Vulcan's Glory by D.C. Fontana

Vulcan's Glory by D.C. Fontana
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Vulcan's Glory D.C. Fontana takes us back to the time when Spock first joined the crew of the USS Enterprise under the command of Christopher Pike. This era has not been a focus of the franchise well maybe the Kelvan Universe of the recent movies but this is written within the original framework of the series. Spock is very much a more relaxed individual (as seen in The Cage) and is quickly accepted by the crew of the Starship and more importantly by Pike and Number 1 however it's not all plain sailing for his first cruise when he is tasked to investigate a possible location for a prized gem long since lost to Vulcan after the ship carrying it was vanished with all hands.
Vulcan's Glory expands upon what we know of Spock's homelife in terms of his relationship with Sarak and Amanda and more importantly with T'Pring, we also learn how widespread Vulcan participation within Starfleet was (not really seen on the show apart from The Intrepid) and it was gratifying to see a younger less "damaged" Spock embrace the possibilities that the Enterprise was offering. Of course events transpire to push Spock towards the more controlled Vulcan we came to know him to be under Jim Kirk and while we can mourn the loss of his "youthful innocence" we are without doubt presented with Spock as he really was by an author who has more right and insight into the character than anyone else. Vulcan's Glory is a must read for any fan of Spock or someone looking for a story then isn't set with the Kirk era but retains much of what we are comfortable with, well worth the time trust me.

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Stargate Marathon XX

Star Trek Marathon XX
Season 3 Disk 6

The Cage

On this disk we have the original pilot of Star Trek in a number of formats, there is the restored version which is fully coloured, an extended version and the original unaired pilot all of which make interesting viewing but I stuck to the restored version with enhanced effects. One thing is for sure the level of production in terms of filming was top notch, this gives the restoration and remastering gurus a superb starting point to provide us with a visual feast in this 4:3 HD image.

The story as you may know begins with the Enterprise commanded by Captain Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) feeling restless after mission which hadn't gone well, the ship receives a distress call and they fling themselves into the void to rescue these people. On arrival they find a crashed ship and some survivors plus a young woman named Vina played by Susan Oliver who immediately captures the attention of Pike who is then kidnapped by aliens and the survivors vanish having been an illusion. What follows is the Talosians trying to "tame" Pike into becoming part of the captive lifeform programme who in turn provide this telepathic alien race with knowledge and entertainment.

The Cage is an excellent piece of science fiction entertainment but can understand why at the time the NBC network wasn't interested in this style of programme but credit where it is due all parties could see the potential in the basic idea of a united human race exploring our galaxy.

Where No Man Has Gone Before

The second pilot is also included on this disk and is very different from The Cage but the core ideals are still there but approached from a slightly different angle ramping up the action and emotion while still retaining a level of sophistication. This time I watched the original version without the enhanced graphics and it still held up well, some of the TV episodes proper really benefited from the new CGI but this pilot didn't. 

Extras

David Gerrold 2009 Convention Coverage

Anthropology of Star Trek

World of Rod Roddenberry

Billy Blackburns Treasure Chest III

To Boldly Go... Season 3

Collectable Trek

Star Treks Impact

Final thoughts on Star Trek the original series are simple, really enjoyed the re-watch and only skipped one episode which is a remarkable ratio given the age and style of the show when compared to the latest televised scifi on offer. Season 1 is probably the strongest but the second season isn't that far behind while the third season has some gems despite the slashing of the budget and change at the helm, I'm certainly not going to condemn anyone involved at the time, they gave us more Star Trek.

The Blu-ray boxset is a thing of beauty, awesome picture and sound quality and the only let down is the packaging itself, cheap and nasty cardboard slips.

Space the Final Frontier,

 these were the voyagers of the Starship Enterprise.

 Next a more reckless style of space travel via the Tardis.