Star Trek: EVERY Season Ranked Worst To Best

Jumping right in, Star Trek Short Treks, Season Two comes in as our first entry. While there are strong moments in this set of episodes, not least the wonderful acting between Rebecca Romijn and Ethan Peck, the short season doesn't have much of a chance here.

That is not to say that it's bad at all. Q&A is the strongest of the bunch, with Children of Mars coming in second. While this final episode is a beautiful and elegiac tribute the disaster that would kick the action of Star Trek Picard into gear, the fact that it spends its runtime dialogue free, concentrating on characters we don't know stands against it.

The other entries in the season vary from soft entertainment to outright odd. Ask Not is a fine addition, mostly due to the presence of Anson Mount's Pike. Ephraim and Dot is cute, featuring various voice cameos from the original series. The Girl Who Made The Stars feels like a beautiful, but hollow few minutes.

The real issue of the season is The Trouble With Edward. Clearly the aim was attempt slapstick comedy in some way, but Edward is so thoroughly unlikable that we end up rooting for his creations to devour him. The laughs are thin on the ground here.

Short Treks Season Two: Glad to have them, not amazing.

Potentially this is a bit of a cheat, yet both seasons of the Animated Series are very much on par with each other in terms of quality. Plus, there are sixteen episodes of the first season with only six in the second season, which would lead to a slightly unfair difference in evaluation.

The Animated Series was seen by the writers as the fourth season of the Original Series. It exists in a strange sort of limbo where it both is and isn't considered canon.

After the end of the first season of The Next Generation, the licence was renewed and restructured by Gene Roddenberry, who then deemed all of the Animated Series not to be canon. However, after his death, references started to slip in to various episodes. In Deep Space Nine, both Kor's ship the Klothos is name dropped, having been introduced in The Time Trap. The Vulcan Forge is also mentioned by Worf, after having been introduced in Yesteryear.

While there are now too many references to list here, it can be quietly assumed that the show is canon. However, because of this, it must come in at this low ranking as, while it was a wonderful attempt to keep Star Trek alive, and certainly contributed to it, it is an oddity in that the crew of the Enterprise are enjoying their trippy, '70s best.

Not that that's always a bad thing, mind you

The news that Star Trek was returning to the small screen in 1987 was met with a decidedly mixed reaction, from both fans and actors in the Original Series. Like any attempt to modernize an old idea, the cries of sacrilege began to ring out.

They may not have been entirely assuaged by what was offered in the first year.

The first season of the Next Generation was hugely ambitious in what it was attempting to do. Star Trek, back in the '80s, was a very definite thing. It was Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the Enterprise zooming around on the five year mission. The movies had helped to bring it forward a bit, while the popularity of the Wrath of Khan and particularly the Voyage Home helped encourage Roddenberry to bring it back to television.

It's not bad, not really. The acting is a little wooden and there is clearly a lack of proper direction, yet it must be remembered that, even as a spin-off, it was flying without the map. Ideas were introduced in the first year that would span throughout the series and beyond, ultimately leading to what would become the most endearingly popular crew of them all.

There are several stand out episodes, notably Conspiracy, Datalore and The Neutral Zone, yet there is plenty to be enjoyed in every episode. The highlight of the entire season comes from that short scene in the pilot, where Data walks Admiral McCoy down to the shuttlecraft.

'Treat her like a lady, and she'll always bring you home.'

The second year of the Next Generation suffered from some issues that affected its overall quality. The writers strike hit, meaning that not all of the scripts could be finished in time and some had to be recycled. The season opener, The Child, was a recycled plot from the abandoned Star Trek: Phase II project.

However, with the exception of episodes like The Child and the hastily thrown together Shades of Grey, the season holds up well. The Measure of a Man remains one of the finest hours of Patrick Stewart that Star Trek had to offer and Q, Who? gave us the Borg.

Season Two also introduced Dr. Pulaski. She was brought in after Gates McFadden was fired after the end of season one. While Pulaski was an interesting character, she was let down by the writing for the season, never truly allowing audiences to warm to her. Also, Diana Muldaur never really clicked with the rest of the cast. When the season ended and producer Maurice Hurley left, she quit.

A far more successful addition to the cast was that of Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan. She was a true movie star at the time and she requested a part be written for her, which producers initially thought was a joke. She managed to have her friend LeVar Burton, which whom she had worked on Roots, relay the message to them that she was serious.

With the fact that Guinan has been confirmed to be returning for Picard's second season, let that be a testament to how beloved this character became.

This one actually seems a little unfair, as the quality of the season was very much a product of behind the scenes drama rather than anything intentional on the part of the writers. Even with that, there are some fantastic hours here.

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield is an excellent exploration of the pointlessness of racism, while The Enterprise Incident introduces the wonderful Romulan Commander.

The main issue with the season is the visible reduction in quality, which was a direct result of the reduction in budget. The show had been cancelled after its second season, saved then by a fan letter writing campaign. However, when it was returned to air, it was bumped to 10pm on Friday nights - the death slot.

