The Enterprise's First Captain Appeared In A Star Trek Episode You Probably Never Saw

The trivia is well-known to Trekkies: Back in 1964, when Gene Roddenberry was still formulating his "Star Trek" proposal for CBS, he initially wrote down that the series would take place on the U.S.S. Yorktown, a spaceship commanded by a character named Captain Robert April. Through further tinkering and development, though, Roddenberry changed the captain character to Captain Christopher Pike, and the vessel was renamed the U.S.S. Enterprise. Pike, as portrayed by Jeffrey Hunter, would go on to make his first appearance in the original 1966 "Star Trek" TV series pilot, "The Cage."

Of course, even Captain Pike was re-jiggered after "The Cage," and "Star Trek" was re-imagined with James T. Kirk (William Shatner) captaining the Enterprise. The only character carried over from "The Cage" was Spock (Leonard Nimoy). The new pilot, titled "Where No Man Has Gone Before," first aired on September 22, 1966.

Rather than just ignore the events of "The Cage," though, the "Star Trek" writers ended up incorporating it into the franchise's official canon. The two-part episode "The Menagerie" establishes that Captain Pike (who's seen in flashbacks) was the captain of the Enterprise before he was injured on the job and Kirk took over.

Of course, deep-cut Trekkies still recalled Robert April from Roddenberry's original proposal and decided to ret-con the name the same way that Pike's was. In various fan-authored sourcebooks, it's stated that Robert April was, in "Star Trek" canon, the captain of the Enterprise prior to Pike. This concept was finally canonized in a 1974 episode of "Star Trek: The Animated Series" titled "The Counter-Clock Incident." There, Robert April (James Doohan) was seen on screen for the first time.

The name "Robert April," incidentally, was one Roddenberry merely re-used from a script he wrote for the Western "Have Gun — Will Travel." Why he decided on the name "Chris Pike" can only be speculated; perhaps he felt it had more "oomph."

"The Counter-Clock Incident" was the final episode of "Star Trek: The Animates Series." The episode follows the U.S.S. Enterprise as it floats into a portion of space where time flows in reverse. Robert April is on board the vessel at the time, now elderly, holding the rank of Commodore, and enjoying his lengthy marriage to his beloved wife Sarah (Nichelle Nichols). He's being forced into retirement, something he very much resents yet is learning to accept.  

Because April is so old, however, he's specially equipped to operate the Enterprise in a dimension where time is reversed. As all the other Enterprise crew members de-age into children and then into babies, April, still only a young man, is able to use both his youth and his experience to pilot the Enterprise and return it to normal space. 

Robert and Sarah then use the transporters to restore the baby Kirk and the baby Spock back to their adult selves. In a grand disappointment, Robert and Sarah also decide to become elderly again. I don't know about you, but I would happily remain in my younger body. At the very least, April is no longer required to retire. He still, as we see, has it in him. 

An amusing piece of trivia: Denise and Michael Okuda's sourcebook "The Star Trek Encyclopedia" contains a photo of Robert April, and it's not the animated version seen above. Rather, it's a manipulated photo of Gene Roddenberry himself.

For decades, "The Counter-Clock Incident" was the only canonical appearance of Robert April. Then, in 2022, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" debuted, and the character returned. "Strange New Worlds" takes place after the events of "The Cage" but before the events of "Where No Man Has Gone Before," with Pike still serving as the Enterprise's captain. In "Star Trek" chronology, that's about five years. Anson Mount plays Pike on the show, with Ethan Peck portraying Spock. Several other "Star Trek" legacy characters appear on the show as well (Uhura, Number One, Nurse Chapel, Dr. M'Benga, et al.), and they're joined by several new figures to boot.

Robert April is also there, appearing as a supporting player throughout the series. He's a friend of Captain Pike who affably gives his contemporary advice on how to better command a starship. This iteration of Robert April is played by Adrian Holmes, a lead actor on the Canadian crime series "19-2" and dozens of other TV shows besides. To date, Holmes has appeared in seven of the first 30 episodes of the series and is similarly expected to pop up in the final two seasons of "Strange New Worlds."

Of course, Holmes is a bald, bearded Black man, where Robert April was depicted as a clean-shaven elderly white man with a full head of hair on "Star Trek: The Animated Series." Does the show do or say anything about this recasting? No, it doesn't, because it's not terribly important. Holmes plays the part tremendously well and embodies the vibe of the character perfectly. Really, given how minor a role Robert April had in "Star Trek" canon prior to "Strange New Worlds," we can reinvent the character however we like moving forward.