Paramount Home Entertainment, out now

Tilly gets a visitor, Spock’s first day and much more in the first volume of Short Treks…

The Short Treks have been a nice addition to the revitalised Star Trek universe, filling the gaps between regular seasons of shows, sometimes containing hints as to the future of the show, other times explaining bits of backstory that in days gone by could have been mined by Pocket Books’ line of Star Trek fiction.

I’ve reviewed each of the Short Treks here on Sci-Fi Bulletin as they’ve appeared, but watching the first nine as one two-hour piece, you see just how varied the scope has been. They may be short, but they’ve got the full force of the Star Trek production team behind them – these are better regarded at times as mini-episodes.

You may have access to these via Netflix (or CBS All Access in the US) but the Blu-ray has extras for each piece. Runaway gets two – a commentary from Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet (well worth a listen), as well as a making of piece. Ask Not – which feels in hindsight like a proof of concept (if such were needed) of the Strange New Worlds show – has a commentary from Anson Mount (Captain Pike). All the others have making-of pieces – Rainn Wilson’s on The Escape Artist is particularly fun, and The Trouble with Edward’s accompaniment focuses on the challenges of so many tribbles. For those of us who love film music, Michael Giacchino’s Score! alongside Ephraim & Dot is also a treat. There’s also a general Making of piece under the Special Features, which again provides a lot of behind the scenes detail.

Verdict: An excellent anthology of Trek tales. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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