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Fan Film Factor

Exploring the world of Star Trek fan films.

A history of STAR TREK CONTINUES (feature, part 1)

NOTE: About a year a half ago, I published a 3-part blog tracing the fascinating history of STAR TREK CONTINUES .  In honor of their penultimate episode being released this past week and their series finale next month, I will be reprinting these blogs and adding an additional blog or two covering what happened between then and now.

Those were the last two words uttered by Captain Kirk before Star Trek the original series was canceled in 1969.

Kirk was referring to the tragic descent into hate-filled insanity of his former love, Dr. Janice Lester. But for me, these two words were so much more powerful: If only Star Trek hadn’t been canceled. If only Star Tre k could have…

…continued.

TOS fans always felt a pang of frustration that the five -year mission of the USS Enterprise was cut short after only three years in space (and on the air).  Sure, in 1973 an 1974, we got to see 22 animated episodes of the series, voiced by the same original actors, but we never got to see the end of that five-year mission.

Even when Star Trek crossed over into motion pictures, the end of Kirk’s first mission was still a mystery.  And the days of seeing those those bright red, blue, and gold uniforms and those amazingly colorful starship Enterprise sets—those days were gone forever…except in reruns, of course.

I used to have this dream where I was watching an episode of TOS that I’d never seen before.  Of course, I’d seen every episode dozens of times, so when I woke up, I’d sadly remember that there were no “lost” episodes of TOS.

Until there were…

I first felt that “feeling” that I was watching a “lost” episode in 2013 when I saw the first full-length episode of the new fan series STAR TREK CONTINUES …an episode titled “ Pilgrim of Eternity . ”

I’ll be honest, though, I didn’t feel it immediately.  It hit me at about the 31-minute mark of the episode.  Before that, this Star Trek Continues seemed fairly similar to Star Trek: New Voyages/Phase II , the trailblazing fan series from JAMES CAWLEY, who was the first to ever spend six-figures building precise recreations of the TOS sets from the 1960s.  Both fan series were telling “untold” stories from the fourth and fifth years of Kirk’s five-year mission.  In fact, VIC MIGNGNA, the show-runner behind Star Trek Continues , actually got his start in Trek fan films directing and guest-starring in one of Phase II ‘s most ambitious productions, an episode called “ Kitumba .”

The most notable difference between the two productions—aside from the actors—was that NV/P2 decided to film in a widescreen 16×9 aspect ratio format, giving their series a more modern look.  And their VFX shots of the Enterprise included new angles and movements not previously seen in the original series.  STC , meanwhile, opted for a more classic 4×3 aspect format, intending for their episodes to feel almost exactly like the original series.  To that end, they also kept their VFX angles of the Enterprise similar to those seen in the 1960s episodes.

The other notable difference between the two series, and one of the things that most excited fans like me, was that CHRIS DOOHAN, the son of TOS actor JAMES “Scotty” DOOHAN, would be reprising his father’s role (and Scottish brogue).  Although NV/P2 had featured a wide range of TOS and sci-fi actors as special guest stars (including Walter Koenig, George Takei, Grace Lee Whitney, and Denise Crosby), they would appear in single episodes rather than being a part of the regular cast.

None of this is meant to diminish the spectacular accomplishments of New Voyages/Phase 2 .  By the time that Star Trek Continues premiered their first full episode in May of 2013, NV/P2 had already released EIGHT full-length episodes, with even more in production!  So in many ways, STC was standing on the shoulders of a giant.

Anyway, there I was in 2013, watching this brand new fan series and thinking it was pretty impressive…much like NV/P2 .  It looked fantastic—nicely lit, well-fitting costumes, good hair and make-up, decent acting, and of course, amazing sets.  But it still felt like a fan film.  That’s not to say it was bad.  It was excellent!  But fan films usually don’t reach the threshold of looking or feeling like the real thing.  Even at its best, NV/P2 didn’t make me feel as though I were watching an actual “lost” episode.  And for the first half hour, “Pilgrim of Eternity” didn’t really give me that feeling either…and to be honest, I wasn’t really expecting it to.

But then it happened.

The moment lasted only about a minute and a half, but there it was: that feeling ! It was the same feeling I’d had as a kid watching a TOS episode for the first time! It was, quite literally, the feeling I’d been dreaming about for decades.

At the midway point of the episode, where the god Apollo suddenly strengthens and turns his powers on Kirk, in that moment I suddenly forgot I was watching a “fan” film and immersed myself in the belief that I was watching a never-before-discovered episode of the original Star Trek !

Of course, I knew in my head that the actors were different (except for Apollo).  But in that moment when I heard Apollo’s voice reverberate, saw Kirk tossed into the air like a rag doll, and listened to that familiar music, it didn’t matter that it wasn’t William Shatner hitting the floor and being levitated. In those 90 seconds, in my heart, I was watching “pure” Star Trek .

I was hooked.

Star Trek Continues grew out of the Starship Farragut fan series.  In fact, Vic Mignogna first played a cameo role of Captain James T. Kirk in the third full-length episode of the Farragut series, “The Price of Anything” which Vic also directed.  (Look for Vic starting at the 1 minute, 45 second mark.)

Vic put in both his own money and secured financial backing from Dracogen Strategic Investments in late 2011, allowing Farragut Films to move into a much larger studio in Kingsland, GA.  This additional studio space and influx of capital gave Farragut Films the opportunity to expand their sets to include nearly every USS Enterprise interior that existed at Desilu studios back in the 1960s (except Engineering).

