Star Trek Retrospective, Part 4: Previously we've chronicled how Star Trek made it to the big screen with The Motion Picture, how it achieved success with The Wrath of Khan and now we come toStar Trek III The Search for Spock.

Star Trek Retrospective, Part 5: Following the continued success of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Leonard Nimoy and Harve Bennett decided their next Star Trek movie would be more lighthearted and fun.

Star Trek Retrospective Part 1: covers the history and quality of Star Trek The Original Series, including in depth behind the scenes info.

Star Trek Retrospective Part 2: Following the cancellation of Star Trek The Original Series, an unexpected surge in popularity in the 1970s lead to Star Trek The Motion Picture.

Star Trek Retrospective Part 3, this time we tackle the fallout of Star Trek The Motion Picture and the new team which put together its acclaimed sequel, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Star Trek Retrospective, Part 6: After the smash success of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, William Shatner stepped in to direct the fifth installment. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, however, wasn't the repeat success all were hoping for.

Star Trek Retrospective, Part 7: After the failure of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, a cash strapped team including Harve Bennett, Nicholas Meyer and Leonard Nimoy endeavored to give the original Star Trek cast a fitting swan song in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Star Trek Retrospective, Part 8: As the Star Trek franchise continued its successful run of movies, higher ups at Paramount considered a new Star Trek show for the small screen. With a new cast of characters on a new ship in a new era, there were many who believed Star Trek The Next Generation was destined for failure.

Star Trek Retrospective, Part 9: Star Trek The Next Generation had done what many assumed to be impossible and had become a new definitive incarnation of Star Trek. After seven seasons of a smash hit, Paramount decided the TNG crew were ready to make the leap to the big screen in Star Trek Generations.

Star Trek Retrospective, Part 10: Star Trek The Next Generation had done the impossible, by becoming the new definitive incarnation of the Star Trek franchise. As Paramount were riding high on its success, they commissioned a third spin off series. But surely Trekkies would never accept a show set entirely on a static space station, would they? This is the story of Star Trek Deep Space Nine.

tar Trek Retrospective, Part 11: Despite the lukewarm reception of Star Trek Generations, the Star Trek franchise was still riding high. For the next big screen Star Trek adventure, the team behind the eighth Star Trek film made sure to pull out all the stops.

Star Trek Retrospective, Part 12: After Star Trek Deep Space Nine proved it could be successful alongside a new slate of Star Trek movies, Paramount quickly commissioned a fourth spin-off in Star Trek Voyager. While the show enjoyed good will from fans at the time, the legacy of Voyager these days is a little more mixed.

Star Trek Retrospective, Part 13: After the hit Star Trek First Contact, the Star Trek franchise was riding high as Deep Space Nine and Voyager both continued their successful TV runs concurrent to the movies. Following in the footsteps of the TOS movies, Paramount decided the next Star Trek movie should be a more lighthearted adventure. The resulting movie, penned by Michael Piller and once again directed by Jonathan Frakes proved to be a controversial entry in the film series: Star Trek Insurrection.

Star Trek Retrospective, Part 14: As the 90s came to an end, the Star Trek franchise was suffering some fatigue. Star Trek Insurrection was seen as a disappointing follow up to First Contact and by the early 2000s both Deep Space Nine and Voyager had ended. For the next big screen adventure featuring The Next Generation crew, something radical was needed to shake-up the formula in Star Trek Nemesis.

Star Trek Retrospective, Part 15: As the new millennium dawned the Star Trek franchise was in a precarious position. Both Deep Space Nine and Voyager had ended and The Next Generation crew were struggling on the big screen. Despite a pervasive feeling of franchise fatigue, Paramount and UPN decided to push on with another Star Trek TV Show. The result was Star Trek Enterprise, an attempt at reinventing Star Trek for the small screen. However unfortunately for the show and its creators, Enterprise seemed to have been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Star Trek Retrospective, Part 16: After the cancellation of Star Trek Enterprise in 2005, the Star Trek franchise was effectively dead for wider audiences. For many viewers, the franchise had grown stagnant and uninteresting, but Paramount PIctures still wanted to make a nother big screen outing. However in order to ensure Star Trek would make a triumphant return, they needed a new team of creatives who would shake things up. And shakes things up, they certainy did in Star Trek (2009).

Star Trek Retrospective, Part 17: After the smash success of Star Trek (2009) a sequel was quickly in the works. However the much anticipated follow up took quite a while to get off the ground. By the time the script came together the creative team had set themselves a difficult goal to pull off. How successful they were in this goal is still up for debate among Trekkies to this day.

Star Trek Retrospective, Part 18: Star Trek (2009) was a triumphant success for the Star Trek franchise, but its sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, wasn't the Dark Knight level hit Paramount may have hoped for. The third film in the Kelvin Timeline series, Star Trek Beyond, would prove even more of a mixed bag.