The latest addition to the Star Trek universe (or universes?) wrapped up its first season in February. Star Trek: Discovery was written to appeal to both long-time fans and viewers who are new to this sci-fi phenomenon – but while it balances originality with loyalty to its origins, it’s still daunting to delve further into a franchise which wields fifty years of canon, considerable cultural impact and serious fan devotion. So why should you give Trek a try? And which series would work for you?

The Original Series (1966-1969)

Where it all began. Captain Kirk, Mr Spock, the final frontier and those glitter-water special effects. Executive producer Gene Rodenberry envisioned a series about humans in the future driven by curiosity, where they were scientists and explorers in space-going Starfleet and participated in an interplanetary peacekeeping alliance called the Federation. Still, Star Trek was low-budget and risky, only making it to air through the intervention of actress and studio owner Lucille Ball.

 

The Original Series is full of television firsts, including a multiethnic cast and the first on-screen multiracial kiss. George Takei appeared as helmsman Hikaru Sulu, while Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed Lieutenant Uhura, helped kickstart Trek’s wider legacy, inspiring Mae Jemison to become an astronaut (Nichols has even worked as a recruiter for NASA’s space programme since then). The show used allegory to address current affairs.The mostly-American Enterprise crew included Russian navigator Pavel Chekov in the midst of the Cold War. It also created some unshakeable Trek tropes: accidental time travel, homoerotic subtext, the mirror universe (the latter returns in the second half of Discovery’s first season, though it lacks something in the way of goatees).

The Next Generation (1987-1994)

When the whales were saved and Spock was restored to life (did we mention there are a whole string of Original Series-based movies?), the task of boldly going was handed over to The Next Generation. Here the depth and detail of Starfleet and the Federation emerges as the series delves into day-to-day life in the twenty-third century.

TNG features one of the most recognisable Star Trek captains – Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard, an upright Frenchman whose hobbies include fencing and tea-drinking – but the series takes a while to get going in terms of broader character depth. It takes a step with telepath Deanna Troi and Lieutenant Worf, the first Klingon in Starfleet, but the three central characters – Picard, Data (Brent Spiner) and William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) – can seem a little similar, lacking in variety of experience or ideas. This series is probably where Trek garnered some of its gatekeeping fanbase, but luckily, no series has since made the mistake of dumping all the diversity on one character (in defence of Geordi, he’s doing better than all the leads).

Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)

Deep Space Nine is the self-described ‘morally grey’ Trek series. It’s set on an eponymous dilapidated space station, orbiting a planet recently been liberated from a sixty-year military occupation called Bajor.

Deep Space Nine’s hardy little frontier community is vibrant. Being set on a station rather than a travelling ship allows the series long, beautiful story arcs – even its romances shockingly last longer than forty minutes. The series opens with leading character Benjamin Sisko taking command from the warmongering Cardassians on behalf of Starfleet before discovering a wormhole to the opposite side of the galaxy and essentially becoming Space Jesus, and it all really goes from there.

Sisko’s second-in-command is Major Kira Nerys, a Bajoran woman who’s spent her entire adult life as a resistance fighter. In just one of many new perspectives DS9 puts on the Trek universe, Kira is deeply spiritual. Through her, the series explores the place of religion in the space-dwelling future. Meanwhile, failing businessman Quark attempts to run a trade in illegal goods (difficult when the chief of security can shapeshift into a barstool), science officer Jadzia Dax hands out 300 years’ worth of life advice at card tables in the evening, and the crew becomes unified enough to defeat the Vulcans in baseball.

Voyager (1995-2001)

While Deep Space Nine explored culture, morality and religion, Voyager tends towards science and technology. The brand-new starship Voyager manages to complete one mission before being flung across the galaxy and finding itself in uncharted space, far from home. Star Trek’s first woman captain, Kathryn Janeway, is faced with the challenge of delivering a mixed crew of officers and renegades safely back across billions of light-years to Earth.

