Nichelle

After the outpouring of affection over the last 24 hours, what more can be said?

Icon, trailblazer, actress, singer, symbol of empowerment, activist - Nichelle Nichols helped change the world into something more positive and far more respectful than we had seen before.

There's always going to be the story of that chance meeting with Dr Martin Luther King which helped keep her on the Enterprise following the first season, the nod from Whoopi Goldberg that Nichols inspired her in her career after seeing Uhura on Star Trek. 

Roddenberry's starship truly encompassed the globe but perhaps none of the characters or actors involved had the impact on civil rights that just the presence of Uhura did in the show.

Nichols onscreen time with the franchise started back with the first production episode, The Corbomite Maneuver and would remain with the series to its conclusion in 1969 before returning in the first six movies. The Undiscovered Country in 1991 would be her final canon appearance as Uhura although Nichols would play her legendary persona in the fan film Of Gods and Men. Sound clips from her appearances would be used even more recently for her animated appearance in Star Trek: Prodigy as part of a holodeck simulation drawing together some of the franchise's greatest crewmembers.

Portraying a character of responsibility (and not just a maid as Goldberg herself noted as a

child), Uhura and therefore Nichols presented a positive, optimistic role model which showed that at least (at that time) in the future everyone would be equal and have the same chances.

I was amazed at how just about every single post on my social media feeds was about Nichols and the impact she had on so many peoples' lives whether or not they met her. Pictures, autographs, memories are all there from fans who were touched by her role in Star Trek.

As a tribute to her memory, here are SKoST's Top Five Nichols Moments as Uhura

5. Mr Adventure

One of the more light-hearted moments from The Search for Spock shows Uhura on duty at a transporter station seemingly in the utter backwaters of Starfleet. Babysitting a junior officer who wants just a little bit of excitement, events soon come to pass. It's only when Admiral Kirk, McCoy and Sulu arrive that things start to hot up and he's forced at phaser-point to sit in the closet. This is a huge highlight for Uhura fans with more to do in one scene than she's had to do for the previous two movies. I'd recommend checking out the novelisation which adds even more to Uhura's narrative than we see on screen.

4. Taking Command

Often over-looked is this entry from TAS, the episode The Lorelei Signal. With the male members of the Enterprise crew subdued, Uhura takes command of the starship and the rescue mission.  Although "just" an animated episode this is a vital moment in the development of Lt Uhura from her position as communications officer into a full-blown commander of the ship and the mission. In later materials following The Undiscovered Country this wil go to the next step with Nyota gaining captaincy of the USS Leondegrance. More importantly it's another evolution of the ability of Star Trek to show the equality of all its characters in the ever-optimistic 23rd Century.

3. The Kiss 

How could any list of Uhura moments be complete without this? While the debate will continue ever-onwards as whether or not it was the first televised inter-racial kiss, it's an episode and a moment that lives on in near mythic status.

Perhaps Plato's Stepchildren as a whole hasn't aged that well and at points descends to a level somewhere near farce but it does have this one key scene. Forced to kiss by the Platonians, Kirk and Uhura made TV history if only because of the audience that saw it. The stories of ruining takes and angles have run around autobiographies and fan circuits for decades but once again Nichols was at the front and centre of a "risky" moment that networks were genuinely concerned about. It was banned in the UK for violent content, not for this watershed kiss.

2. The Gamesters of Triskelion

Maybe an odd one to include and I'm sure there will be debate as to whether there are others that I should have included. However I've dropped this second season episode in for the huge reason that Uhura is part of the unwilling away team alongside Kirk and Chekov.

The Gamesters of Triskelion is unusual precisely for the notion that it sidelines the usual Kirk/Spock/McCoy triumvirate in favour of something different and rarely seen in TOS.