It was obvious almost from the beginning that the acting was of a higher caliber than that of many other fan productions.  Not to put down other fan films, but Vic Mignogna, himself a well-known voice-over actor, insisted on bringing in others with acting backgrounds…and it showed.  These weren’t Emmy-winning Hollywood celebrities, of course, but they were more polished and professional than the typical amateur fans who populated most fan films.

But it didn’t stop there. Vic will be among the first to tell people who enjoy STC that the series owes its success to a lot more people than just him and the folks in front of the camera. STC is composed of a dedicated team (made up of both fans and industry veterans) who do professional-level work out of a love for this legendary franchise. I could spend several blogs just talking about the many individuals who make STC possible, but I want to shine a special light (pun intended) on Director of Photography Matt Bucy…to give you an idea of why it is that STC looks so close to the original Star Trek series.

A resident of Vermont, this self-taught cinematographer had to fly down to Kingsland, GA for each episode to work his magic on STC (Matt is also a recreational pilot, but I suspect he flew commercial to get to Georgia). And part of that magic was lighting the STC sets the EXACT same way that the original sets were lit. You might be thinking, “Oh, that sounds so easy!” You’d be wrong.

Working closely with Vic, Matt carefully examined more than three thousand still images from multiple TOS season two and three episodes, trying to figure out precisely how the scenes and characters were lit. In an interview on the STC website, Matt commented, “One trick that directors of photography use is to look at the eyeballs of the actors. If you study them carefully, you can see a big dot that is reflecting the key light. You can see how a light will pick up the hair and shoulders.”

But it wasn’t as simple as just looking at eye reflections. Lighting on sets creates shadow and depth, can add color, and even provide texture on areas that would otherwise look flat if lit incorrectly. Matt continued, “It’s basically stage lighting, using hard light – a key light, a fill light, and a backlight. So we’re using a lot of light sources. When you look at the 1960’s series with a critical eye on lighting, you’ll notice that they didn’t care much about multiple shadows. In fact, I think that’s one of the things that makes our production feel so similar – because there are shadows everywhere! Light is coming from above, usually at a 45-degree angle with the actors. And there are certain facial shadows that give Star Trek Continues a very ‘classic Trek ’ look.”

Of course, the lights need something to actually illuminate, and in that department, Matt Bucy was also instrumental. In addition to being a pilot, Matt is also an architect and electronics wiz. (He’s also a real estate developer, if you’re curious.) But when it came to architecture, his expertise allowed the construction team to recreate the exact layout of the original Trek sets as they fit together on Stage 9 at Desilu Studios back in the 1960s. Take a look at this amazing walk-through of their sets:

Goose bumps, right?

Indeed! In the meantime, other “little touches” abound in Star Trek Continues , some easier to notice than others. For example, it’s pretty obvious that the earliest STC episodes used much of the music and sound effects in the original Star Trek . But what you probably won’t notice unless you look closely is that the blocking of the actors (where they stand in a scene) is purposefully done to mimic what was done 50 years ago, as is the acting style. It’s not just that the actors are doing impressions of Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, and the rest. They are working very hard to move their bodies, manipulate their facial expressions, and control their vocal delivery to mirror the performances provided back in the 1960s. Modern acting styles can present very different performances that, while still strong and engaging, would not have the same feel as TOS. Likewise are many directing choices, such as cutting to close-up reaction shots with a flourish of incidental music or showing a subtle sideways glance of one character to another.

And if that isn’t enough to impress you, there’s two final touches that are added in post-production. First, the colors in each scene are super-saturated to have that over-colorful look of the original Star Trek . And second, because Trek was originally filmed on 35mm film and not video, STC digitally adds in a “graininess” during post-production to make the image look a little less “perfect”…and that, my friends, is what makes it come out so perfect!

Next time : our focus on Star Trek Continues …er…continues with more about the actors and the earliest vignettes released to introduce this new fan series.  We also begin spotlighting the episodes themselves with a closer look at “Pilgrim of Eternity” and how that production came together.  And finally, we learn how much of his own money Vic Mignogna put into the roll out of STC and what happened when they held their first Kickstarter…er, KIRKstarter!

All of the amazing offerings of STC can be found on their website:

http://startrekcontinues.com/episodes.html

I can’t really describe it, and I’ve only made it through about 54 minutes so far (I’m up to “look”), but I guarantee you’ll want to share it on Facebook! I cannot imagine the amount of work that went into editing this video!

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13 thoughts on “A history of STAR TREK CONTINUES (feature, part 1)”

I always wondered how the Theatrical acting quality of the cast of Babylon 5 was “missing” something that Star Trek had.. and I think you’ve found the head of the nail.

Its not that Trek was Scientifically “accurate” or “engaging”.. at the time most of it was speculative and fantastical.. as much as it was Science Fiction.. it was very emotionally charged.

But Trek seemed to roll around in all kinds of recent scientific speculation in service to the story. It was a kind of romper room for young adults or people coming of age, introducing them to all sorts of controversial ideas the conservative grown ups viewed with suspicion… it was a kind of counter culture.

But the sets the lighting, it was all theatrical make up.. just good enough to set the stage for a play, garnished with flourishes of cutting edge Special Effects.

When Star Trek the Movie and all that came after it were pumping money into Star Trek to make it seem “more real” they were taking away, or re-casting the story in a different mold that was not very much Original Trek.. it lacked the setting.. it was something different.

By virture of its limited budget Wrath of Kahn was “closer” to the original because of that limited budget, limited sets, use of physical mixed with digital Matte paintings for backdrops. It looked corny sure.. but in the World of Real Trek.. it was acceptable, okay.. even better than scientifically accurate Apollo Era detailed spacecraft like V’ger.. which was so 70’s.

