Set Phasers to Stun: 50 Years of Star Trek

by Marcus Berkmann

Forty-seven years after NBC killed it off, Star Trek celebrates its half-century in a state of rude health. Boldly going where several other people have been before, Marcus Berkmann tells the story of this sturdy science fiction vehicle from its first five-year mission (rudely curtailed to three), through the dark years of the 1970s, the triumphant film series and The Next Generation , to the current 'reboot' films, with a younger cast taking on the characters of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and co. With wit, insight and a huge pile of DVDs, he seeks to answer all the important questions. Why did Kirk's shirt always get torn when he had a fist fight? What's the most number of times Uhura said 'Hailing frequencies open, sir' in a single episode? (Seven.) And what's the worst imaginable insult in Klingon? (Your mother has a smooth forehead.)

Genres: Star Trek, Nonfiction, History, Pop Culture

320 pages, Paperback

Published May 4, 2017

About the author

Marcus Berkmann was educated at Highgate School and Worcester College in Oxford in the UK. He began his career as a freelance journalist, contributing to computer and gaming magazines such as Your Sinclair. In the 1990s, he had stints as television critic for the Daily Mail and the Sunday Express, and has written a monthly pop music column for The Spectator since 1987.

With his schoolfriend Harry Thompson, Berkmann scripted the BBC Radio comedy Lenin of the Rovers. He came to prominence with his novel Rain Men (1995), which humorously chronicles the formation and adventures of his own cricket-touring team, the Captain Scott Invitation XI.

Berkmann has continued to write newspaper and cricket magazine columns, such as the Last Man In column on the back page of Wisden Cricket Monthly, while producing a number of critically well-received humorous books.

In Brain Men (1999), he applied his sardonic observations to the world of pub quizzes, adopting a similar approach to Fatherhood (2005). In 2005, Berkmann released Zimmer Men, a quasi-sequel to Rain Men describing his transition into middle age with cricket.

Berkmann is also credited as being part of the writing team of the BBC Three comedy show Monkey Dust, and compiler of the Dumb Britain column in Private Eye magazine. In 2009, he set up the quiz company Brain Men with Stephen Arkell and Chris Pollikett.

A Shed of One's Own: Midlife Without the Crisis was serialised by BBC Radio 4 in its Book of the Week slot during 2012. A fan of Star Trek since its first British screening by the BBC in 1969, Set Phasers to Stun: 50 Years of Star Trek, aimed at the general reader, was published in March 2016.

Reviews

[Nine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I managed to get a preview copy of Set Phasers to Stun and for a book that shouts 'THE MUST OWN BOOK FOR ALL TREKKIES EVERYWHERE', I am sad to say that the author is quick to correct himself. A book for all Trekkies quickly becomes a book for fans who have "never felt the need to wear a prosthetic Klingon forehead." Being the owner of a homemade skant, a phaser, and prosthetic eartips, I should have stopped reading then and there, but I didn't.

If you like Star Trek and you have seen quite a bit of it, reading this book can be a feast of recognition, but it will likely be more like a bit of a chore. The main part of the text reads as a personal episode guide, written by someone who struggles with a certain measure of dislike or resentment about part of the source work. For someome who claims not to have a problem with being a Trekkie (and owning that name), Marcus Berkmann writes as a man who is actually quite embarrassed about being a Trekkie. The final chapters of the book make me believe this is because he did not enjoy the reboots. Each to their own, of course, but it is a shame that is opinion of the latest Star Trek films seems to have clouded the whole text.

Because the book is written as an episode guide (without convenient titles, it has to be said), I felt it was not really getting down to the nitty gritty of how Star Trek became as big as it is today. There is hardly a positive note about the series' content to be found, and the author almost completely omits mentioning the fans and their influence on the series (there are sparse mentions of conventions and letter writing campaigns, don't hold out for them). It doesn't help that the text contains several almost throwaway comments concerning sexual harassment of the cast, and the sexism of 60s and 70s television. The author claims to have a problem with this casual sexism, but in this case I'd say, put your money where your mouth is and not in a short footnote!

