Four star

IT'S great to re-visit the old crew as they start to gain ground and confidence with this, their second series.

A couple of the episodes are weak and probably should be skipped through with the DVD player on double speed.

I'm thinking in particular of The Child, which should have a sick bag provided with it, Shades of Gray, which is just an excuse to fill an hour or so with flashbacks featuring Will Riker and Manhunt, a vague attempt to inject humour into the series.

But these potential turkeys are more than made up for with classics such as Time Squared, The Icarus factor and The Measure of the Man.

One of my personal favourites is Unnatural Selection, where Doctor Pulaski faces premature death from old age when she contracts a bizarre ageing disease.

She makes a far better medical presence than Doctor Crusher and is altogether a more believable character than her counterpart.

There are two major things to take away from this series.

The first is that it is very earnest and tends to take itself very seriously. Attempts at humour are poor and often end up in embarrassment for all concerned.

The writers are very much concened with moral issues and right and wrong.

All very worthy, but it sometimes doesn't make good viewing.

Two, the Enterprise was well rid of Wesley Crusher when he finally left. He is definitely the weakest link.

Did anyone ever like him?

With about 22 hours of footage to sit through, this could be seen as being only for die-hard fans.

But it is a great package which is beautifully presented, has superb extras and is well worth the £79.99 price tag.

This is brilliant entertainment and should be treasured.

When the other series are released, there will be enough material to sit through your very own Trek-a-thon and have an absolute ball.

Grab the popcorn, take the phone off the hook and get stuck in.

SC