Star Trek: 12 Best Alternate Reality Episodes

Yesterday's Enterprise has long been considered one of the essential episodes of Star Trek. Featuring not just the introduction of Enterprise-C, it also provides Tasha Yar with an ending befitting of her character - a trick that would be later used in Star Trek Picard to help give Data his final send off.

There is simply so much about the episode that works. A hardened Picard must lead his ship in wartime, dealing with the sudden appearance of their predecessors, while also staying battle ready. Gone are the relationships that are so common to The Next Generation. He and Riker are on much less civil terms, while the crew are soldiers, rather than explorers.

There is still a sense of wonder on show, wrapped up in 'there, but for the grace of God,'. The Enterprise-C should not be in their time, yet to send them back is to send them to their deaths. It is a moral quandry that the crew do not have time to dwell on - the Klingons are on their way.

While the episode boasts very impressive visuals, it almost looked quite different. Andrew Probert's original design for the Enterprise-C looked like more of a cross between the Excelsior and Galaxy class ships, while Mike Okuda's idea for the Klingon K'Vort cruisers looked like modern updates of the K'T'Inga class. Alas, budget.

It remains one of the strongest episodes of The Next Generation, an excellent example of solid writing, acting and direction all around.