This had a knock-on effect. Advertisements cost less to book at this time, meaning the income was lower. This meant that each episode of the third season had roughly 10% less budget than the first season. This can be most notably seen in the fact that only one episode - This Side of Paradise - features any prolonged location shots.

The show unforunately lost more and more viewers as the season went on. Roddenberry excused himself from the daily stress by stepping away, remaining an Executive Producer though largely only an advisery position. Despite another attempted letter writing campaign, Star Trek died at the end of the season, never to be resurrected.

The end.

Well, not the end. Not when this entry is dealing with the first season of the Original Series' second spin off show, Star Trek Deep Space Nine.

Deep Space Nine was a highly ambitious idea, one that would lock the action into a single location, on board the space station. This was totally opposite to the Enterprise's travels throughout the quadrant. It would also be a darker show, veering away from Roddenberry's bright vision of the future.

The first season, like any first season of a show, simply suffers from a lack of true direction and changes of tone. The actors are settling into their roles and working on portrayals. Emissary is an excellent and contemplative adventure but the jewel of the season is Duet, featuring the incredible performance by Harris Yulin.

Deep Space Nine was a bold entry into the franchise that had, for the most part, remained in a bright version of the future. This show seemed to challenge all of that, holding a mirror up to the darkest aspects of culture and oppression. While Major Kira would come to be one of the strongest characters on the show, her first season saw her coming on a little strong at times. When Nana Visitor settled into the role, we were gifted with an incredible performance.

The first season served as a teaser for what was to come. The weakest of Deep Space Nine's seven seasons, yet still a strong indicator of greatness to come.

This may sound repetitive but as this was Voyager's first year, they were just settling into the roles etc. etc.

Voyager managed to benefit from the fact that the Next Generation and Deep Space Nine had already been well established on television before Captain Janeway took command. In fact, with many of the production staff being shared across the different shows, there was a wealth of talent to help the show get off its landing struts.

Much about the first season works very, very well. The visuals were excellent, particularly in Caretaker. There were certainly pacing issues but the show overcame that quickly enough.

This was also another decidedly Starfleet series, whereas Deep Space Nine was mixing Starfleet with Bajor and Cardassia. That led to inevitable comparisons with the Next Generation, which had followed a very similar format.

There is an argument that, to Voyager's detriment, it didn't go dark enough. It could have been a ship left damaged, without any aid coming, that would have to find its way back home. However, Deep Space Nine was already (slowly) heading into darker territory and having the ship battered from week to week ran the risk of turning viewers off, not to mention the early aversions to serialised television.

The decision was made to have Voyager in pristine condition each week, which was something of a stretch. However, removing the worry of keeping the ship together allowed more time to work on the crew. It was an uneven first year, yet enjoyable all the same.

There was a rapid upswing in the quality of Voyager as it went into its second year. That is not to say, however, that it was perfect. In fact, thanks to some more behind the scenes drama, the second season saw only a marginal increase in quality from the first.

To start with, four episodes from season two were actually produced with the intention of being part of season one. They were held over for the second season, with several second season episodes being held over into season three.

The main issue with the second season is the Kazon. While there was ample room to develop them as a threat, pushing Voyager farther and farther into trouble, they weren't testing well with audiences. Viewer numbers were falling and attempts to bring them back resulted in cameos from John de Lancie as Q and Jonathan Frakes as William T. Riker.

The ongoing tensions between the Starfleet and Maquis crew, initially intended to be put to bed in season one's Learning Curve, reappear only to vanish again. Then, there is of course, that episode.

Threshold.

Hats off to an episode that has stood the test of time of being so hilariously off the walls that it has almost become a by-word to describe how much trouble Voyager was in. It has become an in-joke and is now actually rather fun on its own. The second season, while still stumbling, had to deal with obstacles that were doing their best to make the journey harder. Thankfully, it would start to improve slightly faster going into season three.

Enterprise season one is somewhat of a mixed bag. It suffered from pacing issues, much the same as all other first seasons in the franchise. However, right from the beginning, it was very clear that this incarnation had heart - and no, that was not an intended pun.

It set about trying recapture some of the adventure and spirit that the Original Series and the Next Generation had brought to the franchise, something that, for better or worse, had been lost along the way in Deep Space Nine and Voyager. Those two franchises had thrived on, in Deep Space Nine's case, darker and heavier themes. In Voyager's case, there was a distinct lack of theme.

Enterprise ran afoul of fans from the beginning when a bumpy headed Klingon ran through a field on Earth, over one hundred years before Kirk would meet the smooth headed foes. Had internet forums been as prevalent then as they are now, it would have broken the internet. Suffice to say, it started something of an uphill battle.

There was a sense of 'been there, done that', despite the efforts of the first season to bring something new to the franchise. The inclusion of the Temporal Cold War seemed like a handy way to edge around established canon and bring in some players from later seasons. While the first season stumbled, enough fans warmed to it to secure a second season order from the network, which in itself would come with more issues.

The Next Generation's seventh and final year was something of a victory lap for one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever made. The finale, All Good Things, stands as one of, if not the, finest closing episodes to any entry in the Star Trek universe.

