Star Trek Magazine – July 2019

D

orothy“D.C.”Fontanawasinthe

privilegedpositionofbeinginvolvedwith

GeneRoddenberry’sStarTrekfromthe

verybeginning,as a secretary,scriptwriter,

andstoryeditor.Shehelpedshapesome

fundamentalaspectsoftheuniverseofStar

Tr e k, notleastthecharacterofSpock–

recentlydevelopedevenfurtherinthesecond

seasonofStarTrek:Discovery.

FontanacametoStarTrekthroughwriting

televisionwesterns– includingSamuelA.

Peeples’The TallMan– whileworkingas a

productionsecretary.It wasinthiscapacity

thatshebeganworkingforRoddenberry

onStarTrek, butit wasn’tlongbeforeher

ambitiontowritecametothefore.Fontana

is oneof thefewremainingpeoplefromthose

earlydayswho’sstillaround,sowhenthe

opportunityarosetotalktothis“livinglegend”

• asDiscoveryandStarTrek:Picardwriter
  KirstenBeyerputit ina profile of Fontanain
  StarTrekMagazine#69– wecouldn’tresist.

StarTrekMagazine: Youwereoneofa

handfulofwomenmakinginroadsinto

televisionscriptwritinginthe1960s,and

youwerewithStarTrekfromthestart.

D.C.Fontana:Yes,andbecauseI hadbeen

withit fromthebeginning,I waswellaware

ofallitsaspectsandstorypossibilities.When

I requestedit,Roddenberrygavemethe

assignmenttoadapthisstory,“CharlieX”

[thesecondepisodeofSeason1],intoa script.

BecauseI wasworkingonshows,instudios,I

hada verygood“in,”andI tookadvantage.If

I hadbeenanoutsidewriter,tryingtogetin,

it wouldhavebeenharder.

WhatroledidGeneRoddenberryplayin

helpingyourealizeyourambitions?

Genegavemethesamekindofopportunities

as SamPeeplesdid.I wasontheshowevery

day,readingeveryscriptthatcameinfrom

freelancewriters,andthoseRoddenberrydid.

I knewit intimately.GeneknewI hadalready

soldmaterialtotelevision,soheallowedme

towriteforStarTrek. After“CharlieX,”I

wrotescriptsfromstoriesI cameupwith,or

rewritesI wasassignedbyRoddenberrytodo.

HowdidhumorousSeason1 timetravel

tale“Tomorrowis Yesterday”comeabout?

I hadthoughtofa sortof“returnto

yesterday”story,butI wasspurredto

“Tomorrowis Yesterday”bysomelinesin

JohnD.F. Black’sscript“The NakedTime.”

Therewasa briefreferencetotimetravel,as

I recall;I pickeduponit andranwithit.I

thoughtit wouldbea lotoffuntohavea

contemporarypilotthrustsuddenlyintoa

futurehecouldn’tevenbegintoimagine.

Thenhehastoliveinthatworldfora bitand

notonlyfigureit out,butfigureouthowto

returntohistimeonEarth.

Searching

for Spock

It’s safe to say that without original series writer and story editor

D. C. Fontana, Spock wouldn’t be the fully rounded character we

have come to appreciate across multiple television series and

movies. With the Vulcan’s starring role in Star Trek: Discovery

Season 2 still fresh in memories, Star Trek Magazine quizzed

D. C. Fontana about her early years on Trek, her deep

character development of Spock, and the possibilities

of Star Trek: The Animated Series.

WORDS: BRIAN J. ROBB

D. C. FONTANA