Star Trek: Discovery story details revealed by showrunners

Although the first trailer for Star Trek: Discovery has been made available online, very little plot information is actually known.

Thanks to the series being heavily serialised — more in line with other modern shows — the showrunners have wanted to avoid specifics.

But why are there two ships, the U.S.S. Discovery and the Shenzhou? Who exactly is First Officer Burnham, played by The Walking Dead's Sonequa Martin-Green?

“Burnham [has] spent a lot of time on Vulcan, but she’s human,” showrunner Aaron Harberts told Entertainment Weekly. “Sarek [Spock’s father, played by James Frain] plays an important role in her life, which has been completely planned until she makes a very difficult choice that sends her life on a very different path.

“When we meet her, she’s the First Officer on the Starship Shenzhou [captained by Philippa Georgiou, played by Michelle Yeoh]. And Burnham’s choice that we’re alluding to is most difficult choice you can make — it affects her, affects Starfleet, affects the Federation, it affects the entire universe.

“That choice leads her to a different ship, the Discovery [helmed by Captain Lorca, played by Jason Isaacs] and there we begin what Gretchen and I call our ‘second pilot.’”

Fellow showrunner Gretchen J. Berg elaborated on the decision to make Bunham a First Officer rather than typical Captain: “The joy is in the journey. The advantage to her not being in charge of the bridge right now is we get to tell stories from a very different point of view. It’s a fresh feeling because we’re not on the bridge all the time. We get access to more parts of the ship.”

According to the pair, the writers’ were inspired by The Original Series and Next Generation, particularly the family aspect of the leading characters. Visually, they added, there would be inspiration from the JJ Abrams films while Nicholas Meyer — director of the original Wrath of Khan — has had a huge impact on the storytelling, the famed Trekkie being one of the show’s writers.

The highly-anticipated show will begin airing in the United States on the 2 September on CBS, starting 8:30 p.m. ET/PT. The first two episodes will then be made available on CBS All Access for US viewers, with subsequent episodes being uploaded on the streaming service weekly.

For UK viewers, the show will launch on Netflix 25 September, with new episodes uploaded every Monday.