Star Trek first aired on BBC One in July 1969. I was twelve years old and loved it from its first moments. Where No Man Has Gone Before was the episode and it featured a man whose eyes glowed silver after the Enterprise encountered a strange "barrier" at the edge of the galaxy. He became some sort of superman who was a threat to the rest of the crew. Kirk eventually overcomes him and saves the day which would become a regular theme throughout the series.
Star Trek broke many television boundaries throughout its three series, including showing people of different cultures working and living together happily. Many episodes were types of morality plays where Kirk and his crew were tested over ethical matters. The relationship between the emotional Captain Kirk and the logical Vulcan Lieutenant Spock was at the heart of the programme's appeal.
My favourite episode of all was The City on the Edge of Forever which featured Joan Collins. Having gone mad due to an accidental overdose of medicine, Dr McCoy goes back in time to earth in the 1930s in the process altering history. Kirk and Spock go after him to New York in an attempt to retrieve him and time itself. After stealing some clothes to blend in, they meet a woman named Edith Keeler who runs the 21st Street Mission. They offer to work for her. Spock begins to attempt to find out how McCoy has altered history.
Kirk begins to fall in love with Edith, who is very interested in the future. McCoy stumbles into the mission where Edith takes him in, unbeknownst to Kirk. Spock finishes his work and reviewing the images of the original and altered timelines, discovers that Edith was supposed to have died in a traffic accident, which was somehow prevented by McCoy. Instead, Edith lived on to start a pacifist movement which influenced the United States sufficiently to delay its entrance into World War II, thus allowing Nazi Germany time to develop an atomic bomb and win the war. Kirk knows that Edith must die in order for time to return to normal.
Meanwhile, Edith nurses McCoy back to health, and he tells her his story. Though Edith is sceptical, she tells McCoy that he would like her eccentric new boyfriend. Later, as Kirk and Edith are walking to the movies, Edith mentions Dr. McCoy. Alarmed, Kirk tells Edith to stay there before running to find Spock. The three friends meet in front of the mission. As a curious Edith crosses the street to join them, she steps in front of a fast-moving truck. Instinctively, Kirk reacts, but freezes when Spock stops him. McCoy is restrained by Kirk as Edith is knocked down and killed.
McCoy tells Kirk that he could have saved her. “Do you know what you just did?" he says. Spock responds quietly, "He knows, Doctor. He knows." With Edith's death, history reverts to its original form.
Star Trek continued for three series before resurfacing at the end of the 1970s with the first of six motion picture films. The final movie (The Undiscovered Country) was the best of the series with a fine mixture of drama, adventure and comedy. Forget Star Wars and even Doctor Who, Star Trek is the best science fiction story of all.
As a kid I wasn't too keen pn Star Trek - probably too mature for me at the time. I can't remember if I saw the live action or animated series first. The animated Trek is also a great show and many consider its 22 epispdes a continuation of the original five-year mission, with all but Walter Koenig returning to voice their characters. Back in June 1984, just after finishing my O Levels and CSE's, the BBC started another repeat run of Star Trek so, as I knew it was a highly regarded show and was 16 by then, I decided to give it a go. I couldn't believe how much I liked it. I was hooked almost instantly. The first episode shown on that run was The Man Trap, about a monster that could change its appearance and absorb salt from humans, killing them in the process. The BBC were following the episode order of its original American broadcast so this was also the first one ever shown on TV, on NBC in September 1966. It was chosen to be first because of its "monster of the week" type plot that the audience would be familiar with from shows such as The Outer Limits, rather than start than start with one of the more thought-provoking stories the series is loved for. I count it among my favourite episodes alongside Where No Man... and
ReplyDeleteCity on the Edge... Star Trek is certainly a great science fiction story - probably the best from America. However, taking the ORIGONAL versions of Trek and Doctor Who in their entirety into account, Doctor Who just manages to win for me as the best.