Where No One Has Gone Before

Next Generation Episode #6

Written by Diane Duane and Michael Reaves. Directed by Rob Bowman.

Stardate: 41263.1 First aired: 26 October 1987

Propulsion expert Kosinski arrives on the Enterprise with a mysterious alien assistant, from Tau Ceti C, to test the ship's warp engines. They run a new procedure, break the Warp Ten boundary and end up two galaxies and 300 years from home. The crew hallucinate - Picard talks to his dead mother. They are in a region of space where imagination is as real as matter. Wesley notices that the presence of the mysterious alien, the Traveler, is somehow responsible for the huge speed, and gets him to return them home. Before he fades away, the Traveler tells Picard that Wesley has great potential, but must be allowed to develop. Picard promotes Wesley to 'Acting Ensign'. This was the first appearance of the Traveler, who would be seen again in "Remember Me" (TNG) and "Journey's End" (TNG).

Guest Cast

Charles Dayton as "Crewman", Victoria Dillard as "Ballerina", Stanley Kamel as "Kosinski", Eric Menyuk as "Traveler", Herta Ware as "Picard's Mother", Biff Yeager as "Argyle".

Trivia

• Eric Menyuk was second choice to play Data. A rumour that's persisted - despite being contradicted by some sources - is that Patrick Stewart was originally called in to audition as the android (for a long time, Gene Roddenberry had his heart set on Stephen Macht from Cagny and Lacey as 'Julien' Picard, the captain).

• The concept for the story resembles Diane Duane's Star Trek novel The Wounded Sky. Maurice Hurley extensively rewrote the script, which presented quite a special effects challenge for new director Rob Bowman.

• The Chief Engineer is Argyle in this episode.

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