Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
Whilst ‘Doctor Who’ is my favourite series to share on ‘Bradley’s Basement’, the sci-fi franchise that comes second to that is ‘Star Trek’. I saw ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’ and ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ in 2004 and 2005 before ‘Doctor Who’ came along. 🙂
It’s been great to share my thoughts on ‘Star Trek’ in a variety of ways. Not just in terms of the movies and TV shows, but also in how it connects to other TV shows and movies that I love. This especially concerns ‘Doctor Who’ whether through a story penned by me or not.
The first ‘Star Trek’ post I shared on my blog was Day 14 of my ‘Bradley’s Basement’s Advent Calendar in December 2015. At the time, I didn’t know how many more ‘Star Trek’ reviews and blog posts I would share in the next 10 years, but I was pretty eager to find out.
In 2016, ‘Star Trek’ celebrated its 50th anniversary. I was happy to celebrate the series by checking out ‘Star Trek Beyond’ at the cinema, which is the best film out of the ‘Star Trek’ Kelvin timeline film trilogy. I’m happy it paid tribute to Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin.
In terms of my own celebrations of ‘Star Trek’s 50th anniversary in 2016 via ‘Bradley’s Basement’, I shared in-depth reviews on the first ten ‘Star Trek’ films. This is something I’ve always wanted to do on my blog. I’m so pleased I got to review the first ten films then.
This includes the original series cast of Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew from ‘The Motion Picture’ to ‘The Undiscovered Country’, and ‘The Next Generation’ team of Captain Picard and the Enterprise crew from ‘Generations’ to ‘Nemesis’. An exciting marathon of film reviews.
I also shared my reviews on Season 1 of ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’ as well as episodes from the ‘Borg Fan Collective’ DVD. These included reviews on episodes from ‘The Next Generation’ like ‘The Best of Both Worlds’ and from ‘Voyager’ like ‘Scorpion’.
Admittedly, these reviews were transferred from my Amazon.co.uk profile and some of the reviews are rather brief compared to how I do in-depth reviews these days. Thankfully, I’ve had the opportunity to extend and update my thoughts certain reviews. 🙂
Another review that I shared in the 50th anniversary celebrations of ‘Star Trek’ is my review on the ‘Doctor Who’/‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ comic story called ‘Assimilation2‘, featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory and the Enterprise-D crew led by Captain Picard.
This was an exciting review for me to share in combining both my love for ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Star Trek’. Plus, ‘Assmilation2‘ has the advantage of featuring the Borg and the Cybermen as deadly enemies. It’s a crossover that I often dream about seeing in live-action. 😀
In 2017, I shared my reviews on Seasons 2 and 3 of ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’. From 2017 to 2019, I shared my reviews on all seven seasons of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’. Doing those ‘Star Trek’ reviews back then were very happy times for me. 🙂
In October 2018, I attended ‘Destination Star Trek Birmingham’ at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. It was an amazing weekend experience for me. I got to see and meet many ‘Star Trek’ stars and have photos with them, which I didn’t anticipate. 😀
I joined forces with Timelord007 in 2019 to review the ‘Star Trek’ Kelvin timeline trilogy, including the 2009 film, ‘Into Darkness’ and ‘Beyond’. I saw ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ at the cinema in November 2019. I reviewed ‘Deep Space Nine’ from 2020 to 2021.
I’ve seen all three seasons of ‘Picard’, I’ve read, heard and reviewed the ‘Prometheus’ trilogy of ‘Star Trek’ books, I’ve reviewed Season 1 of ‘Voyager’, I’ve seen the first two seasons of ‘Strange New Worlds’, and I’ve seen ‘Star Trek Continues’. A good Trek so far! 😀
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
Bradley's Basement 
Star Trek started it all for me when I was a kid, shortly before Doctor Who. In fact it was the classic episode “Mirror, Mirror” that sparked my lifelong fandom of the multiverse. I can share many of the issues for fans on how the storytelling for the current Trek shows have been going. So I often reminisce with classic Treks and assorted TNG and DS9 episodes on Netflix. Sorry to say that Voyager and Enterprise were where I had started to lose interest. The Prime Directive dramas were starting to get too upsetting for me personally. I nowadays tend to favor most of the fan productions on YouTube like Axanar and These Are The Voyages. I certainly praise the Trek crossover mashups with Doctor Who and Star Wars. The Assimilation comic books are an excellent homage in that regard.
Some of the recent Strange New Worlds episodes have kept me interested enough in the official Treks and I’m particularly looking forward to Starfleet Academy. Thank you, Tim. 🖖🏻
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Hi scifimike,
Thanks for sharing your latest thoughts on ‘Star Trek’. I hope to check out Season 3 of ‘Strange New Worlds’ sometime soon when it comes out on DVD as well as continue my reviews on ‘Voyager’ and ‘Enterprise’, which should be very exciting.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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Here’s a unique and formative memory: One of my first interactions with science-fiction in general was Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home on video cassette.
