As production continues in the expanded Star Trek Universe, Across The Universe is rounding up the more insightful news from the past month as we find out more about Kate Mulgrew’s involvement in Prodigy; Mike McMahon gives a little more details on Lower Decks and more as Discovery and Strange New Worlds continue production in Canada!
Since she was announced to return to the franchise, there have been a lot of questions over Kate Mulgrew’s part in Prodigy. Questions that were answered recently when it was revealed her inclusion in the story of rogue teens finding a Starship was not as Janeway, but a hologram of the former Voyager Captain.
Acting as the Emergency Training Program on board the yet unnamed vessel, Mulgrew shared a little bit more insight into how her Janeway replica ends up on the show.
Speaking briefly on Prodigy while promoting her Amazon Prime series, Mr Mercedes, Mulgrew revealed that the teenagers are prisoners who stumble upon a buries Starfleet ship after breaking out. “They go in and of course the prison guards are coming after them. And they can’t get it up and the shields won’t run or the thing won’t do…” Mulgrew continues, “And suddenly somebody hits a button and ‘Hello, kids. I see you’re a little bit stuck here. Can I help you out?’ And it’s Captain Janeway in a holographic form.”
Information on the show has been a slow drip for Prodigy. We first knew of the base plot some time ago before only learning it was set in the Delta Quadrant with a holo-Janeway on First Contact Day. The group – of which we’ve seen, but don’t have any names for yet – being prisoners is another new piece of information and likely hints at the first episode setting up the series with their introduction before finishing with ETC Janeway.
Set up as a “gateway” show for younger audiences, Prodigy is set to target the young adults and teenagers watching Nickelodeon and will make it’s debut on Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access) before launching on Nickelodeon in the US. No UK broadcast information has been shared yet, however a similar deal between the streaming giants and Nickelodeon UK is logical.
Though far away from the UK’s wonder where it;’ll air, Mulgrew is more focused on what it can do for the next, next generation. “I think it’s really, really, going to capture the imagination of little kids.” She added, “And if they can sit with their mothers who watched me in live action, and their fathers who loved the other guys, then we’ve got a family affair and that that will bring it full circle.”
On the more adult side of the animated Trek world, Mike McMahon has given away a little more information as production continues on Lower Decks second season.
Season One ended with some quite big character moments. Mariner and her mother coming to terms that they need to work together, Rutherfords memory being reset after removing his implants and Boimler on board the Titan with Riker after his transfer.
“I like to write for the streaming era. I like to write show assuming that you’re going to watch season 1 and go right into season 2 so we wanted to keep the energy from the end of season 1,” McMahon told IGN, “We’re not just airing it on a network and hoping you catch it on VHS like I had to do it in the ’90s.”
As noted in our last edition of Comms, the show will be following those paths and McMahon has confirmed that they’ll be following up each characters stories as well as focusing more on Rutherford and Tendi.
Though the most interesting element of the show doesn’t take place on the “hero” ship, but with Jonathon Frakes as a much more comedic version of Captain Riker as Boimler adjusts to a more active environment. “The Titan is a whole different beast and what does that mean for our Boimy Boims? You know, he’s not with Mariner or Rutherford or Tendi and what is that new group like over there? How is he experiencing it and how are our other Lower Deckers experiencing him not being there?” McMahon told ScreenRant, “All that stuff is how we wrote season 2. It’s very funny.”
McMahon also revealed to Screenrant that they’re working on colouring and score for season 2 with aims to launch in August. Unlike the first season, it’s expected that Lower Decks will feature on Amazon Prime Video in the UK with the same “next day” rule as other shows.
Elsewhere in the star Trek Universe, Discovery Showrunner Michelle Paradise noted on May 15th that the fourth seasons writing duties were complete as the show continues to film in Toronto.
Season three ended with Burnham finally making it to the Captains chair, but speaking to Variety, Alex Kurtzman notes that her Captaincy isn’t the end of her journey.
“Just because she has the chair doesn’t mean that she’s necessarily ready for certain things. And there are choices that she now has to make as a captain that she wouldn’t have to make as just an officer on the ship.” Kurtzman explained, “So every story was calibrated to what new door does this open to her experience of being a captain and what new challenge does she have to face.”
On the ground the show suffered a minor set back as a key crew member made contact with a COVID positive individual off set, however production resumed early May. The self isolation only effected Discovery due to Strange New Worlds filming in CBS’ purpose built studio in Ontario.
Anson Mount spoke to Radio Times and revealed that filming for the Strange New Worlds passed the half way mark, but the COVID restrictions both on set and in Canada had meant that the cast had t get to know each other without outside interaction.
