Star Trek: The Next Generationseason 3, episode 15, “Yesterday’s Enterprise” remains one of the series' most highly acclaimed episodes, but there are some fascinating things many viewers may not know about this iconic story. “Yesterday’s Enterprise” begins like any other episode ofTNG, with the USS Enterprise-D encountering a seemingly inexplicable galactic phenomenon. Suddenly,the battle-damaged USS Enterprise-C emerges from a wormhole,and everything on the Enterprise-D changes. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) now sits on a darkly lit bridge and Lt. Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) stands at the tactical station.
Captain Picard then meets the injuredCaptain Rachel Garrett (Tricia O’Neil)of the USS Enterprise-C, informing her that she and her ship have journeyed 22 years into the future.The United Federation of Planets is now at war with the Klingons— a conflict even Captain Picard fears they will soon lose — which forces Garrett to make an impossible decision. With compelling guest stars and a fascinating glimpse into the history of ships named Enterprise, “Yesterday’s Enterprise” remains an incredibly memorable episode ofStar Trek: The Next Generationand more than earns its reputation. However, many pieces had to fall into place for “Yesterday’s Enterprise” to make it to the screen in the first place.
7"Yesterday’s Enterprise" Combined Two Different Star Trek: TNG Story Ideas
Tasha Yar Was Added To A Time Travel Story
InStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 3, the producers of the show began accepting scripts from outside writers. This policy led to the show receiving over 5,000 scripts in a year. One of those scripts, written by Trent Christopher Ganino, caught the eye of one ofTNG’sproducers.While this story included the USS Enterprise-C, it did not feature Tasha YarorGuinan (Whoopi Goldberg), and included an ensign who panicked after learning the fate of the Enterprise-C. Ganino later struck up a friendship withTNGpre-production associate Eric A. Stillwell, and the two began working on ideas for new stories.
They eventually pitched a story that involved Tasha Yar,as well as Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard), theVulcan father of Spock(Leonard Nimoy). In this story, a Vulcan science team accidentally altered the future by causing the death of Surak (Bruce Gray), the founder of Vulcan philosophy. This led to an alliance between the Vulcans and the Romulans, who then declared war on the Federation. The Klingons later replaced the Vulcan/Romulan alliance, and this idea was then combined with a time-traveling Enterprise-C to eventually become “Yesterday’s Enterprise.”
6"Yesterday’s Enterprise" Almost Involved Star Trek: TOS' Guardian Of Forever
One Version Of The Story Included Spock’s Father, Sarek
When working on the Sarek time travel story, Ganino and Stillwell wanted to incorporate elements from several classic episodes ofStar Trek: The Original Series,including"The City on the Edge of Forever"and “Mirror, Mirror.” The idea of an altered militaristic universe came from “Mirror, Mirror,” while the actualGuardian of Forever originally played a role in the time travel part of the story.The Vulcans were investigating the Guardian of Forever when they traveled to the past and inadvertently altered history their own history.
The Guardian of Forever returned inStar Trek: Discoveryseason 3, in the form of Carl (Paul Guilfoyle), who sent Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) back to the past.
According to the bookThe Making of Yesterday’s Enterpriseby Eric A. Stillwell,TNGseason 3 showrunner Michael Piller feared that theGuardian of Forever was too much of a gimmick, andhe wanted to stay away from too many references toTOS.This story idea also saw Sarek travel back in time to replace Surak, thus restoring the correct version of theStar Trektimeline. The idea of someone going into the past and replacing a historical figure was later used in the excellentStar Trek: Deep Space Ninetwo-parter, “Past Tense,“which saw Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) take the place of Gabriel Bell (John Lendale Bennett).
55 Writers Worked On Star Trek: TNG’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise” Script
Each Writer Wrote A Portion Of The Script
To accommodate the schedules of both Denise Crosby and Whoopi Goldberg, the production of “Yesterday’s Enterprise” had to be moved from January 1990 to December 1989.This meant the teleplay had to be written very quicklyover the Thanksgiving weekend of 1989. In order to accomplish this, the story was divided among four members ofStar Trek: The Next Generation’swriting staff — Ira Steven Behr, Hans Beimler, Richard Manning, andRonald D. Moore. According to an article published inStar Trek Magazine,Ira Steven Behr said the writers enjoyed the darker material in “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” even if they did have to work over a holiday weekend.