Season seven is not bad, not by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, the actors were so settled into their roles that they could play the parts in their sleep. Many strong episodes dot throughout the year, not least of which are Preemptive Strike, The Pegasus and Gambit.

The only reason its a little lower on this list is because by the time this year rolled around, the show had already managed to delivery so many excellent episodes that it was, if not running out of steam, then certainly stretching what it was exactly that the crew could continue to face while still keeping the tension up for the audience.

One of the reasons that All Good Things works so well is because it is a loving tribute to the show as a whole, while still managing to keep the focus on the core cast for its runtime. Beyond this episode, almost everyone gets an episode to shine to themselves. Even Sub Rosa, for all of the detractors, has a gothic charm to it.

When next we met the crew of the Enterprise D, they were taking on the big screen. If this was to be their last hurrah in the world of television, at least it was poignant, loving and sometimes downright silly and fun!

Enterprise's second year was a different kettle of fish. It almost immediately displayed a development of the characters and stories that had been a bit of a struggle in the first year. By the time that Xindi probe appeared in the final episode however, Enterprise had proved that it was here to do business.

Time has helped this season. On initial release, it received lukewarm responses, though it was acknowledged that the show picked up roughly around the midway point. However, when looking back now, it's clear that Shockwave, Part II and Carbon Creek are both very strong episodes, both coming in at the beginning of the season.

The introduction of the Romulans was handled well, keeping their faces off screen so as to keep in continuity with the rest of the franchise. Even the Borg, most definitely not introduced to the Federation until Q, Who? were worked in well. On first hearing of their inclusion, there was concern over what could be seen as a ratings grab. Instead, Regeneration is one of the most tense, scary Borg episodes out there.

The reliance on stand alone episodes hurt the season overall, as it had with the first season. However, the promise delivered by The Expanse ensured that viewers came back for the third season. The stand alone format was somewhat abandoned going forward, which only served to help Enterprise's overall quality.

The first season of Short Treks was exciting, in that we had not seen vingettes for Star Trek like this before. These were all centered around Discovery, and this was absolutely fine (season two would bring in both Picard and the Original Series).

The weakest of the bunch is Runaway, which serves to set up the relationship between Tilly and Po. It is only weak in that not a lot happens, yet the pace still feels frantic. After this, there is The Escape Artist. Rainn Wilson as Harry Mudd is slightly like marmite, but he is undeniably funny here.

The Brightest Star is a very nice look at Saru's backstory, exploring how he came to be a part of Starfleet. It is important not just in establishing this, yet also to show the stunning design of Kaminar. However, all three of these entries pale in comparison to Calypso.

In fifteen minutes, this entry manages to provide a stunning, heart breaking story of man and ship. Without spoiling it for those who may not have seen it, it largely features only one actor - Aldis Hodge - and one voice - Annabelle Wallis. However, just these two manage to create a love story that is believable and tragic, rising and falling in the short time they are given.

Although none of the other Short Treks have risen to the bar that Calypso set to date, they are an enjoyable set of curios in the Star Trek universe, expanding on the stories we already know.

Voyager managed to tighten its storytelling and pacing. Four episodes had been held over from season two and there is a distinct difference in style between these entries and the rest of the season.

Flashback is the best example of this. The episode was the celebration of Star Trek's 30th Anniversary, bringing Captain Sulu and Commander Rand back to the franchise. However, despite the loving attention paid to the Star Trek VI storyline, the remainder of the episode is a fairly dull affair, something that was indicative of several second season entries.

However, the rest of the season is a marked improvement. Future's End is one of the stronger stories, finally giving the Doctor his mobile emitter and bringing the surprisingly wonderful Rain Robinson into the story. Darkling and Real Life further explore the Doctor's character, while Distant Origin stands as one of the finest hours of Voyager.

There was an increase in action this season - Basics Part II, Worst Case Scenario (featuring the welcome return of Martha Hackett) and Scorpion Part 1 all ramp it up to 11, helping the show to find its tone.

This would prove to be Kes's final season, not including her appearances at the start of season four and her episode in season six, which was caused by the producers' will to shake up the show. It came down to either Kes or Harry Kim getting the chop. Kim was saved, partly thanks to his inclusion in a list of the most beautiful people in the world that was published during the hiatus.

Poor Jennifer Lien!

Deep Space Nine season two kicked off with the three episode arc of The Homecoming, The Circle and The Siege, which would be an indicator of the longer serials to come. It also featured an uncredited guest arc by Frank Langella.

The second year was generally considered by the producers to be among the best that Star Trek had yet offered. The three episode arc was designed to act as a statement to the audience that Deep Space Nine was going to do something different. It was also the season that saw the introduction of the Dominion.

Broadcast concurrently with the seventh season of the Next Generation, the Maquis featured in both. The Maquis two-parter established the depths that these colonists turned terrorists had been forced to sink to, while the Next Generation explored this thread through both Wesley Crusher and Ro Laren.