All things considered, the rebuffal of certain fans, the overal negative, grouchy tone of the book and the 'hahahafunny' sexist remarks don't make for smooth reading. If you are looking for an episode guide, this might be a start, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were better options out there.

Mr. Berkmann, the next time you write a book about a thing you love for all people who also love the thing, please remember the demographics and fannish enthusiasm of your audience and write accordingly.

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a certified trekkie, I didn't want this to end. It covers the original series, Next gen in detail and a little of the others before Enterprise ( which I liked ) great fan read.
And now Discovery on Netflix
Live long and prosper readers

[Jenn Morgans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to give this five stars, simply because I enjoyed it so fucking much, and wanted about four hundred more pages to galumph through.

[Steven Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, lively and highly opinionated read. Good whistle stop tour of Star Trek history.

[Harri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, but I don't care what anyone says, I still love Voyager.

[Tabby Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only complaint is the allegation that Shatner wore a toupée. I did not need to know this information. Potentially childhood ruining.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this immensely readable and at times I laughed out loud but it is definitely not for anyone who doesn't like Star Trek - in fact, the more you know about ST from 1960s, the more it will make sense. If you never understood the appeal of ST I'm not sure this will explain it to you - the author is preaching to the converted. It's also quite short - the Kindle told me I was ~70% through but the last 25-30% is an episode index & bibliography so it was fibbing.
He discusses the original series almost episode by episode and the problems with the ratings / tv executives etc going on at the same. (The episodes that I recognised I often disagreed with his ratings but that shouldn't be a show-stopper.)
He then talks about the troubles Roddenberry et al had trying to get ST back on-screen and then there's quite a detailed discussion of the 7 Next Generation series and the ST films - at least those with the original cast members. He barely mentions the other spin-offs (Deep Space 9, Voyager & Enterprise) although he claims to be a fan of DS9 in particular but he clearly loathed Enterprise. Then he's into the film reboots - in which he's not remotely interested so that's it.
It seems to me that there would be more fun to be had looking behind the scenes of the years when ST ruled the tv universe and then died a slow, agonising death, but perhaps too many people are still alive and potentially litigious to make that feasible?
The book starts out with too much information, if anything, for the first 3 years and then peters out to nothing much for the last 20 years - odd for a 50-year review. He also essentially ignores the fan base and the conventions which is surely an enormous part of the ST phenomenon? They would hardly have bothered remaking the films if ST conventions were poorly attended or the sole preserve of the over-50s.

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be a very fun read. The writing is enjoyable but also informational. And it was great to get the British perspective on the whole Star Trek franchise. While I did not always agree with his assessments, I could see his point. Deals mostly with original Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature motion pictures. He does touch on Deep Space Nine, Voyager (one of the instances I did not agree with his assessment of the series but could see where he is coming from), and Enterprise. Any Star Trek book that assesses The Inner Light as one of the very best Star Trek episodes ever created and judges Star Trek: Into Darkness a "travesty" is someone I want to talk Star Trek with.

[Susan in Perthshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable romp through the entire Star Trek collection - with particular emphasis on the original television series, I enjoyed this very much. Did not agree with all of his opinions and assessments but there were several moments when I found myself nodding in agreement. I watched the first episode of the first ever series of Star Trek and fell in love. This book will only be of interest to folk who have enjoyed most, if not all incarnations of Star Trek (although not necessarily every single episode). Marcus writes as a fan but not a blind or undiscriminating one. He recognises the dross as well as the gold in Star Trek.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very entertaining read full of interesting anecdotes shot through with a good sense of humour.
Most of the book is taken up with The Original Series, Next Generation and the films. DS9 and Voyager get brief mentions . Surprising, because Markus states he loved DS9 and watched it avidly all the way through. Perhaps he was keen to get the book out early on during Trek's 50 years leading the charge of anniversary publications.

