New Star Trek Prequel Sparks Nostalgia on CTV

Captain Christopher Pike and his trusty science officer Mr. Spock blast off on a swashbuckling outer-space voyage all their own

Fans of the original Star Trek will find plenty of nostalgia and bold new adventures alike in this hotly anticipated prequel series. 

The latest entry in producer Alex Kurtzman’s small-screen reboot of the iconic franchise, Strange New Worlds picks up in the years before Captain James T. Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise and features a number of characters from season two of Star Trek: Discovery, chief among them the ship’s commanding officer, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). 

CTV Sci-FiJoining him to explore new worlds around the galaxy are Spock (Ethan Peck), the ship’s science officer; First Officer Una Chin-Riley, a.k.a. “Number One” (Rebecca Romijn), Cadet Nyota Uhura (singer and stage actress Celia Rose Gooding) and Chief Medical Officer M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun). 

New characters with a link to Trek history include Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush, Playing for Keeps), who was played in the original series by Majel Barrett, wife of Trek creator Gene Roddenberry; La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong, Line of Duty), the Enterprise’s chief of security and a relative of Captain Kirk’s nemesis; and Hemmer (Bruce Horak, Warehouse 13), a sightless officer and albino subspecies of Andorians, a race from the original series. The show has in fact already been renewed for a second season, at which point it will welcome Vampire Diaries alum Paul Wesley as a young James Tiberius Kirk. CTV Sci-Fi

 “Every single day I’m on the set—I’m not exaggerating—is both disbelief and a feeling of tremendous gratitude,” he explains. “Which is one of my little secret parallels to the character of Captain Pike, who—let’s face it—if you’re going to stare into the face of God, the universe, whatever you want to call it, every single day, you have to have a healthy dose of humility and appreciation and gratitude. And I think that those are the greatest qualities in Captain Pike. So, if I can live up to him at all, it’s through my appreciation of being a part of this universe.” 

Taking on an iconic and indelible character such as Spock can sometimes make an actor feel limited in his options, but Peck sees it another way.CTV Sci-Fi

“In a way there are boundaries,” he allows, “but as we sort of zoom in on him and his life and his experiences in the past that we haven’t yet seen, [we find] infinite possibilities of him and his life.” 

“So it’s a really delicate dance that we’re attempting,” he continues. “And I think a lot of it is done in the writing. You know, I show up to work and I get a new script, and suddenly I’m faced with something that’s totally unfamiliar to me in my work as Spock. So, the sky is kind of the limit, in my opinion.” 

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debuts Thursday, May 5th at 6 p.m. & Midnight on CTV Sci-Fi