I’m not sure if it’s included as part of DVD or Bluray packages, but the VHS included a posthumous dedication to the crew of the Challenger (that exploded in 1986) and a five-minute prologue that encompassed the events of The Search for Spock.
It was probably the first exposure I had to space opera. I remember being absolutely fascinated by the bookends set in the 23rd-century (written by Nicholas Meyer) and completely zoning out for the bulk of it in the 1980s (written by Harve Bennett). I was far more interested in this band or renegade outlaws, who’d commandeered a ship while hunted by their own people and–Yes, I did end up a massive Blake’s 7 fan, why do you ask?
Controversial view for a Doctor Who fan, but I think the Bounty‘s slingshot around the sun and Kirk’s fugue state is still the one of the best depictions of time travel–specifically, the alienation of time travel–out there. The first TARDIS take-off in An Unearthly Child comes close…
(I actually prefer the pilot; it sounds like something’s gone wrong with take-off, but that’s only knowing what the TARDIS is meant to sound like…)
Irony of ironies, Star Trek: The Original Series is actually one of my favourites, but my first exposure to it was Spock’s Brain! That’s rather like falling in love with Doctor Who‘s classic series having started with Time and the Rani. Just goes to show, first impressions aren’t always everything.
The Next Generation began for me with Q Who (or was it Where Silence Has Lease?), a much stronger first impression, but it wasn’t until I discovered Who Watches the Watchers? that it became a permanent fixture.
Babylon 5 will always be my space station show. Deep Space Nine has astonishing storytelling (particularly in the Ira Steven Behr era), but like Combat! or The Rat Patrol, war series like that just aren’t my bread-and-butter. I like the bourbon approach of John le Carré, but I couldn’t do four consecutive seasons of it for Trek.
I loved Voyager‘s premise, but not its producers’ lack of courage (see: Farscape taking their ‘lost in deep-space’ premise and sprinting with it). That cast deserved so much better. I think the Vidiians could’ve been that programme’s version of TNG’s Borg or DS9’s Dominion, if they hadn’t stuck with the Kazon. Star Trek: Prodigy is my current favourite because it gave Admiral Janeway and Captain Chakotay that second chance at stepping into the mythology (and quite ably they did, too).
Enterprise was when the horse should have been lain down to rest. The success of Strange New Worlds shows the premise of a prequel wasn’t terrible, but the producers of the time really didn’t want to be doing Star Trek any more. Its legacy was being carried on far more ably in the Stargate series (Hurray! Continuity without exhausting serialisation!) and elsewhere.
And, of course, honorary mentions to two other series.
Star Trek: Lower Decks that asked: ‘What does Star Trek look like if we do acknowledge Spock’s stolen brain, the planet of gangsters and the occasional Greek god as part of the day-to-day?’
And The Orville, which might be responsible for when this new wave of Star Trek gets it right. Before The Orville, we doubted that utopian storytelling had a place any more — it certainly does and they did it well.
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Hi Wolfie,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘Star Trek’. Yes, the recap of ‘Star Trek III’ and the tribute to the Challenger crew is included on the 2-disc Special Edition DVD release of ‘The Voyage Home’, which I hugely appreciate.
I’ve yet to see ‘Prodigy’ and ‘Lower Decks’, but thanks for sharing your insight on those shows as well as the others, including ‘TOS’, ‘TNG’, ‘DS9’, ‘Voyager’ and ‘Enterprise’. Yes, ‘The Orville’ is a worthy ‘Star Trek’ series and I’m pleased to have seen it recently, as it echoes how ‘Star Trek’ was done in the 1990s compared to how the official ‘Star Trek’ shows are done today. I’m very pleased to have seen ‘Star Trek Continues’ recently, especially with Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant making guest appearances in their episodes.
Many thanks and Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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For the longest-enduring sci-fi franchises like Star Trek and Doctor Who, the freedom for new fans to start from can challenge our chances for the best first impression. Especially with how complicated it’s become for Trek with all the recent prequel endeavors. Being able to see the Gorn in the original series when I was a kid is one area where I for one was most fortunate. I share the mixed reactions to how the Gorn have been revamped in Strange New Worlds. But seeing the Andorian antennae being able to move in Enterprise was more interesting.
I think that Babylon 5 most specifically opened up many doors for how space opera on TV could evolve beyond the Trekiverse. Nowadays such shows like The Expanse, Dark Matter, Farscape, Andromeda and The Ark may tend to shine significantly brighter. But for all our new Treks, we can still find some things to appreciate. Including the excellent female role models whom I adore in Strange New Worlds.
