PIKE TIME VIEWING

CAPTAIN PIKE AND COMPANY ARE BACK AGAIN TO GIVE STAR TREK FANS SOME OF THOSE OLD-SCHOOL FEELS IN STRANGE NEW WORLDS

- TARA BENNETT

IF YOU'RE A FAN OF STAR TREK: The Original Series (TOS), then mention of Captain Pike may immediately bring to mind the classic first season story "The Menagerie". This two-parter (which recycled footage from unaired original pilot "The Cage"), introduced audiences to the severely injured and immobilised Pike (Jeffrey Hunter), who was the USS Enterprise's captain before James T Kirk took command.

It was a compelling and powerful story, but canonically speaking that was the character's big claim to fame in the Star Trek universe. That is until 2018, when the writers of Star Trek: Discovery brought the character and his officers back into canon for their first season finale "Will You Take My Hand?".

With Pike played with wit and charm by Anson Mount, alongside Rebecca Romijn as his Number One, and Ethan Peck donning the Vulcan ears as Science Officer Spock, audiences became quite smitten with the reimagined crew of the USS Enterprise.

Executive producers Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman and Jenny Lumet took notice and started developing a series around their a characters, which is now set to warp to our screens as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Picking up after the characters said their goodbyes and Pike learned his eventual fate in Discovery, Strange New Worlds will continue to follow him exploring the universe with his crew, "seeking out new life, and new civilisations” in the old-school style of Gene Roddenberry's OG show.