“The longest journey has to begin with a single step. So now, as man makes his first hesitant leap to another planet – even though it’s just Earth’s nearest neighbour–he can legitimately start thinking about voyaging farther out towards whatever other populated worlds may exits.”
That is how British viewers – or at least those who also read the British Broadcasting Corporation’s listings magazine, Radio Times – were introduced to Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek back in the summer of 1969. In retrospect, it’s timely that this new “space series packed with pointers to our galaxy-trotting future” arrived – at least for British viewers – just as NASA prepared to land the first two men on the moon.
The issue of Radio Times in question, listing BBC television and radio programmes for July 12-18, 1969, featured a Saturn V rocket on the cover, and dedicated a rare colour centre-spread to the “historic adventure” of Apollo XI. However, the editor also managed to find just enough space to briefly switch “from fact to fiction”, and so acquaint viewers with this latest import from America.
The 300-word article, written by…
First published in Star Trek Magazine #50 (US)/#177 (UK)
