Coming of age

... that Star Trek is a universe.

It doesn't have to be, you know, "We've been sent on a mission to this planet." Um, but I think where the, where Gene's right is that this w- uh, 'cause it doesn't really tell you what the stories are gonna be about week for week to week.

But presumably it was going to be the same kind of stories as were in the original series.

Uh, plus a lot of fighting Klingons or not quite fighting Klingons.

So stopping a war breaking out with the Klingons again this week.

Um, and in that case, do you really expect a bunch of, of, you know, not quite graduated cadets? And if this series runs for five years, they're fifth-year cadets, what happens in season two? Do they all graduate? And then are they like Harry Kim? Do they never get to be c- do, do they ever rise above the rank of ensign? I mean, uh, it, it, it, you know, I mean, and particularly in 1980s TV, I can't see them really having allowed the characters to grow and change in the way that, that you have to if you're gonna make them that young and inexperienced.

And Gene is saying, as we saw eventually, "Let's leap way ahead."

And now looking at all these as a trilogy, kind of like Star Trek 2, 3, and 4 in hindsight, what comes to mind? Several thoughts come to mind to me, but how about you?

I think it's fascinating.

I think it's, you know, what goes around comes around.

I guess it took us 40 years to get a Starfleet Academy show.

But obviously in 1986, it was front and center, first to top people's minds.

But Gene had very reasonable concerns about it.

I think it's very different to do an Academy show after 800 episodes of every other kind of track.

But that's the benefit of hindsight, right?

You know, we'd had the Christopher Eccleston season

and there's a category of product called part works, which are basically magazines that come with something and they're kind of continuity sets and you build them into a collection.

And the sort of tender went out to do Doctor Who.

And my boss at the time, Peter Edwards, was a very wise man, said, this program is for nine-year-old boys who've been listening to Russell.

And the only thing that nine-year-old boys care about is trading cards.

There was a slight problem with this, though, because he wanted to license trading cards separately.

So they didn't want to make them available as a category for part work.

Sealed? yeah it did a youtube live opening or something and yeah unboxing and it was really popular you know and paul you probably haven't seen these things but my my son would watch pokemon and they just rip through them don't they been going through the packets and then they find something they like and go absolutely mental um you know uh so that that's what he did with these so you know there was clearly a kind of demand for it and everything so yeah how did it kind of come back around this time