Star Trek [The Original Series]
79 episodes (1966-69) 60m

Captain Kirk and crew warp around the quadrant in the Enterprise, seeking out new life and new civilisations - boldly going where no man has gone before. The multicultural bridge crew (including pointy-eared alien Spock) prove we can all work together if we try. At times politically incorrect, but groundbreaking fun nevertheless.

Star Trek [Animated Series]
21 episodes (1973-74) 30m

Underrated animated Trek featuring the voices of most of the original series cast reading some fine scripts. Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was granted creative control and the highly capable Dorothy Fontana took the helm as producer. Despite poor animation, the show was hailed as intelligent adult fare by a host of critics.

Star Trek - The Motion Picture
D: Robert Wise (1979) 132m

Trek returned with the release of the first of six original cast movies in 1979. It was a painfully average movie, but the gang was back - albeit with a few new wrinkles and some excess body mass. There are lots of agonisingly slow bits where we are supposed to savour the moment and a lumbering storyline based on a TOS episode.

Star Trek II - Wrath of Khan
D: Nicholas Meyer (1982) 113m

Trek got back to basics with this action-packed adventure featuring one of the most feared TOS adversaries. Ricardo Montalban reprises his role as Khan - a genetically enhanced human bent on revenge. Nowhere near the budget (or running time) of its predecessor, in the process highlighting all the things that make Trek  great.

Star Trek III - Search for Spock
D: Leonard Nimoy (1984) 105m

The second instalment in a loose trilogy, Kirk hijacks the Enterprise to go searching for Spock based on the assumption that his friend may not really be dead. There's lots of Vulcan culture, terraforming and even a Klingon villain. Good thing too considering the fate of the Enterprise and a sudden need for an alternative form of transport.

Star Trek IV - Voyage Home
D: Leonard Nimoy (1986) 119m

Widely regarded as the best of the original cast movies. The Voyage Home finds our heroes lightheartedly time-warping around in a borrowed Klingon spaceship looking for humpback whales in order to save the Earth from destruction by an alien probe. Meanwhile, the Federation still holds a grudge over the fate of the Enterprise.

Star Trek V - Final Frontier
D: William Shatner (1989) 110m

While perhaps not as horribly bad as some say it is, this nevertheless is probably the weakest entry in the original cast film series. A wayward Vulcan commandeers the Enterprise in the interest of metaphysical pursuits. When the 'deity' he is chasing is finally confronted, it all ends in a rather non-climactic manner.

Star Trek VI - Undiscovered Country
D: N Meyer (1991) 101m

The last of the original cast Trek movies - The Undiscovered Country - has Kirk and crew in hot water when a prominent Klingon diplomat under their care is assassinated. Christopher Plummer is terrific as the villainous General Chang who is trying to avoid peace at all costs. A strong entry in the series and a fitting farewell.