Next Generation was similarly “handicapped” with a limited budget for new set construction, but a higher budget for special fx.. until later in its seasonal run.. in which the stories got better and better because of the lack of resources.. less was more.. the Writers Strike was the best thing ever to happen to them.. withholding the story until the next season opener.. brilliant!

Its so wickely odd.. but I think something very important has been stumbled upon here.. Star Trek is at its best when it leaves more to the Imagination.. when it has a tighter budget… when its a limited run.

Lucy.. I think for the greater good.. you’d best not Have anymore ‘Explaining to do.. leave it alone.

I think you hit on some interesting points there, John. Maybe Star Trek was at its best when the lower budgets forced the stories and acting to “sell” the episode or movie. When you rely too much on fancy VFX, funky costumes and make-up, and elaborately lit sets—when you take away the actors’ ability to actually act by covering their face in unwieldy prosthetics and sticking marbles into their mouths (and making them speak four pages of dialog in a language they never heard before being cast)–when you do all of that, the story itself has the potential to suffer by getting lost in all of the noise and chaos.

Oh, and what’s this I hear about Babylon 5 missing something? That show had half the budget of Star Trek, dude.

I really didn’t know that about Babylon 5.. those VideoToasters really did great for the time. And isn’t it the same company Will Wheaton went to work for after Next Generation?

One thing though that rarely gets paid attention to though is the terrific theatrical scene music.. I’m not speaking of the rip roaring themes.. but the Vulcan tone poems, those striking Crescendos just before Kirk makes a decision or right after. Bones raised eyebrow and the serious or playful little melody. — if those weren’t “over the top” I don’t know what was.. B5 had them too.. but not as strong.

I really love how STC reused those familar vibes.. perfectly placing them.. it made my childhood come back in Vivid color. .. Gosh darn it.. I want another episode !

Wil Wheaton ended up working for NewTek, the makers of the Amiga-based Video Toaster that was used to create the CGI effects for Babylon 5. (Newtek was based in Topeka, KS back then.)

The folks who actually did the VFX for B5–which was the first weekly TV series to use CGI rather than physical models for all of their outer space shots and also for some of their interiors and aliens–was Foundation Imaging…based in Valencia, CA. (Yep, the same Valencia where Axanar Productions built Industry Studios.) Wil Wheaton never worked for Foundation Imagining.

Foundation went on to do amazing VFX for the first few seasons of B5 and later worked on DS9 and Voyager, winning an Emmy for the latter. My long-time friend and collaborator on Starship Spotter , Adam “Mojo” Lebowitz, worked both at NewTek and Foundation, and later worked with Gary Hutzel and Doug Drexler on Battlestar Galactica, helping them win an Emmy, as well.

I bet you didn’t need to know any of that! 🙂

Very interesting to a kid from way back here in the sticks though.

That all seems to far away.. less real.. than the shows that reached us through the TV.

BSG.. didn’t Jamie Bamber (the new Apollo) appear in one of James Cawley’s New Voyages episodes?

Funny about Wil Wheaton though.. for some reason.. I guess because Colm Meaney and Michael Dorn showed up on DS9.. I always thought Wesley Crusher would show up on Voyager. Little did I know he wanted a clean break for a while.

My early 20 somethings I was thinking ‘Nova chron’ had to be in the Delta Quadrant and Wesley and the Traveler might actually be behind Voyagers winding up there instead of that Cat Paw like invaders from another Galaxy plot device.

Somehow Wesley maturing as an individual that might challenge even the powers of the ‘Q’ seemed rational to me.. after rescuing his Mom from the collapsing Warp Bubble Universe.. what he learned from that encounter spoke to a higher order of manipulating reality… maybe even discovering reality was a kind of program running on an alien super computer.. and unmasking the ‘Q’ as mere aliens that were aware of the true nature of reality. .. it dove tails rather nicely with the fate of Professor Moriarity.. and Picards suspicion.. that [all of this] might merely be a program running on a little device in someone elses living room.

.. I’ve had too many years to think about Next Gen locked in my solitary mind all alone.

Jamie Bamber was in the first episode of Star Trek Continues, “Pilgrim of Eternity.” I discuss the full cast of that fan film more in part 2 and mention Jamie.

As for Wesley, it’s kinda funny you should point that out. Harlan Ellison used to say that Gene Roddenberry had only one idea that he kept writing over and over and over and over again: “The Enterprise meets God, and God is a child.” In Wesley’s case, he started off as a child and kind of became God. Interesting, huh?

The sets on Continues are amazing – It is so impressive how they were able to so accurately portray the look and feel of T.O.S., as well as the portrayal of some of the characters, particularly Kirk, Spock, and even Scotty to some degree… P

Both STC and New Voyages built amazing TOS sets.

“The Enterprise meets God, and God is a child.” In Wesley’s case, he started off as a child and kind of became God. Interesting, huh? ..

Lol.. such is the fate of every Child.. to become their Parents, though as a Child I think we all aspired to that one day.. what little did we know..

Yeah, but I’m not God, John. I don’t even play him on TV. 🙂

Not even with the Big “Booming Voice” ?

Any father sufficiently older is indistingushable from a god or his creator.

Just ask 10 year old Data.

I think Jayden thinks of me as more fun than God…although God does wear a giant chicken costume. (That’s a long story.) 🙂

That’s probably what the Kelvins thought.. Kirk begged to differ however.