This year also saw the return of some of the Original Series actors to the franchise. Michael Ansara, William Campbell and John Colicos returned to Star Trek as Kang, Koloth and Kor respectively in the highly enjoyable episode Blood Oath.

The Dominion were introduced here, offering the franchise the greatest threat since the Borg. The scene pictured above, of the Galaxy-class USS Odyssey, overpowered and destroyed by the Jem'hadar was a chilling end to the season delivering, if not a cliffhanger then certainly an exciting promise for the third season to build on.

Much of the season ranks among the best that Star Trek has to offer.

This would be the first season of Star Trek to be out there on its own since the fifth season of the Next Generation. Where seasons four and five had featured several longer story lines and arcs, season six leaned more toward stand alone episodes, making it feel more like a spiritual successor to the first season.

There were several exceptions to this rule - Pathfinder and Fury among them - but the season was somewhat let down by this. The action packed opener, Equinox Part II, promised a fantastic start to the year, which was unfortunately not capitalized on. Intriguing new villains like the Vaadwaur from Dragon's Teeth were introduced, only to then be immediately forgotten.

There were however plenty of moments and themes that were more than enjoyable. The Borg children, introduced in Child's Play, would prove to be a huge part of Seven of Nine's arc going forward and Voyager finally made live contact with Earth, via Reg Barclay, in one of the most moving scenes in the entire franchise.

The season was, like the overall show itself, somewhat overrun by the Borg. A heavier reliance on them as villains robbed them of some of their power. They appeared in multiple episodes, culminating in the assimilation of Janeway, Torres and Tuvok in Unimatrix Part 1. Overall, the year was defined by Robert Beltran as dreary and tedious - perhaps a little harsh, though certainly a fair indicator that Voyager had run out of much of its steam by season six.

There is a large argument to just leave Discovery in this place and scoot on to the entry. The level of vitriol that the detractors of Discovery have thrown at the show has been staggering. The season has a much higher critical rating than audience rating, with several reasons as to why.

There have been comparisons with the reactions to Discovery as to the reactions to The Last Jedi, which similarly polarized opinions. There were those who loved and those who felt it had no place in canon.

One this is irrefutable: Discovery is beautiful.

With a budget of somewhere between $8 - $8.5 milion dollars per episode, the effects are staggeringly realised. While it is true that some of the effects shine more brightly than the writing, consider the opening to the show. The producers took the risk of waiting until episode three to even introduce the USS Discovery, centering the action on the doomed USS Shenzhou instead.

The Battle at the Binary Stars was a stunning piece of art, even if this would have railed against Roddenberry's idea of a peaceful future.

Therein lies the greatest argument against Discovery season one - it was so jarringly different from everything that had come before, it was quite easy to cry 'Not My Trek!' and leave it at that. However, as the season progressed, the characters began to grow more hopeful and closer in spite of the darkness that face the early Federation.

While its ambition may have outstripped its reach in the first year, Discovery has rapidly improved.

Hopefully Anson Mount has taken a break over the last few months, to give his shoulders a rest from elevating Discovery to a new level in its second season.

The second year of Discovery is both a drastic tonal change from the first year, while honouring the show it is. Discovery is still a somewhat darker entry into the franchise, yet the inclusion of Mount's Captain Pike, along with Ethan Peck's Spock and Rebecca Romijn's Number One breathed a very welcome breath of fresh air into the series.

Pike says in his very first meeting of the crew that he is not Captain Lorca. While perhaps we have yet to meet our Lorca, this is very, very welcome news. Pike is a captain that is both confident in his abilities and reflective of a brighter future. Without being bogged down by the combat fatigue accompanying the Klingon War, he is able to steer the ship back toward a mission of exploration.

However, Discovery lives and dies with its ensemble cast. Everyone has raised their game for this season, not least the show's star Sonequa Martin Green. While her character was held back in the first season by the somewhat strange decision to make her a human raised by Vulcans, she feels freer and more relaxed this year.

Doug Jones deserves particular praise for his portrayal of Saru in this season and whether or not he will get the top job in season three, he has already established himself in the franchise as one of the strongest first officers there is.

Bring on season three!

Producer Manny Coto utterly changed the game when it came to Enterprise, kicking off what would become the longest serial in Star Trek history with the Xindi Arc.

This was what Star Trek: Voyager could have been. While it may have been too much for a seven season show, this was a series that showed each week there were consequences to the previous episode. The damage that Enterprise accrues over the course of the season remains in place week after week, highlighting the ship's inability to simply nip back to a starbase.

The characters receive considerable development in this season, particularly T'Pol and Trip. Archer grows darker as the season goes on, resorting to more and more ruthless tactics to ensure the safety of mankind.

There are many highlights in the year, though Similitude, Azati Prime and Zero Hour all stand out. However, despite the upswing in reception and quality, the ratings were sliding. Low initial ratings caused the network to shorten the season by two episodes and rumours of cancellation were already beginning to swirl.

While a fourth season was confirmed, Enterprise was on shaky ground, despite the vast improvements that they were making behind the scenes. It was renamed from just Enterprise to Star Trek Enterprise after the third episode, though a dreadful new version of the opening theme was introduced.

