2021 has been a very odd year overall. It has seen the relaxing of some of the pandemic restrictions that dominated 2020, and yet, the pandemic hasn’t gone away, and has continued to affect our lives in the last few months. Still, Star Trek has given us much to celebrate, and here are the top 5.
5) Star Trek Day(s)
One of the highlights of 2020 were the events to mark the usual Star Trek milestones – First Contact Day in April and the anniversary of the TOS transmission in September. 2021 was no exception, with Captain Picard Day celebrations joining the ranks in June, following much the same format – cheeky trailers for upcoming series, and panels covering the big announcements. April’s First contact celebrations also saw the announcement that First Contact Weekend would now be the weekend of of a touring US annual convention organised by Reed Pop.
4) Trek Merch
This could probably be a list on its own, but 2021 has seen more great Trek merchandise than you can shake a stick at. Highlights include Fansets’ excellent output, with both magnetic and pin badges based on current and previous parts of the franchise. Also, the Trek literary universe has continued, with spin offs from Discovery and Picard, as well as a wrap up to the post nemesis novels continuity with “Coda”. Last, but not least, franchise icons Janeway and Spock have been given the autobiography treatment.
3) To the Journey
The hugely anticipated Voyager documentary set records, becoming the quickest funded Documentary on Idnigogo in two weeks, hitting all of its stretch goals. The enthusiasm for Voyager, the appreciation for 455 film’s previous movie, the DS9 focused “What We Left Behind”, and lack of celebratory events during Voyager’s actual anniversary year were all a recipe for success.
2) Power to the People (via Pluto)
Just missing out on the main list was Destination Star Trek, the first DST to go ahead in 2 years. However there was a certain controversy around guests etc that may have marred the event for some. One of the many highlights was the Discovery cast’s promotion pf the impending season 4 to the international audience. As far as the actors knew, the show would be returning on Netflix.
Days after the event, but before the expected international roll out of season 4, the truth was revealed. Discovery Season 4 was originally going to debut in the UK on Europe when Paramnount+ was rolled out, with an as of yet undisclosed date.
Unprepared for the backlash from fans and creatives involved, CBS found a solution – the show would be available for download with each episode, and for free via the Pluto streaming service. While still not a perfect solution, it was a lot better than waiting for the still to be determined release date.
1) New Star Trek
I don’t think new Star Trek will ever get old. January saw the completion of Star Trek Discovery Season 3. While it has yet to be formally released in the uK, fans have been able to sample Star Trek Prodigy’s first episode through a limited run on Youtube, or in person at the special premiere events at DST Lower Decks returned for its second series, being both hilarious and a touching tribute to Star Trek past. Finally the year has been rounded out by Discovery’s 4th season
Who knows what 2022 is going to bring, currently there is the promise of a new episode of Trek every week, and hopefully restrictions will eventually sort themselves out again to the point where fans can safely meet up.
However you will be marking the transition to 2022, have a safe and trektastic time.
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