Netflix UK has landed with all of the details printed plans for Star Trek Discovery, the latest chapter in the epic sci-fi series. With confirmation of the release date window and the arrival of an exciting new trailer, expectations will be running high for fans of the sci-fi series as the show looks set to explore an earlier era for the Federation.
Created by CBS, which will broadcast the series in the US in autumn, the latest Star Trek show has recently been picked up by Netflix for the UK. It’s got a whole new cast of fresh new faces to go along with the newest captains on the bridge, Philippa Georgiou, played by Michelle Yeoh, and Captain Lorca, played by Jason Isaacs.
However, this time the story will focus on the First Officer of the Discovery Michael Burnham played by Sonequa Martin-Green. It’s a significant change for the show which has historically centred on the captain of the ship, but it could make for an interesting new direction.
UK release date
The UK release date for Star Trek Discovery has been confirmed only for autumn 2017, which is a similar timescale for the US transmission, but we’re expecting it to be slightly later in the UK. Shows on Netflix usually launch with all episodes available at once, so it will need to finish on CBS before it can launch in the UK. As such, the new series is expected to land in the UK towards the end of November, but we’ll update you as soon as the dates are confirmed.
Story
The plot for the new series is set 10 years before the original Star Trek and its five year mission to explore strange new galaxies. It’s not quite as early in the history of Star Fleet Command as Star Trek Enterprise was, taking place 100 years before the original series, so Discovery is now the closest thing we’ve come to a direct prequel with such close timelines.
The new era will focus on the story of First Officer Michael Burnham who is about to set off on her own voyage of discovery. However, as you’d expect from Star Trek, planetary relations aren’t perfect and with war on the horizon there’s a lot of space adventure ahead of her.
Star Trek Discovery trailer:
Courtesy of Netflix UK
Cast
Sonequa Martin-Green will lead the cast as First Officer Michael Burnham and you can keep up with the latest from the new star of the show with her Twtter page. She’ll have support from Michelle Yeoh as Captain Georgiou, the Captain of the Starship Shenzhou; Doug Jones as Starfleet science officer Lt. Saru; and Anthony Rapp as Lt. Stamets, the Starfleet Science Officer aboard the USS Discovery. The series will also feature Chris Obi as T’Kuvma, the Klingon leader seeking to unite the Klingon houses; Mary Chieffo as L’Rell, the Battle Deck Commander of the Klingon ship; James Frain as Sarek, aka Spock’s frosty dad; Terry Serpico as Admiral Anderson, Maulik Pancholy as Dr. Nambue, the Chief Medical Officer of the Starship Shenzhou, and Sam Vartholomeos as Ensign Connor, a Junior Officer on the Starship Shenzhou.
The cast also includes Jason Isaacs as Captain Lorca, Mary Wiseman as Cadet Tilly, a Starfleet Academy Cadet assigned to the Discovery; and Rainn Wilson (The Office, Super) as Harry Mudd, a conman and intergalactic criminal who first featured in the original series. If that isn’t a big enough cast list, there’s also Shazad Latif as Lieutenant Tyler, Rekha Sharma as Commander Landry, the security officer of the Starship Discovery; Kenneth Mitchell as Kol, a commanding officer in the Klingon Empire; Clare McConnell as Dennas, a leader in the Klingon Empire; and Damon Runyan as Ujilli, yet another leader in the Klingon Empire.
Production
Star Trek Discovery went into production in January 2017 for CBS. You can see more from the production on the official Twitter page.
First impressions
The Star Trek Discovery trailer is looking very sharp, so it’s easy to see why CBS decided to extend the series from 13 to 15 episodes, and why Netflix was so keen to pick it up for the UK. This is definitely a must-watch for any Trekkies or sci-fi fans out there and with a different slant in the focus the First Officer instead of the Captain, it’s probably the most innovative change we’ve seen from the series since Kathryn Janeway took the helm in Star Trek Voyager.
It’s also set within the same timeline as the previous TV series and the original films, as opposed to the recent movie release of Star Trek Beyond, so that should be a positive for old-school fans.
