Spinning a Yarn

After a rather leisurely five year stint to watch all of Star Trek I've finally come to the end of watching The Original Series.

Not that it's taken me five years to watch everything from The Cage to Turnabout Intruder but I only ever intended to watch The Next Generation which led to Deep Space Nine which led to... you get the picture. 

Anyway, it's been too many years since I last watched the show that started it all and as part of that, one of the greatest episodes the show produced in probably one of its darkest times; The Tholian Web.

When I started Some Kind of Star Trek back in 2013 I intended to do a lot more episodic reviews and talky bits about the show but then others things crept in - the books, Attack Wing, starship collections... and while all this is great I realise that an element I always wanted to hold on to was discussion about the show itself. Starships are great but there's more to the show than that and I wanted this site to offer that alternative.

Which brings me back to The Tholian Web because ever since the day I realised I would be going through every episode I would eventually wind up coming to one of the episodes that helped lure me into Star Trek in the first place. So here I am; doing just that and I've been really looking forward to it. This is my love letter to one of the episodes that drove me to Trek.

Produced in the severely budget-restrained third and final season of The Original Series, it was the ninth episode made and also the ninth to air which was unusual considering how the order was chopped and changed over time. How early in my viewing of the show it actually came I can't remember but it's iconic imagery of the USS Enterprise gradually being encased in the net has stayed with me for decades.

In a nutshell Kirk is stranded in another dimension while Spock commands the Enterprise and has to deal with the Tholians but I actually think this is one of the most multifaceted episodes of the show as a whole, added to by the legacy of the show as it later unfolded. However, more on that in a bit.

At it's heart, The Tholian Web is a rescue story as Spock balances diplomacy with a non-humanoid race against the necessity to confirm Kirk's death and later engineer his retrieval. It's an unusual time for Spock in this episode because for the large majority of the time the captain is out of the picture which sets up a more explosive dynamic between the Vulcan and McCoy. Without Kirk to balance the pair they are initially much more confrontational before setting aside their issues to bring their friend home. I love the fact that one of the instrumental elements of the show is absent for a good portion of the episode and by his absence you realise how key Kirk actually is to the balance of the crew.

For a bottle show (one filmed entirely on the existing Desilu starship sets) this is easily Star Trek's finest example. We get two starships out of one with the appearance - and disappearance - of the USS Defiant but yet that restraint takes nothing from the intensity of the episode. The initial visit to the Defiant introduces the stunning atmospheric suits for their one and only outing and the teaser cleverly avoids stranding Kirk instead focusing on the phasing from reality of the Enterprise's sister ship.

Spock's turn in command is, unsurprisingly logical and of course we get Kirk back but look again at the episode and you'll see that this loss of the captain and his return is only a piece of the puzzle here. But is there just a smidgen of emotion in there? Should he really have stayed to confirm the captain's demise or was there something more in there - a trace of his humanity leaking through? I suspect so.

The danger posed by the Tholians as well as the danger posed by the region of space that the Enterprise is waiting in also add elements to the story (crack out your fish-eye camera lense). Then there's Kirk's ghost-like reappearances throughout which actually give Uhura a lot more to do than just open hailing frequencies or contact Starfleet. We get to see her quarters and the comms officer off-duty all at once plus it's a character expanding moment that wasn't afforded to all as well as Uhura was provided.

The Spock/McCoy dynamic is at its most exposed in The Tholian Web but by its conclusion they are perhaps at their most united in their denial of viewing Kirk's final orders. Most un-Vulcan-like but fitting that the captain's absence has cemented their friendship to a higher point.

The episode is a goldmine of concept and brilliance and we're not just talking about those spacesuits. The Tholians themselves are a standout moment for the series. Refraining from simply dressing up another actor we have non-humanoid species distinctly different from anything else we'd seen. Admittedly Enterprise would later expand beyond the head and shoulders we see here but the spark was there. Their ships too are a landmark even in their non-remastered format. Combined with their intricate lattice-work web it takes them away from the standard warp nacelles and phasers compliment that we've had from the likes of the Romulans and the Klingons. It's all hugely forward-thinking and like nothing else that appears in The Original Series. 

The Tholian Web, for all its budgetary restraints is a classic of The Original Series due to its scope and vision. It truly offers character exploration, a threat, true danger for the ship and multiple smaller events throughout the show which all play a key part in the episode. Amazingly it's all crammed into less than one hour of TV and works tirelessly and in fairness it's one of the more complex stories given the ton of angles it tackles the incident from. A lot of the episodes in the third year are linear in their nature and steer away from smaller incidents and keep on a straight and narrow from the beginning. The Tholian Web is a huge exception adding elements to the whole and exploring a time and a place rather than one single story thread. Look to other episodes in the last year and you'll see that the core story is pretty much the focus of the whole show without deviation.

Now we move to matters that only come to light many years later and The Tholian Web becomes a huge piece of the Star Trek universe puzzle. In fact before we even reach a certain Enterprise episode there's Deep Space Nine. Yes, the episode's influences are there even by 1994 and the arrival of a prototype starship - USS Defiant. Originally the Valiant (which did actually come later...), the Borg-busting starship was indeed named as a part homage to one of The Original Series' most prolific guest ships (or ghost ship?).