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'Star Trek Continues': Vic Mignogna Beams Us to a Fan-made Final Frontier

"Star Trek Continues" is exactly what it sounds like: A fan-made science fiction series that picks up where the original "Star Trek" TV show left off, putting Kirk, Spock and the rest of the starship Enterprise's crew through a whole new set of adventures in the final frontier. The cast — made up of of talented voice- and stage-actor Trek fans, including Vic Mignogna as executive producer (and Kirk) — works on an exact-replica set, evoking the original show's performances to create what feels like lost episodes from the series itself.

Since its debut in 2013, "Star Trek Continues" has published five episodes online, and the sixth will premiere in May. (Episode 7 is nearly done as well.) The project's crowdfunding campaign to finish Episode 7's post-production phase and film three more episodes is live on Indiegogo until May 4 . 

Space.com caught up with Mignogna to talk about the show he calls his "love letter" to the original series, the key to "Star Trek" storytelling and what's to come in the next two episodes of the web series. (Plus, Space.com's own Karl Tate explores the set in this Trek-tastic new video .)

Space.com: How did "Star Trek Continues" begin?

Vic Mignogna: I've loved the original series of " Star Trek " ever since I was a little boy; I used to eat, sleep and breathe that show, basically. I would make my own uniforms and make my own props, and use my parents' movie camera to round up kids in the neighborhood to shoot little episodes. That show really inspired me when I was 10, 11, 12 years old, 13, 14.

Over the years, I have been developing skills in filmmaking and acting, and all different elements of production, and a few years ago I helped another fan production — I directed an episode for another fan production, and I kind of got bitten by the bug again. So I got a bunch of friends together and we all poured a lot of love and money and sweat and time and effort and talent into starting this web series. And people have really enjoyed it. We've got over 4 million views now, and have won a dozen awards, and people seem to really, really be enjoying it and it's very gratifying.

Space.com: How long did it take from the idea's inception to the first episode going up online?

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Mignogna: We started out by releasing some little 3- to 5-minute dramatic vignettes introducing the world to our crew and the actors that were going to be playing those iconic roles, and we released three of those vignettes. They're all online, they're on our YouTube channel . They were basically a preview while we were finishing building all the sets and getting ready to shoot the first episode.

To date, we've been around three years and we've got six episodes: five online, released. The sixth one is done and will be premiering in May at Megacon, and the seventh episode is also done and will be premiering in the fall.

Space.com: Has the project grown in scale over time?

Mignogna:  The project already started at its beginning at a higher level of quality than people had heretofore seen in fan production. But I will say with every episode, I feel like our cast and crew have gotten better and better. When we released a first episode, a lot of people were like, "Wow, how could you do any better than this?" And then we would release the second one and people would say, "Oh my gosh, I don't know how you did it, but this one's even better." And then the third one, they would say, "Oh my gosh, this one's even better, and the fourth one's even better, and the fifth one's even better!" So in different ways I think we are improving, but from the very beginning our quality level was extremely high. [ See the Evolution of the Starship Enterprise in Photos ]

Space.com: How do you decide on the specific plots or issues to focus on for particular episodes?

Mignogna: The original series' stories were very compelling stories that many times had an ethical theme or a moral plot or point or a social commentary, and so I was committed from the very beginning to telling those kinds of stories . And that's exactly what we've done. If you watch our episodes, you'll find that one of the things that makes [them] feel so much like the original series is that we tell very thought-provoking, intriguing, passion-filled stories.

Space.com: Can you say what's coming up in episodes six and seven?

Mignogna:  I will tell you this: Our next episode is going to be so groundbreaking, nobody has ever done anything like this. I don't want to give away too much, but I will tell you that the engineering room will be featured prominently. It will be making its screen debut in Episode 6.

Gigi Edgley, who was one of the main characters in Farscape, is our guest star for this episode. And let me just say that there was an element that they incorporated into several episodes of the original series, and no fan production has done this to the degree that we're doing it in Episode 6.

And I will tell you that Episode 7 has already completed shooting. It's a wonderful, very, very thought-provoking episode about a very topical issue, and [I'm] very, very proud of that episode as well.

Space.com: What has been the most difficult part of producing the show?

Mignogna:  Oh, my gosh, everything. I have to tell you, whenever you set out to do something at this level of quality, there are so many moving parts, and if you watch our episodes you see that there are tons and tons of elements to this production. Getting the lighting just right, getting the costumes just right, casting it, makeup, camera teams, sound team, props, art direction — there are dozens of moving parts that all have to come together to make it work, and I am so very, very proud of the team that I've assembled. The reason that we're able to do this quality-level work at a fraction of what it would normally cost is because everybody is basically doing it for virtually nothing. They're doing it because they love the original series of "Star Trek," they have a passion for it and they want to pay tribute to it the same way I do.

Space.com: What was it like putting together the replica sets?

Mignogna: The partial bridge was the only thing that had been built of all these sets when we partnered up [to work with another "Star Trek" fan production's set]. And then my director of photography, Matt Busey, did all of the diagrams and architectural drawings for all of the rest of the soundstage. And then a bunch of local volunteers, and just really good "Star Trek" fans, came together, including myself, and we all spent several months building all of the rest of the sets, and then three years ago we shot our first episode on those sets. So now — "Star Trek Continues" is the sole owner of those sets — we call our studio Stage 9, which is named after the soundstage where the original series was shot.

Our cast and crew come together at least twice a year to shoot episodes on those sets. They were patterned after the original series soundstage, and I would say that they were within inches of perfectly accurate to the original sets. [ How 'Star Trek' Technology Works (Infographic) ]

Space.com: Was there anything particularly hard to put together?

Mignogna: The pieces that were scattered all around the original soundstage were pieces from the 1960s; those pieces don't exist anymore. We need[ed] to come up with our own way to recreate and reproduce those pieces. And I'm very proud of the job we've done, doing so.

