said, "Nobody was like Bill and Lenny. I don't remember any other actors saying what those guys said, which was, 'Oh no, my character just wouldn't do that.' That was the ultimate put down for a director." Guest star Alan Bergmann recalled, "Mr. Shatner and Mr. Nimoy seemed to be in conflict. They struggled over better camera positions and made life difficult for the director." Music "The Empath" has a distinctive music score, composed by George Duning. His use of the Yamaha organ was, according to the composer himself, the first time that the electronic instrument (newly arrived from Japan) was featured in a Hollywood film score. The enchanting theme for Gem was used in many subsequent episodes during tender, romantic scenes. Reception Broadcast "The Empath" was broadcast on NBC at 10pm on Friday, December 6, 1968, and was the second most-watched season three episode (after the season opener, "Spock's Brain"), with 34 percent of the audience share. It was not repeated on NBC in summer 1969 because the torture scenes were considered too graphic for the earlier time slot. In the UK, the BBC decided to cancel the scheduled 16 December 1970 screening of the episode (it was listed in the Radio Times), following the screening of "Miri" two weeks previously, which had received a number of complaints from viewers. This caused the BBC to look at Star Trek more closely, resulting in the banning of both episodes along with "Plato's Stepchildren" and "Whom Gods Destroy". Fans writing to the BBC prior to another repeat run in 1984 received this reply: "There are no plans to screen the four episodes because we feel that they deal most unpleasantly with the already unpleasant subjects of madness, torture, sadism and disease." The episodes were not screened by the BBC until the 1990s. Cast and crew response This was one of DeForest Kelley's favourite episodes. He said, "I thought it was so dramatically done. The entire stage was blacked out in black curtains, and everything was done in 'pen spots'. It was so unique in production values and the cinematography on it." Guest star Kathryn Hays recalled in an interview, "I’ve often thought that was an interesting role for me to play. I loved playing that. It was technically very interesting. That show was fascinating to work on from a technical point of view. It was so different from a regular show."