime slot for the BBC then to vet all episodes. Miri wasn't aired by the BBC again until the early 90's.
Ironically The Empath was billed in the Radio Times just 2 weeks after Miri was aired in December 1970 - one wonders whether it would have been screened had they run the series in a different order - the BBC order for all the 70's screenings was haphazard to say the least with episodes from all 3 seasons mixed together.
All 4 of the banned episodes remained unshown until the early 90's.
When Sky One sub licenced the series from the BBC in 1990 they aired all episodes so Sky actually screened the 3 season 3 episodes for the first time ever in the UK.
At that point the BBC had repurchased the entire Star Trek canon including the first 3 seasons of TNG which they aired before TOS. So unfortunately when the BBC had to supply Sky with TOS for broadcast they were stuck with the same poorly edited versions that British viewers had been watching for 20 years complete with incompetent edits that looked like they were made by a primary school kid gone mad with scissors. 
The BBC didn't get new copies until they ran the show in 1992 but there were shortcomings there too ( but that's another story).
According to B.A. News #41, as of November 1990, The Empath hadn't been shown in the UK even though it was "credited in Radio Times."
According to another fan in 1990: "I joined Endeavour just as Sky had decided to show the original Trek episodes in the correct order including the banned episodes." from Robin Edmond's Convention Site 
==Banned Star Trek Episodes in Other Countries==
The season two episode Patterns of Force was first shown on German free TV in 2011.
==Other BBC Censorship Regarding Star Trek==
The four banned episodes were not the only evidence of the BBC's meddling with canon. 
The most reliable reference for which episodes the BBC edited was the run that started in 1984 as we all had VCR's by then.
The first season got through relatively unscathed . The only episode that seemed to be cut for violence was "The Man Trap" where the final confrontation with the salt vampire was badly edited with cuts to the attack on Mr Spock and all of the attack on Kirk which forced the BBC to edit more footage as it didn't make sense with just the attacks removed. Ironically viewers actually got to see more of that scene uncut several years before the BBC lifted the sanction as it played out in the "Leonard Nimoys Star Trek Memories" documentary which was aired on BBC2.
Cuts that seem to be purely for timing were made to "Court Martial" and "The Alternative Factor." I would also include "Arena." In the 1984 broadcast the episode began late and was going to run into the 6 o'clock news but the closing credits were faded out early - but the episode had a lot more missing than just gunpowder instructions. Most of the scenes showing the crew watching Kirk on the view screen were missing as well. 
"Return of the Archons" was also cut. Much of the "Red Hour" sequence was edited and it made the whole thing a complete mess. Just to louse it up entirely it appeared that the BBC's switching round the titles to the very start had affected the film print used. When it was aired in the early evening slot the film actually broke at the end of the teaser where the BBC had removed the credits from their proper place . There was a caption up for several minutes and when the episode restarted the BBC rather stupidly missed most of the Captains Log entry which explained the entire reason they were there in the first place so it made no sense. Further shots of the Red Hour orgy were removed completely. The BBC breakdown of this episode is available to watch on You Tube).
Contrary to the above "The Enemy Within" appeared to be uncut although that's not to say it wasn't edited when shown in the Saturday teatime slot. 
Season 2 had more episodes edited than season 1 but with the exception of "Patterns of Force" most of the cuts to other episodes seem to have been purely for timing although I guess the BBC thought the ritual for Kirk's recovery from the animal bite in "A Private Little War" was a tad too much.
It's actually easier to name the season 3 episodes that were not cut as most were and most cuts seemed to be purely for timing although anything hinted at as being intense like the torture in "The Cloud Minders" or the dying woman in "Lights of Zetar" were usually shortened. 
Many of the original screenings of season 3 were in a 45 minute slot instead of the usual 50 but these 45 minute versions prevailed into the mid 80's. "Mark of Gideon" was uncut as was "The Paradise Syndrome." One or two others might also have been but the majority were severely cut.
"And the Children Shall Lead" had several minutes cut in a single chunk so all of the scene in the cave where Kirk becomes anxious is removed even though its referred back to later in the episode -- more careless BBC incompetence there.
==UK Banned Episodes in Other Fandoms==
Star Trek wasn't the only show the UK originally banned.
===Starsky & Hutch===
For many years, the BBC refused to air six episodes of Starsky & Hutch.
They were "The Fix," "Savage Sunday," "Bloodbath," "Murder Ward," "Nightmare," and "Vendetta."
See The Banned Starsky & Hutch Episodes in the UK.
===The Professionals===
The Professionals episode "The Klansmen" was banned in the UK for its racial theme.
Klansmen remains unscreened on British tv . Apparently Granada + had scheduled the episode to be aired when they started repeats in the late 90's. A fan shot himself in the foot by inquiring whether the episode would be aired which brought it to the attention of Granada + who then removed the episode and never showed it.
===Star Trek: TNG===
The Star Trek: TNG episode "The High Ground" had a line censored, one that was finally restored when it was shown in the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in May 2007. The scene in question was one about the subject of terrorism and described Ireland as reunited in 2024. Broadcasters in Ireland and the UK refused to screen the episode back in the 1990s as being too sensitive and it was edited when shown on Sky One.
Regarding Star Trek: TNG: the November 1990 issue of B.A. News reported that: 
 
Actually the BBC only purchased the first 3 seasons of TNG. As usual, once a free to air channel had got audiences interested Sky stepped in and stole the series from season 4 onwards where it premiered on Sky One long before the BBC got to show it.
"The High Ground" was banned by the BBC but the main problem was "Conspiracy" which was always going to be a problem with the graphic shootout. That scene was cut to bits and even Sky One edited that episode for the teatime screenings.
===Quantum Leap===
A fan in October 1992 wrote of the BBC's refusal to air a Quantum Leap episode: 
==Further Reading==
* Non-Film Score Discussion: The BBC banned Star Trek TOS episodes, post and responses, July 2010/WebCite
* Star Trek: The Banned Episodes, an article by Stephen Bell, published in Beta-Niobe in February 1985
==References==
Category:Star Trek TOS Professional Works‏‎Category:Activism
Category:Star Trek TOS Events