"Cold Hands, Warm Heart" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits

The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)

The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...

television show. It first aired on 26 September 1964, during the second season. The episode is notable for its pre-Star Trek television appearance of actor William Shatner

William Shatner

William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...

, here playing a space explorer very similar to his Star Trek role of Captain Kirk

James T. Kirk

James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. Kirk was first played by William Shatner as the principal lead character in the original Star Trek series. Shatner voiced Kirk in the animated Star Trek series and appeared in the first seven Star Trek movies...

, and who is (somewhat presciently) involved in a mission called "Project Vulcan".

Opening narration

"The most brilliant planet in our solar system is Venus, named for the Greek Love-Goddess. It is closer to Earth than any other planet — twenty-eight million miles away. Until sometime in the last half of the twentieth century it is still a planet shrouded in mystery, enveloped in a heavy blanket of clouds and steam. Because its surface temperature was believed to be several times that of Earth's, it was not thought possible for Man to reach Venus and come back... until one day, somebody did it."

Plot

After completing the first manned mission to orbit Venus, astronaut Jefferson Barton (Shatner) returns to Earth with recurring nightmares and an increasing inability to stay warm. Barton's condition continues to worsen and is accompanied by a peculiar webbing of his fingers. Only after his nightmares become more vivid does he recall an unrevealed alien encounter in the Venusian atmosphere. Barton's doctors suspect the astronaut had been genetically affected by his mission, and they then struggle to treat and cure him before his mutations completely take over.

Closing narration

"The eternal, never-ceasing search for knowledge often leads to dark and dangerous places. Sometimes it demands risks not only of those who are searching, but of others who love them. These, in their own special way, know that knowledge is never wasted, nor is love."

Cast

• William Shatner
  William Shatner
  William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
  
   – as Brig. Gen. Jefferson Barton
• Geraldine Brooks
  Geraldine Brooks (actor)
  Geraldine Brooks was an American actress whose three-decade career on stage as well as in films and on television was noted with nominations for an Emmy in 1962 and a Tony in 1970....
  
   – as Ann Barton
• Malachi Throne
  Malachi Throne
  Malachi Throne is an American actor, most noted for his roles on Star Trek and It Takes a Thief.Throne was born in New York City...
  
   – as Mike
• Lloyd Gough
  Lloyd Gough
  Lloyd Gough was an American theater, film, and television actor.Born Michael Gough in New York City, he was a noted character actor...
  
   – as Matt Claiborne
• Dean Harens
  Dean Harens
  Dean Harens was an American actor. He appeared in several movies and TV programs over four decades.Born in South Bend, Indiana in 1924, Harens' first appearance in a film came at the age of 24, in the 1944 film Christmas Holiday. He appeared in seven movies in all over his career, although never...
  
   – as Medical Technician
• James Sikking
  James Sikking
  James Barrie Sikking is an American actor known for his role as Lt. Howard Hunter on the 1980s NBC TV series Hill Street Blues. He also starred on the ABC TV series Doogie Howser, M.D. as Dr. David Howser and on the short-lived 1997 CBS drama series Brooklyn South as Captain Stan Jonas...
  
   – as Botany
• Lawrence Montaigne
  Lawrence Montaigne
  Lawrence Montaigne is an American actor, writer, dancer, and occasional stuntman. As an actor, he is best known for his appearances on many 1960s-era television shows....
  
   – as Construction
• Henry Scott – as Electronics
• Julian N. Burton – as Reporter #1
• Peter Madsen – as Reporter #2
• Lou Elias – as Guard
• Hugh Jensen – as Chief
• Tim Huntley – as Chairman
• Patrick Riley – as Attendant #1
• Ray Kellogg
  Ray Kellogg
  Edgar Ray Kellogg was an American film director from Iowa.During World War II, Kellogg was a US Navy Lieutenant with the O.S.S. Field Photographing Branch where he became acquainted with John Ford....
  
   – as Attendant #2
• Vic Perrin
  Vic Perrin
  Vic Perrin was an American actor and voice artist. He is best remembered as the "Control Voice" in the original version of the TV series The Outer Limits ....
  
  – as Newsman