I just received a most fascinating report concerning the fifth Star Trek series, including the news everyone has probably been waiting for - apparently, Paramount TV Chairman Kerry McCluggage has finally approved Rick Berman's and Brannon Braga's Series V premise. This comes after several months of work that had already been invested in developing an acceptable Series V premise for the studio -- which had included the rumoured rejections of earlier versions of the now-confirmed and other premises, and focus group sessions that had tested three possible series concepts - a rumor that was confirmed today by Brannon Braga.

The premise that has been reportedly approved by McCluggage bears a strong similarity to the one that has been in the news ever since November, namely the 'Birth of the Federation' premise - with one important twist. Apparently, the villain of the series is someone from the 29th Century, who travels back in time to prevent the Federation from being born in the first place. The reason for this 'First Contact meets Future's End' twist is presumably to address the complaint that the 'Birth of the Federation' premise lacks enough suspense, because it obviously has a pre-established outcome.

According to the reports we received, the studio is still looking at a Fall 2001 premiere, meaning Series V would launch directly after Voyager's departure from the small screen.

As usual, though I have every confidence in these reports, treat them as you would any other rumour. This certainly hasn't been officially confirmed by Paramount yet.

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