Chekov might have been the new kid on the block in 1967 but to have Uhura as a key player here was massive. Check out the first season and pretty much everything to this point and Uhura is very much a background player - a fact that we know nearly led her to quit. But through perseverance things finally paid off and here she has a starring role. Fighting off unwanted advances from her drill Thall is a key scene with her character at no point becoming a damsel in distress.

1. Got to have a Tailpipe?

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country provided each and every member of the original crew with standout moments throughout its running time. While the use of the Klingon dictionaries to create a "believable" dialogue with the border guards is fun to watch, Uhura's biggest moment here comes from her solution to the challenge of the cloaked Bird of Prey. Remembering that the Enterprise is carrying equipment to catalogue gaseous anomalies, she's the catalyst for Spock and McCoy to perform surgery on a torpedo. Uhura's actions ultimately cause the resolution of the movie, destroying Chang's ship and allowing the crew to save the day in the nick of time.

Nichelle Nichols

28 December 1932 - 31 July 2022

Character Traits: Star Trek Timelines

Star Trek Timelines is getting me far, far too excited thanks to the constant stream of information we're receiving.

Over successive weeks we've been treated to the reveal of the Constellation Class ship, a Ferengi Marauder, more recently we've been privy to detailed information on a handful of playable characters as well as an insight into the demo from Las Vegas and much to my satisfaction, the Defiant.

The ship reveals have gone a long way to illustrating the care and attention the designers have gone to in recreating the iconic vessels and the very feel of the fabric of the Star Trek universe. The way they move, act, go to warp and appear is very appreciative of the franchise and I like the respect this shows from Disruptor Beam. I thoroughly recommend and direct you to their YouTube channel (it's not SKoST but hey, they're trying(!)) to keep up to date with what's happening and any big reveals.

Going back a little, I did mention those announced characters. Skipping through the ton of comments on Facebook it's apparent that virtually every character ever seen in Star Trek will be available (except the Wadi if you can) and in from different points in the show. At the moment we've only got a smattering of indications plus a few snap-shots of development. 

I was very fortunate to get the chance to find out more about this highly-anticipated game from Rich Gallup, exec producer for Timelines; "Right now we're preparing for Beta to invite people with a fresh set of eyes to check we're making the right decisions or tell us about stuff before launch about things we need to fix. We've been playing this game for over a year and Las Vegas was great to allow fans to see it for five minutes but now we want people to play it for hours and tell us what it's like."

Rich grew up watching The Next Generation with his family right through, dabbled with Deep Space Nine and Voyager but since working on Timelines he's re-watched the whole of The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and is currently about 12 episodes into Enterprise. "It's been great revisiting stuff that I knew, episodes that were familiar and I'm getting back up to speed on stuff I thought I knew and learning new bits on the way. Now I'm a part of the Star Trek community I was hesitant because there's this stereotype that if you love Star Trek you know the name of every single episode, every single ship and every single character but when you meet up with the people you're making this game for you realise that a lot of them had a favourite show they loved and are familiar with the rest."

As exec producer, Rich Gallup is making sure things are getting done, priority setting and people managing. "Jon Radoff is directing the game and guiding us towards a certain vision," said Rich, "making sure what he wants is what we're making and I make sure the team have the freedom to explore that vision and make sure that they're all OK!"

Each of your characters will have at least one of the core skills; Command, Diplomacy, Science, Security, Engineering or Medical which can be levelled up and will differ between characters ie. Spock is likely to be a better scientist than Malcolm Reed. Your traits and combination of characters will then affect the outcome of the missions you place them into meaning that a diplomatic situation will benefit more from having Picard manage it than sending in Worf.

The first character we saw in any detail was Captain Janeway and my impressions of the game did go up because Timelines will offer three different versions of the Voyager captain. There's Starfleet uniform Janeway, Die Hard/Macrocosm Janeway replete with phaser rifle and finally Queen Arachnia Janeway from Bride of Chaotica!. What a selection - and fortunately we've been spared Fair Haven Janeway or Victorian novel Janeway (please...no....but we would welcome Admiral Janeway!)

