To honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of actor James Doohan in 1920, this episode features Starship Enterprise Chief Engineer Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott. James Doohan portrayed Scott in the original STAR TREK series, the animated series, several motion pictures and one episode of STAR TREK: The Next Generation.

In this story, Scotty employs the elaborate Garth Maneuver (obviously named for famed Fleet Captain Garth) which requires the U.S.S. Enterprise saucer section to separate from the engineering hull. The first saucer separation we ever saw was of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D in 1987 in the first episode of STAR TREK: The Next Generation "Encounter at Farpoint." However, it was long conjectured that the Constitution-class U.S.S. Enterprise had this capability, but budget limitations prevented it from ever being shown in the original series. This episode is the first depiction of Kirk's starship executing the maneuver.

This show featured the small Federation scout vessel. This oviod ship (pictured) was designed for the animated series but not used in any episode, however it was seen in the hanger deck in two November 1973 animated episodes "Once Upon a Planet" and "Mudd's Passion".

At one point in this episode, acting captain Montgomery Scott, employs the Archer maneuver. This tactic was named for Captain Jonathan Archer early pre-Starfleet starship commander from the 2150's who was the originator of many firsts in the early Starfleet - especially warp maneuvers.

Later, Scotty employs maneuver Mayweather Seven. This is apparently a tactical maneuver devised by trailblazing and noted S.S. Enterprise (NX-01) navigator and helm officer Travis Weather in the 2150's.

Lieutenant Clayton was again seen as hanger deck officer in this episode. Clayton was first seen in the December 1973 animated episode "The Ambergris Element".

This story has Sulu and Tex pilot the engineering hull from the Auxilliary Control Room. This room was seen in two original series episodes "The Doomsday Machine" and "The Way to Eden" and this new episode is the first appearance of the room on the animated series.

This episode shows Scott receiving a letter from his young nephew Peter Preston. We, of course, saw an older Starfleet midshipman Peter Preston in the 1982 film STAR TREK II: The Wrath of Kahn as portrayed by actor Ike Eisenmann.

This episode is the first appearance of the tractor beam and tractor emitter of a Constitution-class starship. While featured in a number of original series episodes, no emitter or even the beam were ever seen before this new episode. The design of the emitter mechanism is largely based upon the 1975 STAR TREK Blueprints as drawn by Franz Josephs.

This episode featured two new characters in speaking roles. The augmented pale green-skinned humanoid engineer Lieutenant J'Karl and the purple-skinned, fin-headed command section Lieutenant Junior Grade Thrax. The two had already made cameos in the previous new episode "Ptolemy Wept", but they are given lines in this story. The character design for both these alien characters come from Issue number 15 of Gold Key Comic's STAR TREK comic book dated August 1972 which featured a story written by the late Len Wein entitled "The Museum at the End of Time." The comic was the basis for the excellent animated "The Time Trap" episode.

The design of the blueish and reddish buoys seen demarking the area of space that the Enterprise needed to traverse were an homage to the original design of the bases (pictured) included in the original editions of the AMT model kits for the U.S.S. Enterprise and Klingon Battle Cruiser. Later, the bases were switched out for smaller versions that used far less styrene plastic.

This episode features cameos of Yeoman Janice Rand (seen in the first several episodes of the original STAR TREK series), Lieutenant Anne Nored (seen in the animated "The Survivor" episode) and Ensign Dawson Walking Bear (seen in the animated "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" episode). Also, the blonde female command section officer seen briefly in this episode was based on the character of Erica Lane (pictured below) from the animated Fantastic Voyage Filmation series. This character was also seen in the previous new episode "Ptolemy Wept."