Last of the Summer Warp Factor

Well, I’ve finally managed to watch Star Trek Picard which although it only consists of 30 episodes feels like something of a feat.  I started during the pandemic when I’d wangled a student discount Amazon membership out of Amazon Prime and the first series seemed to zip along with several new characters added to do the running around like when they had older Dr Whos.  Despite a high special effects budget there seems to be an awful lot of talking going on… Although there was a lot of dialogue in Star Trek the Next Generation it was shared by more characters and there was a complex political structure.  No matter how good Patrick Stewart et al are there comes a point where you do think “oh dear, they’re going to have to pull a face again”.  Things slowed down greatly in series 2 although this might be due to Amazon putting adverts in …although there was something tiring about the dystopian future set up.  There does seem to be an awful lot of nepotism in Star Trek with people’s children keep popping up… although they do make a joke of it by the end.  And it’s not as bad as UNIT … by series 3 it picks up a bit perhaps because they’ve got everyone and their cat back from TNG (yes, there's even a Spot cameo) including Ensign Ro and even the voice of Walter Koenig as the voice of Checkov’s son who has gone into politics.

There’s something Last of the Summer Wine about Star Trek Picard … as both involve mature actors performing physically unbelievable feats.  After all, if you really believe the septuagenarian Michael Dorn is really fit enough to do all that fighting stuff you probably also believe that Bill Owen went down the hill in bathtubs …. Then again, maybe he did and is really in tip top shape? I dunno...  What’s really missing is a Nora Batty character to hit Patrick Stewart with a broomstick for inappropriate flirting…

Also why are all the sets so dark?  Are lightbulbs like really expensive in the 24th century?  Peter Davison used to say all his Dr Whos were over lighted but when they mentioned it to the lighting department an official would say "old people complain that they don't pay their TV licence to look at a dark screen".  As an old person ...

Although have I used the word although enough?  I probably should review individual actor performances its very hard ... Michelle Hurd as Rafaella "Raffi" Musiker the Star Trek alcoholic melds with the rest of the older cast quite well.  And Evan Evagora was memorable until... [redacted spoiler]