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Re-Used Starship Interiors

by Jörg Hillebrand and Bernd Schneider

Enterprise Refit InteriorsOther Starship Interiors

Many sets used in Star Trek were later modified or even recycled without changes to represent a different starship or building. Here are several examples of starship sets. Please note that everything should be taken with a grain of salt. Certainly we are not supposed to watch closely enough to see that the interiors of two different starships look the same.

Enterprise Refit Interiors

Enterprise refit corridors

Several sets from the movie Enterprise were re-used for TNG to save costs. Most obviously the corridors of both ships are nearly identical.

Enterprise refit quarters

Kirk's quarters aboard the Enterprise was given a second life, belonging to Data or to Worf on the Enterprise-D.

The S.S. Tsiolkovsky quarters in TNG: "The Naked Now" too are a re-uses of the USS Enterprise quarters as seen in the first three Star Trek films.

Enterprise refit sickbay

Dr. Crusher's office was first seen in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" as Dr. McCoy's office on the USS Enterprise. The set was also seen in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan".

Wall parts of the sickbay were used for main engineering on the Enterprise-D.

Enterprise refit transporter room

The transporter room set of the movie Enterprise served the same purpose on the Enterprise-D. The original transporter room, as seen in the first three Star Trek films, was larger, since the transporter console was hidden in an alcove behind a protective transparent material. Before TNG started, the length of the set was shortened and the new double doors, which are much closer to the transporter platform, were added. This created enough space for the medical lab, which would double as several other sets in future episodes.

When the USS Enterprise-D transporter room had to be transformed into the USS Enterprise-A transporter room for "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" and "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", the wall behind the transporter console was removed and the alcove thus recreated and the transparent partition was put in place again. That way, the set could easily be transformed into a version that resembled the original transporter room more closely. The doors, however, were not changed back, so in the last two TOS films, the transporter room is entered through the TNG double doors.

Enterprise refit engineering

Major portions of the Enterprise refit engineering set served in the same function on the Enterprise-D.

Two consoles that include a wall piece with lighted holes can be seen many times since they first appeared on the Enterprise in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", in the section where Spock sacrificed his life. They reappear in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", now aboard the Klingon Bird-of-Prey Bounty. They are visible behind DaiMon Bok in TNG: "The Battle" and on several other alien ships, such as on the Batris in TNG: "Heart of Glory", on the Sanction in TNG: "Symbiosis", on the Pagh in TNG: "A Matter of Honor" and on the Mondor in TNG: "Samaritan Snare". The characteristic holes are missing in its later appearances.

Enterprise refit bridge

The bridge of the Enterprise refit was transformed into the battle bridge of the Enterprise-D for TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint". We can see that particularly the portions behind Kirk and Picard with the door are nearly identical. The set appears two more times as the battle bridge, in "The Arsenal of Freedom" and "The Best of Both Worlds II".

The bridge of the Stargazer in TNG: "The Battle" too is a redress of the Enterprise refit bridge. Some of the old LCARS graphics are still present in the TNG episode. The turbolift was taken over without changes.

The bridge set subsequently also serves as the courtroom in TNG: "The Measure of a Man".

The redressed bridge also appears as the geophysical lab in "Pen Pals", the Starbase 515 surgical suite in "Samaritan Snare", the tactical room in "The Emissary" and the USS Hathaway bridge in "Peak Performance".

The set then appears as the Sheliak bridge in TNG: "The Ensigns of Command" (where is is hardly noticeable) and the drafting room 6 in "Booby Trap". It can be seen briefly as a science station in "The Vengeance Factor" before it is redressed extensively to act as the bridge of the Enterprise-C in "Yesterday's Enterprise". The set also appears as the cybernetics lab when it is first seen in "The Offspring". After an appearance as a lab in the genome colony in TNG: "The Masterpiece Society" the set is returned to its original purpose, as the bridge of the USS Bozeman in TNG: "Cause and Effect".

Other Starship Interiors

Suspended animation chamber

The chambers of Khan and his people aboard the Botany Bay were later incorporated into McCoy's medical lab.