Each version of the captain will have its own attributes and differences making each a unique character within the game that will change outcomes dependant on which you choose or get landed with depending on your preferences.

We also got a snap of Kruge who will be turning up here and marks our only full Klingon reveal to date. While I might bemoan Wizkids for not offering him and his Bird-of-Prey as an expansion pack in Attack Wing, here we'll get the chance to add the Genesis-obsessed power-hungry commander to our ranks. Lots of honour and combat bonuses I would think with this one. The artwork does capture a really impressive likeness although I'm a bit confused by the need for him to be running so energetically and I would have liked to see him in that weighty Klingon overcoat barking into a communicator - but who knows, that may very well be a variant in the future!

One of the biggies we were shown was the action-posed Captain Kirk. A character that is as essential to this game as anti-matter is to a warp core, there will be three versions of the Enterprise captain at launch. I can only think there will be one in his movie monster maroon and another in a selected getup from The Original Series. 

Specialising in Command, Diplomacy and Security, Kirk is said to be an "essential" character in the game which will mean he'll cost an arm, a leg and a starship to buy and add to your crew. Apparently having him lead an away team will add in bonuses as I suspect placing him in the command chair will also do. Comparing this to the more simply imagined Trexels, you can see there is a lot more depth to the Timelines experience. Characters will be a lot more unique visually and statistically helped particularly by the greater range of skill sets available for the developers to tweak on each person - and each iteration of that person!

As a spin on that I suggested it could get more interesting when it gets to nine versions of a character but that might/might never happen (delete as applicable) however Rich and I did a mini-challenge to see if we could work out nine distinct Kirk's...so we did...

1. Yellow shirt Kirk
2. Green shirt Kirk (season one)
3. Where No Man Has Gone Before Kirk (with phaser rifle)
4. Season two green wraparound shirt Kirk
5. Medical bay Kirk kicking that wall monitor device
6. San Francisco Star Trek IV Kirk
7. V'Ger away team Kirk
8. The Wrath of Khan bloodied uniform Kirk
9. Rura Penthe Kirk from The Undiscovered Country

While that was a mental minute and we could have included a ton more, Rich was clear to note that some characters may have one iteration, others perhaps three and maybe some more but it will depend on who they are. According to a reply I had from Mr Gallup on Twitter we're going to attempt 10 Picard's next time (!).

Certainly when we talk about character variants, one of the biggest has to be Spock. The Timelines blog has indicated we will get several versions of the Spock character including his later ambassador role but the one we were privvy to here is skilled as though he's just setting out on the five year mission with Kirk et al. Very, very exciting to see this reveal since Nimoy is foremost in a lot of fans thoughts given his recent passing.

Seven of Nine wearing her blue attire from the later seasons of Voyager also popped up in previews and what we do know about her abilities is that she will be skilled in Sciences and Engineering while she'll be prone to "ignore irrelevancies" which sounds very close to her on-screen character. But just who is responsible for these great images we're seeing?

Well his name is Mike Gardner, "We keep feeding him more and more and more characters and each one if better than the last." noted Rich, "It's been fun challenging him as we're making hundreds of these characters so how do you make each one distinct? The character and the costume is one thing but how do you give them personality and how do you make sure they're not all using the exact same pose? That was a lot easier to do when we were getting started but now we're so far into the game it's amazing to see the stuff he's coming up with!"

We even had two Quark's and two Sulus, notching up different attributes for both characters. While their "generic" versions are pretty cool I was far more impressed and genuinely surprised by the announcement of Naked Time Sulu with his fencing sword and Klingon Quark from Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places. "Everyone needs to have shirtless Sulu!" noted Rich, revealing that the design team, led by David Heron as the main designer, are the ones coming up with the character variants along with Tim Crosby and Jessica Sliwinski. I did ask if there might be a Mirror Sulu and a USS Excelsior captain Sulu to which there wasn't a 'No' but neither was there a 'Yes'!

