Combs and by extra Bill Blackburn in close-ups. William Shatner recalls standing too close to a stage prop explosion during the filming of the episode, causing tinnitus, which became chronic. Leonard Nimoy was also afflicted. Shatner has it in his left ear and Nimoy had it in his right ear. "Arena" was the first episode of Star Trek to be broadcast in colour in the UK (BBC, November 1969). Writing Arena was Gene L Coon's first episode as script writer. According to an account by Herbert Solow in the book Inside Star Trek, The Real Story, the similarity to Brown's short story may have come from a subconscious inspiration. After Coon had written what he thought was an original script, Desilu's research department, headed by Kellam de Forest, noted the similarity. It was therefore agreed that Desilu's Business Affairs office would call Brown and offer a fair price for the story, before it was shot and broadcast. Brown agreed without knowing that the script had already been written; he was granted screen credit for the story. Connections This episode introduced elements to the Star Trek canon, including the Gorn species, the Metron species and the planet Cestus III. Cestus III is mentioned later as the home planet of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character Kasidy Yates, and is referenced in Star Trek non-canon novels. In the 2010s, actor William Shatner re-enacted his battle fighting the Gorn, for an advertisement for the 2013 Star Trek video game (Kelvin timeline). In the spot they have a similar fight, but it takes place in a modern day living room and starts with the two playing a console video game together in co-op mode. Reception In 2010, SciFiNow ranked this the second best episode of the original series. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an 'A−' rating, noting the episode's influence and noting the use of a theme of Star Trek, the "uncertainty of exploration". In 2013, The Hollywood Reporter, ranked the Kirk vs. Gorn fight as one of the top 15 key moments of the original series. In a ranking in 2017 of the "25 greatest episodes" of all Star Trek, including later series, "Arena" was ranked as the 6th best. At that time there were about 726 episodes of Star Trek television. IGN ranked "Arena" number 10 in a top ten list of the original series episodes. In 2016,