Every Star Trek Character Killed By Ron Moore
Ronald D. Moore sent many big-name Star Trek characters to their final frontier during his time on The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine…
Michael Piller reportedly polished the final scriptbefore production but was not included among the credits as the Writer’s Guild only allowed four names. Because of the rushed nature of the script,many of the writers feared the final episode wouldn’t work.Despite having five writers and being written so quickly, very little about “Yesterday’s Enterprise” feels disjointed or out of place. When it first aired, “Yesterday’s Enterprise” performed better in the ratings than any other episode inTNGseason 3.
Space Battles, New Ships, & Guest Stars Require Bigger Budgets
With an impressive guest cast, an entirely new Starship Enterprise, and a climactic final battle scene,“Yesterday’s Enterprise” required a larger budget than mostStar Trek: The Next Generationepisodes.Thankfully, the episode was due to air during the time period when Nielsen collected viewing data from households across the United States. Because this was an important time for television studios to do well in the ratings, Paramount Studios increased the budget for the episode.
This extra money gave the production team more leeway to create new sets and ship models for the USS Enterprise-C andcompletely redress the bridge of the Enterprise-D.Much of the budget was spent on crafting a model of the Enterprise-C and ensuring that the Warship Enterprise-D looked suitably different from its Prime Universe counterpart. Despite this increase in budget, some scenes during the final battle sequence had to be cut, partly for budgetary reasons and partly for time. “Yesterday’s Enterprise” was filmed in only seven days, from December 11th to December 19th, 1989.
Some of the expanded budget also went to hiring new guest actors, including Tricia O’Neil as Rachel Garrett and Christopher McDonald as Richard Castillo. Both actors wereStar Trekfans prior to being cast.
3USS Enterprise-C Model Built For “Yesterday’s Enterprise” Inspired Ships In Later Star Trek: TNG Episodes
The Ambassador-class USS Enterprise-C was designed to be the logical step between the Excelsior-class USS Enterprise-B and Galaxy-Class USS Enterprise-D.A small sketch of the ship had been done duringTNG’sfirst seasonas part of an image depicting thelineage of ships named Enterprise. However, illustrator Andrew Probert, who designed the Enterprise-D, had already left the show. Illustrator Rick Sternbach built on Probert’s original concept to create the final version of the Enterprise-C.
Due to time constraints, Sternbach simplified Probert’s original design so that the model could be constructed more quickly. Artist and model-makerGregory Jein then created the $10,000 shooting model of the battle-damaged Enterprise-C.The design model for the Enterprise-C was later modified to appear as various Ambassador-class starships in other episodes ofStar Trek: The Next Generation,including “Data’s Day.”
2"Yesterday’s Enterprise” Was Director David Carson’s 2nd Star Trek: TNG Episode
David Carson Directed Star Trek Generations
Director David Carson had only previously directed one episode ofStar Trek: The Next Generation —TNGseason 3, episode 7, “The Enemy.“Because of this,he had few preconceived notions about how “Yesterday’s Enterprise” should be shot.This likely allowed him more freedom, as he focused on emphasizing the darker, more militaristic nature of the alternate universe. From the lighting to the uniforms to the extra security, nearly everything about the warship Enterprise-D feels different from the normal one. Even Captain Picard appears much more exhausted and battle-hardened than he ever has before.
Every Star Trek Episode & Movie Directed By David Carson
Director David Carson helmed several acclaimed episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, DS9, and the feature film Star Trek Generations.
David Carson went on to direct two more episodes ofTNGand four episodes ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine,including the show’s feature-length premiere, “Emissary.” After proving his directing ability over the course of these eight episodes,Carson was chosen to helm the firstTNGfilm,Star Trek Generations.Generationswas the first of three feature films Carson would direct, followed byLetters from a Killerin 1998 andUnstoppablein 2004.
1Time Constraints Cut Several “Yesterday’s Enterprise” Scenes
Wesley & Data Almost Died Along With Riker
In the original teleplay for “Yesterday’s Enterprise,“several more USS Enterprise-D crew members met somewhat grisly untimely ends.The onlymainTNGcast memberwho died in the final episode was Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes). As the Enterprise-D fights off three Klingon battlecruisers, the ship takes heavy damage, and Riker is killed when his console explodes, prompting Picard to jump over the barrier and take over at the tactical station.
The original script featured an extended battle sequence (courtesy of Ronald D. Moore) that included scenes ofEnsign Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) having his head blown off and Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) being electrocuted.Time constraints or not, it’s likely some of these scenes would have pushed the limits of what the studio would have allowed anyway. Regardless, this more gruesome end to the Enterprise-D and its crew never made it on screen, but “Yesterday’s Enterprise” still remains one ofStar Trek: The Next Generation’smost memorable and lauded episodes.