There have been nods to the Tholians during the course of the franchise's history in The Next Generation and again lip service in Deep Space Nine during the Dominion War but it's the short-lived prequel that cements The Tholian Web even more profoundly.

In a Mirror, Darkly is widely regarded as one of the defining stories of the final year and - personal opinion - the show as a whole but aside from a brilliant two-part story it actually reinforces how spectacular and seminal The Tholian Web - an episode that aired 37 years previous - is to Star Trek.

The key to the whole thing is the USS Defiant and the decision to attempt its capture from the Tholians of the Mirror Universe. The high-temp loving hexapods are very alike to their Prime Universe counterparts in their technology and it raises the question for me that perhaps the two versions of these creatures are in communication? Are the Tholians of the Prime Universe aware of the rifts and where they are sending items. As a side point how come there's not more of the Prime Universe stuff (and vice versa) floating around in either universe?

Enough of that mind-melting material though because the arrival of the Defiant is a universe-defining moment which changes the political overview and gives (spoiler) Empress Sato a massive advantage over her rivals.

But look more closely at the episode than just the plot because In a Mirror, Darkly is one of those great visual experiences which shows the love and honours its forebears. Yes it's effectively a sequel to the brilliant The Tholian Web by answering the question as to where the hell the Defiant and provides a prequel to the sublime Mirror, Mirror yet there are some key touches that are too good to ignore.

Check out the initial sequence of the NX-01 crew beaming into the Defiant and the positioning of the crew on the bridge. It's a perfect recreation of the duplicate scene from The Tholian Web. The actors are in precisely the same spots as their 1960's originals were when that episode was filmed. The original starship sets are of course recreated with love but we have the Defiant emblem rather than the USS Enterprise delta (take note Timelines because Mirror Archer has the wrong emblem on his tunic). The remastered version retains the mythos fortunately but does change one significant point - the design of the Tholian ships become more akin to their Enterprise CG counterparts than the simple lines of The Original Series models.

Undeniably the arrival and use of the Defiant should have more influence on the development of starships and general technology in the Mirror Universe but how were they going to know in 1968 that this prequel/sequel would be made let alone dreamt about? So it does make continuity less than perfect but the return of the Tholians in full body form breathes new life into that original episode and I think makes it stronger than ever. Being able to relate later events to it makes The Original Series even more integral to the franchise as a whole. 

Deep Space Nine certainly honoured its illustrious forebear with the return of the Tribbles, three legendary Klingons and the Mirror Universe saga but The Tholian Web retroactively becomes a cornerstone of the franchise because of the way its legacy has been woven into the later (or earlier?) generations of Star Trek. It's a clever twist in that it gains importance due to a later story. Perhaps this is only the case in one other episode, that being Trials and Tribble-ations and even then that is more a "reworking" of a classic than a story which builds more onto an existing tale.

For me, The Tholian Web is one of those late signs of Star Trek that even in those harsh production times there were still some shining lights and this Judy Burns written episode is one of those that illuminated the final year. Burns has the characters down-pat even though there's a piece missing and turns in a winner that is always in my top ten episodes of the franchise. Visually it's stunning thanks to the unique way in which the Tholians choose to capture and eliminate their opponents but the script cannot be ignored. It overcomes the boundaries of being a bottle show to create a genuinely thrilling experience that actually has something for all the cast to do while being original and creative.

Everything here comes together and over time I've seen The Tholian Web from different perspectives; the action adventure as a boy through to the character-defining moment that it is for Spock as he commands the Enterprise and the exploration of the Kirk/Spock/McCoy triumvirate with the removal of the balancing element. Unique and brilliant, The Tholian Web still firmly remains my favourite episode of The Original Series. So thank you Judy Burns, you were a big influence on my life!!!


What are your memories of The Tholian Web?

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IndieGoGo for season two?

Ensign Williams has survived!

Well she's survived the first ten episodes of The Original Series which means there's only 69 to go and with their IndieGoGo goal already achieved after just FIVE days it looks like the second batch of minisodes will be an even stronger offering.

So let's talk season one first; we reviewed episodes one and two when The Red Shirt Diaries launched and over the subsequent eight weeks we've joined Ensign Williams as she's undergone medicals, dealt with an evil Kirk, watched her colleagues go a bit "wah wah", found a deleted log and been woken up on her day off by some apparently inconsiderate alien.

It has been a mixed bag and weekly I've been dropping my thoughts on the stories back to Ashley as each one has been released. I am disappointed by the lack of appearances by Gertrude but on the whole it seems to have been a great success from the pens of Ashley and Jason Inman. Keeping them to a tight two or three minute length has worked a gem making them easily accessible and bitesize entertainment each Monday. While a couple haven't quite hit the mark there have been some moments of genius.

Season One focused on the run from The Man Trap through to The Corbomite Maneuver and all the variations in between. Rather than going for production order, the shows were slotted into their original airing order meaning that for Where No Man Has Gone Before we got an unusual "lost log" installment with Williams pining for her love Gary Mitchell - only to have him ripped away and transformed into a God - and killed.

