Genesis

In 1961 President John F. Kennedy challenged the American people to look to the stars in pursuit of a "new frontier'. Later that same year the distinguished science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke published the non-fiction 'Profiles of the Future' which discussed the concepts of "space drive", "warped space", and "instantaneous transportation". The race to space triggered the imagination of airline-pilot turned script-writer Gene Roddenberry, who was looking for a new storyline for his next television series.

The late Gene (short for Eugene) Roddenberry was born in El Paso, Texas on 19 August 1921. He was a sickly child but in common with many such afflicted youngsters he read voraciously. As he reached adulthood his health improved but he was truly bitten by the writing bug. In World War 2 he served as a B-17 bomber pilot, using his off duty moments to write aviation magazine articles and poetry, some of which he sold to 'The New York Times'. After the War Roddenberry became an international airline pilot with Pan American World Airways, but the urge to write never left him. He continued to produce articles for magazines. In 1949 he decided to follow his dream and he quit his pilot's job and moved to Hollywood in search of a career writing for the new medium of television.

Like many Hollywood hopefuls, Roddenberry had to take other jobs, in his case work with the Los Angeles Police Department, in order to pay the rent. Before long he was selling scripts to top 1950s television series such as 'Dragnet', 'Naked City' and 'Dr. Kildare'. In time he landed the job of story editor on 'Have Gun Will Travel', and a script for one episode from that series, 'Helen of Abajnian' won him the prestigious Writers' Guild Award. In 1959 he moved into production believing that the best way of ensuring that what he intended as a writer made it to the screen was to produce it himself. After several failed pilot programmes, Roddenberry succeeded in selling the Marine Corps drama 'The Lieutenant'. The show featured Gary Lockwood and Robert Vaughan, and it also introduced Roddenberry to young aspiring actors - Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, Waiter Koenig, Grace Lee Whitney and Majel Barrett - who he would continue to collaborate with so successfully in the future.

It was as 'The Lieutenant' was winding down that Roddenberry's thoughts turned to new storylines and the American 60s fixation with space. Thus STAR TREK was born.

From its origins as a relatively low-budget television series, STAR TREK has developed into a bench-mark of late 20th century culture. The essential themes with which the crew of the Enterprise grappled with each week - the journey into the unknown, the victory of science, and above all the human ability to triumph over adversity - are particularly poignant as we approach the third millennium. The impact of the show on the popular culture of the English speaking world is obvious in the catch phrases that have passed into the language, e.g. "Beam me up Scotty" and "to boldly go where no man has gone before". The original 1960s series has to date spawned seven feature films and three successor series.

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