The Starship Enterprise - everyone knows it. Affectionately referred to as the "classic series" these days, the old Star Trek series from 1966 is the cornerstone of something a lot of fans would call the greatest space saga ever, which would go on to be followed by several more TV series and feature films. This success could not have been imagined when the series was first broadcast. Produced under the tightest budgets and schedules, the ratings always left room for improvement. Only the massive commitment of the fan base, which was already loyal at the time, made it possible for the series to make it to 3 seasons. Then NBC pulled the plug and Star Trek seemed dead.

In the early 1970's, the series was sold to so-called "syndicated" stations, smaller, local stations that broadcast Star Trek on the best slots and sparked an enthusiasm for the series that would later lead to the production of the feature films. And yet another station bought into the series - ZDF. A bold move for a public broadcaster of the time, but not too bold either: German viewers got to see only 26 selected episodes, and in 1973 another 13 of the total 79 episodes. Unfortunately, ZDF did not acquire the original NBC versions, but the syndicated versions, in which numerous episodes had been cut in favor of commercial time. Therefore, we're discussing those in our archive.

"The Enemy Within" is a so-called "bottle-show", episodes that take place almost exclusively on board the Enterprise and make do with few guest stars, effects or sets. They serve to compensate for more expensive episodes, and especially in the Star Trek series, it is often these "bottle-shows" that shine with particularly successful character portrayals and plots. In the case of "The Enemy Within", it is the first of many episodes in which Kirk appears in two versions. The division into the good Kirk - gentle, hesitant and sensitive - and the evil Kirk - violent, deceitful, radical - is well worked out in itself. But the episode hardly generates any real suspense, especially since it has to deal with a major plot weakness (keyword: space shuttle) and is also exposed to William Shatner's overacting.

There are about 47 seconds missing due to 3 cuts.

4:17
A shot of the Enterprise and Planet Alpha 177 is missing.
10 sec

31:45
McCoy and the good Kirk talk even longer about the differently distributed traits. Spock's intercom signal can only be heard for a split second in the German version.
McCoy: "The intelligence, the logic, it appears your half has most of that. And perhaps that's where man's essential courage comes from. For you see, he was afraid. And you weren't."
17 sec

47:11
At the end of the episode, more shots of the Enterprise are missing.
20 sec