That loss isn't permanent with a transfer of affection to McCoy in Miri. While he's not giving the greatest bedside manner, there's something about that doctor y'know..  There's also the classic "Is this what you humans call..." trope and inability to recognise robots over humans in the aside to What Are Little Girls Made Of. Etched with humour you know that anyone in security is destined to end up vapourised, mutated or worse but somehow Williams just keeps avoiding those crucial death moments. 

Williams has a wonderful positivity and lack of awareness about just how much danger she seems to be in from the start as more frivolous events encapsulate her and the rest of the ship goes on dealing with the Big Issue of the Week. It's very reflective of the show itself where only about six or seven individuals seem to be affected by whatever the headline might be. Two fantastic examples of that occur with Dagger of the Mind and the finale, The Corbomite Maneuver where Williams has an insane scientist screaming his head off next door, interrupting her log entry and then with the beaming First Federation ship captained by Balok keeping her awake and generally ruining an ensign's rare day off duty (not that she's ever off duty).

Certainly Ashley and Jason have picked on all the ridiculous points of the show, not mocking them as such but placing them into a more "realistic" environment of crew quarters (between the mess hall and sickbay conveniently) where we're able to see their craziness in another way; looking after a horned dog or conversing with a pink sock plant have never been so entertaining. Sometimes it perhaps edged a bit far (not a big fan of The Naked Now take) but there were more highs than lows to entertain the viewers. It's a tall order to live up to with season two but the IndieGoGo campaign is a big step.

To some extent Ensign Williams, aka Ashley V. Robinson agrees with our critique; "Season One is not perfect, by a long shot. It was a learning experience for Jason, myself and everyone else involved with the show. Over the past three months we've learned what kinds of episodes work and which ones are less popular and these are all things that we've discussed, collected and are looking to execute in production of the Season Two.

"With that in mind, fan reception has been incredibly warm and accepting! We get a lot of compliments on the look of the show, which is tremendously flattering because Jason and I agonized over developing the aesthetic of The Original Series for our show. There are some negative comments, mostly about the anachronistic costumes (we were on an extreme budget), or the lack of an overarching narrative inside three minutes, but all of the positivity from the press and the Star Trek fandom has been overwhelming and amazing. It really feels like The Red Shirt Diaries has been welcomed by our brethren where we could have been rejected."

And what now for season two? The team launched their campaign on 2nd November hoping for $2,800 and were already heading towards $4,000 by the following weekend. The question is what will that money provide the show? A full scale set for one meaning that the shoestring budget which provided Ensign Williams with a back wall can be expanded and the cast can all appear in authentic The Original Series uniforms which means that the occasional JJ-verse shirt that was spotted will be a thing of the past. Even better is that we'll have their first on location shoot at the unbelievably super-famous Vasquez Rocks aka Kirk's battleground with the Gorn in Arena and try out some new filming techniques not seen in the first season.

"In comparison the first series was funded entirely from the pockets of Jason Inman (director, writer, editor, Captain Kirk, Gertrude, et al), and I." explained Ashley, "It was completely a labour of love. We built the set with our bare hands over a week in February. This time around, with an actual budget, we're hoping to tell bigger and better stories in the world of The Original Series."

Ashley recalled how the fundraising process had been a lot of stress on the front end., "But fortunately for me, Jason Inman (co-creator, director, editor, Captain Kirk, Balok et al), spearheaded and executed most of the planning that went into the fundraising campaign for The Red Shirt Diaries season two. 

"It's fascinating because fundraising requires a different creativity than actually creating and bringing the episodes to life. It was really important to Jason and I that we have unique rewards to offer our supporters and to give them a sense that they were getting their donation's worth, in addition to becoming a partner in the continuation of The Red Shirt Diaries.

To entice viewers and fans to help secure the next 19 episodes, there are are a whole shuttlebay full of perks to choose from.The only challenge might be working out how much you can afford versus exactly what you want to get!

"Everyone who donates $1 gets a thank-you and a black-and-white PDF of our companion webcomic adventure A Night in the Enterprise! For a little more money everyone will get a color PDF of the comic and a lot of other amazing prizes at various reward levels." said Ashley.

And that is indeed very true with the production offering The Red Shirt Who Lived red rooibos tea blend (it steeps red and makes approximately 37 cups), two t-shirt designs, original art from A Night in the Enterprise by Jeremy Owen, an HD download of season one with bonus videos not originally released and The Red Shirt Diaries season 2 postcard with an autograph or doodle. Your name and photo appearing in an episode of The Red Shirt Diaries season two is also on the list as is a set of magnets handcrafted by Ensign Williams herself to adorn your fridge featuring Ensign Williams, Captain Kirk, Sulu, Uhura and Bones. Certainly they're not the usual run of the mill perks you might expect which makes them all the more collectable and interesting in my opinion - and I do love a good brew.

"Everything that we are offering as a part of The Red Shirt Diaries season two IndieGoGo campaign is exclusive to the campaign and will not be available for purchase after the campaign closes." reminded Ashley - and that's key so if you do want some of these items you're going to need to act fast.

