As we head in to the holiday season, the hype for one of 2023’s biggest TV series is beginning to build. Star Trek: Picard returns to screens in the UK on February 17, 2023, the day after its US premiere on Paramount+.
In a new interview with Den of Geek, showrunner Terry Matalas and select members of the returning The Next Generation cast have discussed what’s in store for fans with the third and final season.
“In my mind, I would’ve called it ‘Star Trek Legacy,’” Matalas says. “I mean, it is truly a Picard story. He is the focus. But the spirit of it is different than seasons one and two, just because of what it is.”
Matalas regularly speaks openly about his Trek fandom, particularly the 90’s era which saw not just Star Trek: TNG on the air but also Deep Space Nine and Voyager. With Worf (Michael Dorn) having moved to DS9 for several seasons and the ongoing presence of Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) it’s inevitable that Picard would connect to those other shows.
“I think that it’s important to Deep Space Nine fans to feel seen,” Matalas says. “It’s a continuation of Voyager too, of course, with Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) in our show. If you’re going to be in this time period, there’s such a rich opportunity to honor what came before.”
It’s not just the cast who have inspired this new sense of legacy. Matalas also touched on other elements of those 90s Trek series which he felt needed incorporating into the final episodes. One area which is highlighted in the interview is the music of the final season.
“If we were going to say this is the last Star Trek: The Next Generation film, or 10 of the last Star Trek: The Next Generation movies—because all the episodes are very different—then it needed to sound like that, too,” Matalas says. “And that required Stephen Barton. Then, later in the season, the score gets so massive as the story grows that we had to bring in some help from Frederik Wiedmann, who’s a brilliant composer as well. I grew up with legends [like] Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner. Not to mention Dennis McCarthy and Cliff Eidelman. All those Trek composers have nods.”
In case you missed it, here’s the latest trailer for season 3:
The series is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment, and is distributed internationally by Paramount Global Content Distribution on Prime Video, outside of the U.S. and Canada. For series three, Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, Terry Matalas, Patrick Stewart, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Doug Aarniokoski and Dylan Massin serve as executive producers. Terry Matalas serves as showrunner for season three.
Series one and two of Star Trek: Picard are currently available on Prime Video internationally in more than 200 countries and territories, and is distributed concurrently by Paramount+ in the U.S.