“Normally I’d be throwing barbecues and we’d be going to the park,” Mount commented, “And you can’t do much of that right now, particularly during the lockdown in Ontario but we’re surviving.”
Our latest issue of Comms talks in depth – and we mean in depth! – about Discovery’s Third Season with episodic reviews, an overall season analysis and special featuring including a look at the 32nd century tech, the Crossfield Class, Tilly’s Journey, Georgiou’s exit and more! Comms is available as part of SFCQ2’s free membership! To find out more visit our Comms preview or Enlist Today
About the author
A Fistful of Next Generations
When Paramount was up for sale, everything was on pause., Now things are a little different with new owners, a shake up and a new future ahead. Since the merger everyone with a keyboard has had their idea of what could come next in the Star Trek Universe to tempt Skydance into the next part of the legacy. So we figured.... why not look at a list of ideas too? The Archers Someone's getting their PR out there along with their pitch as the Archer idea seems to have been picked up everywhere with fans who once decried Enterprise clamouring for more Archer! Though Archer's story ended on Enterprise with the formal formation of the Federation, the history of the shows that came after confirmed the 'beta canon' of his next adventures as President of the Federation. With Enterprise ending […]
[Retro Review] The Thaw: Voyager Season 2, Episode 23
On another distraction from flying in a straight line back to Earth, Voyager finds a world thats been wiped out by natural disaster. But there are survivors; a small group cryogenically frozen in a controlled system designed to wake them up when the coast was clear. Nineteen years later, they're trapped, asleep within the machine... Four years past their scheduled release date, there's been no breakdown, no malfunction. Yet five of the inhabitants are dead, the rest all very much alive and locked into a computer stimulation keeping them in a dream-world state. Bringing them on board the ship, Janeway is told that they can't just switch the machine off as it'll cause irreversible brain damage. But just like dialling into the Matrix, Voyager can plug into the redundant status chambers and hack their way in to talk to the […]
All You Need Is Love; New Life and New Civilisations. Strange New Worlds S3E9 Review
Following from Through the Lens of Time, Dr Korby is following the trail of the Vezda all the way to Skygowan; a world that worships the evil aliens found buried in a hidden temple. But the Vezda Scotty captured in the transporter buffer after possessing Ensign Gamble survived, escaped and is now fully reconstructed leading the planet and about to unleash hell throughout the galaxy. And of course, it's up to the Enterprise to find out how, why and chase down the demon to save the day. Writers:Dana Horgan & Davy Perez Director:Marja Vrvilo There's something quite nice about the idea of this episode. Strange New Worlds has leaned on retelling the 23rd century era for a lot of it's main hooks, whether that be revisiting the Gorn, Vulcan romance or going to the length of an alternate history […]
[Retro Review] Death Wish: Voyager Season 2, Episode 12
Discovering a comet that looks a little bit funky on the sensors, Voyager quickly learn that it's not just any rock floating through space, but a prison. Accidentally releasing a shunned Q (not that one, another one!), they learn that the Continuum had exiled and imprisoned him for casting aside immortality, seeing it as a punishment, and trying to end his existence. With Q (still not that one) now released by Voyager, Q (yes, that one!) pops by to put Q (the other one) back in his box, causing a unique call for asylum that puts Janeway in the centre of a Q Conflict (Qonflict?). John de Lancie's Q had been a regular on the Next Generation. Whether just being annoying because he was bored or giving Picard unnecessarily complex lessons in self awareness, he became a bit of a […]
Girls Gorn Wild; Terrarium. Strange New Worlds S3E9 Review
There's weird stuff going on in an uncharted region of space, and the Enterprise needs a closer look. To figure out why gravity waves are being especially weird, the crew strip down a shuttle to make it light as possible, and keep the crew levels down to one pilot: Erica Ortegas. But all their caution isn't enough as a wormhole appears out of nowhere and sucks the the shuttle into a dangerous, far sway hellscape from which there is no escape. Writers: Alan B McElroyDirector: Andrew Coutts Erica Ortegas is one of the most under utilised characters in Strange New Worlds. Giving the sarcasm and being the annoying one who argues – a point they hammered home is a family trait earlier this season – she's often laid out as a star pilot and war hero, but the most focuses […]
Highly Illogical; Four And A Half Vulcans. Strange New Worlds S3E8 Review
When a local planet is in trouble, it's Enterprise to the rescue. Or usually would be, but it's a pre-warp civilisation and the no contact rule applies. But there's a loophole. The planet Tezarr runs on an energy system gifted by Vulcan explorers way before the Federation existed and now it's breaking down. Starfleet can't help, but Vulcan's barged their way onto the planet before those rules were made. They just need a few Vulcans to help... Writers: Dana Horgon & Henry Alonzo Myers Director: Jordan Canning One of the earliest released details for Season 3 was 'The Vulcan Episode' that would introduce the crew to Vulcan Logic the hard way. The set up for all of this is a little shaky. The pre-warp Tezzar planet has high levels of tech outside warp drive and with no Vulcans on […]
