The thirteenth episode of the Original Series.
Synopsis[]
The episode begins with Commander Taggart bravely standing his ground against an alien army on the planet Peraxis 5, saving the life of his closest friend and advisor, Dr. Lazarus. As the smoke settles the episode takes a Rashomon-like turn with Dr. Lazarus, Commander Taggart, Lt. Madison, and Tech Sergeant Chen telling a court martial how they got engaged in battle with the aliens.
Behind the Scenes[]
This episode marks the first appearence of the Surface Pod in the series. The surface pod did not appear in the first few episodes because the cash-strapped studio simply couldnt afford to build the little ship for filming. That changed during when the Galactic: Ice Cream company offered to build hte pod in exchange for the rights to usse the design in a fleet of ice cream trucks. Not only did the show get a beautiful surface pod, but the cast and the crew got an unliminted supply of Galactic Ice Cream.
The full-sized surface pod prop was originally built as a large booster section, and a small cockpit module. Just before the first use the prop was trucked to the Vasquez Rocks, the filming location for Episode 13, a sudden fust of wind tore the entire booster booster from the flatbed, shattering it onto the roadside.
Only the cockpit remained, with no time or money to rebuild the wrecked section before filming the next day. Direct April Winter decided on the spot that the surface pod didnt need a booster. Instead declared the pod was equipped with a "Hyperpulse thruster system" that happened to be small enough to fit under the pilots chair.