Star Trek: The Original Series the 23rd century bearing a crew dedicated to exploring the Milky Way Galaxy. Roddenberry noted a number of influences on his idea, some of which includes A. E. van Vogt's tales of the spaceship "Space Beagle", Eric Frank Russell's "Marathon" series of stories, and the film "Forbidden Planet" (1956). Some have also drawn parallels with the television series "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger" (1954), a space opera which included many of the elements that were integral to "Star Trek"—the organization, crew relationships, missions, part of the bridge layout, and some technology. Roddenberry also drew heavily from C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower
The Doomsday Machine (Star Trek: The Original Series) on its list of the 10 best "Star Trek" episodes. Zack Handlen of "The A.V. Club" gave the episode an "A" rating, describing the episode as "very strong stuff", noting effective tension building and the development of Decker's character. Handlen also noted Sol Kaplan's score which "matches the actors' intensity." The Doomsday Machine (Star Trek: The Original Series) "The Doomsday Machine" is the sixth episode of the of the American science fiction television series "". Written by Norman Spinrad and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on October 20, 1967. In the episode, the starship "Enterprise" fights a