This new, more upbeat version was meant to reflect the change that Deep Space Nine had made to its theme in its fourth season, though adding a more upbeat song to the show's darkest season really made little sense!

The fourth season of Enterprise is easily its most fun. They dropped the season long arc style, reverting back to shorter arcs. They kept several two-parters and three-parters though, allowing for a little more room for each story to spread.

The news of the show's cancellation would reach the crew during filming on In A Mirror, Darkly, with These Are The Voyages serving as the much derided final episode of the show.

The season was generally received much more warmly by critics, even though ratings continued to slide. Once the show was cancelled and the final episode aired, episodic Star Trek would not resurface again until the first season of Discovery. The under performance of Nemesis also left a bitter taste in the fans' mouths.

However, the season itself is something of a triumph. It manages to fix the continuity errors of the bumpy headed Klingons and delves into the background of the Vulcan logician movement. The true ending to the show in Terra Prime cements Enterprise as one of the brightest examples of Star Trek's future, even if they took their time getting there.

As the show unfortunately was cut down before its prime, there remains to be seen whether any of the plot threads left dangling will be picked up by the newly announced Star Trek: Strange New Worlds series featuring Pike and the Enterprise. Fingers crossed, it would be wonderful to see Jolene Blalock reprise the role of T'Pol, if only once more!

Deep Space Nine's third season saw Michael Pillar step away from show running to move over and spend more time on Voyager, which was beginning its first year. Ira Steven Behr took over as show runner and Deep Space Nine truly became the show it was to be.

Director of photography Marvin Rush left Deep Space Nine at the end of season two and was replaced by Jonathan West. While there was not much difference in terms of the lighting that he used, he switched to a different type of lens on the camera and there is a clear difference in resolution from the third season onward.

Feedback after seasons one and two from the fans had criticised the show's lack of action and adventure, while the religious elements of the storyline also came under fire. The first step at addressing these concerns came as the USS Defiant de-cloaked just off the station's outer ring. This would be the first Starfleet ship with a full-time cloaking device and was also the very first warship that the Federation had ever commissioned.

This was going directly against what Roddenberry had wanted for his future. However, the rapidly maturing stories called for a greater military presence. The season also delved into social issues, shown in particular in the two-parter Past Tense.

Perhaps the biggest sign of what was to come was shown in The Die Is Cast, with the Cardassian/Romulan invasion of the Founders' homeworld, and their subsequent destruction. The finale suggested that the Changelings had reached deep inside the Federation and a reckoning was coming.

Paramount, however, disagreed.

Going into the second season, a merger saw Paramount studios take ownership, resulting in both a logo change and a budget cut. However, the cut was not as drastic as the show would face in its third season.

The series opener Amok Time, famous for its fight music and mad Spock, featured Lawrence Montaigne in the role of Stonn. Both he and Mark Lenard had been considered as replacements for Nimoy, who was attempting to negotiate a pay rise. A deal was struck and Nimoy returned for the second season.

More emphasis was placed on secondary characters like Scotty and the new arrival - Pavel Chekov. Several scenes were reused from the first season for budgetary reasons and this can be noticed when shots of the navigation section are used. You will notice several of these shots are from behind, picturing only the back of Sulu's head - cinemagic!

While the show continued to score strong ratings, second only to that of The Monkees at the time, there were persistent rumours of cancellation. The show was doing well with 'desirable' audiences ('upper-income, educated males') and dealt with social issues, as opposed to its sci-fi rival Lost In Space, which had a campier tone.

Roddenberry supported the Bjo and John Trimble letter writing campaign, which saw thousands of letters flood the desks of the executives, resulting in an on-screen announcement, letting the fans know Star Trek would return for a third season. While it was not written, it was understood that this announcement was designed as a pleasant please stop sending letters message to the fans.

It is hard to overstate the impact of the arrival of Michael Piller for Star Trek. He joined the show this year and employed an open policy for people to submit scripts for consideration.

One such script was submitted by Ronald D. Moore. Moore would go on not just to create what essentially became the Klingon culture in Star Trek, but following his time on Trek he would create, along with David Eick, the terrific Battlestar Galactica reimagining.

Apart from his discovery of Moore, Pillar also penned The Best of Both Worlds, which, along with Yesterday's Enterprise and Sins of the Father, is generally regarded as the best of the season, if not the best of the show overall. The show rose to a solid height during this year, exploring both the Klingon and Romulan cultures with greater depth, while also allowing Picard, Riker and Data more time to shine.

Gates McFadden returned as Dr. Crusher, following the departure of producer Maurice Hurley. All of the cast received new uniforms from costume designer Robert Blackman, which would be the familiar solid block of colour uniforms for the rest of the show. The men received a two-piece outfit while Marina Sirtis and McFadden had to continue with one piece costumes.

This season also saw the return of Mark Lenard to the franchise, finally opening the door for crossovers between the Next Generation and the Original Series, something Roddenberry had been vehemently against. Roddenberry, however, was rapidly declining in health, with the episode Sarek serving as a spiritual story of this deterioration.

