Star Trek: New Voyages is one of the many fan-film productions attempting to play in the sandbox that Roddenberry built. But ST:NV stands apart from the pack.It features the characters from Star Trek: The Original Series (affectionately called “TOS” by Trek-geeks like me’self), recast with amateur actors. The third episode was written by veteran Star Trek scribe Dorothy Fontana, who wrote some episodes of TOS, Star Trek: The Animated Series, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. And the most recent episode features Walter Koenig, who played Chekov in the original series. The whole thing was the brainchild of James Cawley, who serves as executive producer and also plays the role of Captain Kirk. The show picks up where TOS left off, depicting the fourth and fifth years of the Enterprise’s five-year mission. The third episode, “To Serve All My Days,” is available for download and I’d strongly suggest you follow the link and check it out. I was floored by how good it was.

SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNTIL YOU’VE WATCHED THE EPISODE!

The first thing I noticed about “To Serve All My Days” is that the plot involves the Federation undergoing economic collapse, forcing the abandonment of colonies that are then gobbled up by the Klingon Empire. This is a pretty radical departure from Roddenberry’s Utopian vision. Hell, the fact that the Federation uses money is a radical departure from that vision. In my view, though, this provides the milieu with a sense of realism that TOS always lacked and is a welcome departure.

The acting in this episode is a marked improvement over the first two. Young Chekov is ably played by Andy Bray, who even looks a bit like a young Walter Koenig. James Cawley’s portrayal of Kirk has matured a lot from the first two episodes, having evolved from an homage to William Shatner that bordered on parody, to bringing his own interpretation to the character. While he still exhibits some of Shatner’s tendency to overact, Cawley shows a capacity for bringing a subtlety to the character that Shatner never did. John Kelley as Dr. McCoy seems a bit less wooden in his role than in the first two eps, although some of that may have to do with the fact that “To Serve All My Days” provides him with better lines. Kelley’s problem, however, is that he’s a bit too young, and I don’t think he imbues the character with the warmth that DeForest Kelley did. Jeff Quinn is quite good as Mr. Spock. His voice lacks the resonance of Leonard Nimoy’s, and thus Quinn’s Spock is a bit less imposing. But Quinn nevertheless rises to the challenge of portraying an emotionless character without making him seem hollow. We don’t see enough of John Lim as Sulu to really judge his performance; and Julienne Irons (Uhura) and Charles Root (Scotty) aren’t awful, but they’re definitely amateur actors.

And of course, what can I say about Walter Koenig as the artificially-aged Chekov? I always thought Koenig had some rough edges as an actor, but he is Chekov. And it’s a real treat to see him reprise the role.

What really wowed me about this episode, however, was the writing, hands down. Fontana really went to town on this script, giving the characters depth and nuances they never had in TOS. For example, Chekov’s temper tantrum as he rails against the unfairness of the death sentence his illness has forced on him was heart-rending and believable.

Fontana also does a nice job of weaving disparate plot elements together into a cohesive story. The presence of the ambassador serves to tie everything together nicely and without it seeming forced. She’s involved in the economic conference on Babel, and she knew Chekov’s father, thus tying together the main action with Chekov’s deteriorating condition into a nice, tight whole.

I did have a couple of quibbles with the story. The conversation between the elderly Chekov and his younger self was a clunky plot device that called attention to itself at the expense of the overall story. Moreover, during those conversations elderly Chekov took on the perspective of a truly old man, as opposed to a 25-year-old whose body is aging unnaturally in the space of a day.

Still and all, I really enjoyed the episode and am looking forward to the next one, which features George Takei reprising his role as Hikaru Sulu. This fan film has hit the big time, folks.