A Star Trek episode that made reference to an ‘Irish unification in 2024’ is still banned in Ireland.
The High Ground, the twelfth episode of the third series, debuted in 1990 and tells the story of a terrorist group holding a member of the USS Enterprise-D crew captive in order to achieve their goals.
However, because of a contentious scene where Brent Spiner’s android character Data uses the ‘Irish unification in 2024’ as an example of a political goal attained by bloodshed, the episode has only been aired once in Ireland in the 34 years since it was released.
So great was the concern over the line’s possible ramifications that the episode, which was first broadcast in the US, was neither shown on the BBC nor Ireland’s RTV network.
A redacted version was aired on Sky without the sensitive line in 1992.
The High Ground was finally broadcast on the BBC on September 29, 2007, in what is thought to be its only transmission.
Apart from Irish unification, Data gives two other examples of violence successfully achieving a political cause: Mexico’s independence from Spain and the Kenzie rebellion (an event in the Star Trek universe).
The decision not to air the episode in 1990 reflects the febrile political situation at the time, during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, amid terrorist threats from the Provisional IRA, which had stated its aim to liberate the region from British rule.
After more than thirty years, Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, has its leader in Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill, who was elected as the country’s first republican First Minister.
After a two-year break, power-sharing was resumed last month under the devolved administration, Stormont.
The Star Trek episode’s writer, Melinda M. Snodgrass, said that the narrative was intentionally modelled by the circumstances in Northern Ireland during the 1990s.
She said that she wanted to explore the idea that ‘one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist’.
The first season of Star Trek debuted on television in 1966 and lasted for two years.
It returned for a second series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, which aired between 1987 and 1994.
The BBC said it was unable to ascertain exactly why a ban was implemented, given that it ‘dates far back’.
With Great Britain the way that it is now, I wish I could boldly go where no one’s gone before.
It was not intended to be taken literally, which is why it is termed science fiction.
Star Trek has clever and well-planned plots, and it’s excellent that the programme was able to address delicate subjects by using space and distant civilizations as a lens.
Shows like Star Trek won’t be able to be as progressive today or in the near future because of this cancel culture. Unfortunately, some people become outraged if the situation mentioned occurs too close to reality. This is life now, but not as we knew it. Wait till people are told that Star Trek is science fiction; there will be an uproar.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 