Let me say, as amazing as our sets are, at the end of the day, the sets are just a backdrop to the story. If the story isn't any good, if the acting isn't any good, then it really doesn't matter how accurate the sets are. The only reason that our sets need to be accurate is so the audience will immediately accept the setting as the original-series Enterprise or the original series of "Star Trek," and then allow us to tell them a good, thought-provoking story. That's one thing that a lot of fan productions miss. A lot of fan productions build really nice sets, or they make nice costumes, but those things are merely a vehicle to tell a good story. As far as "Star Trek Continues" is concerned, story, story, story is king. That's the most important thing.

Email Sarah Lewin at [email protected] or follow her   @SarahExplains .  Follow us   @Spacedotcom ,   Facebook  and   Google+ . Original article on   Space.com .

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Sarah Lewin started writing for Space.com in June of 2015 as a Staff Writer and became Associate Editor in 2019 . Her work has been featured by Scientific American, IEEE Spectrum, Quanta Magazine, Wired, The Scientist, Science Friday and WGBH's Inside NOVA. Sarah has an MA from NYU's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program and an AB in mathematics from Brown University. When not writing, reading or thinking about space, Sarah enjoys musical theatre and mathematical papercraft. She is currently Assistant News Editor at Scientific American. You can follow her on Twitter @SarahExplains.

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Web series 'Star Trek: Phase II' gets new home, new Kirk

Crave's Michael Franco talks with Assistant Director Dennis Hotston about the new digs and the new actor, called by some fans "a better Captain Kirk than Captain Kirk."

Forty-five years ago this week, NBC cancelled a TV series that boldly took viewers to a place they'd never been before, ending what was to be a five-year mission for the Starship Enterprise. But that in no way grounded the explorations of Kirk and crew -- since that date, the Star Trek franchise has launched a dozen movies, four TV shows (not counting the animated series), and at least two fan fiction Web series.

I wrote about one of these -- " Star Trek Continues " -- recently on Crave, and was soon contacted by Trekkies everywhere to make sure I knew about an even longer-running Trek spin-off called " Star Trek: Phase II ." I'm happy to say that now, after a talk with Dennis Hotston, first assistant director, I know lots about it as well.

First launched in 2003, the Web series is named after a reboot of the TV series that was planned by Paramount but got scrapped in favor of its first "Star Trek" movie. Thus far, the series has produced nine episodes and is about to release its 10th in the next few months.

That episode, called "The Holiest Thing," will also be the first to star Brian Gross as a new Captain Kirk, who was formerly played by James Cawley, the show's senior executive producer. Gross has appeared in a variety of TV shows, including "NCIS: Los Angeles," "CSI: NY," and "Saving Grace," and done voice work on the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. Hotston says that when fans saw the new episode starring Gross at a private screening, some commented that "he was a better Captain Kirk than Captain Kirk."

The thing that has the "Phase II" crew the most excited these days is that they're in the process of moving into a new studio in Ticonderoga, N.Y. Hotston says that it's a big step up after having filmed for years in a converted car dealership. "James Cawley has the original blueprints from Desilu ," he told me. "Not reproductions -- but the real blueprints -- and we are building those sets exactly as they were at Desilu Studios in 1966."

The warehouse in which the sets are being built covers 13,000 square feet. The bridge, corridors, and transporter room are pretty much completed at this point, Hotston says, adding that once those are ready, a new episode called "Mind Sifter" will begin filming there.

To help with funding the studio expansion, and to raise funds to continue producing the fan-based series, the "Phase II" folks have launched a Kickstarter campaign . They shattered their $10,000 goal, having raised over $46,000 to date, but they're still trying to hit bigger goals with six days left in the campaign. The funds will not only be used for the studio move, but to produce future episodes, which the creators say cost about $15,000 each to make.

Even though fans can now contact the production and ask for permission to see the sets, some day the new studio might be made available to the general public for tours. "It's an amazing feeling to step up to the sets because James Cawley has such a such a great eye for detail. Things like the paint colors, the trim...all these things are exactly like they were in the '60s. He's taken years to find props for Kirk's quarters, and just little things like that make all the difference when the episode hits the air."

Until the next episode is ready, Hotston says fans can get a peek at the new Captain Kirk in this clip. Live long and prosper.

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William shatner willing to return to ‘star trek’ as de-aged captain kirk.

The 93-year-old actor says he's down to return as James T. Kirk for a new movie, and has an idea about how to make it work.

By James Hibberd

James Hibberd

Writer-at-Large

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“Mr. Scott, set the de-ager for 40 years!”

William Shatner says he’s down to play Captain James T. Kirk in a movie again, and has an idea for how it might work.

The 93-year-old sci-fi legend told the Canadian Press that he’d be willing to return to the Starship Enterprise under certain conditions.

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Shatner suggested he could play a younger version of his iconic character, thanks to a company he’s working with that specializes in de-aging technology that “takes years off your face, so that in a film you can look 10, 20, 30, 50 years younger than you are.”

While Kirk was, of course, killed off in the 1994 film Star Trek: Generations (photo above), Shatner suggested that Kirk’s body and brain might have been frozen for posterity, and then he could be revived years later.

“‘We’ve got Captain Kirk’s brain frozen here,'” he mused. “There’s a scenario. ‘Let’s see if we can bring back a little bit of this, a little salt, a little pepper [in his hair]. Oh, look at that. Here comes Captain Kirk!'”

The prospect of this happening seems rather unlikely, of course. But filmmakers have been getting rather bold with de-aging technology, so it’s hardly impossible that a future Trek film might take Shatner up on his offer and at least try for a de-aged Kirk flashback or cameo of some kind.

