One of the most controversial episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation aired 36 years ago today. Star Trek has always been political (albeit sometimes with pretty mixed messages). That was according to Gene Roddenberry’s dream, because he hoped to present a vision of a utopian future where the human race had evolved beyond things like materialism, prejudice, and hatred.
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On January 29, 1990, Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, episode 12 went a little too far for the U.K. “The High Ground” was something of an unusual and intense story, in which a crew member of the USS Enterprise was kidnapped by a group of terrorists who hoped the Federation could win concessions for their cause. Writer Melinda Snodgrass originally intended this to riff on the American Revolution, with Picard forced to realize he was on the wrong side of the battle, but a rewrite caused problems for Star Trek.
The High Ground Became All About Irish Reunification
“The High Ground” shifted to a different approach, paralleling the campaign for Irish reunification (against Snodgrass’ wishes). These parallels were largely implicit, with the exception of one scene in which Data called them out and compared the current crisis to the Irish struggles, revealing that Ireland reunified in 2024 in the Star Trek timeline. At that time, episodes of US TV shows sometimes aired years later in the U.K., but this one was passed on because of the Irish Troubles. The episode wasn’t broadcast on the BBC or Irish public broadcaster RTÉ.
British viewers didn’t get their chance to see “The High Ground” until 1992, when satellite broadcaster Sky cut the key scene. Speaking to the BBC some years later, Snodgrass insisted the themes were quite deliberate. “I was a history major before I went to law school and I wanted to get into that; discuss the fact that one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist,” she explained. “I mean, these are complicated issues. And when do people feel like their back is so much against the wall that they have no choice but to turn to violence? And is that actually ever justified?”
The Irish Troubles came to an end in 1998 after the passing of the Good Friday Agreement. In spite of that, “The High Ground” was still considered too sensitive to be aired; it wouldn’t be shown on the BBC until 29 September 2007. Curiously, no historical records exist about the decision not to air the episode in the early ’90s, and nobody has been able to say who made the fateful choice. One thing’s for sure, though; in the real world, history has gone in a very different direction.
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