SkyOne's enterprise series has attracted non-Trekkies as well as fans. (Enterprise: an expert's view).

On the face of it, Sky One's new peaktime acquisition, Enterprise, doesn't look capable of reversing the channel's recently declining audience share. The opening sequence does nothing to change that opinion as the viewer is greeted by the cheesiest of rock ballads accompanying various shots of America's era of discovery in space and flight. This chest-thumping start has the viewer collectively reaching for the sick bucket or remote control.

But don't be so quick to judge; once into the programme things do begin to improve. The new Captain (Archer) is none other than Scott Bakula of Quantum Leap fame, arriving on the ship for the first time in civilian clothing rather than the polyester jump suit we have come to expect from a Star Trek captain. This didn't look like the futuristic Star Trek we know and love, until it dawned on me. In the same way as Star Wars, Enterprise takes the viewer back a century to the pre-Captain James T Kirk, Spock and the lovely Lieutenant Uhura era. The technology on the ship is in the prototype stage -- errors with the transporter and warp travel in its infancy all conspire to give a realistic feel.

In true Sky One tradition, Enterprise is a little more racy than the previous series with the new Vulcan, T-Pol, keen to shed her clothes and undergo a" medical jelly rubdown" that would not be out of place during the 10-minute "freeview" available on other channels (allegedly).

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