Some issues are guaranteed to cause debate. Posing the question , ‘what is the greatest Science Fiction series ever’, is certainly one for one of those. Sci Fi fans are noted both for their loyalty and the depth of their knowledge. What all agree on however is the importance to the genre of Star Trek.

The Trek franchise has reached across generations. While the original series first aired in ‘66 and went on for four seasons, various iterations and updates have continued to the present day, including The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise. That’s over 700 original episodes, with an additional 11 feature films with another, a follow up to the successful J. J. Abrams reboot, scheduled for release in 2012. All of which look great on that new LCD TV and Dixons home cinema system combo of mine.

Trek has also made a significant cultural impact. The show has it’s own brand of die hard fans - “Trekkies” - its languages (Klingon etc) turned into university courses and most notably real life spaceships named after the show (the original space shuttle prototype Enterprise). Not only that, but the show also features devices that would become part of modern technology, including personal computers and mobile phone. Although sadly no one has managed to crack the transporter yet.