Our Bold New TV Series

With “Star Trek: Discovery” returning on Netflix, I feel a certain nostalgia for my early love of Star Trek. I’ve always loved sci-fi but there was something very special about the entire saga.

In our household we were raised with “Star Trek: The Next Generation” when it first began in the 80s, the best cast of characters ever assembled in one room. Although in the beginning this didn’t seem to be the case, no one knew how the show would develop or what would become of the characters. It looked terrible in the first season, like some cobbled together 50s sci-fi show but without Thunderbird strings and an unusual amount of weird brightly sequined costumes. The android Data even creepily grinned from ear to ear in the very first episode, no one had any idea that his character would never need to express himself in the rest of the series. They also took a massive risk early on in the series killing off a main character, which apparently was a ground-breaking move for Television at the time!

Still given time the series became much loved, the characters became more well-rounded and established.* Even our mum, who out of all of us in the family wasn’t sci-fi minded, loved watching this show with us. It expressed the every day struggles of these people through current social issues that occurred in our lifetime. Some of those social issues still exist today, so that show will always remain relevant. When “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” appeared during that series it equally underwent a lot of early setbacks, again they also eventually found their footing. When they came up with the ingenious idea of a major story arc spanning several seasons their viewership sky-rocketed…if you’ll pardon the pun.

The entire Star Trek saga kind of reminded me of the journey we’re on as a class. We may not be trekking across the universe but we’re starting out in our own series with a diverse range of characters. No one knows what will become of us or how the series will pan out, if anything we’ve yet to give the series a name – so stay tuned for that folks! 

* SPOILER ALERT: Apart from Data there was one other character who stood head and shoulders above the rest, Captain Jean-Luc Picard. You had to admire and almost look up to him, he may have seemed strict and carried a certain air of authority (like leaders should) but he had very strong moral values. He reminded me so much of my Dad, he had a way of seeming tough and rigid but he held strong values and never took sides – he was always fair. So when they came up with Picard’s own spin-off series it was an exciting time, felt as though my father would live again as he passed away five years ago. Unfortunately when Picard died at the end of the first series it was like my father was dying all over again, so now it’s hard to watch him on TV without thinking about that.