Where No One Has Gone Before

The original story for "Where No One Has Gone Before" was developed before the start of Star Trek: The Next Generation, with Michael Reaves and Diane Duane invited to pitch story ideas.[2] Duane did not belong to the Writers Guild of America (a requirement to write for the show at the time), and doubted she would be asked to write a script.[3] Duane and Reaves worked together on several ideas; after a week, Reaves informed Duane that he developed an idea based on her 1983 Star Trek novel The Wounded Sky and asked her to collaborate with him.[3] She worked on the story idea with Reaves, and they expanded the story slightly from Reaves' original idea.[3] One version of the script involved the Enterprise causing the birth of a new universe, with a play on the Genesis creation narrative.[4]

They pitched the story to story editor David Gerrold, who brought them to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Gene favored the story idea, suggesting changes, which Reaves and Duane incorporated into a second draft.[3] The episode was now entitled "Where None Have Gone Before", differing significantly from the final version:[5] Kosinski was a roommate of Picard's at Starfleet Academy, and instead of the Traveler, the ship's extreme propulsion was provided by a "warpdrive booster" with a miniature black hole. The resolution of the plot involved imagining a duplicate miniature Enterprise, and the interaction between the black holes on the two ships' propulsion units.[5] After Duane and Reaves turned in the first version of the script based on that premise, nothing was heard from the TNG staff for two weeks.[3]

The script was given to Maurice Hurley to rewrite.[3][4] He took six weeks for the rewrite, and his initial version was received poorly by TNG executives. Hurley later said, "they absolutely hated it, I think they wanted to fire me, and they would have if I didn't have a guaranteed contract".[1] He rewrote the script, and this version was filmed. Hurley was pleased with the result, saying that "everything about that episode worked".[1] The final version differed significantly from the original Reaves-Duane script; Duane later said that only two scenes remained: where Picard sees his mother, and where he nearly falls out of the turbolift into space.[3] Reaves later said that the episode "came together much better on the screen than we thought it would when we read the script. We were lucky, because it was out of our hands".[1]

Director Rob Bowman (seen here in 2012) made his Star Trek debut with "Where No One Has Gone Before"

Donald Petrie was originally signed to direct the episode, but dropped out to direct the film Mystic Pizza. Executive producer Robert Justman brought in Rob Bowman to direct his first Star Trek episode. Justman later said that this was one of his most significant achievements on The Next Generation.[4] Bowman worked on storyboards and set blocking for 20 days before shooting the episode.[4] He was initially nervous about working on the show, and felt he had to prove himself because of his relative inexperience as a director.[1] Bowman said that after the second day of filming, it became easier, and credited the crew with making him feel welcome.[6] He went on to direct twelve more episodes of The Next Generation.[7]

Eric Menyuk was cast as the Traveler. The actor had previously been runner-up for the role of Data several weeks earlier[4] (the role went to Brent Spiner).[8] He was a Star Trek fan since age six,[4] and would later return as the Traveler twice more: in "Remember Me" and "Journey's End".[9] Menyuk's return in "Journey's End" would also mark the last on-screen appearance of Wesley Crusher.[10] Biff Yeager made his Next Generation debut in "Where No One Has Gone Before" as Chief Engineer Argyle, who would become the most frequently appearing chief engineer of the first season (appearing twice).[9][11] Geordi La Forge took over that role in the first episode of season two, "The Child".[12] Stuntman "Dangerous" Dennis Madalone also made his series debut as the science division crewman threatened by his own (imagined) fire.[13] From season three onwards he was stunt coordinator for The Next Generation, and continued to portray a number of crew members.[9] Viewers learned Picard's mother's first name in "Chain of Command"; she was played in "Where No One Has Gone Before" by Herta Ware, who appeared in the 1985 science-fiction film Cocoon.[9]

Some effects in the episode were created in Robert Legato's basement with water reflections and Christmas tree lights. The script was vague about what was seen at the end of the universe, so Legato played with the effects of water reflections on his basement wall. Shooting through BoPET film, he created multiple images that were layered over one another for the final effect (which Legato described as "peculiar and bizarre").[9] Christmas tree lights were suspended and moved, to create the blinking effect seen on screen.[9]

The Klingon Targ was created by dressing a tamed wild boar (named Emmy Lou) in an outfit created by costume designer William Ware Theiss. Executive producer Robert Justman later recalled, "That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!"[9] To appear as the Traveler, Eric Menyuk wore a prosthetic piece (created by Michael Westmore) on his forehead, which ran into his hairline. He also wore a pair of false three-fingered hands,[8] which were sold in the "It's A Wrap!" auction after the end of Star Trek: Enterprise.[14] His Traveler costume was also sold at the auction.[15]

"Where No One Has Gone Before" was the second episode scored by Ron Jones.[16] Some themes in the soundtrack were rearrangements of Jerry Goldsmith's score from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In the piece "Talk with Mom" (played during Picard's meeting with his mother), Jones tried to create an effect identical to the finale of Aaron Copland's 1944 Appalachian Spring. Alexander Courage's themes from The Original Series are included in a seven-note ostinato in the pieces "Log", "Visitors", and "Fly-By".[16]

The score was recorded with a 40-piece orchestra. Jones formatted the orchestra to generate a bigger sound than normally heard on television soundtracks to make it sound more like Goldsmith's The Motion Picture score. Keyboards were used to make the cellos more prominent, and other changes included an increase in the midrange of the string section.[16] The soundtrack to "Where No One Has Gone Before" was released (as part of The Ron Jones Project box set of Star Trek: The Next Generation scores) in a limited run of 5,000 copies in 2010 by Film Score Monthly.[16]