As Gwyn struggles to find her role aboard the USS Protostar, Dal tests his leadership skills in the newly discovered Holodeck.

What a way for the gateway Star Trek show to usher in the new year – an introduction to the Holodeck, the Kobayashi Maru no-win scenario, a new mystery, and some familiar legacy characters.

Anyone who wrote off this show as just for kids or newbies is missing out on something special. The season took a break as the USS Protostar escaped a carnivorous planet and the pursuit by Gwyn’s father. With the dust settling, Gwynn is struggling to fit in with the crew, and Dal is discovering the joys of the Holodeck.

The somewhat cocky, young (self-appointed) captain now wants to prove that he’s to sit in the big chair and undertakes the Kobayashi Maru training programme… and fails miserably. He’s joined by a dream team of legacy officers, who are voiced using a mixture of new and existing dialogue. No, I won’t reveal who’s in the bridge with Dal, but it’s a great mix from across the shows, and not necessarily the obvious ones, as he employs different approaches to the impossible-to-win programme.

Meanwhile, there’s a bigger mystery about why the Protostar is so powerful. What was the reason for its Protodrive which blasted the vessel 4,000 light years into the Gamma Quadrant? Hologram Janeway is struggling to remember, and then something slips through, and isn’t that…?

Verdict: Hands down best episode of the series, this a Trekker’s dream. What a great start to the year. 10/10

Nick Joy