Star Trek is facing a critical moment in its history – but here's how it can still live long and prosper

With no new shows in active development for the first time in over a decade and Star Trek now old enough to get a bus pass, the franchise is in a strange place.

Trek has endured for 60 years for a very good reason: it provides a hopeful and optimistic view of the future that foregrounds diverse characters, diverse voices and a focus on problem-solving through science and cooperation above all else.

It shows us a hopeful vision of tomorrow while also overflowing with creative aliens, starships packed with the kind of technology that’s been inspiring scientists and engineers for decades, and beloved characters like Kirk, Spock and Picard that are as popular now as they were when they first debuted.

However, in an increasingly unstable world that prioritises self-referential humour over sincerity, it can often feel like Trek is a relic out of time. So the question becomes, what does Star Trek need to do to survive another 60 years in a world where hope is seen as old-fashioned?

It begins with that famous maxim, “infinite diversity, infinite combinations.” Diversity is deeply ingrained in the DNA of Star Trek. Whether it’s the revolutionary approach to casting and bold decisions to foreground people of colour and women, or it’s the kinds of stories they’re willing to tell that challenge societal structures like capitalism, racism and bodily autonomy.

To see Trek into the next 60 years, the series needs to continue to embrace this diversity of voice and story. Recent series have understood this and, despite their narrative failings at times, have continued to craft diverse characters created by a diverse range of talented writers and filmmakers.

Pushing this into new directions and being brave enough to take risks like Starfleet Academy, without being afraid of backlash, is what will invite new Trekkies into the Star Trek universe. In a world where diversity on screen is increasingly under threat, Trek’s next 60 years need to continue the franchise's legacy of infinite diversity in spite of what happens elsewhere.

This diversity of voice both on screen and behind the scenes also feeds into a need for new ideas and new characters. Revisiting Kirk, Spock and Picard will always be fun for longtime fans, but in order to mint new Trekkies, the universe needs to expand and grow.

Strange New Worlds showed that there is still plenty of dramatic material left to mine in these decades old characters and conflicts (see the episode Under the Cloak of War for a great example of revisiting the Klingon/Federation War), but that well only runs so deep. To push forward into another 60 years, Trek has to develop new worlds, new baddies and new ideas.

Don’t just take my word for it. Executive producer Alex Kurtzman agrees, exclusively telling Radio Times recently: “There's a perception, I think a lot of the time, that because it's 60 years’ worth of storytelling, it's very difficult to enter into that fresh, and obviously we want to grow Star Trek for future generations. Otherwise it won't be around."

Who will be the new Khan? Or the next Borg? What new ideological conflict will the Federation face next? New villains balanced with the classic foes are what will keep Trek feeling fresh and innovative well into the future.

Currently, though, short 10-episode seasons that end before they even get going are hampering writers’ abilities to really dive into characters and explore new ideas. During the '90s we were spoilt. We had The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager all on the air at the same time, all airing 20-plus episode seasons and all teeming with big creative swings.

Peak TV has given us many things, including spectacle at a scale '90s TV could scarcely even imagine. It’s also cost us those quieter moments thanks to truncated episode orders and series being cancelled due to ballooning budgets. Trek has always worked best not when depicting giant space battles but when debating morality in simple rooms or exercising diplomacy on vibrant alien worlds.

The Next Generation episode The Measure of a Man is essentially a courtroom drama that focuses on what it means to be human and it’s every bit as thrilling as any space battle. By having longer seasons with smaller budgets, shows have time to breathe and, crucially, we have longer to spend with these characters. Longer, episodic seasons of TV are where Trek thrives. Give us those morality plays that let great actors act AND large scale two-parters that bring the action all balanced out by that fun, exploratory spirit that makes Trek so special.

Trek has always succeeded by showing us what is possible when humanity embraces diversity and hope, and places an emphasis on cooperation, communication and science over isolationism and hierarchy. Given the prevalence of dystopian fiction and stories depicting the end of the world (see Fallout, Silo, Paradise, etc), hopeful visions of the future are in short supply.

Star Trek has always been about showing a better future. Not a perfect future, but a better one in which we work together to solve problems and place freedom, identity and the agency of every person above all else. By remembering this and ensuring that infinite diversity and infinite combinations continue to form the bedrock of the next 60 years, whatever stories come next will further the series legacy of boldly going where no TV show has gone before.

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