MONTGOMERY SCOTT

'Montgomery Scott', or '"Scotty"', is a character in the original Star Trek series and the films which followed. He was played by the late Irish-Canadian actor James Montgomery Doohan. Scotty's first name of Montgomery was a choice given to Doohan himself; Doohan chose the name “in honour of my grandfather, my mother’s father, James Montgomery.”^[1]
He was cast as the ''Enterprise'' engineer for the second Star Trek pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before." He tried a variety of accents for the part, and decided to use a Scottish accent on the basis that he thought Scottish people make the best engineers.

Contents

Character biography

''Star Trek'' films

''Star Trek: The Next Generation''

Discontinuity

Birthplace controversy

References in popular culture

Trivia

External links

References

Character biography

Montgomery Scott was born in Linlithgow, Scotland, and speaks with a thick Lowland Scottish accent. During the events of , Scotty holds the rank of Lieutenant Commander and serves as the ''Enterprise's Chief Engineer and Second Officer.
As an engineer, Scott retains a reputation as a "miracle worker", with no known equal in the Star Trek universe. Throughout both the television and movie series, he is renowned for his technical skill, knowledge, determination and resolve. Scotty often acts as the solver of plot-critical situations, utilizing his expansive knowledge and ingenuity. His solutions are almost always creative and unconventional, dramatically effective, and crucial to the resolution of plot developments.
Though his job is Chief Engineer of the ''Enterprise'', Scotty is also an experienced command officer. Being Second Officer on the ''Enterprise'' (i.e. third-in-command), he takes acting command of the ship when Captain Kirk and Commander Spock are both unavailable. On one such occasion, when Kirk and Spock are trapped on an alien world, Scott uses the ship's power to shut down the planet's electrical grid for a few seconds, enabling ''Enterprise'' crewmen to rescue Kirk and Spock without violating the Prime Directive. Kirk places a commendation in Scott's personnel record for this innovative tactic (episode "Bread and Circuses").
Scott's personality is predominated by his dedication to his profession, which reaches the level of obsessiveness. His dedication is coupled with a deep sentimental attachment to the ''Enterprise''. In the episode, "The Trouble with Tribbles," Kirk finds Scott reading engineering technical journals for relaxation. Kirk orders Scott to take shore leave at the space station in order to prevent trouble between the crew and the Klingons. Scott manages to do so, when a drunken Klingon tries to provokes a fight with ''Enterprise'' crewmen by insulting Captain Kirk. Scott retains composure, ordering the crewmen to ignore the insults. It is not until a Klingon disparages the ''Enterprise'' itself that Scott loses his composure and begins brawling. Kirk confines Scott to quarters for the incident, which then gives Scotty an excuse to continue his journal reading.

''Star Trek'' films

It is established in '' that, prior to the events depicted in that film, Scotty has been promoted to commander, and has been responsible for a major refit of the ''Enterprise''. As '' begins, Scotty remains part of the crew while the ''Enterprise'' serves as a Starfleet Academy training ship. When Scotty learns that the aging ''Enterprise'' is to be decommissioned in '', he expresses deep consternation and resentment, and continues to do little to hide his feelings. Scotty is promoted to the rank of captain, but to his dismay, he is ordered to report as Chief Engineer aboard the USS ''Excelsior'' to apply his renowned skills on the newer ship's first runs. ''Excelsior'' is touted by Starfleet as the technically-superior successor to Enterprise; however, Scotty expresses his disdain for ''Excelsior'' loudly and frequently. Scotty uses his knowledge of engineering and his privileged position aboard ''Excelsior'' to sabotage the spacecraft. In doing so, Scotty makes it possible for Kirk to steal ''Enterprise'' for an unsanctioned voyage to the Genesis Planet, for the purpose of rescuing Spock. Scotty joins Kirk for this voyage, as do Sulu, Chekov, and Dr. McCoy. The crewmembers, including Scotty, vow their support, and actively partake in Kirk's quest. Scotty makes several contributions to the effort. The ''Enterprise'', though frail, makes it to the Genesis Planet but, once there, is thwarted by enemy Klingons. The Klingons attack, and though the ''Enterprise'' crew is largely able to outwit the Klingon commander, the ''Enterprise'' itself is helplessly disabled, rendered a "sitting duck". Kirk and his crew outwit the Klingons and save Spock, but the Enterprise is destroyed in the process. Scotty, with the other crewmembers, briefly mourn the loss of their beloved ship as they watch it burn up spectacularly in the atmosphere, from the relative safety of the Genesis Planet.
'' is the only ''Star Trek'' film to take place predominantly aboard a ship not named ''Enterprise''. Nevertheless, Scotty is of enormous value throughout the film. The primary starship in the film is a Klingon Bird-of-Prey (taken from the Klingons during their defeat at the end of ''The Search For Spock''). Scotty adapts himself to act as engineer aboard the alien vessel, in characteristic fashion. (''"Damage control is easy. Reading Klingon, that's hard!"'') Scotty once again performs technological feats that allow victory for the protagonists. Following the crew's heroic acts during ''The Voyage Home'', Scotty (and the rest of the crew, except for Kirk) is acquitted of any charges of prior selfish illegal acts. As ''The Voyage Home'' ends, Scotty and the rest of the crew of the martyred ''Enterprise'' -- the ship that was home to the crew from the time of the original series until its destruction in ''Star Trek III'' -- are introduced to their next assignment: serving under Kirk aboard the ''Enterprise's'' successor. Sulu expresses interest in serving aboard ''Excelsior'', to which Scotty retorts, ''"Excelsior? Why in God's name would you want that bucket of bolts?!"''. Scotty is overjoyed to be shuttled along with the rest of the crew to the ''Enterprise's'' true successor, the 'second' ''USS Enterprise'', commonly referred to as the ''Enterprise-A''. The ''Enterprise-A'' is revealed at the end of ''The Voyage Home'', sporting the designation ''NCC-1701-A'', a direct reference to the original ''Enterprise'', which bore the designation NCC-1701 since its introduction in The Original Series. ''Enterprise-A'' resembles an updated version of the original ''Enterprise''. The crew is overjoyed at the unveiling of the new ''Enterprise'', with Kirk announcing, ''"My friends... We've come home."''
Scotty serves aboard the Enterprise-A for the events of '' and ''. ''Star Trek VI'' was, by design, an official sign-off for the Original Series cast, and is the last film to feature that cast in its entirety. However, Scotty appears in the seventh Star Trek film, ''. As ''Star Trek: Generations'' opens, Scotty, along with Chekov, accompanies Kirk for the inauguration of the ''Enterprise-B'', the third starship in Kirk and Scotty's era to bear the name ''Enterprise''. Catastrophic events interrupt the coronation, threatening the ship. Before Kirk sacrifices himself to save ''Enterprise-B'', Scotty is the last person to see him before he disappears. It is Scotty who utters the final dialogue in the Original Series timeline: When the threat has passed, and Kirk has apparently been lost in the abyss, Scotty is asked by Chekov if anyone was killed when the Nexus ripped open the bulkhead on Deck 15 where Kirk was. He stares into the void and somberly intones, ''"Aye."''

