10 Star Trek Deleted Scenes You Must See

Nichelle Nichols began her career as a singer and dancer, having been discovered in the 1940s by none other than Duke Ellington. Nichols then toured with the jazz icon. As Uhura, Nichols regaled us with song in episodes of The Original Series such as Charlie X (damn you, Charlie, for cutting her off!), and The Changeling, to the stupefaction of the ruthless "mechanical beastie" Nomad. (Let’s not also forget her melodious humming on the Amusement Park Planet in The Animated Series episode Once Upon a Planet.) Moreover, when Nichols was planning to leave TOS after season one, it was to return to musical theatre.

The most noteworthy of Uhura/Nichols’ vocal performances comes during the episode The Conscience of the King. Whilst playing the Vulcan lute as accompaniment, Uhura sings 'Beyond Antares' over the ship’s intercom to a lonely Kevin Riley. The song was written for the episode, with music by Wilbur Hatch and lyrics by Gene L. Coon.

One of the absolute highlights of the footage found and released in The Roddenberry Vault is an alternate take of the Beyond Antares scene. The camera stays with Nichols in this version as she gives her masterclass performance, including an extra verse of the song. The full song had previously been released in 2012 on La La Land Records’ Star Trek: The Original Series Soundtrack Collection, but only the audio.

In another deleted scene from the season three episode Elaan of Troyius, shown in the Swept Up: Snippets from the Cutting Room Floor featurette of The Roddenberry Vault, Uhura asks Spock to teach her to play the Vulcan lute (lyre, lyrette, harp, if you prefer). This is a strange request given that she seemed to be rather adept at the instrument barely two years earlier.