[Zachary Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have finished reading “Set Phasers to Stun: 50 years of Star Trek” by Markus Berkmann.

This is a brief history of Star Trek, written on the 50th anniversary of the broadcasting of the first episode of the Original series. The author is a British journalist and self-confessed fan of Star Trek.

This book is mainly explores the writing process and often tortured production process that led to Star Trek being created, broadcasted and continuously surviving by near death experiences.

It all started with Gene Roddenberry, a former policeman and TV detective series writer who eventually fought zealously to have Star Trek broadcast. Without Gene Star Trek would not have been made. But with Gene, the production process was often torturous as he sought to bend writers to adhere to his vision alone.

But what the author does well to convey, is that while Gene came up with the idea of Star Trek, the series has always flourished when it was a democratic project that came out of the creative competition and cooperation of a solid writing team. But the actors and actresses each added something to make Star Trek unique. Leonard Nimoy came up with the “Live Long and Prosper” hand sign after seeing a Rabbi during his childhood make the hand sign for a Hebrew symbol meaning “almighty”. James Doohan could mimic many accents but chose to be a Scotsman, figuring that a Spaceship’s engineer should reflect the nautical engineering heritage of the Clyde shipyards.

The first TV network to broadcast Star Trek never fully understood it, so nearly killed it off after 2 series. However, it was the fans who saved Star Trek, through an incredibly determined and widespread letter writing campaign. Because of this a third series was made, meaning the rights of Star Trek could be bought and sold for it to live on past the Original series.

The early films were a mixed bag. The first film “the Motion Picture” was uncharitably but accurately called “the motionless picture” by its detractors. The Wrath of Khan however was a masterclass in tension filled story, with one of Star Trek’s most iconic villains and powered by a sharp script.

Most Star Trek series, especially the first three, seem to follow a pattern of having a few uneven first seasons followed by the writing solidly coming together just before the midpoints. Grimly, it may have been the passing of Gene Rodenberry and that saved the writing of Star Trek allowing younger and more dynamic talent to give it renewed life.

Overall, while I very much enjoyed this book which was at times amusingly written, I felt it was a bit uneven. The bulk of the book talks about the Original Series. While I recognise it’s significance which is self-evident, I would not have held this against the author as much if he hadn’t short circuited discussions about Deep Space Nine, Voyager and especially the Enterprise series (which I felt unfairly often got a bad wrap). Much of the book is a blow by blow account of different episodes from either the Original Series or the Next Generation, which while often insightful and funny also took up a lot of room which minimised discussion about the direction of Star Trek.

The author’s main argument is that Star Trek has always done better when it is written with a genuinely enthused and fresh writing team where creative freedom is given to the actors. He also argues convincingly that Star Trek is at it’s best in episodes which tell a story as much about the characters as the strange new worlds they visit.

The end of this book convinced me that this book could do with a second edition, since the first one only covered the J.J Abrams reboot. I didn’t always share the author’s views about which series or episodes were worthwhile, but I did agree with the cautionary notes he was making about the future of Star Trek. J.J Abrams and the now main writer of Star Trek (and Butcher of Star Trek in my completely nonjudgemental view) Alex Kurtzman, disturbingly have talked about making Star Trek more like Star Wars. Myself and the author are in total agreement that this means that such people haven’t any appreciation about what made Star Trek special in the first place and have few good ideas about where to take it.

Perhaps once again, it will one day be up to the fans to save Star Trek.

