For the past two years, the next Star Trek series has simply been known as Series V. According to new rumours that appeared online today, we will finally be able to say goodbye to that name, as it is looking ever-more likely the title of the next series will be 'Enterprise'.

Long-time Star Trek news site the Great Link just posted a report from one of their sources, confirming many of the details that also appeared in the leaked Series V casting sheet. According to the site, Captain Jackson Archer's ship will be called the S.S. Enterprise, and will apparently not yet be part of Starfleet as we know it.

'Enterprise' will indeed be set in the 22nd Century, and will follow up on some of the themes seen in 'Star Trek: First Contact.' We will see the humans and the Vulcans working together to establish a Federation, at a time before even the war with the Romulans. Established Star Trek continuity has placed this war at occurring around 2160.

The process of building the Federation won't always go very smoothly. As mentioned in the casting sheet, Jackson Archer himself "holds a grudge against the Vulcans, who he blames for impeding humanity's progress," and Archer isn't the only character with flaws. The human characters in the series will not be as "clean-cut" as those two centuries later, and will be a lot more darker than usual.

According to the source, Scott Bakula indeed has the part of Captain Jackson Archer. The role of the Vulcan first officer T'Pau has also been cast, though the sure was unable to confirm who exactly had been selected for the role - supposedly, the current rumour is that it will be someone who appeared on 'Babylon 5'. Other roles that have been cast include Engineer Charlie 'Spike' Tucker, who will be played by "an English guy," and Doctor Phlox, who was the first character to be cast.

Currently, the Voyager sets are being replaced by the 'Enterprise' sets. We've heard production design for Series V being described as reminiscent of the Original Series' production design, and in some ways this indeed appears to be true. The Great Link described the gadgets as "Captain Proton-esque", with switches and buttons rather than panels. Of course, one aspect of production design that will not be copied from the Original Series will be the focus on low-budget design.

Shooting is still scheduled to start on Tuesday the 8th of May, with a timeline calling for the completion of the pilot and one additional episode by July 1, the deadline for a possible actors' strike. Details on the events in the actual pilot are still sketchy, though it was recently reported by several sources that it would show First Contact with the Klingons (story).

To see the original report at the Great Link, please follow this link. To see the original casting sheet, containing information on all of the regular characters in the series, please click here.

As usual, please be aware that the above info has not been officially confirmed by Paramount yet, and until they make an official announcement any news from unofficial sources should be treated as you would any rumour.

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