In the latest issue (#120) of the UK's Star Trek Magazine, Ned Hartley tracks the sometimes erratic course of the publication's ten-year history.

"We'd had some success in the book division with our Star Trek novels, but we'd never published a monthly magazine before," recalls publisher Nick Landau of the launch of the magazine.

"We assembled an 'Away Team' to put the magazine together," he continues. "Operations Director Leigh Baulch had the publishing experience so he stepped into that division."

Baulch smiles at the memory of bringing the first issue together. "All of the negotiations predate mobile phones," he recalls, "and I have a really strong recollection of doing the contract renegotiations in a phone box, in Sussex, between Nick Landau and Los Angeles! So there I am with handfuls of 10 pence pieces, trying to make this trans-Atlantic deal come together! It may look like modern and glamorous magazine publishing now, but in those days it was a little more primitive!"

"When we launched what was then Star Trek Monthly, I was still editing it freelance from Lancaster, on top of running the Lancaster Literature Festival," reveals original and now returning editor, John Freeman. "Back in 1995, using the Internet was pretty much still in its infancy. Trying to edit the magazine long distance wasn't always plain sailing, and I got pretty grumpy at times when things got changed around! Darryl Curtis was Leigh's assistant then, and I'm sure she probably dreaded some of my calls. This was a totally new experience for me, working for a publisher who actually showed some interest in what we were creating. When I was working for Marvel UK on Doctor Who Magazine, I pretty much did what I thought was right with little input from anyone else a lot of the time ­ apart from the readers of course, who you should always try to listen to!"

While no-one involved could have guessed the longevity of the magazine, there were many indicators about its popularity before it started. "We ran an advertisement in The Guardian [newspaper] for a production assistant, and we got over 1,000 responses!" says Baulch. "I have never ever had a response to an ad like that!"

Current managing editor Darryl Curtis was hired for the role, a position she remembers with great fondness. "It was madness! There were no schedules [the timetable every magazine has for each stage of production, from receiving copy to getting it to the printers]. It was just 'this is when it needs to come out!'" she laughs. "I had to do the weirdest things. I remember Leigh saying to me 'Here's a list of licensees [other companies that would be working on the Star Trek licence] here's a phone, call them all up and get them all up and get them all on board!' Only one of them ever came to see us!"

"For the early issues we didn't have the contact database or image library that we do now," says Publisher Nick Landau. Operations Director Leigh Baulch agrees, "I remember sitting with [designer] Chris [Teather] just going 'What are we going to use?' It was very different to the way it is now."

Ten years later and Star Trek Magazine has passed back into the hands of orginal editor John Freeman, who while maintaining a diplomatic secrecy about future issues promised that "our core mission remains unchanged.

"We'll be bringing you the best of all worlds of Star Trek, every issue, be it old, new or in between."

We certainly have a lot to look forward to, and can hope that Star Trek Magazine's continuing mission lasts at least another ten years.

The new issue — notable for cover girl Bobbi Sue Luther as an Orion — also features the usual roundup of profiles, behind-the-scenes information and other notable stories from the world of Trek. Besides a longer version of the above article, you will also find features on Anthony Montgomery, Exectutive Producer Rick Berman, actor/director LeVar Burton, Visual Effects Supervisor Dan Curry, George Takei, Jeffrey Combs and more.

Issue #120 is on sale now in the U.K.