Late ‘90s Voyager has a strong retro sci-fi feel: the crew encounter  “new worlds and new civilisations” continuously, the ship’s doctor is a snarky hologram, and the alien women dress solely in skin-tight spandex.  However, the series also furthers Trek’s influential depiction of women in STEM, with DS9’s Jadzia Dax and TNG’s Beverly Crusher joined by Trek’s first (though, alas, so far only) woman chief engineer, B’Elanna Torres.

Enterprise (2001-2005)

There have been a lot of starships named Enterprise in Trek history, but this series tells the story of one of the very first. Set a full century before both Discovery and The Original Series, Enterprise is about humankind’s earliest wanderings in interstellar space. In a time before the Federation and the technologies which run through all future series, Enterprise is simpler and quieter.

It’s led by another human-Vulcan partnership: Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and first officer Subcommander T’Pol (though despite an attraction being written in, their relationship is somehow less sexually charged than Spock and Kirk’s). Enterprise’s characters are more tangible to the modern audience – they dress in NASA-style jumpsuits, struggle with familiar prejudices, and are not yet as ideologically realised as Kirk or Picard, though they strive towards the vision of unity which eventually defines the Federation. Enterprise’s themes work much better than the decision to put a pop ballad as the opening credit sequence, at any rate.

The Alternate Original Series (Movies: 2009, 2013, 2016)

This re-imagining of the original series injected new energy into the story, with its fresh, youthful actors, contemporary dialogue and clean, bright aesthetic. Watching these movies gives a sense of what it might have been like to see Trek on television in the sixties: modern, dazzling, and featuring some handy excuses for Kirk to get his shirt off.

Many twenty-first century fans owe a lot to this reboot. They’re an accessible entry point, a fantastical, fast ride through the universe on a starship, with just enough of the original charm and detail to draw you into its broader world.

Narratively, the first two reboot films (Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness) portray a familiar version of Hollywood morality: alien-man-with-laser-out-to-destroy-planet bad, promiscuous-alcoholic-anti-hero good. JJ Abrams (who has since also rebooted Star Wars) openly said that he disliked older Trek, which is likely why the movies go for a glossier approach than the television series and earlier films. The most recent sequel, Star Trek: Beyond, is more recognisably tied to the franchise’s origins. Helmed by director Justin Lin, it’s supported by excellent cast performances and beautiful futuristic visuals (for once visible thanks to a dramatically minimised number of lens flares). Aside from a few sexist scenes, it is possible to enjoy these reboots for what they are: colourful, exciting, big-screen blockbusters.

Discovery (2017-present)

Finally, a Star Trek series for our generation to call its own. Discovery breaks away from Trek conventions more than any series before it. A prequel with an action-orientated pace, it opens at the beginning of a war between the Federation and the fractured Klingon empire.

Wartime in Star Trek is for the first time aesthetically beautiful. Discovery maintains the slick cinematography that was a real strength in the reboot films, adding visual wonder to intensive storytelling. Kudos also to the costume department, who have really banked on the metallics trend in a way not seen since Uhura’s go-go boots. Starfleet has never looked so good.

Discovery makes an asset out of embracing a bit of complexity. For the first time, the hero is not a captain. Instead, leading lady Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is a first officer turned mutineer. She has a complex dynamic with her mentor, the glorious Captain Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh). The titular ship is commanded by the militant Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) who often faces off with scientist Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), who is resentful of misuse of scientific discoveries. Rescued prisoner of war Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) reminds us of the horrors of conflict, while hope and compassion come from big-hearted young engineer Sylvia Tilly.

There are nods to previous series: Jonathan Archer is listed among distinguished captains, Spock’s childhood and parents are explored. Discovery also finally turns gay subtext into overt text. Brushing-teeth-together and fond-looks-over-bedsides text. (It only took fifty years.)

Each new addition to the Star Trek universe, building on its past and looking to its future, has its own unique appeal. Whether it’s old-school adventure, intriguing philosophy or knock-out visuals you’re after, Trek says there will always be something new to explore – and that we can boldly go ever further.