With everything going so well with the fundraising it looks like their plans for production and release will be spot on as Ashley continued to enthuse when we spoke to her; "Writing will being in December and should be wrapped by January with shooting is set for March/April 2015. 

"As soon as the IndieGoGo campaign ends, The Red Shirt Diaries season two begins pre-production. This time around we really want to have rehearsals a week before we start filming and we're also going to have to spend twice as long filming as we did last year (a mere two days). At this point we're thinking about releasing the first episode in May/June 2015 and then the episodes would run for most of the rest of the year. Again, the more funding we get and the more stretch goals are unlocked the more potential there is for more and more episodes."

And those stretch goals look like they're going to be realised a lot sooner than either Ashley or Jason expected with the initial $2,800 smashed early on. "With the campaign set to run for another 30+ days we have a lot of plans in place to keep raising more funds for The Red Shirt Diaries season two:

The first stretch goal is to raise $3,600 (as of Friday 13th November the total stood at $3,283). "This will get contributors a limited edition sign 8x10 of Ensign Williams and will ensure that we make one more episode during season two for a total or 20 new episodes rather than a mere 19." said Ashley, imparting some exciting news about the upcoming season expansion;  "The bonus episode we are looking at is Amok Time, so we're basically asking for people to help fund Pon Farr!"

Which fan of that episode isn't reaching for a wallet right now? So for not that much more we'll get to see the team take on one of THE classics as a finale to the season. "Our second stretch goal is $4,500 and the rewards will be announced once the first stretch goal is hit!"

For fans of this ingenious web-series I hope that the stretch target is hit so we can get to see what lies beyond adding in Amok Time to the filming schedule. That's not to say that season two won't be a jump of monstrous proportions anyway because aside from a potential new set and some different filming techniques there's a quartet of new guest stars waiting in the wings to join Ensign Williams. 

"We'd been buying ad space on the Morning Stream podcast for season one of because Jason and I are both big fans of the show and the FrogPants network (Jason being the person who introduced it to me in the first place). Scott Johnson (who will play the voice of  Admiral Williams) and Brian Ibbott (who will play the voice of  the Romulan Commander) kept saying incredibly kind things about the show and myself and how much they enjoyed it, so we just reached out to them directly and went from there.

"Jason brought Katie Wilson (voicing Leila Kalomi from This Side of Paradise) on board. They know each other from their respective work in the YouTube world and she's a Los Angeles local, so it wasn't a hard sell bringing her on board."

Oh - and they also brought in Cat Roberts who Star Trek Continues fans will recognise immediately from her performance in Fairest of them All earlier this year (and we at SKoST thought she was brilliant). "It was the biggest surprise for me, personally," said Ashley, "She tweeted at me when The Red Shirt Diaries first launched and would always share our links. Having watched Star Trek Continues Jason and I were keen to have her take on the part of Yeoman Rand. I reached out to Cat and she was immediately on board. We haven't even begun pre-production and she's already helped out The Red Shirt Diaries season two take massive leaps forward. We owe her a lot."

As possibly Cat's next biggest fans after these guys, neither can we and we hope to see her much more in the expanded Star Trek universe. Good luck also to the other newcomers to the show who will surely help propel its success even further.

However, we couldn't let Ashley go without asking about what else we can expect from season two - what things haven't been revealed that we can reveal right here?

"We're looking to do an episode that crosses over with one of the other Star Trek series ... more to revealed in the coming stretch goals." teased Ashley, "Ensign Williams will probably get to kiss someone and the more money the IndieGoGo raises the more parts of the Enterprise we'll be able to build, explore and film in."

Could that be a hint at some of the stretch goals? We think so but we have been wrong before (seriously...Spock dies in The Wrath of Khan??!!!) but there's one more thing we can slip in here just to get those wallets and purses open. "We've been invited to shoot on The Original Series bridge in Oklahoma City for one of our upcoming episodes. However, we can't make the trip from Los Angeles to Oklahoma unless we reach our $4,500.00 stretch goal."

Truly that would make season two go with a bang and have a nice twist to help get Ensign Williams out of her quarters - maybe that's a tag for a teaser - #letwilliamsout? #rsdtothebridge?

So far the journey has been a good one for The Red Shirt Diaries, joining satire and Star Trek into some well-written and well-acted minisodes that touch on the lives of the nameless crew below decks who get the butt-end of all the command decisions and - occasionally - manage to survive.

For those who have already donated, The Red Shirt Diaries season two has started an IndieGoGo referral program. When you're signed into IndieGoGo and share the direct link and your friend click that link and donate to The Red Shirt Diaries season two campaign IndieGoGo keeps track of it. When your friends' donations total $100, $500, $1,000 and $2,500 there are more prizes!

"In the end it's been absolutely amazing!" closed our intrepid Red Shirt, Ashley; "The Red Shirt Diaries season two crowd-funding campaign reached our $2,800.00 goal in just three days! People have been incredibly kind and incredibly generous and it's not just friends and family - many of the contributors come from all over the world. It certainly feeds the ego and makes you feel like you're doing good work, but I think it also speaks to the huge Star Trek family out in the word that really wants more quality entertainment set in that world.

