No. 3 - Spectre of the Gun, Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 3.

How strange to find a hidden gem in the turkey-ridden wasteland of the original series' third season. Resting among infamous embarrassments such as 'Spock's Brain' and the excruciating hippy allegory 'The Way to Eden', it's there, and, unexpectedly, it's bizarrely enjoyable after 32 years.

If there's one episode which encapsulates Gene Roddenberry's original description of Star Trek as a 'wagon train to the stars', 'Spectre of the Gun' - on paper at least - should be be it. But by this point in Star Trek's original mission, Roddenberry had left and the drop in quality was so severe that visions of Kirk and pals saddling-up and donning six-guns could not have inspired much confidence in the series' fledgling fanbase.

So, what happens? U.S.S. Enterprise enters Melkotian space and Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty and Chekov beam down to a planet resembling the Old West. A re-enactment of the gunfight at the OK Corral is promised. Chekov dies (cue soaring strings and Shatner's best pained expression two millimetres away from the camera) but he's swiftly resurrected. Shimmery special effects aliens with nasal voices appear for 30 seconds and are despatched to a nameless void by some trusty Vulcan mind trickery. The End.

Yet the episode is far from the disaster one might expect. This is one of the rare occasions where the original series' paltry budget works to its advantage. The minimalist design and bleak, theatre-set stylings lend this illusory Old West a genuinely sinister atmosphere. For a supposedly epic science fiction adventure, this 'stagey' feel is oddly effective. The acting - particularly the traditional Kirk/Spock/Bones repartee - is of an unusually high standard, and for once Shatner's juddery, melodramatic delivery is as restrained as his belly (yes, you can see the harness).

The episode is full of memorable scenes: the debut of Wyatt Earp; Scotty's ordering of whisky at the bar; Bones' attempt to secure medical supplies from 'Doc' Holliday. The sense of foreboding as the countdown to the fight at OK Corral builds unstoppably is extremely effective. There is also a fantastic score by Jerry Fielding, who would supply the music the following year for the classic Western movie The Wild Bunch.

'Spectre of the Gun' is surreal, suspenseful, and, defiantly different. Apart from anything else, it's a fresh reminder of how much post-sixties Trek continues to plunder its classic ancestry. Is it my imagination or didn't 'Star Trek: TNG' blatantly rip this off in the sixth season's 'A Fistful of Datas'?

by Chris Small