Speaking of classic episodes with an influence on Discovery, we’d be remiss if we didn’t pull out the Original Series’ Balance of Terror, which Discovery’s original showrunner Bryan Fuller (who also helped write the opening episodes) previously cited as a big influence. Klingon bigwig T’Kuvma mentions Donatu V at one point, a planet that was previously mentioned (in the Original Series’ The Trouble with Tribbles, fact fans) as somewhere the Federation and the Klingons had an encounter during their cold war. While we only really see the Klingons on screen in Discovery, a few other classic Star Trek aliens were referenced in the opening episodes, with the snouted, tiny Tellarites (founding members of the Federation) and blue-skinned antennae-sporting Andorians (who played a big role in Star trek: Enterprise) named as enemies of the Klingons in the past. Like other Klingons in previous series, T’Kuvma is at one point suggested to be a reborn form of Kahless.
Mind meld device in sto series#
Legendary Klingon hero Kahless is also namedropped: Kahless founded the Klingon Empire, appears in the original Star Trek series and is referenced many, many times throughout Trek history (and was actually cloned in The Next Generation). Star Trek: Discovery delves a little deeper into the society of the Klingons this time around, but a few parts of their previous depictions remain, most notably the concept of their afterlife Sto-vo-kor, where the honoured dead go if they perish in battle (basically like the Norse Valhalla). Guess they didn’t want to make it TOO much fun for us… 8. Sadly, though, there was no sign of the original Starship Enterprise joining the fun, despite it being in action (under Captain Kirk’s predecessor Christopher Pike) around this time. More generally, quite a few are named after real-life naval vessels.
Meanwhile the USS Earhart (presumably named after aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart) is from Star Trek novel Tunnel Through the Stars, and the USS Europa turned up in some The Next Generation spin-off novels.
Mind meld device in sto tv#
The USS Edison previously cropped up in a Star Trek e-book and video game Star Trek: Armada II, while the USS Yeager played a small role in TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where it served during the Dominion Wars (and was actually just an altered model of the USS Voyager from Star Trek: Voyager). We listened closely during the arrival of the Federation ships to the Binary Star battle, and we noted a few familiar names relevant to Starfleet history (though as Discovery is a prequel, they’re almost certainly not the same ships). Listen closely….Īnd you’ll notice all sorts of audio callbacks to older Star Trek series, including the echoing sound of the ship’s instruments, the whistling hailing noise and the same red alert effect as many of the older programmes. In the meantime, TV has FINALLY come round to having a female First Officer… 3. More importantly, it also calls back to the female First Officer known only as Number One (above) played by Majel Barrett in the very first Star Trek pilot The Cage, before her character was cut from the approved show (only Leonard Nimoy’s Spock was carried over from the pilot).īarrett later played Nurse Chapel in the Original Series and the mother of Deanna Troi in The Next Generation, and her voice was used for all computer dialogue for years to come. First off, it is the same nickname given to Jonathan Frakes’ First Office William Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation by Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart). USS Shenzou First Officer Burnham is called this nickname by Michelle Yeoh’s Captain Georgiou, and it is of special significance to Star Trek fans.