Uhura has also been granted two versions in the opening salvos of Timelines with a classic look (as a lieutenant) and also one that fans will instantly remember from The Search for Spock where she's faced with putting "Mr Adventure" in the closet. Again the graphics are just sublime and the chosen quotes work exceptionally well with the images. The movie-era Uhura also gives us our first look at how the team have recreated the jacket-style uniform. I've swung the pic in later so you can take a look but I think it looks really good as does the Type II phaser - yep, even got the right weapon type for the right movie. OK Clive, stop fanboying out over this stuff. Now....

"It's a tricky balance because up front you need all the characters everyone loves. we'll have most of those but we do need some back for post-launch content. Then we have the skills and traits which we build onto the core characters. Then we look beyond those and look at what we need. Using variants means we can fill those holes and make sure each character feels distinct. The trait system means that there might be a mission where you need a Ferengi mixing it up in a fight which would be the Klingon version of Quark. We discussed a second Quark and who that second Quark was going to be."

Rich asked me if there was another version of Quark I could have suggested and with a quick head-scratch I was a bit stumped on the spot however I did state that it was best Timelines avoided the Profit and Lace variant. I have begged for it to be struck. "I did suggest to David that it could have been a little different and gone to Kahless Quark," added Rich, "as in the episode there's a moment where Quark and his love re-enact the great Klingon myth and he's dressed as Kahless. There is the possibility that that might come in later!"

The more I see of this game, the more I'm desperate for Autumn (Fall) to get here and this to be released. As a Star Trek game it looks stunning but the real test will be in the gameplay, how your characters work together and how they affect the path you choose to take on missions. Timelines certainly is promising a lot - locations, ships, duty stations, away missions, a plethora of characters I can only begin to imagine, individual stats...and that's just off the top of my head. I would think that there's a heck of a lot more we're not being told with this drip-fed info keeping us from asking some of the more in-depth questions!

But hey, that's not all. Heading to the Las Vegas convention the Timelines team managed to acquire the services of one John de Lancie to help them promote the soon-to-be-released game and showcase their ship battles element. 

The first mission we've seen is the one demoed at Las Vegas and featuring the vocal tones of De Lancie and opens with Q greeting you at the anomaly which bleeds all the timelines into one thanks to the intervention of some pesky Romulans. As a starting level it'll be very hard to get yourself killed but choosing the wrong option could well make your game end in tears, "As you progress you will need to level up and if you're attempting a level where you're not powerful enough you'll lose and have to do it again."

Later into the demo the player heads up against the Mirror Universe Worf so instead of matching wits with Q and the Romulans there might well be more fisticuffs in that part! Given that a lot of mobile/Facebook games only tend to focus on a single factor be it characters or ships, the combination of the two is a master-stroke. It could also have been very dangerous to tackle so many different parts of the Star Trek universe but the initial vids we're seeing offer evidence contrary to that possibility.

"Each ship has different stations and you can assign different crew to them," continued Rich, "These show up as actions in your action bar and determine how your ship acts. The best way to upgrade your ship will be to upgrade your crew and slot them into the appropriate spot."

The latest reveal of the USS Defiant was, well, revealing, showing us the detail the team have gone into ensuring that she has her trademark pulse phase cannons plus that all important cloaking device. From the video on their channel it's apparent that the team have made sure they are giving fans what they want - even down to the correct number of photon torpedo launchers and colour of the phaser beams. What all the gubbins around the screen represent I can't say but finding out is going to be a lot of fun! The Defiant is my favourite ship from the franchise so to see her so painstakingly recreated here is brilliant to see. Also a cool touch that she's the only one in her class with the cloaking ability if we go by the comments from the Facebook page. Again, it's all about that essential attention to detail which is keeping me hooked.