If you're interested in supporting The Red Shirt Diaries drop by their IndieGoGo campaign and also visit their great website for more details and, of course, to watch the show!

Have you watched the show? Are you interested in seeing their second season? Let's discuss!

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Greg Cox Takes Seven Back: No Time Like the Past

Of all of this year's Simon and Schuster releases, No Time Like the Past is probably the biggest risk.

The cover leaves you without a doubt who this crossover will focus on with both Kirk and Seven of Nine featuring. Indeed, not one of the more obvious partnerships in the Star Trek universe but hey, anything can happen especially when it comes to the written word.

From Kirk's perspective a delicate matter of diplomacy gets interrupted by the arrival of Orion pirates - and then the appearance of one former Borg drone. This leads into something akin to The Chase from The Next Generation as the crew of the USS Enterprise go sprinting around the galaxy with the green-skinned slavers in pursuit in an attempt to return Seven of Nine to the future.

Honestly? The plot is merely a device to bring Kirk and Seven into the same time and place. After about 100 pages I sort of forgot about the circumstances that had started it all as it became much more about the interaction between Seven and the characters from The Original Series, most notably Kirk, Spock and McCoy (just as it should be Mr Abrams). Straightforward it might be but the conversations between these people are key to the enjoyment of the book and to be fair it's much more of a reason to dive into No Time Like the Past.

The crew of Voyager do make a fleeting appearance at the start to send Seven on her way and while their essence is, sort of, captured, Cox has absolutely landed on what makes Jeri Ryan's character so memorable. The cold, almost emotionless, computer-esque logic is there in droves suggesting that he might want to switch to Voyager rather than The Original Series. Ok, there are one or two colloqualisms that I wouldn't have expected to have spotted (+Hayley Atherton I'm seeing these more now!) but I can let them go because this is a great enjoyable romp. For once it's not about the morality, a planet in danger, it's just a straight chase to the finish line.  I was totally engrossed in the narrative as Seven easily eludes Kirk's womanising charm and crosses intellectual swords to some degree with Spock. 

While Kirk is captain I think it would have been more interesting to give the focus of this book over to Seven/Spock as we had in Unification II with Data/Spock, putting another two of the observers of humanity together for key scenes. Between them here there are some wonderful little moments of one-up-manship that illustrate Borg perfection versus Vulcan stoicism and aloofness. That said, Kirk is not as strongly portrayed as the womaniser he seemed in The Weight of Worlds from last year. The captain is much more in control of the situation and while he has to share the spotlight with the Voyager character, it presents a much more even tale and, Greg, if you are reading this, No Time Like the Past is a big improvement on last year's addition to the catalogue.

Fantastically this story is rammed full of action sequences from starship chasing through to stampeding creatures and phaser fights galore. Be assured that Cox has hammered in as many redshirt deaths as possible within the 400 odd pages here. Why have one when you can stick in multiple disintegrations of your ever-expendable security force. Now I said earlier that the story is pretty much disposable stuff, it's the places that raise the game above average with trips back to key planets featured in The Original Series such as Gamma Trianguli VI from The Apple, Cheron from Let This Be Your Last Battlefield and Sarpeidon from All Our Yesterdays.

While you'd be expecting straight returns, Cox tracks us into the pasts of these worlds, allowing us a good, if fleeting, chance to understand more about what led these worlds to the point in which we viewed them back in the original show. Very clever that and not something I would have thought to do. It makes it much less run-of-the-mill and does entice you to keep turning the pages if only to see where the ship will be heading next and what untold secrets from The Original Series we will be allowed to spy on.

As you get further into No Time Like the Past however something weird does happen - it begins to fall a bit flat and, unfortunately, predictable. The chase relentlessly continues and then the cliches begin appearing. While it's great visiting different planets the format doesn't change each time - find crystal, incident, return to ship, resume chase. Not only that but the Federation ambassador plays to all the stereotypes; getting in the way and even has a sneaky little aide. More and more it becomes evident that the great idea of sticking Seven of Nine into the Kirk-era was just that - a good idea but once Cox became more deeply embroiled in the story that the plot unravels and the intriguing concept of The Original Series meets Voyager crumbles. 

Character-wise the secondary crew of Uhura, Sulu and Chekov really suffer here with very little to do apart from man their bridge stations. Fortunately given Seven's regeneration predicament which is extensively covered, McCoy gets a fair showing and even manages to be heavily featured in one of the Planet Incidents. His character is spot on, getting nicely crotchey and grumbly at all the right points. Scotty too gets some decent page time during the latter third of the book when the Orions play out a major set piece which should have been spotted a light year off. What leads to Scotty's lengthy appearance just seems extremely out of character for all concerned and seems as though the author ran out of chase sequences to plan. Again, Cox hits Scotty straight on the nail, all Highland expressions and all. The fear I do have that is avoided is that we don't descend into too many Northern cliches and haggis mentions. Good job.

As always with a Star Trek novel though there are a trunkload of references to the 79 classics scattered more than liberally throughout. I keep saying that there really is no need to flush a load of nods to The Original Series into every novel released. Great that we know the material but they do need to be reined in at some point soon because there is a great deal of repetition between authors - Khan here, Gorn there, Mugato on that page...I might start a campaign. One thing I am impressed with from Mr Cox is the redshirt body count. If one turns up you can pretty much guarantee they won't last the chapter. If they make two chapters they've somehow managed to get a reprieve. 

