Starship Nomadic, Northern Ireland STARSHIP NOMADICA NORTHERN IRELAND STAR TREK FAN GROUP
TOS · SEASON 11×28

The City on the Edge of Forever

NOMADIC PICK · ESSENTIAL VIEWINGWidely ranked the series' finest hour.
FIRST SHOWN (US)
6 April 1967
ON
NBC
STARDATE
None given
DIRECTED BY
Joseph Pevney
PRODUCTION NO.
28

WRITTEN BYWritten by Harlan Ellison

IN BRIEF

SPOILER-FREE

A delirious McCoy leaps through a time portal and changes history. To put it right, Kirk and Spock follow him to Depression-era New York, where Kirk meets a remarkable woman.

SYNOPSIS

SPOILERS
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSISHIDE SYNOPSIS

After an accidental overdose of the drug cordrazine, a delirious McCoy beams down to a planet and runs through the Guardian of Forever, a portal into Earth's past. The Enterprise vanishes: history has been changed. Kirk and Spock follow him to New York in the early 1930s and take shelter at a mission run by Edith Keeler, a warm and idealistic social worker with a vision of the future. Kirk falls in love with her. Using primitive equipment, Spock discovers the terrible truth. McCoy saved Edith from dying in a street accident, and she went on to lead a peace movement that delayed America's entry into the Second World War, allowing Nazi Germany to win. Edith must die as history intended. When McCoy finally arrives, Kirk holds him back as Edith is struck by a lorry. History is restored, and the three return home, Kirk heartbroken.

DID YOU KNOW?

  1. 01Won the 1968 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. Ellison's original script also won a Writers Guild of America award.
  2. 02Ellison's script was heavily rewritten by others, including D.C. Fontana and Gene Roddenberry, but he kept the sole on-screen credit.
  3. 03At $245,316 it was the most expensive episode of the first season, well over its budget.
SOURCES WE CHECKED