Our ongoing series reviewing audio adaptations of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror works. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.
By John J. Joex
Rating Spock vs. Q: 4 out of 5 Stars
Rating Spock vs. Q The Sequel: 3 ½ out of 5 Stars
Remember that legendary episode of Star Trek where two of the most iconic and beloved characters of the franchise, Spock and Q, squared off and matched wits? No? Then you probably don’t remember the sequel either, I’m assuming?
Okay, truth is, there never was an episode from one of the TV incarnations where the two met nor did they ever trade barbs on the big screen. But Leonard Nimoy playing Spock and John de Lancie playing Q did appear together in a Star Trek tale. Two such tales, as a matter of fact.
Back in 1999, an audio production from Alien Voices (a company started up by de Lancie dedicated to audio adaptations of science fiction works) came out called Spock vs. Q in which those two characters met and engaged in a verbal sparring match. And that one proved popular enough to generate a sequel where the two faced off once again. In both productions, the actors appear onstage (though not in costume or pointy ears) in front of a live audience as the legendary characters they are so closely associated with. The premise of the first installment has Spock having travelled back in time to the present day to warn the Earth people that an asteroid is on a collision course with the planet. Q shows up as well and chides Spock for violating the Prime Directive and tampering with the timeline. The sequel has Spock and Q mysteriously transported to that very asteroid where they also experience a change in personalities. They must then find a way to transfer back and change the asteroid’s course lest they and Earth will perish.
The premises of both these audio productions are flimsy at best, but that’s not much of an issue because they simply act as an excuse to bring the two characters together and see what sparks fly. And that’s where these two CDs succeed. The chemistry between the Nimoy and de Lancie is instant as they each slip right into their beloved and familiar characters and immediately begin to play off each other’s personalities. A note for Star Trek purists: this is played for laughs, which may draw the ire of those desiring a more serious team up of the two characters. But that’s not how things go here as Spock begins by berating the audience for their petty preoccupations and then Q shows up and de Lancie takes great delight in hamming up his famous role yet again. Of course they do throw in a bit of a Trek-style message at the end of each production, but that’s more just a way to wrap things up than any attempt to make any sort of statement with either of these two performances.
And that’s okay because both give us little more than a throwaway (and non-canonical) team up that still delivers plenty of fun for any and all Star Trek fans. The banter between Spock and Q is priceless and keeps both productions (each about an hour in length) moving along at a brisk pace and they deliver plenty of verbal nuggets as well as in jokes and asides that will slip past few Trek aficionados. Unfortunately, the script does not always match up to the talent of the two actors, and you would expect some wittier lines from these two galactically brilliant minds than some of the stale quips they are given. But more often than not the dialogue works or the actors add the needed snap to a potential clunker. The sequel is a bit of a letdown, because after the first installment you really want more of the same verbal sparring between these two characters. But the transfer of personality means that each now plays the other, which the actors have great fun with, but which does not quite satisfy those wanting more of what the first production had to offer.
One thing that this audio lacks is that it cannot fully convey the performances of the two actors. They may have been just standing at podiums and reading scripts, but their facial expressions and body movements are lost to the audio and you can tell by the reactions from the audience these definitely add more to the performance. And the set that I purchased had video with a few clips from the performance which made me want to watch the full thing that way. But perhaps a future release will have that. Still, I would highly recommend these, especially the first installment, to all Star Trek fans. It gives you a chance to see (make that hear) what a meeting between Spock and Q would be like and it gives the actors a opportunity to step away from the sometimes stuffy stories they had to deal with in the past and just have fun with the roles they know so well.
And just an additional note on the Alien Voices productions, Nimoy and de Lancie teamed up on several more audio releases such as that company’s adaptations of The Time Machine and Journey to the Center of the Earth. That company also did an adaptation of the Orson Wells version of War of the Worlds which teamed up Nimoy and de Lancie with other Star Trek veterans Brent Spinner, Gates McFadden, and Wil Wheaton. Several of these are no longer available on CD, but I believe you can download all of them from Audible.com.
Buy Spock Vs. Q from Amazon.com:
