See Also: 'The Communicator' Episode Guide

A line in the Original Series episode 'A Piece of the Action' provided the inspiration for the upcoming Enterprise outing 'The Communicator', in which a lost piece of technology has disastrous consequences for an alien society.

StarTrek.com today released the below official synopsis for the episode, which is currently scheduled to air November 6:

Things go from bad to worse when Archer and Reed return to a pre-warp society on the brink of war to retrieve a communicator that was lost during an undercover survey mission.

According to the official site, the episode draws on the McCoy/Kirk exchange in 'A Piece of the Action,' in which the doctor confesses he left his communicator behind on Sigma Iotia II. While in that episode Kirk only joked that the lost piece of technology "upsets the whole percentage," Reed's loss of his communicator is shown to have serious consequences for the planet's population.

The teleplay for 'The Communicator' was written by story editor André Bormanis based on a story by executive producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. Director James Contner was behind the camera for the third time this season, having previously helmed 'Carbon Creek' and 'Minefield'.

Details of the episode's guest cast were also released:

• Francis Guinan as Gosis
• Tim Kelleher as Lt. Pell
• Brian Reddy as Dr. Temec
• Dennis Cockrum as Alien Barkeep
• Jason Waters as Alien Soldier

Francis Guinan has appeared on Trek twice before, as Minister Kray in Voyager's 'Ex Post Facto' and Zar in 'Live Fast and Prosper.' His other credits include roles in 'Hannibal' and 'Speed 2: Cruise Control.' Cockrum also guest-starred in 'Live Fast and Prosper' as Orek, and appeared in TNG's 'Face of the Enemy.' The actor was listed as appearing as Freebus in last season's 'Two Days and Two Nights,' but was not seen in the episode.

Another returning Trek guest star, Kelleher played Lt. Gaines in TNG's 'All Good Things' and Four of Nine in Voyager's 'Survival Instinct.' He also starred in the short-lived series Dark Skies, which featured Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine).

Reddy's credits include roles in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, and The X-Files, while Waters has also featured in the conspiracy series, as well as shows such as 7th Heaven and Nowhere Man.

Production on 'The Communicator' concluded yesterday after seven days of filming. The first four days were spent on regular standing sets before the cast and crew moved to new sets representing locations on the alien planet, including an interrogation chamber and a military facility.

As their characters spend much of the episode undercover posing as natives, Scott Bakula (Jonathan Archer) and Dominic Keating (Malcolm Reed) donned alien prosthetics for 'The Communicator', with Linda Park (Hoshi Sato) also wearing the makeup for one day.

The original synopsis can be found here at StarTrek.com, while the full production report is available at this page.

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