Related
Revisiting the Past and Rebuilding The Future: Across the Universe this August
As Strange New Worlds races through it's third season, Star Trek looks ahead to new frontiers with it's home studio under new management and new games on the horizon. Meanwhile a little drop of Trek history gets a huge expansion. New Owners, New Changes The biggest news for the month came not just across the Star Trek Universe, but the media industry as after a long tussle with some odd political turns, Paramount is finally under new ownership. Merging with the media giant Skydance, the new Paramount means many things. For tus, it basically just means we might have some movement on Trek news going forward after a massive pause in business operations while all the legalities were ironed out. A new Paramount means a new executive line up under the command of Skydance boss David Ellison who is not […]
Relay Recap: July 2024
All Features Universe Categories Fleet Alert Comms GORN GIRL recap; july 2025 Picking up on the Season 2 cliff-hanger, Strange New Worlds returned to our screens this month to find Captain Pike and his crew on the edge of war with the Gorn as Season 3 was finally released!Exploring new worlds and new problems, the Enterprise crew are back in action on Paramount Plus and we're keeping ourselves up to date with weekly episode discussion threads on our FB Continuing Mission Group & Weekly episode reviews from Admin ! Explore... Episode Reviews Spoilers Group ACROSS THE UNIVERSE As we look back on Pike's adventures on the Enterprise in the prequel series, Paramount also gave us a look at whats to come next as Entertainment Weekly and SDCC's Star Trek Universe panel gave us a sneak peek at the reopening of […]
A Look Inside the new Starfleet Academy
Right now it's all Strange New Worlds on Paramount Plus and a bit of a wait until Starfleet Academy opens it's doors for their debut season early next year, but it's SDCC weekend so the team behind the Discovery spin off is ready with a sneak peek courtesy of their panel in the legendary Hall H and collaboration with Entertainment Weekly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkBU8lvXm7M Set to continue the adventures started by the Discovery crew in the 32nd century, Starfleet Academy is based on a group of cadets training under the first class since the reopening of the Earth-based facility following Earth's return to the Federation after seceding during 'The Burn'. Inviting the best and brightest from across the galaxy, the young crew learn from a team of highly skilled and experienced instructors to learn what it takes to carry the weight of […]
The Final Frontier for Strange New Worlds & A Legend Revived! Across the Universe June 2025!
As we wait impatiently for the launch of Strange New Worlds third season, and the resolution to the dramatic cliff-hanger that saw the Enterprise crew separated in a battle against the Gorn, Paramount has given the bittersweet news that the series end is in sight by announcing earlier this month that it's fifth season would be it's last. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwqPH7UhKYI In a joint statement, the executive producers – Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers – focused on the adventures to come whilst being thankful for the journey so far. “ “We’re deeply grateful to Paramount+ for the chance to complete our five-season mission, just as we envisioned it, alongside our extraordinary cast and crew. And to the passionate fans who’ve boldly joined us on this journey.” Some time and a couple of Hollywood strikes ago, SNW's third and fourth […]
Across The Universe: Strange New World Premiere!
As we look over the months news and updates for the Star Trek Universe, there's only one topic that's on everyone's minds as the Star Trek Universe gets itself rteady for a return to the Enterprise and it's adventures to Strange New Worlds... Between writers strikes and production closures, the wait for Strange New Worlds' third season has felt as long as the five year mission itself. But the Enterprise is soon returning and we have a small idea of when Captain Pike and the crew will be back on Paramount Plus! The Tribeca Film Festival, running from June 4-15th, has announced that Strange New Worlds will become part of the line up with the premiere of season 3 being held at the festival in New York. Alongside a panel featuring Anson Mount, Celia Rose Gooding and more including producer […]
Across The Universe: Khan’t Get Enough New Trek News in February 2025
Another month, another round up of Star Trek news as two very different productions wrap up with their cast to prepare for launch, and we get more new toys to play with! KHAN'T GET ENOUGH With little said about the project since it's announcement tin 2022, the Khan audio drama has made some noise as they announced production had wrapped! Originally pitched as a miniseries by Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer during the early days of Discovery's Trek revival, the Ceti Alpha Five script was shelved as part of Meyer's quiiet departure and revived not too long ago. Keeping things relatively quiet since casting calls were announced a year later, it seems we'll see (or hear!) the story finally come to all major streaming platforms later this year. Joined by writers Kirsten Beyer and David Mack, Meyers story focuses […]
