A documentary series chronicling rare and fascinating details of how Star Trek began, where it’s been, and how it’s going where no television series has gone before.

Narrated by Gates McFadden, this 10-part look at Star Trek’s 55 years history since it began airing, goes back even further to when Lucille Ball first put her Desilu studio on the line to finance the show. It follows the commissioning of Gene Roddenberry’s ‘Wagon Train to the stars’ proposal, through to production of the two pilots, the three seasons, and ends with the phenomenal success of syndication and the first Star Trek conventions. Along the way, there’s new and archive interviews with the stars Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig, as well as writers David Gerrold and Harlan Ellison.

For the greater detail, much use is made of Star Trek experts Larry Nemecek and Marc Cushman, who both offer additional production insight. It was also nice to see Sandra Lee Gimpel (Talosian) and Ralph Senesky (director of This Side of Paradise) in the flesh. If you’re a hard core Trekker and have read most of the ‘making of’ books, then it’s likely that you’ll know most of what’s shared here. However, it’s a great primer for a less-informed audience, and the clips are well-chosen.

Ultimately, it’s not that subjective, and I did roll my eyes at the sentence that began describing Gene Roddenberry in these terms: ‘Like any genius…’ There’s also a slight confusion in the editing, which means we’re told about the third season move to Friday nights before we’re told about the introduction of Chekov in Season 2 and the Save Star Trek campaign at the end of that season. But that minor nitpick aside, it’s a fun watch.

Verdict: Star Trek 101 in the company of some experts and well-chosen clips. 7/10

Nick Joy