Trek is History: new Star Trek series insights
01/09/2001 . Source: Jessica Martin 

Have you been busting a gut to know what the pilot for the new Trek series, Enterprise is going to be about?

Buy Star Trek Enterprise in the USA - or Buy Star Trek Enterprise in the UK

Well, the lucky denizens of the US of A will find out on September 26th, when the first episode - Broken Bow - is due to hit the Box. As for the UK and the rest of the civilized world? Who blooming knows? (Sky One have picked up the series, though).

As we leaked many issues ago, this Trek is being set in the pre-Federation days, about 90 years after the events shown in the 'First Contact' Trek movie. Star Fleet exists, but only as an Earth Government controlled force.

Apparently the Broken Bow of the pilot title is a region in Oklahoma, USA, where, we kid you not, humanity gets to meet its first Klingon. Said knobbly faced warrior is on the run from a race called the Suliban, who are being controlled by an evil force from the future (does anybody smell universe crossover potential here?).

The Sulibans are 'shapeshifters' - but not in the Odo camp, apparently. Of course, all 'shapeshifters' are instantly tagged as bad guys ... ever since the 1950s and those movies with pods, and thus it is in Enterprise.

Our source in Paramount told us that the time traveling baddies backing the Sulibans are fascist Terrans from the alternative mirror universe, trying to alter history so that the Earth follows a more aggressive path which will leave it in control of the galaxy in the mirror universe, rather than at the mercy of The Dominion, Cardassians, Borg, Klingons, Romulans etc.

These human supremacists don't want the soft liberal peace and love Federation of Kirk and the Next Generation's universe coming into fruition, and are planning to push it down a route which will leave the Earth absolute master of a million worlds.

It's not clear if this bunch are from the main mirror universe or a side-line mirror universe, as some of the suggestions from our man at Paramount seem to be that the time travellers are descendants of Khan-like warlords ... heavily enhanced by genetic engineering. This is the future they want for humanity ... turning everyone into Bashir-like geniuses (even if the poor old normals don't want super-powers).

The hero of the new series, Captain Jonathan Archer, is given the job of transporting the Klingon home - but the Enterprise gets tricked by the shapeshifters en route, and they abduct the wounded Klingon agent from the ship.

While tracking the kidnapped Klingon down, the Enterprise and its crew get embroiled in the time traveller/Suliban's plot to weaken the Klingon Empire by causing a civil war.

The general ambiance of the pilot seems to have been done very well. They have gone for a more primitive feel ... kind of NASA meets Trek.

As the production designer Zimmerman recently told TV Guide, "Along with all the metal, you'll find a lot of leather and plastic, just enough touches to relieve it from being sterile. There's also color in the graphics on the screens, so it's never going to be a dull picture."

For instance, they have transporters, but nobody trusts them because they keep on killing people every now and then. No Universal Translators either ... so they have to carry crew linguists on the ship.

There's a nice range of aliens on the ship, including T'Pol, the Vulcan science officer, and Phlox, an alien doctor. This is pre-Federation of course, so most of them are there as attached officers from friendly powers, or hired mission specialists.

Well, only a few more weeks to go for the hordes of the Trekless fans out there. Personally speaking, we can't wait.

For a new QuickTime Movie clip of the Enterprise series, click here.