Shatner was doing this interview to promote his biographical documentary You Can Call Me Bill , which is being released On Demand.

The actor famously journeyed into space in 2021 as a member of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin craft, becoming the oldest person to ever go into orbit.

Shatner has managed to remain quite sharp, energetic and hearty despite his years. The actor credits both genetic luck and taking care of himself.

“I eat well, I exercise, I ride horses a lot,” he said. “My wife cooks noninflammatory foods extremely well.”

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Star Trek's William Shatner Knows How His Captain Kirk Can Return (But It's Gross)

James Tiberius Kirk (William Shatner) is without a doubt one of the best Enterprise captains in "Star Trek." The bold, brash Starfleet officer was the main man of "Star Trek: The Original Series" and multiple movies, but with the Kelvin Universe version (Chris Pine) possibly notwithstanding, it's easy to assume that time has passed him by — especially since the character dies in "Star Trek: Generations" when the movie quite literally drops a bridge on him. 

Despite this, Shatner was willing to entertain the idea of bringing Kirk back in an interview with the Canadian Press (via Global News ), and he even came up with a somewhat unsettling plot where Kirk's frozen remains would be used to transplant his brain into a younger version of the character — played by a digitally de-aged Shatner, of course. 

"A company that wants to freeze my body and my brain for the future might be a way of going about it," he described the idea. "'We've got Captain Kirk's brain frozen here.' There's a scenario. 'Let's see if we can bring back a little bit of this, a little salt, a little pepper. Oh, look at that. Here comes Captain Kirk!'"

Shatner isn't happy with the way Kirk dies

William Shatner would change some things about Kirk's death in "Star Trek: Generations," and he's even said that he would go back and demand a better death for Kirk if he could . As such, it's hardly surprising that he's willing to speculate about ways to give his famous character one more whirl — and possibly, a better ending. 

Still, don't take that to mean Shatner is chasing Kirk clout at any cost. On the contrary, he's quite aware of the character's importance in the franchise, and as such, any potential return would require a story worthy of Captain James T. Kirk's time. 

In the Canadian Press interview, Shatner himself notes that while he might be willing to revisit the role in the right circumstances, bringing Kirk back would be a tall order. "It's almost impossible but it was a great role and so well-written and if there were a reason to be there not just to make a cameo appearance, but if there were a genuine reason for the character appearing, I might consider it," he said. As such, if Kirk ever ends up returning on screens big or small, expect Shatner to make sure that fans are in for a thrilling ride. 

93-Year-Old William Shatner ‘Might Consider’ Returning as Captain Kirk in New ‘Star Trek’ Project Through De-Aging: ‘It Takes Years Off of Your Face’

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William Shatner recently told Canadian Press that he wouldn’t rule out returning as Captain Kirk in a new “ Star Trek ” project if the script impressed him. While the actor’s age might pose an issue as Shatner turned 93 years old in March, that’s nothing a bit of de-aging technology couldn’t fix.

“It’s an intriguing idea,” Shatner said about returning as Kirk. “It’s almost impossible. But if was a great role and so well-written and if there were a reason to be there not just to make a cameo appearance, but if there were a genuine reason for the character appearing, I might consider it.”

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“[It] takes years off of your face, so that in a film you can look 10, 20, 30, 50 years younger than you are,” Shatner said.

Another issue around Shatner’s “Star Trek” return is Kirk’s death in the 1994 film “Star Trek Generations,” which is the last time Shatner appeared in the iconic franchise. He’s already brainstormed a plot device that could serve as a workaround and have his version of Kirk come back to life.

“A company that wants to freeze my body and my brain for the future might be a way of going about it,” Shatner said. “‘We’ve got Captain Kirk’s brain frozen here.’ There’s a scenario. ‘Let’s see if we can bring back a little bit of this, a little salt, a little pepper. Oh, look at that. Here comes Captain Kirk!’”

Variety exclusively reported in March that Steve Yockey, creator of the Max series “The Flight Attendant,” had signed on to write the script for “Star Trek 4.” The movie is being designed as the final installment for Pine and the cast. Several attempts to get a fourth “Star Trek” movie off the ground with this cast have failed over the years. One version of the project was to be directed by Matt Shakman (“WandaVision”) and written by Lindsey Beer (“Sierra Burgess Is a Loser”) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (“Captain Marvel”). Shakman left the project to direct Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four” instead.

Other “Star Trek” projects remain in development at Paramount as well. The studio is working with screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith (“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”) and director by Toby Haynes (“Black Mirror: USS Callister”) on an origin story movie, while a project with screenwriter Kalinda Vazquez (“Fear the Walking Dead”) that was first announced in 2021 also remains in development.

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Chris Pine Is Being Kept In The Dark About Star Trek 4

Posted: May 13, 2024 | Last updated: May 13, 2024

Chris Pine, who is set to reprise his role as Captain Kirk in Star Trek 4, was left confused when a new screenwriter joined the project. “I honestly don’t know. There was something in the news of a new writer coming on board. I thought there was already a script,” he told Business Insider. “But I guess I was wrong, or they decided to pivot. As it’s always been with [Star Trek], I just wait and see.” 

Pine As Kirk

Chris Pine also detailed his approach to playing Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek reboot films. “Kirk is a tricky one. You are the lead of the band of characters, so you don’t want to occupy too much space,” he explained. “It’s fine if they are doing a thing, but you don’t want to. J.J. [Abrams] never asked me to do a thing – though I did do little nods to Shatner because it was fun.”

