Episode 26
Friday 29 April 2022
Series 2, Episode 6
Stardate: 4202.1
First broadcast on Friday 20 October 1967
A nameless and unknowable monster which has destroyed whole star systems and wiped out an entire Starfleet crew is now heading towards the most populated part of the galaxy. The only things standing in its way: a dramatic soundtrack, a memorable guest actor, an incredibly confident production, and William Alan Shatner. It doesn’t stand a chance.
Episode 25
Friday 22 April 2022
Series 5, Episode 15
Stardate: 45571.2
First broadcast on Monday 24 February 1992
This week, on Untitled Star Trek Project, Joe and Nathan sit down to watch a sentimental sci-fi favourite from their youth, only to discover that it’s really just a police procedural where some of the regular cast get to do funny voices. Still, they get to see Marina menacing people with a gun, so there’s that, I guess.
Episode 24
Friday 15 April 2022
Series 7, Episode 14
Stardate: Unknown (2370)
First broadcast on Monday 31 January 1994
This week, Star Trek takes its first ill-judged stab at the Gothic romance genre. Will Beverly fall for her dead grandmother’s lover (sorry), a rangily unattractive anaphasic ghost who encourages her to give up her job and to stand by helplessly while he attacks her friends? Or will she learn a valuable lesson about not dating sociopathic men? (Temporarily and no respectively, it turns out.)
Episode 23
Friday 8 April 2022
Series 5, Episode 23
Stardate: Unknown (2373)
First broadcast on Monday 12 May 1997
Previously, on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Tired of being a supporting character in a thankless role, Michael Eddington leaves DS9 to star heroically in a TV show which we never see and which exists entirely in his own imagination. After most of the cast and crew are killed by Cardassians — which can happen — and he himself is imprisoned for treason, he is recruited by Sisko for one final mission — to stop a deadly attack on Cardassia that is also entirely imaginary. Hero, traitor, or just some asshole with bad hair and a penchant for lavish Broadway musicals? Let’s find out.
Episode 22
Friday 1 April 2022
Series 1, Episode 8
Stardate: 607125.6
First broadcast on Saturday 22 January 2022
It’s a heartwarming rite of passage for our youngest Star Trek crew — their very first encounter with a baffling new kind of temporal anomaly. And it’s not just any temporal anomaly: it’s a metaphor for the difficulties they have co-operating as a crew and an opportunity to overcome those difficulties. Plus, it gives Rok-Tahk the chance to be sweet, vulnerable, clever and magnificent in turn. And who doesn’t want to see that?
Episode 21
Friday 25 March 2022
Series 4, Episodes 18–19
Stardate: 51715.2
First broadcast on Wednesday 4 March 1998
It’s business as usual on Star Trek this week, as the crew of Voyager find themselves in an episode of Secret Army which has been cast, written and directed by latex-headed aliens in Nazi uniforms. Will Voyager’s extensive back catalogue of holodeck programs persuade the Hirogen that there’s more to life than festooning your bulkheads with human skulls? Or will the Captain be forced (reluctantly) to kill Seven of Nine first?
Episode 20
Friday 18 March 2022
Series 3, Episode 6
Stardate: 4385.3
First broadcast on Friday 25 October 1968
The crew of the Enterprise find themselves in a weird and beautifully directed simulacrum of Tombstone, Arizona with a couple of hours to kill before their certain death at the hands of Wyatt Earp’s gang of off-puttingly ugly cowboys. Meanwhile, we all learn a valuable lesson about why Star Trek is superior to real TV westerns. A classic.
Episode 19
Friday 11 March 2022
Series 4, Episode 6
Stardate: Unknown (2374)
First broadcast on Wednesday 8 October 1997
In this week’s meeting of the Jeri Ryan Appreciation Society, we watch the most aggressively average Star Trek episode the Randomiser can find, only to discover that there’s still a lot of fun to be had — hilariously sluggish action scenes, a shockingly low-effort Intransigent Alien Race, and some wonderfully subtle and nuanced performances from Ethan Phillips, Tim Russ and Jeri Ryan.
Episode 18
Friday 4 March 2022
Series 7, Episodes 25–26
Stardate: 47988
First broadcast on Monday 23 May 1994
After seven years of thorny space problems and some of the most ingenious space solutions in Starfleet history, what do we have left to learn? Something about tachyon scans and anti-time, inevitably, but also something about the enduring power of love and friendship. Let’s see what’s in here.
Episode 17
Friday 25 February 2022
Series 3, Episode 13
Stardate: Unknown (3189)
First broadcast on Thursday 7 January 2021
Previously, on Star Trek: Discovery: it’s the distant future, the Federation is broken, and isolationism runs rampant. Then, of course, lots of things happen, we make new connections, and find a new purpose. And now, the very noisy conclusion. Explosions! Gunfights! Space battles! There’s plenty of action, but do we find ourselves missing the days when Star Trek was a lot of people talking urgently in rooms?