A group of lawless teens, exiled on a mining colony outside Federation space, discover a derelict Starfleet ship.

A new Star Trek show is always a big deal, and if you’re thinking of passing on this Nickelodeon series created by Kevin and Dan Hageman because it skews to a younger demographic, you’ll be missing out on something special. And launching with a double-length season opener means that we get to spend time with the main players before they get anywhere near a Federation spaceship or its emergency hologram.

Dal (Brett Gray) is a feisty prisoner on one of those mining planets that you always get on Star Trek (Rura Penthe being the model). He’s being hassled by General Grievous-alike Drednok (Jimmi Simpson) as to the location of fugitive Zero (Angus Imrie), and nearly escapes the planet in a hijacked rig before being dragged back again.

The facility is run by the Diviner (John Noble), whose daughter Gwyn (Ella Purnell) proves to have a greater empathy towards the captive workers. Dal makes another escape attempt, this time discovering the Federation vessel the USS Protostar, and with a crew of volunteers (and a prisoner) they break away. And it’s such fun. The animation is detailed (we’re in a very different place to Lower Decks) with cinematic shots and some glorious music by Nami Melumad and an epic theme by Michael Giacchino.

We know enough about the crew to be on their side, and yet there’s plenty of back story to be explored in future episodes. And that’s before I get onto Hologram Janeway, a training adviser to help the ship’s crew while exploring the galaxy. I’ve no idea why ships would have a Janeway hologram, or indeed why she doesn’t have her Voyager Season 4 bob haircut, but how great it is to have Kate Mulgrew back in the franchise again.

Verdict: Fire up the ‘Pew pew pew button’ and enjoy a return to easier-to-understand Star Trek that looks and sounds terrific. Definitely not just for kids. 8/10

Nick Joy