“But I would say I felt most in his shoes in the third movie. By that point, I think I mellowed into it and didn’t feel like I was trying too hard,” the actor continued. Along with Chris Pine, Star Trek 4 will see Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, and the rest of the main cast reprise their roles from the previous films, which include Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), and Star Trek Beyond (2016).

The Final Chapter

Starring Chris Pine, Star Trek 4 remains in development at Paramount Pictures despite several false starts. The studio has described the movie as the “final chapter” of this version of the franchise. There have been many different versions of the film in the works. The first was in 2015, with J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay working on getting it off the ground. 

Different Creators

In December 2017, Quentin Tarantino shared his own idea for a Star Trek movie with producer J. J. Abrams, starting a separate development. S. J. Clarkson was chosen to direct a sequel to Beyond in April 2018, but negotiations with actors Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth fell through that August, and they left Star Trek 4. 

Noah Hawley was brought in to write and direct a new version of the film in November 2019. In January 2020, Tarantino decided not to direct his version, and Hawley’s project was put on hold by new Paramount bosses. In 2021, Kalinda Vazquez was tasked with writing a new script before Matt Shakman was hired to direct a different version with writers Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet. 

Negotiations to bring back Chris Pine and the rest of the main cast for Star Trek 4 started in February 2022. However, Shakman had to leave the project that August due to scheduling conflicts. As a result, Paramount began looking for a new director. By March 2024, Steve Yockey was working on a new draft of the trouble-plagued film.

The Kelvin Timeline

With Chris Pine leading the cats, Star Trek 4 continues the story in the Kelvin Timeline, which refers to an alternate universe created to revitalize the franchise by introducing new stories without altering the original canon. It diverges from the Prime Universe due to a time-travel event involving the destruction of the planet Romulus.

This event leads to the creation of a new timeline where iconic characters like Kirk and Spock have different experiences. The Kelvin Timeline movies, starting with the 2009 film, focus on a reimagined version of these characters in a more action-oriented setting. Its success is attributed to its ability to maintain a connection to the original series. 

However, one critique is that the movies failed to capture the essence of the USS Enterprise, leading to a disconnect with fans who value the ship’s significance. Despite mixed reactions, the Kelvin Timeline films have influenced subsequent additions to the franchise, and fans are excited to see Chris Pine reprise his role in Star Trek 4.

Source: Business Insider

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What Ships Are For

• Episode aired Jul 30, 2017

Kirk struggles with aiding a society whose inhabitants view their isolated world in a very unique way. Kirk struggles with aiding a society whose inhabitants view their isolated world in a very unique way. Kirk struggles with aiding a society whose inhabitants view their isolated world in a very unique way.

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• Trivia This episode features a guest appearance by John De Lancie, the actor who previously played Q on multiple Star Trek spinoff series.

Galisti : Hundreds of years ago, the people of Hyalinus united under a single purpose: to one day become worthy of joining the community of stars.

Thaius : To us, this meant seeking out the best in ourselves and each other. Laying down arms against one another... erasing our borders... and refusing to define ourselves using distinctions like 'us' and 'them.'

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• Aug 24, 2017
• July 30, 2017 (United States)
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“We’ve Got to Visit Them”: A Doctor Who/Star Trek Crossover Would Make Unforgettable TV

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“We’ve got to visit them one day!”

It is, among everything else happening in “ Space Babies “, a pretty throwaway line. Ruby Sunday notices the TARDIS has landed indoors, and says “Is that like a matter transporter, like in Star Trek?” And the Doctor answers, “We’ve got to visit them one day!”

Blowing that one line up into an entire article may seem excessive (although it’s not like the pipeline from “ throwaway gag ” to “entire episode” is a long one – the premise of “ Mummy on the Orient Express ” started out as a comedy phone call the Eleventh Doctor had at the end of Season Five’s finale, “ The Big Bang ”).

But the thing is, when Russell T Davies announced he’d be getting back on his throne as the King of Doctor Who, he had lots of new ideas, but also, some that he never got around to. We already know that episode five of this series is based on an idea that was too expensive to film last time.

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And one of the Great White Whales of Davies’s last tenure, ever since the Eccleston days, was a Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover episode.

Russell T Davies Wants the Doctor on the Enterprise

In his memoir/stack of emails that got turned into a book, The Writer’s Tale , written with Benjamin Cook, Davies writes “I would so love to see the Doctor on board the Starship Enterprise , puncturing all that Starfleet pomposity with his sheer Doctor-ness.”

He goes on to say that “When we began in 2004, Star Trek: Enterprise was still on air, and I told [producer] Julie [Gardner], in all seriousness, that I wanted to do a Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover. It was on our list of plans, until Star Trek: Enterprise was axed.”

It was an idea that Davies loved so much he went back to it for the Easter special that would eventually become Planet of the Dead , in an episode that would have potentially seen the TARDIS land on a starship Endeavour , with crinkly forehead aliens and all the Trek tropes. But eventually Davies discarded the idea as too much like parody – if you can’t land on the real, actual Enterprise , what’s the point?

But sadly, for Davies’ tenure, there was no real, actual Star Trek anymore. Let’s be honest, even Star Trek: Enterprise wasn’t proper Trek, with its faintly industrial looking, submarine-esque sets and its NASA jumpsuit-inspired costumes, the prequel never really managed to be the iconic Trek show of our imaginations.

But now Davies is back, and so is Star Trek, and not just any Star Trek .

Strange New Worlds

If (and that is a massive “if”) that TARDIS were going to land on a Federation starship, there’s no prizes for guessing which one it would be. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is begging for the chance.

