Star Trek: The Next Generation

               Taken from the public domain

The year - by our calendars at least - is 2364, some 78 years on
from the times of Captain Kirk and his original five year mission
commanding the Starship USS Enterprise.  Now, at long last, we
have boarded the brand new ship as a new group of heroes introduce
us to yet more "strange new worlds", and continue to "boldly go
where no one has gone before", in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

In those intervening 78 years, a lot of changes have taken place.
If you are expecting gaudily colourful sets and costumes, along
with liberal doses of "the engines can'na take it, Cap'n", think
again.  Barring the occasional passing reference to the original
series, The Next Generation is just what it proclaims to be; here
lies a future for the Nineties, not the future of the Sixties.

Our new Starship Enterprise, and the fifth to bear that
illustrious name, is an altogether sleeker, more comfortable craft
boasting graceful sweeping lines - and the storylines are
similarly aimed very firmly at today's more aware audiences.  Over
the following pages we'll introduce you to the new Captain and the
members of his crew, but for now let's see just what has changed
over the last few years within the United Federation of Planets...

The completely redesigned Galaxy-class USS Enterprise is roughly
twice the length (that's eight times the deck space) of the
original, and is home to over 1,000 people - this time not just
the essential crew but also their families and children.  In the
event of an emergency threatening the ship, it is possible to
separate the saucer section (to return the 'civilians' to a
habitable planet) under its own power, rather like an enormous
lifeboat.  This leaves the Star Drive section, complete with
battle bridge and the main warp drive nacelles, to handle the
crisis.  But in what form will that crisis present itself?

Perhaps the most surprising revelation is that the Federation has
at long last made peace with their old adversaries, the Klingons.
Exactly how this came about isn't clear, although much later on in
the series we get some clues that it may have resulted from joint
actions against the Romulan empire.  The sight of a Klingon
officer working on the bridge of the Enterprise is a little
unnerving at first, but you'll soon get used to it.  Indeed, the
stories in which we find out more about Worf's background are some
of the most interesting of the series.

Whatever else may have happened, the Romulans certainly weren't
defeated and an uneasy truce based upon the infamous Neutral Zone
still exists in the 24th Century.  Indeed, as the series
progresses we might even catch a glimpse of two of the Romulans -
maybe even of their stunning new Warbird Starships...

Among the other adversaries faced by our new crew is the
mischievous and unpredictable 'Q' entity (portrayed by actor John
DeLancie), encountered on the journey to the Farpoint outpost
during the very first episode.  Later we'll meet the Ferengi, a
race of monkey-like traders for whom nothing must be allowed to
stand in the way of a good profit.

New alien races aside, perhaps the most fascinating development
since the original series is the invention of the 'Holodeck'.
This technological marvel is a result of the joining of
transporter/replicator technology and holographic imaging (which,
incidentally, is also used instead of the old flat viewscreen on
the bridge).  Within the Holodeck, the computer can be programmed
to create virtually any location or situation be generating three-
dimensional background images, along with solid characters
replicated by a transporter-like system.  Within this fantasy
environment the crew can act out role playing games, train against
savage alien warriors, or simply spend their off-duty hours
pursuing their favorite outdoor pastimes.  Captain Picard, for
example, enjoys early-Twentieth Century detective fiction, and one
of the first series' best episodes, The Big Goodbye, explores the
possibility that someone might become inadvertently trapped within
a simulation - in this case the seedy world of Dixon Hill, Private
Investigator.  The potential uses for the Holodeck are endless,
and a number of others will be explored over the next few years -
including the semi-narcotic effect which such fantasy-on-tap might
have on members of the crew.

Of course, there are certain elements of Star Trek which haven't
changed.  The crew still use the transporter to 'beam' up and down
from the ship, although now they use an enhanced system which can
beam directly from point to point, and automatically filter out
dangerous contaminants in the process.

The Federation boffins have also been working overtime on weaponry
and communications equipment.  Phaser guns have become smaller and
more powerful, while the old hand held flip-open communicators
have been miniaturised so that all the circuitry now fits into the
touch-sensitive Federation badges worn by the crew.

So, the ship's main phaser banks and photon torpedoes are on
standby, and the main engines are fired up and ready to offer warp
eight on command.  The USS Enterprise is once again ready for
action on our television screens, and with a new Captain and crew,
we are promised some exciting adventures.

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