[Synful · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Trek is my first fandom and will always have a special place in my heart. This book was completely written not only for Star Trek fans, but I do have to say probably for the Trek fan of a certain age. Going by the tone and preferences I had to look up the age of the author and found that unsurprisingly he's older than me, a fan since TOS, a Trek age group with whom I most identify as I came to Trek when TOS was the only Trek. With all those caveats then it shouldn't be a surprise that the focus of the bulk of the book is on TOS and TNG and the TOS films. The book was published in 2016, so it just barely inches into the two reboot movies that had been out at that time. In keeping with the preferences mentioned, those 2 got all the same criticisms I've ever had of the reboots after which for the most part I stopped watching new Trek content. The majority of the book is entertaining and the writer has a great sense of humor. One of his favorite TOS eps is one of mine, "Devil in the Dark," and over which he brings up a great point which to me is the heart of exploration and what Star Trek brought to inspire future scientists: "As Arthur C. Clarke later said, 'it impressed me because it presented the idea, unusual in science fiction then and now, that something weird, and even dangerous, need not be malevolent. This is a lesson that many of today's politicians have yet to learn.'" He also brings up the usage of Shakespeare in so much Star Trek, especially in TOS, and the love by fans of episodes not just by their plot, but by their title. One of his favorite titles and one of mine that really impressed me in that one moment it's uttered in the episode is "For the world is hollow and I have touched the sky." That's one of the things I miss in successive shows and eventually the reboots and new show, the references back to older works, to history. I learned a new one I didn't know specifically from ST VI The Undiscovered Country (the title a reference itself to Shakespeare's Hamlet!), in which Kirk and McCoy are on trial and Klingon prosecutor Chang yells, "Don't wait for the translation! Answer me now!" which turns out to be a reference to Adlai Stevenson to the USSR's Zorin during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. I love all these things of older Trek and Berkmann points out that the reboot movies are sorely lacking in this depth of thought and characterization. He quotes Abrams, Lindeloof, Kurtzman, and Orci which when I read about it at the time they said them really curled my lip and finished putting me off their work on Star Trek. Bermann summarizes it all as, "There was less character work than we were used to, and what there was seemed blunter, more a means to an end. There was far less talk. There was an astonishing amount of destruction... [Of Abrams & friends] they didn't want to be making a Star Trek film at all. Abrams's film was a boundlessly expensive audition tape for the space opera franchise he really wanted to be in charge of." Star Wars, of course. And so it went too junk for me to tolerate any further. Anyway, I can't say enough good things about this book if you want to read a good overview of, as I said, primarily TOS and TNG. It does go into DS9 etc., but much more quickly and much less detailed. Like me, he started to lose interest from there on. The only part I disagreed with was his general opinion of Voyager, but I write that off as an older guys' disinterest in a crew of a variety of people and led by a woman, as I found starting back then in the late 1990s. If you came along to Star Trek from TNG and later, I'd suggest reading this book to learn about what came before and hear a viewpoint of someone who watched Star Trek from the beginning.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this, knocked it over in a week (granted, most of that was spent on holiday at Alex Headland), which for me these days is superfast. Berkmann is only a little older than me, so the main period we loved Star Trek overlapped - 70s and 80s - TOS and TOS films. He was far more into TNG than me, so he covers that too. Deep Space Nine and subsequent series get short shrift, lip service, and he's a bit damn curmudgeonly about the Kelvin reboots, it must be said.

But I really appreciated his critical eye when he assesses TOS stuff (even if I thought he was a little tough on films 3,5 and 6). It's not predominantly a review book, and he doesn't make it all about his own personal relationship with Trek (although that is there). He sort charts the evolution of Trek from conception all the way through to TNG in detail and then skims the rest. It's affectionate but also warts-n-all. Certainly not a glossy PR book. He acknowledges the flaws and foibles of many of the leading figures in the creation, especially Roddenberry, while assigning plenty of praise we're he feels it is due (notably Fontana, Bennett).

The book definitely gets across the notion the Star Trek relied on a plethora of people for its success
(and some happy accidents). The historical deep dive is interesting, but the book really soars for me when he starts delving in the TOS episodes and films, acknowledging the resonance and timeless classics, but also calling out funnier elements within the lesser shows like the dated sexism or the rubber alien suits, or repetitive super-being-of-the-week. He's got a very dry, quite subtle sense of humour is these bits that doesn't call out attention to itself. Just sly little nuggets that I constantly picked up on and often made my LOL literally. I really like his style.

