CHILDHOOD PRODIGY

THIS STAR TREK MAY BE ANIMATED, BUT CREATORS THE HAGEMAN BROTHERS AND DIRECTOR BEN HIBON AREN'T JUST DOING IT FOR THE KIDS

- DARREN SCOTT

YOU CAN'T JUMP TO warp these days without hitting a new Star Trek series - and that's a very good thing, especially in the case of Star Trek: Prodigy. An animated show for Nickelodeon, aimed at a younger audience, it sees a group of young adults in the Delta Quadrant commandeering the USS Protostar. You might be asking, "What's a starship doing in the Delta Quadrant?" but spare a thought for its new crew asking, "What's the Federation?"

STARTER TREK

The journey back to Janeway's stomping ground began around three years ago, when Star Trek overlord Alex Kurtzman approached the Hageman Brothers - Dan and Kevin - for an "entry" Trek show. Born in part from wanting to create a jumping-on point for a new generation of fans, and in part from wanting to return the series to toy shelves, it was never entirely “just for kids”, as Dan explains.

"We wanted it for people who are older who are curious about getting into Star Trek who know nothing about it, because it's a lot to come in and know the difference between the Vulcans and Romulans. It's hard to know where, for someone who doesn't know anything about the Federation, to start."

The brothers joke that their first thought was, "Oh God, we don't want to be the people that ruin Star Trek”, but say the journey to Prodigy was one of their smoothest to date.

Dan recalls the moments after their first meeting with production company Secret Hideout. “We were in the parking lot, getting back into our cars. We were like, 'Well, if you make this about characters who don't know anything about Star Trek, then there's a security blanket there. We feel like you have to be a superfan in order to write a Star Trek show, but once we let go of that fear..."