Voyager season five saw Jeri Taylor depart the show and Brannon Braga take over as show runner. The focus of the episodes settled firmly on Seven of Nine and Janeway, leading some detractors to dub the series 'the Seven and Janeway show'. It was during this season that Chakotay actor Robert Beltran started to become more vocal in his critique of Voyager's direction.

However, the season saw a deeper exploration of the theme of family and gave greater focus on ongoing issues or individual traumas. Torres, devastated by the news of the Maquis' destruction by the Dominion, begins to self-harm in the episode Extreme Risk. Tom Paris faces demotion and incarceration in Thirty Days.

The Doctor struggles with the ethics of his decisions in Latent Image, while even Harry Kim runs afoul of Janeway in The Disease.

An arguable omen kicked off the season, with a fire breaking out on the Deck One sets during a publicity photo shoot. No one was injured, but it required a team to rebuild several elements of the bridge.

Ironically, as Voyager had begun producing darker yet deeper episodes, culminating in both the fantastic Dark Frontier and Equinox Part One, the audience ratings slipped a little. The show seemed to have hit its peak in seasons three and four, beginning to slip here in terms of viewers. It could be that the more sombre tone that seeped throughout the season affected this, something that was rectified going into the final two seasons.

Voyager's final year has something of a bittersweet place in the hearts of many fans. While the show returned to a mostly stand-alone format, with the exceptions of Flesh and Blood, Workforce and Endgame, several of the episodes rank among the series' best.

Shattered is clearly a loving tribute to all that had gone before in Voyager, featuring the return of the Cardassian antagonist, Seska.

Body and Soul allows Jeri Ryan to step away from the normal portrayal of Seven, while playing the Doctor in her body. Flesh and Blood explores the consequence of decision, while Endgame sees the crew finally arrive home.

Brannon Braga stepped down as show runner for this year. He had originally planned for Seven to die in the finale, having written the episode Human Error to set this up. However, she was saved from the chopping block (to the delight of Star Trek Picard fans!)

Ethan Phillips was the only main cast member not to make it to the Alpha Quadrant, something that allowed for the touching episode Homestead. His departure scene allowed many of the Voyager cast and crew to been seen on screen, forming his guard of honour. This would be similar to the final scene in Vic Fontaine's in What You Leave Behind.

While the final moment of Endgame feels highly rushed, there is a beautiful bookend to the show as a whole, as Janeway's final words echo her closing words to Caretaker. Then, flanked by a Galaxy and a Defiant class ship, Voyager arrives back to Earth, completing the seven year journey for the audience as well.

The Next Generation's fourth season saw Michael Pillar move the show toward a more emotional storytelling. He was commented 'the audience knows that you can't kill the regulars, but you can wound them'.

The Best of Both Worlds part two and Family both dealt with Picard's assimilation into the Collective, a storyline still having ramifications into Star Trek Picard. Reunion saw the introduction of Alexander and the death of fan favourite K'Ehleyr. The Wounded introduced the Cardassians and helped to further develop the character of Miles O'Brien.

Legacy, dealing at least spiritually with Data's relationship with Tasha Yar, was the show's 80th episode, thereby passing the Original Series' run of 79 episodes. Production and filming of The Undiscovered Country began as Redemption part one was filming, with Denise Crosby returning to the show for two episodes this season.

Dr. Crusher suffered two significant losses in this season. The first saw her meet, and then lose, Odan, the first Trill introduced in Star Trek. The episode ends with the symbiont transferred to a female host, a factor that Crusher cannot get around. While the episode has received mixed receptions, director Marvin Rush disagrees that there is any homophobia here.

He merely feels that it a comment on the nature of love. He saw it more as the challenge of dealing with a total change in appearance rather than gender.

Crusher's second loss came from the departure of Will Wheaton, who had asked to be let go following what he felt was the poor writing of his character in the third season, a decision he later regretted.

Star Trek Picard has polarized the fans. Many are delighted that Patrick Stewart has returned to the role, with Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis appearing as well. However, there has been much discussion over the darker tone that the show has taken.

The show balances Discovery's break-neck pace with the slower pace of the Next Generation. The cinematography is stunning, with particular highlights being the shot of the Enterprise D in Remembrance and the Borg Cube in Et In Arcadia Ego, Part One.

Seven of Nine joins the cast in a welcome return of Seven of Nine, with Jonathan Del Arco reprising the role of Hugh. The show's new stars also shine, with Michelle Hurd standing out in particular for her portrayal of the damaged but dependable Raffi.

Picard is not the eighth season of the Next Generation, nor was it intended to be. This was always pitched as the experiences of a 94-year old man, disillusioned with what he has seen his universe become, thrust into a challenging situation. This has led to darker stories, more adult themes and, inevitably, strong criticism from fans.

Picard has been green lit for a second season, with a soft confirmation for a third. The current plan is to film both seasons back to back to keep the costs down, with Patrick Stewart stating he wants all of the Next Generation stars to appear before the series conclusion.

While this latest incarnation of Trek may not be exactly what was expected, it is a fresh and new take on well-trodden lore, keeping the franchise alive.