One thing that fans and followers of Timelines have picked up on was a one-off joke that you could assign Locutus of Borg to Ten-Forward. I can assure you this is still possible, heck you could make Martok your Chief Medical Officer (one-eyed or Changeling version?!).

Martok is one of my favourites but I also can't wait to see what they do with Sisko. "David Heron our chief designer is a big Deep Space Nine fan," said Rich, "so you can be assured that every main character is well represented in our launch package."

Reaction has been really good to the game so far, "People love it to the point that makes me nervous!" joked Rich, "We have a vision to achieve and it's been great to show people early versions of the game. I think they can see the promise of it and really hope they love it as much when we show the final version! Hopefully what they picture  is what we picture. We hope we have good game-play and a variety of game-play and a ton of Star Trek for all fans."

"All our testing has been on mobile devices as that's our lead platform but we will be porting it onto the web in some way; definitely Facebook. Game of Thrones Ascent started as a Facebook game and we ported it over to mobile and found that both player bases are equally competitive and viable. It has been as challenging as other projects," continued Rich, "but we won't know if all the work has paid off until we reach Beta (testing) and more people have played the game."

In comparison to Timelines I've felt that Alien Domain or Trexels have focused on one aspect of the Star Trek universe be it space combat or away missions but here in this game there is a serious mix of a lot of elements. "A lot of that came from John Radoff," explained Rich, "He wanted this game to look absolutely gorgeous and he wanted to be able to explore 3D space. That led us down the path to make sure the game looks as good as it does. In terms of the game-play that was through a development project and we wanted to be very true and authentic to the original material. 

"We wanted impressive ship battles but we also wanted other methods for solving problems because Star Trek isn't just about space combat. That's why we have conflicts which is a much more abstract/choose-your-own-adventure style where you can choose to resolve matters with a combination of individuals through a series of trials. We tried a lot of different game-play systems and variations for types of skills and we felt that that was spreading us very thin. Eventually it led us to the current system which ties it all together."

Rich noted that players will want to replay missions again and again to open up different paths determined by which crew members they assign to which challenge and therefore open up more parts of the game tree. "We always wanted a lot of options," verified Rich, "because we know that the Star Trek fan-base is incredibly diverse and we want to make sure that everyone can not only find their favourite characters but can also resolve situations in a way that they would prefer."

There will be a lot of scenarios available at launch with more to come later; "This won't be a game you can complete in half an hour," reassured the exec producer, "We want you to be playing it for hours and hours and as soon as possible we will release new content. For example, Game of Thrones Ascent has been out for two and a half years and we're been releasing new quest content every week. We know how to produce good content consistently. I can't say how much there will be for Star Trek or how often because Timelines plays very differently."

What about Rich's biggest success and at the opposite end, his biggest challenge? Is there something that's been keeping him awake at night? Causing hot sweats (OK I took that to an extreme)?, "It's making a game that Star Trek fans love because we're approaching 50 years of it being around and we've only been making this game for less than two. We've been trusted by our friends at CBS and challenged by the community to make something that is worth their time, love and attention. It's a little terrifying but I think we've been the team to take it on and from the reaction we're proving that we can be trusted to make the next great Star Trek game."

BIG thanks to Rich Gallup and the team at Disruptor Beam for their help with this article and for all the images used.

Are you as excited as I apparently am over Timelines? Which character are you most anticipating? Which ship?

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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?

Did you know you can now join up with us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter or even +1 us on Google+? If you didn't why not drop over there now!

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

Hailing Frequencies are Open!

And no, we haven't forgotten that December 28th is the birthday of one Nichelle Nichols aka Nyota Uhura.

To celebrate here's a visual trip down memory lane from The Corbomite Maneuver through to her most recent onscreen appearance as Uhura in 2011...

Best wishes go to Nichelle on her birthday from all of us at Some Kind of Star Trek!

Did you know you can now join up with us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter or even +1 us on Google+? If you didn't why not drop over there now!