It's very unusual for me to find a Star Trek novel that deteriorates like this one does plot-wise. I loved it though just because it gives the opportunity to place two diverse characters into an unusual situation. The Kirk/Seven or in fact any Seven meets an Enterprise crewmember are the meat of this book and the plot really is secondary. It's all about how Greg Cox masters the interaction, the nuances and the sparkle of the characters he has chosen to feature. Here, I can say it's been a success on every level even if the story is average/below par and isn't a big thinker. It's something I didn't expect to think here however it sort of makes sense in the end. In comparison to his 2013 effort this is 100% the better read and I bounded through the 388 pages with ease. Three or four sittings will easily get you a good way through and you'll enjoy every last second of it. While not this year's biggest brain strainer in the Simon and Schuster catalogue it's a risk that has paid off. Go out and read it because it's a page turner that will entertain at the very, very least. I think you'll find that it's worth the price. Could this perhaps be the launchpad for more of these unexpected crossover episodes? Greg Cox, over to you.

So what were your thoughts on No Time Like the Past? Was it was to team up Seven and Kirk? Let us know below!

Star Trek: The Original Series: No Time Like the Past is available now from Simon and Schuster priced £6.99 ISBN 9781476749495

While we're on the subject of Simon and Schuster, we've also had confirmation direct of the rest of the year's UK releases.

August
Star Trek: Seekers: Second Nature - David Mack

September
Star Trek: Seekers: Point of Divergence - Kevin Dilmore

October
Star Trek: Voyager: Acts of Contrition - Kirsten Beyer

November
Star Trek: Section 31: Disavowed - David Mack

December
Star Trek: The Original Series: Foul Deeds Will Rise - Greg Cox

Included here are the cover shots (unconfirmed) for Beyer's Voyager novel as well as The Next Generation and The Lost Era novels due out June/July and a mock up cover for Seekers that looks pretty good too.

I also discovered that the "secret project" book due out in November was actually an updated, expanded and long awaited Ships of the Line featuring all the images that have lavished the series of calendars since the original book arrived about eight years ago. The first was a brilliant breeze-read with every image a brilliant interpretation from a large range of artists. Knowing what material we will be getting means I'll be adding this to the collection without a doubt. Sadly no plot details are forthcoming at the moment for any of the novels noted here but you can guarantee that as soon as we get them, they'll be on here.

You can also look back at our preview in January which detailed all the releases from January's The Peaceable Kingdom through to Seekers. That also includes the Enterprise novel Tower of Babel and The Original Series' Serpents in the Garden. Just for you, here are the cover shots for those two which are due out in April and May respectively. 

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Phase II: Why Aren't You Watching?!

Hi, my name's Clive and I have an admission.

Star Trek: Phase II (nee New Voyages) is a revelation. The downside is that since it's arrival back in 2004 we've only been privy to nine (soon to be ten) episodes. But what a collection they have been so far.

The first thing is that until I saw Kitumba my knowledge of the series was purely based on what I read on the internet.  I'd never watched a single solitary minute. The poster for that episode enthralled me; there was hype, there were Klingons and it was one of the "lost" episodes proposed for the original Phase II show in the late 70's. I watched, I reviewed...and then I thought; OK, that was pretty impressive....what else have they done...?

"More than I thought" was the straight answer so let's rewind back and talk about what I believe to be the best online fan series created. Now I've had several conversations with +Carl Thomson and +Mark Thwaite telling, nay preaching...nay ordering them to watch at least one episode from start to finish. Truth be told I'm still waiting but maybe this post will spur them (or shame them!) into watching some Phase II. I believe I may have said something along the lines of:

"Have you seen Phase II?"
"No"
"Then ******* watch it!!!!"

So it's time to prove a point, to reinforce the facts and my argument. From the start then...

Back in the beginning Come What May and to some extent the subsequent In Harm's Way were a little out of focus, definitely fan-produced and reminded me more of 70's Blake's 7 rather than 60's Star Trek. James Cawley's Elvis hairdo sticks out like a sore thumb in the pilot but is mercifully laid to rest by the follow up. They're both fairly average and my attention dropped in and out. The pilot has it's moments with some cute little flash forward moments courtesy of the whirly alien effect and it's bouncy human companion. Now when I watched the first episode after having seen Kitumba I nearly went into cardiac arrest. Was this really the same show I'd reviewed? It seemed light years away but at that moment began a wonderful, somewhat unexpected journey but there were sparks of genius buried within that even I allowed myself to give a little nod and smile to.

So I successfully restarted my heart and ploughed on. While I have to admit the existence of Come What May it was In Harm's Way that really suggested the potential of the show. Bringing back the Guardian of Forever and introducing a substantially larger plot device sibling as well as drawing on Star Trek history with the inclusion of Pike and the crew from The Cage do work a treat. Not only is Phase II exploring the galaxy but also the rich Star Trek universe and history. Cawley, Quinn and Kelley as Kirk, Spock and McCoy are ok but you're always going to be raising comparisons; it's natural. The spark of Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley isn't quite there but these guys are very watchable together. If anything, Jeffrey Quinn does seem a bit young for Spock however the story is very engaging crossing time and space - and reminding me a little (by its conclusion) of the three Enterprise scene at the end of All Good Things....