He writes cricket books too. I do have standards though, so won't be reading those myself. But I will buy one and send it to my cricket loving best mate.

[Stuart Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the show, Berkmann's book is a combination of a fan's assessment of key episodes of the most popular series in the franchise (the original show from the 60s and the Next Generation), and the movies plus various pieces of history and snippets of trivia about the franchise.

The author is clearly enthusiastic about the subject which made the book fun to read but isn't afraid of taking a critical stance on particular aspects of the show which prevented this from becoming an overly bland effort. The prose is easy to read and Berkmann's wit added to the enjoyment for me. Although you might find you disagree with the author at times he does provide a good explanation for why he regards things in a certain way. For example, he regards Voyager as being a less successful series than it might have been due to them not sticking to the premise that maintaining the craft should have been more difficult due to them being alone in a distant quadrant of the universe. An alternative criticism could have been that since the premise is that they are trying to find their way home, this story arc was never particularly strongly developed with many stories being unconnected with this and 'stand-alone'. This did make the series more accessible to the casual viewer, however.

The author is also not very keen on the recent Abrams' 'reboot' movies regarding them as closer to Star Wars than the original show. I found this criticism a little odd, as elsewhere he says his favourite movie in the series is Star Trek II which mostly revolves around an epic space battle, and the whole Trek movie franchise would never have been launched if it had not been for the success of Star Wars at the box office in 1977.

Overall, it was well researched, well written and a good, fun read for fans of the show. If you aren't very familiar with Trek then it isn't the best introduction to the series as it pretty much assumes some prior knowledge.

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, found in a charity shop, was great fun to read. Written by a UK writer, it mirrored my own experience in discovering the original series of Star Trek which didn't arrive here until after it had been cancelled in the States, and I enjoyed the reminiscences it brought to mind.

The main structure of the book is a tour of episodes, firstly of The Original Series as it tends to be known (ST:TOS). It isn't exhaustive as the writer omits those he thinks unworthy of discussion. There's quite a bit of background detail and gossip delivered with a dry sense of humour. Some revelations weren't surprising - I'd heard various stories about Gene Roddenberry over the years for example - and I didn't always agree with his opinions. After TOS he covers the Star Trek films made with the original cast, with interesting detail on the not-always-harmonious experiences of the principles. It was surprising how often people fell out with others and left. He then goes on to discuss Star Trek: The Next Generation in some detail.

Deep Space Nine, although another favourite of his (and mine) doesn't merit much discussion and the subsequent Star Treks, for example Voyager and the first two 'reboot' films are rather skated over (the book was published in 2016). He is particularly scathing about the second, which I mostly agreed with. My own disappointment with that and 'Enterprise', which I could never get into, has deterred me from following up subsequent shows and films.

The book draws on the works of others to good effect and made me keen to read some of those, especially ones I'd bought years ago but never got round to reading. So all in all I rate this at 4 stars.

[Philip · Rating 2 out of 5]

A look at 50 years of Star Trek through the eyes of a fan using episode descriptions and critiques, with some trivia and anecdotes thrown in.

Much like people who grew up with Connery as Bond, this guy grew up with the original series and though he fully acknowledges its failings, he still seems to regard this as the high benchmark for the series. To carry on the Bond comparison, people who grew up with Roger Moore find Connery's outings a bit dated and naff, so similarly as someone whose first exposure to Star Trek was TNG, I do tend to disagree with a lot (if not most) of what this guy has to say.

Of all the Trek series, Voyager is probably my favourite, and the low point of the franchise in this guy's estimation. For fans (and let's face it, who else is going to read this?) the lengthy descriptions of episodes is completely redundant. Remember your audience, dude; Trekkies don't just watch things once. The backstage gossip and anecdotes (mostly sourced from other books) were probably not enough to fill a book without these dozens of synopses. On the plus side I did enjoy a lot of the trivia, and some of it was even new to me, but I ended up skimming a lot of the book telling me the plot of episodes I knew as well as any Trekker.