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Strange New Worlds is an episodic show whose tone is a mix of drama, comedy, and high science fiction concepts that would gel well with new Doctor Who , and has already demonstrated that it is not above a little bit of crossover horseplay with last season’s Lower Decks overlap.

Strange New Worlds also offers the Enterprise. With all due respect to all other Trek iterations, if  you are bringing the actual TARDIS into the world of Trek, you don’t want the Doctor getting to know Saru, or Boimler, or even having a drink in Quark’s Bar, as great as any of those things would be to see. You want the Doctor on the actual Enterprise 1701 no-bloody-A,-B,-C-or-D. You want him meeting Spock, and Uhura, and more-often-than-seems-statistically-likely Kirk. And that is what Strange New Worlds has to offer.

So, before we all run off and start writing our fan fiction of what that episode might be, the question is “Could it actually happen?”

Davies is the first to admit such a crossover, between multiple huge media franchises and everybody’s lawyers and writing teams, would be a logistical nightmare. Talking about it to The Times in 2009, he said “Can you imagine what their script department would have wanted, and what I would have wanted? It would have been the biggest battle.”

And that was before Doctor Who fell under the Disney umbrella.

Why Not Star Wars?

In fact, a Star Wars crossover might be a good deal more plausible under the circumstances (the Star Wars alphabet “Aurebesh” has already appeared in alien graffiti in the Who episode “Face the Raven” and the current TARDIS art team reportedly hid an R2D2 Easter Egg in the design), but while that might seem an easier fit, it is nowhere near as satisfying.

Despite Davies’s recent flirtations with the fantasy genre , Trek and Who are pure sci-fi at heart, with values of exploration, empathy and a willingness to shift your own perspective that doesn’t sit so well with Star Wars ’ epic battles of good and evil.

The fact that Davies is still saying in interviews that “I love that show… I wish we could [cross over with Trek.] I’m a huge fan of the new franchise” is, counter-intuitively, probably a sign that there are no secret talks going on behind closed doors.

But it has been managed before – just not on telly

The Comic Book Crossover: Assimilation

As many people have no-doubt skipped reading the article to write in the comments already, there has already been a Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover, the IDW comic mini-series “Assimilation 2 ”. It’s a good demonstration of the potential rewards and pitfalls of a TARDIS/Enterprise team-up.

This saw the TARDIS team of Eleven, Amy and Rory land on the Enterprise 1701-D, getting together with Picard and co to take on a Cyberman/Borg super-army. It had some good fan servicey bits in, and some neat ideas (the TARDIS landing in a historical holodeck program and not realising they were in the future was nice), but it also showed the challenges of doing this well.

First and foremost – Doctor Who and Star Trek both span half a century of various media, with entire wikis full of lore. For instance, if the Star Trek: Enterprise crossover had taken place, the Doctor might have wondered why Starfleet wasn’t busy trying to repel the Dalek invasion of Earth.

And it would have to do this while also dealing with the fact that Doctor Who has mentioned Star Trek, the television show, quite a few times in continuity. The comic mini-series spends a lot of time dealing with this, concocting an elaborate plot about the merging of universes, but it’s all just a little bit unwieldy for 45 minutes of family entertainment.

But even beyond those logistics, which can be pretty efficiently handwaved away, the big issue with the comic series was that the Doctor and the Enterprise crew quickly become just too damn chummy .

Natural Enemies: The Doctor vs Starfleet

Back in The Writer’s Tale , Davies acknowledges that “In an official crossover, the Doctor would have had to learn that Starfleet is wonderful, but that’s a small price to pay.”

But the big issue that any crossover would have to contend with (and also, frankly, the big reason for doing the crossover in the first place) is that the Doctor and Starfleet are natural enemies.

You want to see how Starfleet would handle the Doctor? There’s plenty of Trek episodes to give you a clue. We don’t just mean the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “ A Matter of Time ” sees a time-travelling historian turn up on the Enterprise and generate no end of trouble, or the Enterprise episode, “Future Tense” that sees it find a time machine that’s bigger on the inside.

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The character that most resembles the Doctor in Star Trek is Q – a (sometimes) exiled member of a stuffy order of beings that transcend space and time who turns up in Star Trek at random times to flirt with the Captain and generally cause trouble.

Meanwhile, if you want to see what Starfleet looks like through a Doctor Who lens, one need only look at the legions of generic space explorers who turn down the Doctor’s help with a curt “Thank you, funnily-dressed weirdo, but as a highly trained team of professionals, I think we can handle this ourselves” before they all get horribly murdered or eaten.

As we’ve already said, the fundamental values of Trek and Who are the same. Exploration, empathy, communication before combat, a desire to learn and enjoy the wonder of the universe. But at its very heart, Star Trek has always been a workplace drama, about professionals who are doing a job. Just as intrinsically, the Doctor is a tourist on a gap year that never ends.

Starfleet’s Prime Directive, for better or worse , is to never interfere. The Doctor’s prime directive is to never interfere unless he feels like it (which is all the time ).

And that’s why it would be good! Watching the Strange New Worlds Enterprise crew scanning stuff with their tricorders while the Doctor wanders around licking things and pushing random buttons, and seeing Pike agonise about the Prime Directive while the Doctor just casually overturns a system of government he dislikes, sounds like real fun.

Moreover, Strange New Worlds and the current incarnation of Who are both franchises operating not only at their peak, but also almost in their most platonic forms. Seeing that come together would make an unforgettable hour of TV.

Doctor Who airs on BBC One, iPlayer and Disney+. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds airs on Paramount+.

Chris Farnell

Chris Farnell is a freelance writer and the author of a novel, an anthology, a Doctor Who themed joke book and some supplementary RPG material. He…