Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation take heart! Patrick Stewart is returning to the Star Trek universe after nearly two decades on shore leave, with his iconic Captain Picard set to star in a new spin-off series that will imagine his later years.
Here’s what we know about the series that everyone seems to be calling Picard…
- What Patrick Stewart’s new Star Trek series should (or could) be about
- The philosophy of Star Trek: how a sci-fi show tackled the toughest questions in the universe
- 6 questions (and some answers) we have after the Star Trek: Picard teaser trailer
This article will be updated regularly
When is the Picard spin-off coming to TV?
The untitled Picard series is coming fairly quickly following its announcement in August 2018, with the series set to arrive in the US on streaming service CBS All Access – and in Canada on cable networks Space and Z and OTT service Crave – in January 2020.
Outside of North America, the ten-part series will be available around the world on Amazon Prime, launching on Friday 24th January, with new episodes dropping each Friday after that.
Will the Picard spin-off air in the UK?
One man and his dog…
Star Trek: Picard – coming to Prime Video pic.twitter.com/mgtE8j9DCB— Amazon Prime Video UK (@primevideouk) July 10, 2019
Yes, the UK is one of the 200 territories outside North America where the Star Trek: Picard will be streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, with each episode dropping every Friday from 24th January 2020, within 24 hours of its premiere in the US.
What will the Picard series look like?
An extended trailer unveiled at New York Comic Con in October gives us the best idea yet of what to expect, introducing us to new characters, giving us a taster of the drama to come in the post-Starfleet chapter of Picard’s life and ticking a lot of boxes for Next Generation fans with reunions with several beloved characters…
The official Star Trek Twitter page also recently gave a sneak peek at Picard’s new admiral’s uniform.
Admiral Picard, 2385#StarTrekPicard #DST #StarTrek pic.twitter.com/yuc8qGVjfA
— Star Trek (@StarTrek) October 25, 2019
What’s the deal with Picard’s new dog?
Famed dog-lover Patrick Stewart appears to have managed to cast a furry friend in the new series, and given their prominence on the poster it could be that they plays a pretty important part in the series.
After all, why else would Picard name the dog after his trusty first officer Riker, or at least his nickname – look closely at the dog’s tag, and you can see it reads “No. 1″…
Who will star in the Picard spin-off?
Alongside the returning Stewart, the series has so far added Merlin, The Musketeers and Heroes star Santiago Cabrera and Michelle Hurd (Marvel’s Daredevil, Blindspot) as regulars alongside newcomer Evan Evagora (who plays Romulan Elnor).
Cabrera will play the pilot of Picard’s ship who is also a “skilful thief” called Cristobal “Chris” Rios, while Hurd is intelligence officer Raffi Musiker with a powerful memory and problems with substance addiction.
Fans can expect a large role from Hamilton’s Isa Briones, who plays Dahj, a key character in the show’s second trailer. In the sneak peek she comes to Picard for help, saying “Everything inside of me says I am safe with you.”
Although we don’t fully know Dahj’s identity, Picard clearly see her as important, telling Starfleet “If she is who I think she is…”
It’s also been revealed that The Newsroom’s Alison Pill will star (as Dr Agnes Jurati), alongside Penny Dreadful’s Harry Treadaway (Narek).
Are there more trailers for Picard?
Here’s an earlier trailer for you (read our breakdown of it here)…
And this longer one was released at San Diego Comic-Con…
A further teaser was also aired in December during the NFL over in the US, with brand new footage of our hero. “I’m in over my head… the girl’s life is still in danger,” he says, appearing to refer to Dahj (played by Isa Briones), before adding ominously: “I will do what needs to be done”.
What will happen in Patrick Stewart’s Star Trek spin-off?
The exact story of the spin-off is currently unknown, though its set a number of years after the last time we saw Picard onscreen (in 2002 movie Star Trek: Nemesis) and Stewart has said it will “explore new dimensions within” the Starfleet captain.
Based on the trailer and newly-released images, it seems that a now ex-Admiral Picard has retired to his family’s vineyard following a dark event in his life, but may be pulled back into his spacefaring ways when a new challenge presents itself.
“He may not – and I stress, may not – be a captain anymore, he may not be the Jean-Luc that you recognise and know so well,” Stewart told an audience in Las Vegas when the series was first announced.
“It may be a very different individual, someone who has been changed by his experiences. 20 years will have passed, which is more or less the time between the very last movie, Nemesis, and today.
“It will be something very, very different.”
“Here’s what I will tell you- I had an amazing experience yesterday,” creator Alex Kurtzman said at a recent Star Trek panel. “I sat at Patrick’s kitchen table and I heard him read the first episode and I almost cried. It was quite something.”
“He’s at an amazing place in his life. He’s so excited. It’s going to be a very different show from Discovery. The only way this universe, I think, works correctly is if each show is really different and speaks to a different part of Star Trek.”
“This is going to be a very thoughtful, psychological portrait in a lot of ways. We all know what Picard means to the world and why he, like so many legendary characters on Star Trek, has endured and what he’s represented. He in some ways has to go through a gauntlet to find that again.
“Things have changed for him and changed him in some ways, and yet he is so deeply and fundamentally still Picard. We’re thrilled at what we’re going to deliver. I know Patrick is really excited. The cast is coming together beautifully. And I will give you nothing else.”
The second trailer for the series suggests that old baddie The Borg may have a huge part in the series. Not only do we see a borg cube ship, but there’s also a very interesting shot of what looks like Romulans patrolling a prison featuring a sign stating “This facility has gone 5843 days without an assimilation.”
For our part, this is where we think the series should go…
Will any of The Next Generation cast appear in Picard’s spin-off?
Stewart’s old Star Trek: TNG co-star Jonathan Frakes (far left) is reportedly directing a few episodes of the series, having previously taken the captain’s chair for episodes of Discovery, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and even multiple episodes of TNG while he was still acting on it. As we’ve now seen from the latest trailer he will reprise his role of William Riker, alongside another fan favourite Marini Sirtis, who plays his partner Deanna Troi.
The trailer also reveals that Brent Spiner will feature in some form as android Data and Jeri Ryan will blast her way back into the action as former Borg drone Seven of Nine. Jonathan Del Arco will also return as Borg drone Hugh.
At the moment, it’s unclear if any more TNG characters will have a role in the series.
from Radio Times https://ift.tt/36dczyP
