Over the course of Star Trek’s run in over fifty years, there are few remembered as fondly as Patrick Stewart’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard. For many of us, his time as captain of the Enterprise was our introduction into the world of Star Trek and in seven seasons and four feature films, he racked up the most hours of any captain in the Trek franchise to date.
After a storm of rumours and speculation that Sir Patrick was in talks to make a return, the whispers finally became news on August 4th on the Star Trek Las Vegas stage as Alex Kurtzman announced that a team had been gathered for a new Star Trek show to supplement Discovery on CBS All Access. Though what was more surprising was who they’d signed to be the star of the show.
Sir Patrick Stewart came to the stage to re-introduce himself and make the announcement that he would be returning to Star Trek to continue telling the story of Jean Luc Picard to the cheers of the crowd!
“I will always be very proud to have been a part of the ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Stewart wrote on his Facebook page soon after the news broke, “when we wrapped that final movie in the spring of 2002, I truly felt my time with Star Trek had run its natural course.”
His post continued, “It is, therefore, an unexpected but delightful surprise to find myself excited and invigorated to be returning to Jean-Luc Picard and to explore new dimensions within him. Seeking out new life for him, when I thought that life was over.”
Through his social media channels, Stewart added, “I look forward to working with our brilliant creative team as we endeavour to bring a fresh, unexpected and pertinent story to life once more.”
We’ll have an in depth look at the announcement and the possibilities in our next edition of Comms. Comms is available to all members of Starfleet Command Quadrant 2 – and as we don’t believe fandom comes at a premium, you can join and enjoy all membership benefits for free now!