Lieutenant John Farrell was a male Human Starfleet officer in the 23rd century. He served in the command division aboard the USS Enterprise in 2266 under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, during a historic five-year mission that the starship undertook.
When a group of three beautiful women were rescued from a doomed cargo vessel, Farrell was one of a number of male crewmembers who fell under the influence of their charm. When Harry Mudd, a criminal who was attempting to wive the women, hatched a plot to supply the women to three lithium miners on planet Rigel XII in exchange for his own freedom, Magda, one of the women, manipulated Farrell into supplying her with a communicator and the frequency with which Mudd could contact the miners. He informed her that their names were Ben Childress, Gossett, and Benton, and that the head miner was Childress. (TOS: "Mudd's Women")
In the final draft script of "Mudd's Women", Farrell was established as also having told Kovacs that he wanted to grow a mustache. The script additionally made it clear that he had given her a communicator which, in the episode, Mudd is shown when he uses it, without permission, to contact Rigel XII. In an ultimately unused line of dialogue from the same script, Kovacs remarked about the man, "I hope he doesn't get in trouble... he's really very sweet."
Farrell was on duty at the navigator's station later that year, when an animalistic duplicate of Captain Kirk attempted to take command of the Enterprise and strand a number of crewmembers on the surface of a freezing planet and Farrell nearly believed the lie that the freezing crewmembers cannot be saved. When the other version of Kirk arrived on the bridge, Farrell expressed confusion as to which one of them was actually the captain, until science officer Spock made it clear that the one in command was not to be trusted. (TOS: "The Enemy Within")
Farrell was manning the communications station when Kirk and others became stranded on the surface of a planet which had been devastated by a plague. He supplied the landing party with critical computer information regarding calculations being performed in an attempt to find a cure. (TOS: "Miri")
Communications officers of the starships Enterprise | |||
---|---|---|---|
Enterprise NX-01: | Sato • Unnamed | ||
USS Enterprise: | Alden • Christina • Farrell • Garison • Lisa M'Ress • Nicola • Palmer • Shankar • Uhura • Zuniga | ||
USS Enterprise-A: | Uhura | ||
USS Enterprise-B: | Unnamed | ||
USS Enterprise-D: | Pendleton | ||
USS Enterprise-G: | Esmar | ||
ISS Enterprise NX-01: | Sato | ||
ISS Enterprise NCC-1701: | Uhura | ||
USS Enterprise: | Hawkins • Uhura • Hannity • Brackett | ||
USS Enterprise-A: | Uhura | ||
UEF Enterprise: | Uhura |
Appendices
Appearances[]
- TOS:
- "Mudd's Women" (TOS Season 1)
- "The Enemy Within"
- "Miri"
Background information[]
Farrell was played by actor Jim Goodwin.
Farrell was originally conceived as a navigator to replace Dave Bailey, who appeared only in "The Corbomite Maneuver". Although Bailey was initially to have been in "Mudd's Women" prior to the character of Farrell being created, Gene Roddenberry – in a memo to John D.F. Black (dated 19 May 1966) – inspired the invention of the Farrell character by proposing, "Since we have no way of knowing which show will air first, it is probably best we play safe with another Navigator under another name."
In the final draft script of "Mudd's Women" (dated 26 May 1966), Farrell had the first name "Jim" (Sulu, at one point, referred to him as "James-o" rather than, as he does in the episode, calling him "Johnny-o"). The same script also described Farrell as "a super-conscious twenty-eight-year-old... red-haired, one of those people who fight to put out 100 percent all the time... which is too much sometimes." The fact he was referred to as twenty-eight at the time of the installment suggests he was born in 2238. In an ultimately unused line of dialogue later in the script, Farrell himself alluded to having a girlfriend, saying, "I've got a girl back in..." though he didn't complete the sentence.
In the final draft and revised final draft script of "The Enemy Within", Farrell was placed in temporary command of the Enterprise by Spock, who left to answer a call for help from Geological Technician Fisher.
For his appearance as Farrell in "The Enemy Within", Jim Goodwin was assigned to work only a day, which was 15 June 1966.
Farrell was originally intended to appear in more episodes than he finally did. The character was originally in "The Naked Time" and "Charlie X". However, both times, he was deleted from the final draft script. In "The Naked Time", he was replaced by Lieutenant Kevin Riley, played by Bruce Hyde. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One)
Conversely, Farrell's part in "Miri" was, in the episode's final draft script, written for Uhura.
External links[]
- John Farrell at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works