Star Trek (British Version)
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“To boldly go where no one would want to go if they didn't have to”
~ Star Trek's Strapline
In 1974 the BBC bought the rights to make a British version of the top US Sci-Fi series Star Trek.
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[edit] Conception
Lord Bumblebee, head of the BBC, came back from a trip to the USA harping on about some yank show set in outer-space called Star Trek. Needless to say he quickly snapped up the rights to make the British version.
"I want to include every single aspect of the American Version, but improve it by doing what Britain does better than anyone else in the world...Being British", he stated to someone he was talking to at the time.
[edit] Differences
Though many point to the accents being the main difference between the American and British version of Star Trek, there are a number of more subtle differences.
[edit] Era
Bumblebee were not keen on setting the show in the 24th Century. He believed a British audience would have difficulty relating to dramaset at a time that far in the future. Many in the BBC argued that its future time-frame was one of the main selling-points of the original series.
After much discussion and hearty consumption of cucumber sandwiches, a compromise was reached; instead of setting the show four hundred years in the future they settled for four. Star Trek would be set in October 1978.
[edit] Location
"Outer-space is not somewhere I feel our audience would be particularly interested in" BBC Head of Drama Lord Bumblebee muttered to a servent, pipe in one hand, cigar in the other, "So I've...almost even we've, decided to set the show in Manchester. Birthplace of the industrial revolution and all. Coronation Street's set there, so it has a good pedigree."
But bizarrely, several of Coronation Street's most popular storylines of the 70's were set in outer-space; culminating in the notorious "Deirdre and Mike crash into Saturn".
Star Trek would be set in the fictional council-estate in Manchester named Rhiesha. The concept of the estate was a place of high unemployment and low tolerance for outsiders and the middle-classes.
[edit] Characters and Locations
[edit] Jim Kirk
Jim is a working-class unemployed northerner with a drink problem. He enjoys the company of ladies, and is often unfaithfull to his wife Sulu. In a controversial storyline, Jim became attracted to a King Charles Spaniel. The episode, entitled "Wagging that Tale", featured the first man-dog kiss on British Television.
[edit] Spock
It's not been easy for single mother Spock. Bringing up her child Chekov, she struggles to hold down her job as a bar maid at the "The Enterprise", whilst studying to become a doctor. She has green blood. No explanation for this was ever given.
[edit] Bones
Down on his luck, and heavily dependent on alcohol, Bones spends much of his day's shouting at passers-by as he hangs around on the estate. In better and more sobre times, he was a practicing GP, finally losing his license when he diagnosed a four year old kid with a cold as HIV positive. He would often unleash his famous catchphrase to all those giving him a patronising glance: "I'm a Doctor not burden on the welfare-state."
[edit] Klingons
Notoriously badly behaved family on the estate, the Klingons are responsible for just about all the petty crime that occurs.
[edit] Romulans
The Romulans believe they are too good to live on the estate. They look down on their neighbours and try to have as little to do with them as possible.
[edit] The Enterprise
Local boozer on the Rhiesa estate, The Enterprise is invariably where Kirk and Bones end up spending most of their time. They're often served by unenthusiastic barmaid Spock.