Star Trek: My Shadow of Darkness

Ok, this is gonna sound really bad but I'm fed up with Into Darkness.

There you go; I said it and I don't regret a word of it. I'm sorry I'm going to brass a lot of people off in the course of this but hey, it's my opinion and I've just been kidding myself that it doesn't matter. It does. This is my last article for some time on the subject I hope. I need a break from the overload and yes, I have written quite a lot on it leading up to the premiere but enough is enough. For the sake of Scotty, let's call time; final round.

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So why do I feel like this on the 24th May 2013 when the movie has only been out in the UK since 9th May 2013? The simple answer is because I do but in the bigger picture there are a whole battalion of reasons why I've actually got bored of the latest Star Trek installment. I don't think it's awful or that JJ has destroyed Star Trek forever. I do have opinions on that and briefly I don't think he has - in a lot of respects he's updated it and made it more accessible for Generation Y and the Millennials because of how they view and digest media. For example the media campaign, the viral site and the app are prime examples of a job well done. They caught us and held us right through the build-up, enticing us with little extras, pictures, clips, sounds and prizes...should we have realised at that point that the whole was not going to be as good as the sum of the parts? Were our own expectations as a community so high that whatever JJ and his crew managed to pull out of the bag, Khan or not, would never have satisfied the carnal sci-fi hunger of every Star Trek fan alive?!

What bugs me to tears is the constant battering and microscopic breaking down of every single facet of the movie beyond anything I've seen before and I've seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In fact because the internet was awash with them, I purposely avoided writing movie review here on Some Kind of Star Trek because I felt I was drowning in them 24/7. Instead we looked at the novelisation and the differences it highlighted in contrast to the movie itself as well as a more numerical take on the film at the box office. We wanted to avoid being samey and do something different; that's what we do -  that's what we encourage from bloggers who want to write here.  

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Every Talosian and his ceti eel is kicking off about That Carol Marcus Scene and it's even been admitted by Damon Lindelof that it was gratuitous - purely to get the viewers and because they just wanted it there.  In fact I commented that it looked like a fan-boy pleaser way back when it first cropped up in the trailers (and subsequently every Into Darkness internet search).  Oh and now to counter all the criticism there's the Benedict Cumberbatch shower scene. Perhaps they doth protest too much? Is this actually a sign that Lindelof has made a bit of a mistake and now there's some furious backpedaling taking place? Seems to be the case from my perspective. In reference to the "original"  scene here - good grief; we get it and it's illuminated the internet like a nuclear explosion that will surely help increase the "meagre" takings Into Darkness has seen at the worldwide box office as might the new "deleted scene" that JJ is flaunting around the press in some vain attempt to show equality and that it wasn't meant to be as gratuitous as his writer has made perfectly clear. Two words: damage limitation. However...

That's also good and clever marketing whether you like it or not. There's no such thing as bad publicity and creating the furore over the Marcus scene has certainly brought the movie to the fore and it's portrayal of characters in the Star Trek universe right to the peak.. The portrayal of said female characters is particularly poor - Uhura and Carol are badly used, Kirk sleeps with two and Harewood's wife says not a word. The female navigator who replaces Chekhov gets a better part. Ultimately, the more we rant about it, the more people will want to see what we're all talking about and those box office coiffures will steadily expand. 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the trailers and the hype all along the way. It was a really well orchestrated ride and the film is, well, average to say the most. There are a lot of massively negative and polar opposite scarily over the top reactions out there which just defy me as to how we can rant and rave at such diametric opposites with so much fury. Ladies, gents; it's a movie and one person's interpretation of someone else's idea. That's the be all and end all of it. I get the point of reviews but it just seems that we're going beyond the pail now even as hard-core fans. I enjoyed it but I've managed to remain in control of my emotions and my bladder when asked for an opinion and refrained from multiple exclamation marks at the end of sentences!!!