''Star Trek: The Next Generation''

Scotty appears in the ''TNG'' episode "Relics", in which he is shown to take passage on the transport ship ''Jenolan'' to reach the Norpin colony, where he plans to retire. En route, the ''Jenolan'' crashes onto a Dyson Sphere, an impact that only Scotty and another crewman survive. Using his knowledge of transporter systems, Scotty rigs the ship's transporter to keep them suspended in transit for the next 75 years. Although the other crewman's pattern at some point deteriorates beyond the possibility of recovery, the crew of the ''Enterprise''-D recovers Scotty. Scotty and the ''Enterprise''-D chief engineer, Geordi La Forge, in turn rescue the ''Enterprise''-D from the interior of the Dyson Sphere. In thanks, the ship's crew give him the shuttlecraft ''Goddard''. Scotty's age in "Relics" is revealed to be 147 years: thus, he was 72 when he was going to retire.

Discontinuity

Scotty's presence at the christening of the ''Enterprise''-B, where he witnesses James Kirk's apparent death (''""''), conflicts with this belief 75 years later, upon learning that his rescuers are from "the Starship ''Enterprise''", that "...it was Jim Kirk himself who hauled the old girl out of mothballs to come looking for me!" (''TNG'': "Relics"). The real world explanation for this discontinuity is an oversight, resulting from the fact that "Relics" was filmed before ''Generations''. Kirk's fate had not yet been depicted. Also, Scotty was not even originally intended to appear in that film; the character was placed into the script as a last minute replacement for Spock when Leonard Nimoy declined to appear (all of Spock's lines were given to Scotty, but little else was changed).

Birthplace controversy

Following James Doohan's death, several towns in Scotland began campaigning to be named Scotty's 'official birthplace'. The most vocal of the claimants is Linlithgow, where the novel ''"Vulcan's Glory"'' states Scott was born. Both the town's and the book's claims are supported by script and production material.^[2] However, Star Trek historians and others claim that Scott's birthplace is Aberdeen, Scotland, due in large part to Scott's claim in episode "Wolf in the Fold" that he is "an old Aberdeen pub crawler". Indeed, city leaders in Aberdeen have put forward plans to erect a monument to James Doohan/Scotty in the city, although there have been no official announcements to date.^[3]

References in popular culture

Scotty's operation of the ''Enterprise'' transporter system inspired the catch phrase "Beam me up, Scotty", which gained currency in pop culture even beyond ''Star Trek'' fans. Ironically, that exact phrase is never actually spoken in any episode or film.
In the 1987 movie ''Spaceballs'', there is a parody of Scotty in the form of a character named Snotty, who is operating the transporter beam for President Skroob. The character speaks in a thick Scottish accent, wears a kilt and a Scottish-style hat, an obvious stereotype of Scottish attire. Instead of "Beam him up Scotty," Commanderette Zircon says "Snotty, Beam him down."

Trivia

Scotty was often portrayed to be left-handed to hide the fact that the actor James Doohan was missing a finger on his right hand.

External links

★ StarTrek.com: Montgomery Scott

References

1. James Doohan (Obituary)
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4703419.stm
3. http://www.trektoday.com/news/080805_01.shtml