[kangeiko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Funny and engaging, and including several things I wasn’t aware of (and I am happy to count myself as a dedicated fan). But I had to knock off a star for a few noticeable factual inaccuracies (eg B’Elanna isn’t a quarter Klingon) that grated a little. I was also a little lost as to who the intended audience was: the book was too light on content for dedicated fans, and too survey-like for those wanting to learn more about the historical background of the show & its place in TV history. So - fun, but not something I’d view as essential reading.

[Camilo Olaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Star Trek since I was little, getting into it mostly because I thought the Enterprise-E and Voyager looked cool. It was incredible to read about the history of the franchise, from its inception as Roddenberry's brain child to the -90s Berman era to the reboot movies to the Kurtzman era. I thought the author was able to balance the gravitas/reverence for TOS and the place Trek has in the zeitgeist and Sci-Fi history, while also giving some space to fangirl from time to time. Overall a great read, and I will def be buying this for my home library!

[Jeneva Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable wander through Star Trek. This book won't hold any revelations for die hard Trekkers but it might be a good read for a family member to understand the origin of the shows, and to have a better understanding if you are coerced to watching any of the incarnations with a loved one. As a fan of many, many years I enjoyed the authors tone, mostly affectionate, sometimes confounded but always interesting.

[David Sanz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buena lectura para entender que Star Trek es casi un milagro, que Gene Roddenberry era un imbécil, y que Shatner ten��a (¿tiene?) un ego desmedido. Hay más opinión que datos, pero es tan ameno de leer que se le perdona. Y cómo aborrece ciertas cosas más allá de TNG... ¿Me siento un poco identificado? Pues sí. Me encantaría saber qué opina el autor de la estupenda Strange New Worlds y de su horrenda antecesora Discovery.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a clear-headed assessment of 50 years of Star Trek. I was glad to see someone acknowledge the simple fact that while the new rebooted Star Trek movies might be decent action movies, they are Star Trek only in name. Sadly that seems to be the case for the upcoming Star Trek: Discovery also.
Marcus Berkmann, thanks for all the laughs.

[Captain David Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. It recalled a lot I knew already, but even I - a hardened Trek fan of many decades - learnt a few new snippets of life in the early days. It only gets 4 stars because it focusses a little too much on the arguments, and the bad feelings people had for each other. That and the fact that the author liked DS9!!! Oh well, there's no accounting for taste!

[Emma Dargue · Rating 4 out of 5]

engaging look behind the scenes of one of science fiction most loved franchises. starting with the original series and moving through the spin offs and films it takes a humorous and gossipy look at the behind the scenes capers of both cast and crew. would recommend if you are a die hard trekkie or just starting out on your star trek journey.

[Elisa Luggeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Trekkie I am never tired of Star Trek facts and books. This one is a great chronological guide and the author’s humour is what made it 5 stars for me. It was just the right length and content. Hope the author writes one day about the current new series post the reboot movies. Keen to hear his opinions of them!

[Khairul Hezry · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of a highly opinionated review of episodes (especially of the original series and Next Generation) than a history of Star Trek itself. An okay read but if you want a more insightful treatise on the history of the show, you're better off with the many memoirs written by the cast.

[Kevinjwoods · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gets a bonus star because this entry in the genre of "random facts about a famous whatever we can sell in cheap stores" is by someone who can actually write rather than by someone who walked by when the publisher had some cash they needed to use up for tax purposes

[Patrick Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really entertaining. I'm a trekkie nerd so loved it all. Coudl skip over some parts as I'm pretty up on most things, but it was delicious to reconnect with some fo the history. Also di dpick up a lot of new stuff too!

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on the hit Star Trek. I was never a huge fan of ST but will now be checking out the original series because iof this in-depth fun book. Well written and with heart. 10/10

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, enjoyable read. Some things I didn't know, lots of thing I did.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neither Trekker nor Trekkie, I can however sum up this book in one word: "Fascinating."