10 Best Star Trek The Original Series Episodes

1. City On The Edge Of Forever

The sixties might have had one time-travelling sci-fi series in Doctor Who, but Star Trek perfected the formula in The City on the Edge of Forever.

Focussing on the Enterprise as it encounters a temporal anomaly, Kirk, Spock, Uhura and a drugged-up Leonard McCoy travel back to thirties-era America where the latter unknowingly erases the Enterprise from existence. The true purpose of the episode, however, lies in how it ties the past, present and future all together. The setting of Depression-Era New York is no coincidence, and the Enterprise crew's arrival is thematically tied to the concept of Trek itself.

Back then and even today, Star Trek's future has always felt like a distant reality - not just technologically speaking (quite the opposite, seeing as how much tech Trek's preempted), but societally speaking as well. Trek's future isn't a utopia - not quite - but bigotry is admonished top to bottom; people of all faiths, races, religions, genders and sexes all serve together, live together, and explore together; money isn't spent on "war and death", but "on life" instead.

That's what The City on the Edge of Forever is all about: humanity's capability for something better, and a reminder for us all to make it so. You won't find a better advert for Star Trek, than it.

What are your favourite Star Trek episodes? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!