Star Trek: The Real Story
The Real Story was a documentary series that aired on the Smithsonian Channel focusing on the actual historical, production, and scientific background of Hollywood motion picture productions. The series ran for five seasons from 2009 through 2013, encompassing a total of twenty-six episodes, one of which dealing with Star Trek, entitled as such. 

Aired on  as the first episode of Season 5, the "Star Trek" episode was actually the same Star Trek: The True Story documentary that had already been aired on Discovery Channel earlier that year on , albeit slightly adapted to fit the Smithsonian series format.

It was the Smithsonian version that has seen subsequent home video releases as digital formats by such companies as Prime Video, Google Play, and iTunes, though it was by 2020 no longer featured anymore on any of them.

In 2018, the Smithsonian issued the documentary as a licensed USA-only DVD under its own title, having been produced in 2017 by PBS under the Smithsonian license.

Summary
Series blurb
They've thrilled us, horrified us, and devastated us. They've raised questions about our past and given us hope for a brighter future. They are five of Hollywood's biggest hits, all works of fiction, but all inspired by real events more dramatic than anything a screenwriter could dream up. Join us as we go behind the scenes of "Live Free or Die Hard," "Scream," "Platoon," "The Da Vinci Code," and "Star Trek," and uncover the actual characters and true stories that inspired some of Hollywood's most famous blockbusters.

"Star Trek" episode blurb
Imagine a "Star Trek" where Mr. Spock is the lieutenant of SS Yorktown, and he has a tail. Leonard Nimoy and others tell the Real Story.

Series credits
note: for the in the "Star Trek''" episode featured interviewees, see here.
Crew
 Phil Stebbing – Director
 Duncan O'Neill – Editor
 Clemens Seiz – Colorist
 Markus Thüne – Online Editor
 Tobias Fritzsch – Dubbing Mixer
 James Sandy – Assistant Producer
 Luc Tremoulet – Assistant Producer
 Will Pugh – Director of Photography
 Dave Prevost – Camera Assistant
 Nick Green – Lighting
 Alex Ward – Art Director
 Cara Stevens – Costume Designer
 Hannah Phillips – Make-Up Artist
 Oli Bailey – Runner
 Corey Johnson – Narrator (Mark Bazeley for "Star Trek"' episode)
 Audio Network – Music
 Liam Jacobs – Graphics
 Mani Shirazi – Archive Producer
 Rapid Pictures – Post Production Services
 Cine Plus Media Services GmbH – Post Production Services
 Looks Films – Online Post Production Services
Stock Footage and Stills
 Star Trek – Courtesy of CBS Studios
  – Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
 Albert Einstein used with permission of HUJ
 BBC Motion Gallery
 Corbis Images
 Harry Chase
 Los Angeles Times
 NASA
 NASA/ESA
 Astrophotography by Martin Pugh
 Astrophotography by Robert Gendler
 A. Fuji, A. Dyer, NASA, ESA, and H. Weaver (the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)
 A. Nota (ESA/STSCI)
 Astromania de Yave
 ESA/Hubble (L. Calçada)
 ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser)
 T. Borders, L. Frattare, Z. Levay
 With thanks to
 CERN
 Dr. Harrison Solow
 Motion Picture & Television Fund
 New York State Department of Health
 Wake-Forest Medical Center
 For Blink Films
 Deborah Weavers – Production Manager
 Libby Daker – Production Coordinator
 Sarah Vaughan – Production Coordinator
 Georgia Braham – Researcher
 Sarah Sapper – Head of Production
 Dan Chambers – Executive Producer
 Andra Heritage – Executive Producer
 For LOOKS Filmproduktionen GmbH
 Jan Müller – Head of Production
 Cecelia Valensise – Production Coordinator
 Gunnar Dedio – Executive Producer
 Martina Haubrich – Executive Producer
 For Smithsonian Channel
 Greta S. Pittard – Director of Production Management
 Addie Moray – Vice President of Production Management
 Joy Galane – Executive Producer
 Linda Goldman – Executive Producer
 Chris Hoelzl – Vice President of Development
 Charles Poe – Vice President of Production
 David Royle – Vice President of Programming and Production
 A Blink Films / LOOKS Filmproduktionen GmbH production in association with Smithsonian Channel, Discovery Europe, ZDF in collaboration with Arte, Channel Five and BBC Worldwide
 © 2012 Blink Entertainment

External link
 

Documentaries