Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

Odeon Luxe, Leicester Square, London, January 15 2020

Having treated a packed auditorium to a screening of the first episode of Amazon Prime’s Star Trek: Picard, the cast and crew shared their experiences of the new show, interviewed by TV presenter Zane Lowe. Nick Joy and Andy Smith beamed in to report for Sci-Fi Bulletin…

The series feels like something we haven’t seen before in the Star Trek universe. Tell us about what you wanted to do with it.

Alex Kurtzman (Executive Producer): I think the gauntlet that Patrick threw down at the beginning was exactly the right one. ‘We must not do what has been done before. I don’t want to do season eight of The Next Generation, but the next chapter of this man’s life.’ He’s living with regret and loss in a way which is profound. The idea is that he has this opportunity in a very unexpected way to right the wrongs he feels a part of, a second chance to make amends. It’s a beautiful story and you almost never get to tell that story. Jean-Luc is 92 years old in Starfleet years. How many shows give you the opportunity to tell the story from somebody looking back on their life and giving them that one last chance for hope? I think that’s what we wanted to say.

Akiva, geographically we find Picard at the start at the rather delightful Chateau Picard. Tell us about the thinking in starting off his story in that location.

Akiva Goldsman (Executive Producer): I think what we wanted to do was respect the interstitial period of time, not just follow on the heels of the Next Generation. As much as Jean-Luc might have left the last movie, Nemesis, thinking he was going one way, life took a different set of turns. We thought that to restart him, there was nowhere better than his ancestral home. It also gave us some grounding and a way to celebrate him both for those knew him and the character, and also introduce him to those who didn’t.

Michael, can you tell us about your journey from being a Star Trek fan to being a producer on Star Trek: Picard.

Michael Chabon (Executive Producer): It’s completely unexpected, and never in my wildest fanboy dreams did I ever had the chutzpah to imagine it might come to pass. I got lured in initially by Akiva; we were working on a film project together and he asked me if I wanted a shot at writing a short film – they made a series of films called Short Treks. I said I did, I wrote the short (Calypso) and then this led to my joining these guys who were already in the process of trying to evolve the next Star Trek series. There were dozens of times during the making of this show when I would say to Alex or Akiva, ‘I can’t believe we get to do this’. I still can’t believe that it’s true.

Kirsten, you’re a life-long Star Trek fan. How has it been dipping into your knowledge of the history of this universe and bringing it to the screen in a brand new way?

Kirsten Beyer (Executive Producer): One of the things that I love most about working with Alex, Michael and Akiva is the fact that they know nearly as much as I do about Star Trek. It’s really in their bones. It’s not just the fine details of it, it’s what it means to be in this universe. They love it as much as I do. In a lot of ways it’s fun because we’re trying to move forwards, not just with the basic facts but with the real richness of the entire idea of the universe. They’re amazing partners, because it’s easy to get fixated on small details and they’re always looking at the big picture.

Chabon: I just want to say that Kirsten is being kind of modest, because although we know Star Trek, there are so many moments where we would say ‘Wouldn’t it be great if there were some way to get this person from this part of space to that planet, much more quickly than a starship, even at maximum warp’. And then everyone would go – ‘Kirsten? – and she would always have the answer.

Beyer:- Yeah, there’s a little bit of that too.

Sir Patrick Stewart, tell us a little bit about what it was about the story and series that made you want to revisit Jean-Luc Picard.

Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard): In a sense, I feel I have been preparing to shoot Star Trek: Picard for over 30 years. There was a quality about him and a feeling I had about him from the very beginning, which was unlike any experience I had before. So when these people came to me and pitched an idea, I was all ready with my speech of refusal. Indeed, I insisted through my representative that I would meet them face to face and tell them why I was going to say ‘NO!’ I did my best and then I remember Alex saying, ‘Can we just talk to you a little about what our ideas are?’ And he talked, and he talked and he talked! Kirsten talked. Akiva talked. They got my attention. And when the meeting was over, I said to my agent, ‘Would you ask them if they could put on paper the things they said to me, because I’d like to study them more closely.’ Believe me, the very last thing that I felt I wanted or needed was to return to Star Trek.

Well, two days later, 35 pages showed up and I read them. I was hooked, because what they were writing about was an image of the future, of Jean-Luc and the world of Star Trek which I had never envisioned before and thought could not even be possible under the overriding rule of what Star Trek is and what it isn’t. These guys were breaking those rules again and again and again. That’s the sort of stuff that interests me. With increasing excitement I signed on.

