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The Alternative Factor
Production Number 20
Air Date (US) 1967-03-30
Season 1
DVD Disc No. 7
Rating
Watch Episode Trailer (.mov QuickTime format - 2.507 MB)  
 
Cast:
William Shatner as James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
DeForest Kelley as Leonard H. McCoy
Nichelle Nichols as Uhura

Guest Cast:
Robert Brown as Lazarus A and B
Janet MacLachien as Lt. Charlene Master
Richard Derr as Commodore Barstow

Creative Staff:
Director: Gerd Oswald
Written By: Don Ingalls
 
Description
While orbiting what should be a dead planet, the U.S.S. Enterprise experiences a moment of "nonexistence." Starfleet Command fears an enemy invasion and orders Kirk to find out what caused the stellar system disturbance.
On the planet below, Kirk finds a man called Lazarus, who tells Kirk that the effect was caused by his enemy. Lazarus has been chasing him with the aid of a time/space craft and wants the Enterprise's dilithium crystals to continue his search. The captain refuses.

When Kirk takes Lazarus aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, it becomes apparent that there is something strange about their visitor. He has incredible mood swings, one minute sane and rational, the next exhibiting violent rage. He also has a bloody head wound that disappears, then reappears moments later.

Lazarus manages to steal the ship's dilithium and return to the planet. Kirk follows and discovers that Lazarus is two people — one sane and one a madman, with one from an anti-matter universe. The sane Lazarus informs Kirk that the beings can only appear in either universe one at a time. Should both men be in the same place at the same time, both universes would be destroyed. Kirk helps the sane Lazarus trap his counterpart in an intermediate time corridor where they can hurt neither the matter nor anti-matter universe, but where the two will be trapped in fight until the end of time.
 
Trivia
Robert Brown (Lazarus) began work the same day he was hired because the actor previously cast in the role, John Barrymore, Jr., hadn't shown up! Brown later starred in Here Come The Brides with Star Trek alumni Mark Lenard ("Balance of Terror," "Journey to Babel") and David Soul ("The Apple").
The bubble-top of Lazarus' ship was later used as the dome over "The Gamesters Of Triskelion".
   

 

 


 

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