K't'inga class bridge

The bridge of the Klingon vessel from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was redressed to appear as the torpedo bay in "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan". While the latter room does not look immediately familiar and the floor levels are different, the ceiling and the diagonal pillars are essentially still the same. The Klingon viewscreen became the torpedo hatch.

Bird-of-Prey wall part

A structured wall part first seen in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" in the corridor of the Klingon Bird-of-Prey also appeared on Deneb IV in TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint", on Mordan IV in "Too Short a Season" and on the Batris in "Heart of Glory".

Excelsior crew bunks

The bunk beds on the USS Excelsior in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" reappeared in Worf's quarters in the prison compound on Carraya IV.

Enterprise-D engineering

As the engine room of the Enterprise-A appeared only briefly in "Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country", the set was not reconstructed for that purpose but the one of the Enterprise-D was used (that itself was created from the movie sickbay, see above). While it is overall fitting, the console right in front of Scotty has a distinct 24th century LCARS look though.

Enterprise-D Ten Forward

Likewise, the Ten Forward set was used as the UFP President's office in the same film.

Enterprise-D observation lounge

It looks like the observation lounge was redressed for the bar on Qualor II. At least the ceiling with the characteristic "lamp arc" is the same.

The redress of the set must have taken place at about the same time the set was being used as the dining room for "Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country". In the following the TNG set looked somewhat different. Most notably the golden ship reliefs were gone.

Defiant bridge

Unlike the rest of the Deep Space Nine sets, the bridge of the Defiant was not scrapped after the end of the shooting for the series in 1999, but was sawn apart and preserved in a warehouse. So it is not surprising that the set appeared once again in VOY: "Live Fast and Prosper" as the bridge of the "Delta Flyer", the vessel of the impostors. We can recognize that the basic structure of the walls is still the same, especially the sloped columns with the cut-outs for the lighting. The half-round pedestal underneath the captain's chair is identical too. The rear end of the set was completely rearranged, however, and overall the bridge was given a dirty and worn-out finish.

We could see almost the complete set once again in VOY: "Inside Man", here as the bridge of a Ferengi Marauder with green as the new dominating color. The aft end was covered with a simple painted wall panel, but once again the overall shape of the bridge, including the lighted columns is as it used to be on the Starfleet vessel. The ceiling with the central dome is still the same too. It also seems that the captain's chair is standing on a rounded pedestal.

Not the complete bridge but just the Defiant's doors could be seen on Harry Kim's "Nightingale" in VOY: "Nightingale", and also on the Klingon vessel in VOY: "Prophecy".

Finally, the Defiant's viewscreen appeared on the Vulcan survey ship in ENT: "Carbon Creek" and on the Xindi-Reptilian vessel, such as in ENT: "Countdown".

Defiant transporter room

The transporter room of the Defiant was slightly redressed for Smiley's Terran rebel raider (of Bajoran design) in DS9: "Through the Looking Glass". The side wall panels were swapped, and the lighting was modified to let the rebel transporter look different.

Benthan and Ramuran bridge

The bridges of the Benthan coaxial warp prototype in "Vis à Vis" and the Ramuran tracer ship in VOY: "Unforgettable" are the same set.

Round gate

A gate with a round cross-section and characteristic x-shaped struts outside the opening appears on the following occasions as a partial set: in the permanent set of the docking ring of Deep Space 9 (here two gates complete with doors), in the observatory on the "Weird Planet", on the Tsunkatse ship and on the bridge of a pirate ship in ENT: "Horizon".

See Also

Galleries - Starfleet Bridge Illustrations

Galleries - Enterprise-D Interiors

Galleries - Other Starfleet Ship Interiors

Credits

Some screen caps from TrekCore. Thanks to Marianne Ibbotson who spotted the 24th century console in "Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country", to Michael Zock for the hint about the TMP sickbay, to Francis Scofield for information about Kirk's quarters, to Ray Wil for the re-use of the observation lounge, to Ralph Spitzner for reminding me of the K't'inga bridge and of Ten Forward, to Liam who made me aware of the Defiant transporter re-use and to Michael Minnick for the Defiant viewscreen re-uses.



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