One of the year's most-anticipated series is about to come to CBS All Access and Amazon Prime Video, with the first episode of Star Trek: Picard due for release this January. Patrick Stewart will be reprising his role as the former Enterprise captain, with the cast including a number of familiar faces from The Next Generation all involved in a plot set after the fall of the Romulan Empire that, according to the trailer, sees Picard trying to get reinstated for one final mission.
When is Star Trek: Picard out?
In the U.S., episodes of the show are available on CBS All Access, with installments airing weekly from Thursday, January 23. Like All Access' previous Star Trek series Discovery, episodes will air weekly on Thursdays. Picard will have 10 episodes in Season 1, and Season 2 is already confirmed to be coming to the network. Outside of the U.S., Star Trek fans can see Picard on Amazon Prime Video. Each episode will be released in the morning on Fridays, the day after they air on CBS All Access.
Who is in the cast of Star Trek: Picard?
Leading the cast as the eponymous Jean-Luc Picard is Patrick Stewart, playing the character for the first time onscreen since the release of Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002. Joining him in the cast in smaller roles are some of Picard's former crewmates on the Enterprise. Those confirmed include Data (played by Brent Spiner), Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Deanna Troy (Marina Sirtis), as well as Jonathan Del Arco as Hugh, the former Borg drone rescued by the Enterprise in two episodes of TNG. Speaking of former Borgs, another blast from the past appearing in Picard is Jeri Ryan, a Star Trek fan favorite from her role as Seven of Nine in Voyager.
The cast of Star Trek: Picard, however, is not just a nostalgia trip. The series also includes several new characters, lead by Hamilton star Isa Briones as Dahj. Also starring are American Horror Story's Alison Pill as Dr. Agnes Jurati, Heroes' Santiago Cabrera as ship captain Chris Rios and Blindspot's Michelle Hurd as Chris' partner Raffi Musiker.
What will happen in Star Trek: Picard?
Per The Hollywood Reporter: "The Picard series will be the first onscreen Trek story set in the aftermath of [the fall of the Romulan empire]." Showrunner Alex Kurtzman said of this: "Picard's life was radically altered by the dissolution of the Romulan Empire."
The synopsis goes on to explain why: "The destruction of Romulus would also have extra resonance for Picard, who has a long and complicated relationship with the Romulans, the alien race that split from Vulcan society thousands of years ago and founded a separate civilization. The Romulans went on to control a portion of the galaxy, and the empire was in opposition to the Federation for all of Picard's career."
In the trailer for the show, we learn that Picard is living a quiet retired life with his dog at his family vineyard in La Barre, France, when he is drawn back into his former life as mysterious woman Dahj asks for his help.
Star Trek: Picard starts on Thursday, January 23 on CBS: All Access and January 24 on Amazon Prime Video.
