Brought on board a long-dead vessel, Craft discovers there is someone still alive…

It’s been a great week for those who like the more thoughtful and contemplative versions of the two great SF TV franchises, Doctor Who and Star Trek. The former’s Demons of the Punjab eschewed huge battles and megalomaniac enemies; the new Short Trek, penned by Michael Chadbon, does the same.

It’s a smaller scale tale – effectively a two-hander – that has parallels with Homer’s Odyssey (listen to Craft’s backstory if the title itself doesn’t give it away) and reminds us after the Battle of the Binary Stars and the Mirror Universe shenanigans of Discovery’s first season that Star Trek is still at its heart about the discovery of the human condition. Can a computer love? Can it understand the heartache of the loss of loved ones? Can it grieve?

Unlike the first of these Short Treks, this isn’t a tale that could easily be slotted into an existing episode – in many ways, it reminds me of some of the short stories that we used to get in the Strange New Worlds anthologies, where writers expanded the Star Trek universe in their own ways. Does this give us a hint as to the fate of the Discovery? Maybe, but that’s really not important. Focus on Craft and Zora, and the way in which they interact.

Verdict: A beautifully told tale with great performances from Aldis Hodge and Annabelle Wallis and  that gets right to the heart of Star Trek. 10/10

Paul Simpson