http://www.scottchambliss.com

OK, maybe just the once I haven't but there's more to Star Trek than two reboot movies from JJ Abrams. I'm at a loss as to why you would even want to go and see it multiple times (there's  guy on Twitter I saw who was thinking about going for a sixth time - DVD/blu-ray???) unless you just want to help make the movie get a few more bucks and not be the "disappointment" some have labelled it. Surely we should be happy that Abrams created two new slices of Star Trek even if they aren't necessarily everyone's cup of tea because it's got everyone jabbering on about it. Saying the acting is amazing or waxing lyrical that it's just the best cinematic experience ever seems like the recipe for a stomach empty of astronomic proportions that we don't need to hear. Sorry - just an opinion however in comparison to previous outings this has gone to another level. Maybe the overwhelming influence of social media (including this blog) and including Twitter, Facebook, Google+, websites, Pinterest, publishers, writers, etc etc have more than aided in the frenzy to get a word in edge-ways on the subject. I know for one that  I've mentioned about the borrowed dialogue from The Wrath of Khan as well as other bits that didn't satisfy me, bits that I liked, things that niggled but perhaps the Star Trek community should just come together and decide that as of June 1st 2013 we'll stop bitching about the damn film and move on. Let's go back to complaining about viral videos of Riker sitting down, if DS9 or Voyager was better or whether THAT Picard meme is really, really, really annoying. Right. Let's make it official, who's with me in making June 1st 2013 International Star Trek Out of Darkness Day. No bitching, grumping, hair-pulling, over-enthusiasm, glorifying or in fact any emotional reaction to the movie at all. Let's keep it decidedly Vulcan...Or not....

Some of the magazine and news slots have been pretty awful and inconsistent with terrible editorial errors (Heat magazine referencing John Anderson is one of my favourites (right)) that show a total lack of understanding and a desire to jump on the boat whether right or wrong - check your stuff first if you're in the limelight might be a word of wisdom! While you might want to pass a verdict, seeing the movie helps if you're going to write something about it in the first place.

Over-analysing Star Trek Into Darkness is just killing anything that was good/bearable about the whole experience. I can get the themes, the characters are fine, the effects are good but we're dissecting it way more than it needs to be as a global community. Let me say it again; it's a film. I would try and avoid all these posts, tweets and the like, but everyone has a fierce opinion which you can't get away from but let's just start taking deep breaths and calm the **** down. We have effectively become part of that very marketing campaign through our maelstrom of views and comments right across the world. JJ Abrams, Bad Robot and Paramount couldn't have wanted a better, free medium to give opinion because they can sit back, relax and take it all in without spending a penny/dime/centime. Cha-ching, that's the sound of success right there. What we're missing is the notion that the "rebooting" of the Star Trek universe is confined to two blockbuster movies in 2009 and 2013 but encompasses the whole franchise history at the same time. It has reignited interest in Star Trek both virulently within its existing fanbase and also within new fans who are discovering it through these more action-orientated JJ installments. Whether good or bad, people are interested, news abounds and I would suspect that searches for the topic on Google have gone absolutely mental. 

http://www.scottchambliss.com

It's not a failure the more we discuss it and keep the fires burning. It's incited a fanbase into meltdown but perhaps we need to appreciate it's an action movie for the modern age and not Prime Star Trek. It is what it is and there's nothing we can do about it - although if it manages to raise a new TV series to our screens a la The Avengers with Agents of SHIELD then I doubt we'll be complaining. Ok, we probably will won't we? It'll be all Abrams-ified and that'll cause another storm in a nebula.

Now I applaud people for their opinions whatever they may be, it's what makes the world turn, sells newspapers, governments fall and Star Trek forums the bloody battlegrounds they are, but for the love of Kirk and Picard, how many times can you read a review of the film saying the same thing? Or reviews that just talk about how it's not "like it used to be". Sorry people, it's called Change. Yes, Star Trek Into Darkness has it's faults, yes it has some great moments and lines that will go down in Star Trek lore I'm sure but it'll never be a classic nor is it one of the worst things ever. It's average at best and average at worst. I doubt the Oscars will be heralding it as the next multiple award-winning movie to rival Ben Hur or Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Effects and hair-styling more likely but don't hold your breath.