This was the last series of Star Trek to premiere on its own until Voyager's sixth season. It would also be the year that Gene Roddenberry died of cardiac arrest, with the cast and crew finding out during filming of the Patrick Stewart directed episode Hero Worship.

The episode Unification is dedicated to his memory, while also featuring the return of Leonard Nimoy to the small screen as Ambassador Spock, simultaneously appearing as Captain Spock in The Undiscovered Country.

One of the stand-out episodes is Darmok, which is essentially a two-hander between Stewart and guest star Paul Winfield. The episode deals with the root of communication, partnership and understanding - something Stewart felt so strongly about that he referred back to the episode during Roddenberry's funeral, which was less than a month later. He felt that Darmok would have been one of the episodes Roddenberry would be most proud of.

Michelle Forbes joined the cast as Ro Laren, introducing the Bajorans to Star Trek. While initially hostile to the crew, her gradual development and growth serve as a teaser for what would come in Deep Space Nine.

The strongest episode of the season, and potentially of the show as a whole, is The Inner Light. Star Trek Picard showrunner Michael Chabon cites both this episode and Far Beyond The Stars as the best that Trek has to offer. The episode won a Hugo Award, while the music would go on to be one of the most requested pieces in Paramount's history.

Deep Space Nine's fifth season was seen by executive producer Ira Steven Behr as the show getting back on track, in the direction that it had been headed at the end of season 3. He wanted to move away from the Klingon Arc.

Before they could get there, they had to wrap up the Klingon storyline, and with this settled more or less in the first episode, the show then moved on to the next milestone: Star Trek had turned 30.

Trials and Tribble-ations is one of the most fun and loving tributes to the Original Series that has ever been produced, dropping the crew of the very modern Deep Space Nine into the now-retro setting of the old Constitution Class USS Enterprise. It was done to pay tribute to where the show began, while also highlighting just how far it had come.

Star Trek: First Contact was released mid-way through the season, resulting in the Starfleet uniform change. With the darker palette came darker stories, with Rapture, The Darkness and The Light, In Purgatory's Shadow and By Inferno's Light being among these. Finally, the real General Martok was introduced.

Call To Arms requires an article to itself. It was both one of the greatest season finales in Deep Space Nine's run and a massive headache for the producers. The iconic final shot of the USS Defiant and the IKS Rotarran joining the Federation/Klingon fleet is awe inspiring and not at all the ending that was intended, which is why that poor, broken fleet is limping along in the opening shot of A Time To Stand.

Michael Pillar departed Voyager at the end of season three to work with Rick Berman on Star Trek: Insurrection. In his place, Brannon Braga rose to co-executive producer alongside Jeri Taylor. This allowed for some changes to the structure of the show.

The biggest change in the fourth season was the addition of Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine. Fan reactions to the news were originally negative, criticising the fact that they had swapped out sci-fi for sex appeal. Ryan's first 'human' costume, the silver jumpsuit, seemed to support that theory.

However, critics were quickly turned around by Ryan's acting skills and the writing on the season. Many episodes centered on Seven's development, which was felt by the cast to have helped the show overall, even if some of the secondary characters suffered because of it.

Year of Hell, Scorpion, Hope and Fear and, in particular, the Tim Russ directed Living Witness stand among the finest that Voyager had ever produced. Living Witness in particular has been hailed as up with the best of the show in its entire run.

The fourth season was seen by many as the stage where Voyager truly began to work as a show in its own right. The departure of Jennifer Lien as Kes, while sad for the cast, allowed more room for both Neelix and the Doctor to expand.

The addition of Seven gave Voyager the outsider's perspective on the crew, similar to both Spock and Data. With the final crew in place, the show settled into its groove and delivered on the best year of its entire run.

Deep Space Nine's final year was a very different one for many reasons. First, the show was dealing with the death of Jadzia Dax, leading to the introduction of Ezri. Sisko was in a dark place as the season begins and Starfleet is taking heavy casualties, never more disturbingly presented than in The Siege of AR-558.

Rick Berman gave Behr something of a carte blanche to do what he wanted with the season, within reason. He stipulated one rule: don't destroy the Federation! After that, Behr remembered that they had quite a lot of creative freedom.

One result of this was the final 10 episode arc that comprised the end of the Dominion War. Not only were some of the most shocking scenes in Deep Space Nine occurring here (see photo inset) but a potential to change the nature of the very franchise was mulled over by Behr. His original idea was to have the final shot of the series reveal Benny Russell to have been dreaming the whole thing, all along.

However, that would have relegated the entire franchise of Star Trek to the imagination of this one writer, definitely going against Berman's one rule. Behr satisfied himself with a compromise: perhaps Benny didn't create all of Star Trek so, flipping it around, Ben Sisko simply ascends to God-hood by the end.

The season featured some of the most evocative and poignant stories of the show's run, not least being It's Only A Paper Moon, featuring the late, great Aron Eisenberg.

Deep Space Nine went out with a bang. Please, give us more!

