Star Trek: An Overview

September, 2011

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Initially pitched as a western in outer space “Wagon Train to the Stars”, Star Trek’s pilot episode aired with an entirely different crew to those in the Original Series. The pilot was rejected by the TV network, but a second pilot was commissioned and eventually Classic Star Trek was born in September 1966.

The original show depicted the adventures of the starship Enterprise and its five-year mission “to boldly go where no man has gone before”. Later series changed the ship and crew, and often addressed hard hitting issues of the day with great tails of morality woven into the sci-fi storyline.

Star Trek spans nearly 40 years, with a number of incarnations and a total of 726 episodes across a total of 30 series:

Original Series (TOS). 1966-1969
“Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no man has gone before”.
The Animated Series (TAS). 1973-1974
Most of the cast from the Original Series performed the voices of their own characters. Many elements of the animated series have since been used by writers in later movies and the live-action series.
The Next Generation (TNG). 1987-1994
“Space, the final frontier, these are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no one has gone before”.
Deep Space Nine (DS9). 1993-1999
Deep Space Nine (also known as Terok Nor) orbits the planet Bajor and guards the opening of a stable wormhole leading to the Gamma Quadrant. This series is a spin-off of TNG, but takes place on a space station rather than onboard a starship.
Voyager. 1995-2001
The pilot episode shows the starship Voyager leaving DS9 to track down a group of Maquis rebels, only to end up lost in the Delta Quadrant, and having to work with the Maquis to find a way home.
Enterprise. 2001-2005
Set in the early twenty-second century, this prequel takes place a hundred years before the original Star Trek series began with a “mission to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilisations and to boldly go where no humans have gone before”.