THE GREAT MULLARD MAGIC BLOG — the cage

Well, here we are again with part two of this scintillating blog, and I thought I had better change the title as we are talking about an American sci-fi series so our teminology needs to reference tubes instead of valves - that's right innit? Anyhow, we were discussing the 1964 pilot episode of Star Trek TOS, The Cage and the valves therein..... so... where were they then ...... well, they were in the communicator. And as proof, here we see Mrs Roddenberry, complete with futuristic 23rd century blue nail varnish wielding her communicator whilst standing next to Captain Pike.  ...

Well, we have all heard the stories of good old valve powered Collins R390A being used in Operation Desert Storm but whoever would have thought that valves would still be used in frontline space exploration in the 23rd century???     No, I am not a time traveller, just a keen fan of Star Trek and although I prefer TNG, I have a lasting appreciation of TOS too and so, let’s go back to the very start with the pilot episode, The Cage. "The Cage" , set in the year 2254, was completed in early 1965 by Gene Roddenberry but not broadcast on...