Who Mourns for Adonais? (22 Sep. 1967)

A powerful being claiming to be the Greek god Apollo appears and demands that the crew of the Enterprise disembark onto his planet to worship him.

Director:

Marc Daniels

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (creator), Gilbert Ralston

Stars:

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Michael Forest	...	Apollo
Leslie Parrish	...	Carolyn Palamas
James Doohan	...	Scott
George Takei	...	Sulu
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
Walter Koenig	...	Chekov
John Winston	...	Lt. Kyle

Storyline

The Enterprise is stopped dead in its tracks by a powerful energy force that appears in the form of a human hand. Soon a being claiming to be Apollo orders Kirk and several others down to the planet below. Apollo claims to have visited Earth 5,000 years ago and Kirk theorizes that he may be telling the truth. Apollo's demand for unquestioned servitude however doesn't give the crew much choice and it becomes imperative that they locate and destroy his power supply.

---

Plot Keywords:

apollo | greek god | servitude | hand | greek mythology | 

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 September 1967 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Desilu Productions, Norway Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jon Voight was the first choice for Apollo.

---

Goofs

When Kirk tells Lieutenant Palamas to spurn Apollo, she has some kind of red mark on the side of her nose, like a scar or an indent from wearing glasses, yet in the next scene with Apollo it is gone completely.

---

Quotes

Capt. Kirk: [to Mr. Scott] Besides, you stiff-necked thistle head, you could have gotten yourself killed.

---

Connections

Referenced in Mannix: The Girl in the Frame (1968)

User Reviews

Did they really have to destroy Apollo?

Having just seen this episode again after having first seen it when I was a teenager my first impression is still the same today (4 August 2006) as it was back in the early seventies when ST (TOS) first reached the UK. I was really upset that they had to resort to destroying Apollo. I note that Dr McCoy was of the same opinion.

My version of the story would have had Kirk, instead of antagonising Apollo at every step, trying to befriend him somewhat and trying to dissuade Apollo (or perhaps re-educate would be a better word in the context of the episode). This may have worked after quite a lot of effort after all being in the position of thinking of oneself as a god is quite a height to be let down from. Eventually, of course, the storyline may have evolved so that re-education may not have worked for some reason, thus the course of action as followed in the ST episode could have been played out as seen.

On the other hand, perhaps the extra story I'm thinking of may have made the episode too long and would have had to have been excised to fit the time slot. Who knows?

I note that the actor who played Lt. Kyle in this episode also played Commander Kyle in The Wrath of Kahn.

Finally, When I saw this episode again tonight, I too noticed the line where Kirk says to Apollo "Mankind has no need for gods". However, if I were the writer, I would simply have left it at that. Enough said.