The Star Trek: New Voyages fan webisode "World Enough and Time" had its debut last Thursday at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills, although the planned simultaneous online debut was cancelled for technical reasons. The event, attended by many Star Trek alumni including the star of the episode, George Takei (Sulu), was an invitation-only affair and served as a Hollywood-style premiere. Walter Koenig, who starred in the last New Voyages webisode "To Serve All My Days," was also in attendence, as were current stars Christina Moses (Alana Sulu) and James Cawley (Captain Kirk), plus many of the supporting cast.

With the episode running nearly an hour in length, the packed house responded with cheers and applause when the final credits rolled, impressed by the story and the acting, particularly that of Takei and Moses. And, as followers of these fan films will attest, the special effects are continually improving. According to the publicity, this one had 700 FX shots! For an all-volunteer production on a minimal budget, the final product is very impressive indeed.

"World Enough and Time" was written by Michael Reaves — who co-wrote the Next Generation episode "Where No One Has Gone Before" with Diane Duane — and Marc Scott Zicree, who has two Star Trek story credits ("First Contact" and "Far Beyond the Stars") to his name. Zicree also directed. An emotional story that focuses on a parallel life lived by Sulu following an away mission, it has a genuine feel of classic sci-fi and Trek. Originally penned for the series Star Trek: Phase II which was aborted in favor of a motion picture franchise, the script was resurrected for this project, with Zicree and Reaves adapting the story to feature both Original Series settings and Captain Sulu's Excelsior in cleverly conceived future-time bookends. The story title, by the way, follows the long-standing Star Trek tradition of employing literary lines from Shakespeare or other classic authors. This one is from the 17th-century British author Andrew Marvell and his poem "To His Coy Mistress," which opens with the line "Had we but world enough, and time..."

"I want to thank the New Voyages team for paying homage to not only the Star Trek franchise but also to the Roddenberry name," said attendee and consulting producer Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry. "'World Enough and Time' is by far the best fan production to date and not only raises the bar for other fan films but also for the television industry. Despite low production costs (in comparison to a studio episode), the New Voyages production team has brought passion, meaning and good storytelling back to Star Trek.

"My hope is that such fan endeavors will someday wind up in an industry-sanctioned Star Trek Fan Film Festival where individuals can showcase, learn and be recognized for their efforts. Thanks to New Voyages for keeping the dream alive."

Please note that due to website overload, the online version of "World Enough and Time” is temporarily down.

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