The Dominion War began in earnest in Deep Space Nine's sixth season, pushing the show even farther into the darkness than it had been before. The war and everything about it was antithetical to what Roddenberry had hoped for his future, yet the show runners felt it was the necessary next step in the story.

Initially, the six part episode arc was to have encompassed the entirety of the war, with even this arc originally being planned for four episodes only.

That was pushed out, allowing for a greater development of themes, but also allowing a deeper analysis of how the Federation responded to this new threat. It represented a time of change behind the scenes. The opening shot in A Time To Stand would feature the last group of ships using entirely studio models.

The sixth season would also see the contemplative Far Beyond The Stars, exploring both race and the relationship between characters and writers. Directed by Avery Brooks, this was one of the finest examples of what Star Trek was originally intended to do, highlighting social issues through a sci-fi lens.

Following this came the darkest moment of Star Trek to that point, in the chilling In The Pale Moonlight, where a decorated Starfleet captain knowingly commits terrible crimes for the greater good.

The season would end with the departure of Terry Farrell, a decision mired in poor communication and ill-feeling. The death of Jadzia Dax would mark the first time that a main character would be killed and then not return in any capacity for the rest of that show's run.

The first year of Star Trek faced a bit of an uphill climb in the beginning. Lucille Ball was instrumental in getting the franchise started. Roddenberry went with producer Herbert F. Solow, of Desilu Studios, to their idea to CBS, who turned them down as they already had the very similar Lost In Space.

They then went to NBC, who commissioned a pilot (The Cage), but didn't like it, saying it was 'too cerebral'. They did like the idea, and they recognised that they had selected the script, so they commissioned a second pilot - a feat that was almost unheard of.

In February of '66 though, the show was almost killed again, as Desilu were worried about the cost of both Star Trek and Mission Impossible. Solow managed to argue for its survival, and it was allowed to continue.

The rest is history. The series achieved high ratings and many of the episodes from the first season are regarded as classics of the genre. Balance of Terror, Space Seed and The City On The Edge Of Forever are all hugely popular entries to this day, with The Wrath Of Khan acting as a sequel to Space Seed.

The fact that Star Trek debuted mostly against reruns in its time slot also worked in its favour, allowing it to win much of the ratings for that week, Although the ratings would slide for the rest of the season, it was enough for the network to order a second season.

It may have had something of a rough take off, but 54 years later and it's flying higher than it ever has.

This would be a year of famous faces, with Whoopi Goldberg able to develop Guinan in a deeper way than ever before. Stephen Hawking made a cameo appearance in the series finale, while the great James Doohan returned in Relics, as Scotty is found to be alive.

Chain of Command ranks among the greatest of the Next Generation. The script was written by Frank Abatermarco and Jeri Taylor, taking inspiration from both the film Closet Land and The Silence of the Lambs.

Patrick Stewart, a supporter of Amnesty International, prepared for his torture scenes by watching tapes provided by the charity. He had worked with David Warner before, with both actors delivering a powerhouse performance.

Also this year, John de Lancie returned twice as Q, though most memorably in Tapestry. The episode, dealing with the theme of 'there but for the grace of God', stands alongside the likes of It's A Wonderful Life as examples of learning to live with the choices one makes.

The entire cast are given plenty of room to develop their characters and grow on screen, with both Brent Spiner and writer Ronald D. Moore believing that this was the strongest year that the Next Generation had produced.

The Chase finally offers an answer as to why all of the species in Star Trek look alike, allowing for one shining moment Humans, Klingons, Cardassians and Romulans to stand together. Though brief, the scene perfectly encapsulates everything that Gene Roddenberry had envisaged for his future. This was Star Trek

What a difference a haircut makes.

For the first three seasons, Avery Brooks had not been allowed to shave his head, for fear that he would look too much like his previous role in Spenser: For Hire. However, as the show had been fully established at this stage, he approached the producers, who approached the studio - and the thumbs up was given. Sisko was reborn.

As previously mentioned, Paramount were not happy with the original idea for the end of the third season. Behr had wanted to go with a 'Changelings on Earth' cliffhanger but Paramount weren't interested in a cliffhanger. They also wanted something to truly shake up the series. The Changelings story was pushed out to Homefront/Paradise Lost.

To put a pause on the Dominion story, the Klingons were brought back as antagonists for this series in the season opener The Way Of The Warrior. At Rick Berman's suggestion, Michael Dorn was brought on board as Worf. While integrating the character was initially difficult, writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe conceded it offered them exciting challenges.

Deep Space Nine explores many, many themes throughout its run. One of its key themes is that of family, with no better representation that the relationship between Ben and Jake Sisko. Brooks had been thrilled to get the chance to depict a strong father figure in Sisko and The Visitor takes this relationship to its zenith.

The final scene between Brooks and Tony Todd is simply universal. A father and son who love and need each other. That it is set in the 24th century makes no difference.

Star Trek is a family, whether it's set on a space station, the Federation flagship, far off in the Delta Quadrant or in the bond between a Captain and his Android friend. It is a marvellous franchise, deserving of love and respect and still taking us to strange new worlds.