Dammit, it's even made me write this piece on how I'm fed up with it. What gets me though isn't that I'm annoyed or grumpy with everything surrounding the film. I love the merchandising that's come out, I love the magazines, the books, t-shirts, little starship models, faux Lego Kre-O kits, behind the scenes videos that have been playing, uniforms, the whole shebang and a kitchen sink - it's just how we're dealing with the film and those involved with it that makes me uncomfortable. We don't seem to respect other fans views on the movie for one thing and there just seems no end to the bitterness. Trekkers/Trekkies always get a name for being obsessive, over the top, nerdy etc and we're always trying to prove that we're the opposite - we're cool, we're down with the kids (ok - bit extreme) and definitely not total mummy's boy, living in the box room at age 50 geeks who trawl the internet to pass opinion and comment on the length of Riker's beard. Sadly while the film attempted to be cool and hip and everything we wanted (almost) so that Trek fandom would be respected a bit more, what did we all do....? Yeah...box room, internet, you can fill in the rest. We reverted to type without even a slight prod of a Klingon pain stick.

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Anyway, back to the point; it's all got too much really. Whether it's psychoanalysis, Carol's underwear (two mentions here alone), deep-meaningful's over the plot themes, Chekhov's accent, Uhura and Spock's relationship or disgust at the size of the Vengeance nacelles, we've got to rein it in. There's more to Star Trek than one 133 minute movie and maybe, just maybe some "interpretation" of Gene Roddenberry's 1960's vision will do just that. Love it or hate it, the rebooted universe is here and we can't erase them from history (we can of course personally recognise or deny them entrance to canon) and would we deny someone the right to be a fan of Star Trek if this is what gets them involved to being with? I suspect not. In all that's good in Threshold there's worse stuff that's considered canon and even more dire material that's in the non-canon universe of novelisations. We're reading too much into these two segments. Seriously. We are.

I also would like to add an apology. I'm sorry if this has seemed like a blog rant but I needed to expunge these feelings from my mind before I got jaded by the whole experience. it's been a little unnerving at times and there's still something about the whole Into Darkness bubble that just makes me uneasy - perhaps it is the sense that it's action movie of the season rather than a proper Star Trek experience. Maybe it's just because we seemed to be promised so much more - the options are numerous, the whole less than the parts perhaps but still an acceptable movie. I only saw it once, in 3D and that was enough. Is that telling me something about how I saw the movie? Am I wrong to not want to go back and experience it again and again in such a short period of time? For now I'm happy to have seen it, read the novel, got the great Michael Giachinno soundtrack (lot of snippets on there from the 2009 movie as well as new pieces) and can wait for the blu-ray. It won't change my life and nor will I be willing Abrams pain and death for his take on Star Trek. But does this mean I'm not a true fan? That I don't care enough? Can I expect to be lynched from my bed in the early hours and forced to watch Into Darkness over and over again until I submit? 

The answer is no. The reason is, and you'll get there before I do, it's just a movie. I do love Star Trek and I would miss it if I didn't have a regular fix, read a book, write about it and get my other half reminding me that "I'm too obsessed" (she has a point and that's one reason why I love her - she grounds me back in reality) but if I really settle down and act like a normal person, it doesn't matter. I find it hilarious sometimes when people find out I'm a fan - they don't think I look like a Trekker. Appearances huh, don't be fooled!

Now to prove a point and take some of my own medicine to calm the **** down I'm off to watch Spock's Brain, Shades of Grey and Star Trek: Nemesis back to back....now stop sniggering at the back - go and wait for Star Wars Episode VII, then we'll see....

Additional images screenshot by SKoST unless stated