The script from Doug Drexler and Erik Korngold is total fan immersion with all the references to classic episodes with unexpected cameos from William Windom as Commodore Decker, reprising his role from The Doomsday Machine and Barbara Luna. The latter is ok but Windom looks a little uncomfortable with his lines. A great shame as his return to Star Trek is a great moment that brings in a ton of continuity which is something that New Voyages/Phase II does manage with greater aplomb than The Original Series. More on that in a bit. Oh yes, and while we're mentioning the unexpected, what could be more so than a shuttlecraft in the garage of a suburban house?!

This episode truly drew me in more than the iffy pilot because there's so much going on and a ton of curve balls that make it super watchable. However, it keeps getting better.

The next two episodes could have done with a little more separation as they both deal with main cast members aging so that Walter Koenig and George Takei can guest star as Chekov and Sulu. Now I'm not complaining as it's great to see them back and appearing to thoroughly enjoy the experience. To Serve All My Days, penned by D C Fontana is a something sequel to The Deadly Years while The World Enough and Time offers something akin to Children of Time with a "future" Sulu storyline. The ending of the Chekov focused To Serve All My Days is bitter-sweet but effective and reminds the audience that Phase II does have some poetic licence to mess it up a bit and for good reason here. The Sulu show even did something that surprised me more than the ending of the preceding Chekov one; it set both the prologue and the epilogue in the future. Clearly not something that would have been possible in the 1960's but here it's a beautifully executed maneuver that even Picard would be proud of - and I'm glad of any excuse to see the Excelsior on screen. So it's a big tool just to get Takei into the Phase II universe (and Grace Lee Whitney) but it works and while we expect the reset it kind of makes sense to a degree. George looks totally engrossed playing a not-quite-Sulu Sulu and I'd happily watch this again and again. 

The show is almost a split for me - the stronger stories are certainly the later ones which also include several cast changes with new actors for Spock (Jeffrey Quinn to Ben Tolpin to Brandon Stacey), Chekhov (Andy Bray to Jonathan Zungre), Sulu (John Lim to J T Tepnapa) and Uhura (Juliette Irons to Kim Stinger) as well as the additions of Peter Kirk and Xon. While this may seem like bloating what was already a fairly sizable ensemble it does add a great deal of diversity and more varied character relationships. But that's not exactly what I'm stabbing a finger at here - the stories themselves keep getting better (with the blip of Enemy: Starfleet in the middle actually). 

Starting with Blood and Fire, passing through to The Child and into Kitumba is a masterful batch of lost Star Trek finally able to make it onto the screen. Gerrold's legendary story that touched on homosexuality gets expanded into a superbly acted, directed and written two part/move length story. Justice is truly served after such a long time and the bar just keeps finding it's being raised just a little more. It's no wonder the calibre of guest star that this show can get when you look at how innovative and boundary pushing Phase II has been. Not only are there those mentioned here, but add in Malachi Throne, Grace Lee Whitney, Eddie Paskey and John Winston to what is an exemplary mix. 

OK, so we would never have seen movie uniforms turn up in a flashforward back in the 1960's  (etc) but that's where this series is different. While it's in keeping with The Original Series it can think and act outside of that box with the benefit of 50 years experience. It draws on the known future, the inherited forward-story if you will and makes it even more watchable just to see what we "missed" and what could have been. I particularly like the way in which stories are continued across episodes (Ensign Kirk's loss from Blood and Fire for one or the returning villain Kargh) and, on a little nod to his role in the movies, Chekov making it as Head of Security and putting on a redshirt.

Newcomer to the show (at this point), Bobby Quinn Rice, has a big role to fill here as Peter Kirk and does an admirable job from start to finish. While he's not overly used for the subsequent stories (as with Xon), his presence is still felt in each. For me, his arrival marks a key change in the quality of Phase II. I hit Blood and Fire in one sitting. I was glued. We know why this never originally made it to screen but here, with an additional guest appearance from Denise Crosby it's wonderfully realised with some genuinely decent effects, dialogue and CGI to boot. This story has humanity, action, Klingons, blood worms, geniuinely surprising moments for a few characters and a starship load more to enjoy. A true top notch story that SHOULD have been made.

It does become apparent though, even in the double-length Blood and Fire that budget is restraining the show to the established ship sets with the occasional pop over to a Klingon bridge or sneaky away mission. All of the two-parter appears to be on starship sets however because of the quality you tend to only realise afterwards. It's not until Enemy: Starfleet that we get the real feel of an away mission complete with sandy camera filter. Saying that, the CGI also makes dramatic steps forward along the way from some not-too-bad shots at the start through to full blown battle scenes and fleets of Klingons by the time we reach Kitumba. 

