As the senior crew of the USS Cerritos make Second Contact with the Galladonians, the backroom workers bond to save the day.

That’s right – Second Contact. Not First Contact. The action of catching up with an alien species after the event, not the cool, pioneering stuff. And that’s the premise of CBS All Access’ new animated Star Trek series. We’re not looking at the big, frontier-expanding stuff – there’s other series in the franchise who have got that covered – these are the more workaday adventures of smaller people, on a smaller craft, doing smaller things.

Of course, the joke here (and there’s not that many) is that the adventures are anything but small, and the background team are the ones who save the day, not the preening command crew. It’s a neat conceit, but how will that play out every week? Will the underclass always be the saviours, and at what point does this get recognised by those in charge?

The four leads are all ensigns, and the arrival of newbie Ensign Tendi (Noel Wells) gives colleagues Boimier (Dan Quaid, The Hunger Games) and Mariner (Tawny Newsome, Space Force) the opportunity to give us a tour of the ship and the general lay of the land. The fourth is Rutherford (Eugene Cordero, Kong: Skull Island), cybernetically enhanced with Vulcan implants… and on a date.

When a rage virus infects the crew, the ensigns are called upon to bond and rise to the challenge. It’s fun, but not that funny, and maybe that’s the tone – amusing rather than rib-tickling, and a long way from writer Mike McMahan’s best known show, Rick and Morty. Hopefully some of the characters will settle down in time, but at this stage it’s not enough to SHOUT some of your lines to make them sassy or witty.

Would this show work if it wasn’t Star Trek? We’ll never know, as the references are all around us, from background aliens to direct references to legacy characters to classic sound effects. On the plus side you don’t need to be a Star Trek fan to appreciate the self-contained episode, which breezes along its 26-minute run time, with everything wrapped up by the end.

Verdict: Any new Star Trek series is a big deal, and hopefully this animated variation will find its place alongside its older siblings. It doesn’t feel essential yet, but let’s give it the chance to establish itself. 7/10

Nick Joy