The Enterprise first hit screens 35 years ago

Interstellar travel is still in its infancy when the crew of the latest series sets out to chart the galaxy on the revolutionary Enterprise NX-01.

The name of the ship is not the only element of the show that will be familiar to long-term fans of the series.

The second-in-command on the Enterprise NX-01 - as on the Captain Kirk's ship - is a Vulcan.

This time, however, the post is filled by a woman - Jolene Blalock plays T'Pol.

William Shatner was the first Enterprise captain

Other cast members include Scott Bakula, as maverick captain Jonathan Archer, Connor Trinneer as the chief engineer, English actor Dominic Keating, John Billingsley, Linda Park and Anthony Montgomery.

Channel 4 viewers will be able to catch the new Star Trek series later in the year thanks to a deal with Sky One.

Sky bid successfully for digital, terrestrial and satellite rights in the summer in Los Angeles following screenings.

It then sold them on to Channel 4 - in preference to the BBC, to whom it had sold rights to previous Star Trek series.