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Hi scifimike,
Thanks for sharing your extra thoughts on ‘Star Trek’. I think this is always going to be the case when it comes to checking out a series that has lasted for so long, including ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Star Trek’. There always going to be positives and negatives, and as long as you keep a balance of those positives and negatives from whatever era of the series you watch or listen to, I think things are going to be okay and each new instalment of a particular franchise will be ever more enjoyable. I may have issues with how ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Star Trek’ is being done nowadays, but that doesn’t stop me from checking them out and enjoying the shows.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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There were many issues for X-Files fans too after the two most recent revival seasons. I think that many of us even exclusively out of curiosity like to check things out. The trailers can in all fairness look impressive and WordPress reviews can influence our decisions naturally. Even if there can be a sense of loyalty to a show you’ve admired for so long, the sudden challenges by a disappointing reveal, or a rather underwhelming return for an otherwise great villain like Omega or Palpatine, can take its toll. But revisiting the glory days of our favorite sci-fi classics thanks to streaming services like Netflix and BritBox can still thankfully be refreshing even if we may look back somewhat differently after so long.
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Thanks scifimike,
I’ve not seen any ‘X-Files’ at all, but I agree it’s good to fall back on your favourite shows when they’re being shown on Netflix, Britbox (now ITVX) and BBC iPlayer for people to enjoy. A shame some of the classic versions of those shows aren’t reflected in modern versions, but still. It’s always nice to check out the classic versions when you can, whether on home media or via streaming.
Tim 🙂
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The X-Files was the first show my dad and I watched regularly together for a time. Until it lost of some of its magic. Like with Star Trek and Doctor Who, the special guest star cast was very impressive including Jodie Foster as the voice of a demonic tattoo. Classic versions can easily say a lot about their times. Particularly British sci-fi classics like Doctor Who. So long as they can still be enjoyed by fans who know how to appreciate every classic’s undiminishing better qualities, then it’s no effort for me to keep looking for places where I can see them again.
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Hi scifimike,
Jodie Foster as the voice of a tatoo sounds amusing, even if it is demonic. 😆 The fact that there are plenty of non-TV ‘Doctor Who’-related items for me to check out, including the Big Finish audios, as well as plenty of ‘Star Trek’ shows including ‘Discovery’, ‘Prodigy’ and ‘Lower Decks’ for me to check out, it doesn’t mean my interest in the two franchises will go away very easily, even if the quality of writing in the TV versions isn’t up to high standards lately.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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Hey, honorary Andromeda mention! That was my series before I rediscovered Star Trek: The Original Series on more favourable terms. A perfect fit, really. It was an effort to do TOS with the (then) modern-day character and storytelling expectations of cutting-edge ’90s television series.
It had the action of Stargate SG-1, the myth-arc of Babylon 5 (the Shadows vs. the Spirit of the Abyss), the character building of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine… Even the character archetypes were riffs on familiar patterns. The relationship between Dylan and Tyr was identical to Blake and Avon (or, perhaps, even Spenser and Hawk), Beka Valentine was a femme Starbuck (before Kara Thrace), Trance was the anime magical girl with a secret (Sailor Venus?), Rommie had a lot of similarities to Major Kusanagi, and so on.
If anything, it’s kind of interesting going back to Andromeda, knowing its wider influences, and seeing where it cherry picked from Trek. Dylan and Rhade? That’s the story of Kirk and Gary Mitchell. The Nietzscheans? They’re the Augments. Rommie’s increasingly emotional responses? That’s Data. Andromeda‘s holographic system? That’s a successor to Voyager‘s developments with the EMH. The increasing worry about the Worldship’s arrival? The Borg invasion. It knew its genre inside out.
I was rather tickled by the Gorn’s developments in Strange New Worlds, actually, because… Don’t they just sound like the Magog? Take a little, give a little… The Orville ended up doing an homage with an episode that featured Tarazed (3) and an almost identical story of alienation between Gordon and his old friend as Dylan and Rhade.
But you’re right, we really have to thank Babylon 5 for serialised sci-fi. For a series that eagerly welcomed so many prominent Trek voices — Peter David, David Gerrold, Majel Barrett, etc. — it forged an identity all of its own. J. Michael Straczynski’s perennial love of British television transferred to an American market. It’s hard not to see the roots of The Prisoner in the PsiCorps or I, Claudius in Emperor Cartegia’s madness.
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Hi Wolfie,
Thanks for sharing the comparisons of ‘Andromeda’ and other sci-fi shows like ‘Babylon 5’ to ‘Star Trek’. I’ve not seen many of those sci-fi shows, but it’s fascinating to find links between them. Same can be said between ‘The Orville’ and ‘Star Trek’. I hope to revisit that series sometime soon. Whether to do in-depth reviews on the episodes or whether ‘The Orville’ gets a fourth season or its own movie, we’ll have to wait and see.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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Andromeda as a totally new space opera from one of Gene Roddenberry’s visions outside of Star Trek, adapted at the time by his widow Majel, was nicely entertaining. It never needed to be as dramatically deep as any of the Star Treks as I recall which was quite refreshing.
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Hi scifimike,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘Andromeda’. I’ve not come across many non-‘Star Trek’ shows created by Gene Roddenberry, but it’s fascinating he did another sci-fi show in association with his wife Majel Barrett. And it was apparently developed by Robert Hewitt Wolfe from ‘Deep Space Nine’.
Many thanks and Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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