Michelle, although you’re not in this episode, we do get to see you in the trailer.

Stewart: I do feel I need to intrude for just a moment. You didn’t see them in that episode but there are people here who are an essential and critical part of our show. Michelle Hurd is one and Evan Evagora is another. Hang on, and Jeri (Ryan)… you didn’t show up! And Jonathan Del Arco, who will have an impact on the show in the same way that he did in The Next Generation.

Even in that short scene we’ve seen in the trailer where you’re meeting Patrick, it looks like a fun relationship. What can you tell us about it?

Michelle Hurd (Raffi Musiker): Fun relationship? Hmmm. Raffi and Jean-Luc have a complicated history. There’s a lot of deep emotions there that I’m happy for you guys to learn about. Raffi is a very complex creature. She’s haunted by decisions and choices that have happened in the past. She has a very complicated relationship with the Federation, and because of her strengths and vulnerabilities she has found herself relying on vices to get through the day and navigate the world she has found herself in. I think it’s a story about a person that a lot us will be able to relate to. She’s perfectly imperfect. She’s damaged, like a lot us are, and trying to get herself back to being a whole being. And I might just leave it at that.

We see you, Harry, at the very end of the episode as the Romulan Narek. Tell us a bit about what it’s like taking on this role in Star Trek: Picard.

Harry Treadaway (Narek): I’m guided by incredible minds and pens. I wouldn’t have been able to even contemplate doing this without the support and psychological input that Alex, Akiva, Kirsten and Michael all gave me.

Where do I start? I remember a phone call early on, lying on my back, looking at the stars… in Devon! Alex was talking me through what Star Trek was. What the world they’d created for this version was. I was coming at it from a very unknowing place and I decided to take that and use it to my advantage. I was fresh eyed and eared and it just blew me away. I was obviously aware of the heritage and what it had meant to people for so long. Something that started in the 60s and is still going strong, which is an incredible thing. It’s overused as a phrase, but it was an honour to be a part of it. Everything else, you’ll have to wait and see.

Evan, you’re also playing a Romulan, but a very different one. Elnor is the character you play – do we get to see a bit more about Romulan culture through him that we’ve not previously seen on Star Trek?

Evan Evagora (Elnor): We will. I’m very different to Narek, and Narek is very different to me. I want to say it’s a very great honour being up here with the rest of you, and I’m speechless. I love you all… and can you repeat the question?

Through your character Elnor are we going to see Romulan culture that we haven’t seen in the Star Trek experience prior to now?

Evagora: We will. He wasn’t raised how Narek was. He’s a refugee, due to his planet getting blown up. What makes him different is that he was brought up by nuns, he doesn’t know how to lie, his name is something very special and I think he shines a lot of truth when it’s needed.

Jonathan, you’re returning to the Star Trek universe. We’ve got new faces in the cast, but as someone who’s been there before, did you have any words of wisdom on what it’s like to become part of a Star Trek TV series?

Jonathan Del Arco (Hugh): Love the fans, over and over again. That’s what I tell them all the time! The show has survived 50 plus years really because of the devotion of the fans. They saved the show originally to begin with, and Jeri, Patrick and I have spent the last 25 plus years going to conventions and really getting to meet people that frankly know the show better than we do. So my advice to them is love the fans, because they’re going to love you back until the day you die.

Jeri, Seven of Nine was a huge fan favourite character. What was it like getting that call to reprise the character? Was it an immediate ‘yes’?

Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine): I thought they I’d said goodbye to her 20 years ago. I’d told her story, and that was that. When I was originally approached about it two years ago, I thought it was a joke. I laughed and thought it was very funny, but they said, ‘No, we’re going to bring her back, she’s going to be very different’ and pitched the general direction of the character. It was surprisingly intriguing to me because I really thought that I was done.

And then cut to a year later and I’m backstage at the Creative Arts Emmys, with Alex getting ready to go on stage, and he turned round and said, ‘We’ve been talking a lot about Seven in the writers’ room.’ Oh, so it’s real? OK! Never occurred to me that it would actually happen and I’m so thrilled and grateful that I did.

Sci-Fi Bulletin was also on the red carpet at the premiere, interviewing the stars. Watch out for video highlights coming shortly

Star Trek: Picard is available in the UK on Amazon Prime from 24 January 2020.