Star Trek fans spot huge plot hole in original series and question why it wasn't fixed

As far as continuity errors go, Star Trek features a pretty big mistake in episode three of the original 1960s TV series.

Fans of the cult sci-fi franchise have spotted a name mix-up in episode three of Star Trek: The Original Series titled 'Where No Man Has Gone Before'.

First aired in September 1966, the episode introduced William Shatner as Captain James T Kirk, the man at the helm of the USS Enterprise.

The episode sees Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew against one of their own, helmsman Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood).

Mitchell gains telekinetic abilities when the Enterprise crosses the edge of the galaxy during a rescue mission gone wrong.

'Where No Man Has Gone Before' is the only Star Trek episode featuring the ship's psychiatrist, Dr Elisabeth Dehner. (NBC)

A power-hungry Mitchell becomes increasingly hostile and arrogant and declares he has become godlike, trying to enforce his will onto the crew by using his powers.

In one scene, Mitchell taunts Kirk by showing him the tombstone he's prepared for him, which reads James R Kirk - and many considered it odd as Kirk's middle name is Tiberius.

And fans were quick to pick up on it - with many struggling to find a reason for it.

On Reddit, one person wrote that despite some theories, there was 'no hard canon explanation for it'.

Another said: "Why didn’t they fix that? Obviously there has been enough times where it has been established that Kirk’s middle initial begins with a T."

And a third joked: "The person who signed Kirk up for Starfleet was a rubbish touch typist."

Is the middle initial slip simply an error, or is there an explanation for it?

It seems that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry provided fans with a sensible justification hinging on Mitchell's inherent humanity.

The grave reads James R Kirk (NBC)

According to DC Fontana in the introduction for Star Trek: The Classic Episodes 1, when the mistake over the consonant confusion was discovered, the Star Trek creator decided that, if pressed for an answer on the discrepancy, he would shift the blame on Mitchell.

"Gary Mitchell had godlike powers, but at base he was human," Roddenberry said as reported by The Daily Star. "He made a mistake."

This was but one of the errors and plot holes included in the whole of the Star Trek franchise, though even more modern TV series and films have puzzled fans with some mistakes that ended up making the final cut.

A few years have passed since Game of Thrones fans noticed the infamous Starbucks cup in season 8 of the show, while Stranger Things creators, the Duffer brothers, admitted that they've considered retconning Will Byers' birthday after viewers spotted an incongruence.