Actually, I want to stick with Enemy: Starfleet for a moment. The title made this one anticipated episode and while there is a great story at the heart of it, I felt decidedly let down after the two-part juggernaut. The Eagle is a mighty piece of CGI but sadly it's let down by Barbara Luna in my humble opinion. Whether she meant to aim for a panto performance or not I can't say but it's just a little too much and does detract from the episode. Her appearance in In Harm's Way was nothing like the one she puts on here and the seduction scenes with Kirk are slightly toe-curling. Sorry, readers, but I just can't get excited about this one; probably the weakest of the latter half and maybe of the show thus far and I so wanted it to be the best one.

I can't however strike that at The Child. Now I had read a lot about taking it back to the original idea and making the show as it was meant to be -and they weren't joking. This eighth installment is unrecognisable to the "travesty" that introduced the shorter second season of The Next Generation. Itself a "lost" script from the original Phase II production it makes a heck of a lot more sense and praise has to go to both Anna Schnaitter as Lt Isel and Ayla Cordell who plays her rapidly aging daughter Irska. Their performances truly lift the show and make it an excellent example of how Star Trek could and should have been done. John Povill's story and direction show this story has been (no pun intended) his baby for a long time. Great to see a Deltan on the crew as a nod to Illia from The Motion Picture who was originally intended as the mother figure here.

My thoughts on Kitumba have already been well-documented but I honestly can't wait for The Holiest Thing. New Kirk, Carol Marcus...brilliant. It will also mean that John M Kelley is the only main cast member to be retained since the pilot in 2004 as James Cawley moves off screen to focus on the production of the series. I think for Brian Gross this will be a very hard act to follow. While there is the occasional glimpse of a facial movement or vocal intonation that reminds us of Shatner, Cawley has set out his own portrayal of Kirk admirably - even if there was that hint of Elvis at the beginning! Let's also not forget two other long serving cast members. I've been a little harsh on Charles Root's accent in my Kitumba review and I'm going to take that back. He's done a great job in the role and frankly who cares if Scottish isn't his native vocal sound, I really like the part he plays and hope he sticks with the show. Up there as well is Ron Boyd's DeSalle. He's the Phase II version of Kyle - always there but not too prominent - and he's a redshirt that's survived more than one episode so he's clearly doing something right!

One thing that I cannot heap enough praise on for this show is the effects and the stunning work of Tobias Richter who is also going to be master of the CGI for the much-hyped Axanar. I didn't think it would be possible to produce such stunning work on very little money but you can when there's this level of ability. The USS Eagle of Enemy: Starfleet, the USS Copernicus and surrounding space in Blood and Fire, even the nebulous materials that the Enterprise encounters in The Child are awe inspiring on the screen and make every episode a fantastic spectacle. Yes, at the beginning the ship movements were a little bit too smooth and some of the graphics a little jittery but things have moved on at a phenomenal rate to create some very memorable moments. In fact, how many times can you remember the original Enterprise carrying severe battle damage through an episode on screen that you could see?

Oh and then there's the vignettes that have popped up in and around the series. I think there are four to date - Centre Seat, No Win Scenario, 1701 Pennsylvania Ave and most recently Going Boldly which act to whet the appetite between episodes. The first deals with both DeSalle and the returning Lt Cmdr Sulu and a minor navigational error, the second with Kargh as he works to devise a plan of attack against the Federation border. The next is set on the day of the Moon landing in 1969. It's an inspired 11 minutes which is, to say the least, off the wall in more than one way. Klingons, tribbles, Nixon - if I say any more it might all make sense.

What I do want to focus on though is the fourth; it's truly the start of a new era. Kirk has a new face and a little less Shatner. Times are a-changing with the arrival of Brian Gross and also this new swanky vignette that offers something of a prelude into the upcoming The Holiest Thing. While saying goodbye to both Enterprise crew lost on missions and real life individuals who passed away and were associated with the show, it's a glimpse of what could well be Phase II.1. After that wonderful, if brief "hello" to Garth of Izar played by Alec Peters (who is the guy behind Axanar) we get to see a few sneak peeks. 

There's The Animated Series' Arex at the navigation console which is perfect sense now Chekov is down in security and Scotty has a nice shiny new warp core to play with (above).  What was that i said - yes - Arex - a CGI character!!! You have to see it. Go on YouTube here and take a look, it's genius!

It's ALSO the exterior shots which just make this a salivating treat of a vignette and there's definitely a homage here to the drydock departure scene in The Motion Picture as we see the starship's new warp engines and torpedo tubes. Clearly Phase II is starting to increase the notable links between the TV series and the first movie. At the core though the USS Enterprise is very recognisable as her original self but these new tweeks do help to add to the production's individuality. Love it.

Not only do we have The Holiest Thing but Bread and Savagery is in post-production and there's work going on to complete The Mind-Sifter for future release. Despite some behind the scenes rumbles, overly-long delays and the fact this is all done on volunteer time, it's a fan-made masterpiece. We may not be getting a new episode each week, Star Trek fans, but at the moment if we want to get the feel of the Roddenberry universe back this is absolutely the first stop you should be making and exploring.

So, gents, ladies, one and all my original question stands - with the quality that we're getting from this series Why Aren't You Watching?

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You can learn more about Star Trek: Phase II at their website and view their episodes too at YouTube