Apparently, Sir Patrick Stewart has become so incensed by Brexit and President Trump that he is willing to taint a beloved franchise with his modern political sensibilities.
Speaking with Variety, the acclaimed actor along with the show’s producers said that the much-anticipated “Star Trek: Picard” series on CBS All Access – a quasi-reboot of “The Next Generation” – will be a response to the Trumpian world of Brexit and nationalist populism.
“In a way, the world of ‘Next Generation’ had been too perfect and too protected,” said Stewart. “It was the Enterprise. It was a safe world of respect and communication and care and, sometimes, fun.”
However, for “Picard,” Steward wanted a show that reflected today’s world by centering the drama around how the Federation – the union of planets – takes “an isolationist turn.”
“[The show] was me responding to the world of Brexit and Trump and feeling, ‘Why hasn’t the Federation changed? Why hasn’t Starfleet changed?’ Maybe they’re not as reliable and trustworthy as we all thought,” Stewart said.
Here is just a brief description of the plot from Variety:
“Picard” finds its hero living in near-isolation on a very un-cosmic French vineyard. He is retired and estranged from Starfleet, the interstellar navy to which he devoted most of his life. He’s haunted by a pair of catastrophes, one personal, the other societal — the death of his android colleague Lt. Cmdr. Data (as seen in “Nemesis”) and a refugee crisis spawned by the destruction of the planet Romulus (as seen in Abrams’ “Star Trek”). When those two seemingly disparate strands of his life cross, Picard returns to action, this time without the backing of a Starfleet whose moral center has shifted…
Real-world parallels are not hard to identify.
Stewart went to lament how both the United States and Britain are “f***ed” under President Trump and Boris Johnson.
“I’m not sure which one of us is in the most trouble,” said Stewart. “I think it’s actually the U.K. I think we’re f***ed, completely f***ed.”
Patrick Stewart has previously expressed dissatisfaction with both President Trump and Brexit. Speaking at a Comic-Con event to promote the series in November of last year, Stewart said his pride in Britain dwindled when the country voted to leave the European Union.
“For the last 35 years, I have been so proud to belong to a country that was part of the European Union,” Stewart said. “And I am embarrassed to stand here in front of you, representing a country that is seeking to break that invaluable connection.”
Stewart went on to claim that half of Britain wants to stay in the European Union, an organization he credited with the bringing down of the Berlin Wall and ending apartheid in South Africa.
“I want you to know that well more than half of the population of the United Kingdom wants to stay in the European Union,” Stewart asserted. “The Berlin Wall came down. The Soviet Union ended its dominance and control over so many nations. Apartheid was ended in South Africa. The Good Friday Agreement brought together [both] Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The European Union is all part of that movement, and it is a disgrace that individuals in my country are attempting to separate it.”