Star Trek: Discovery review round-up: What the critics are saying

This new addition to the long-running sci-fi series is ticking a lot of boxes

New series Star Trek: Discovery began in the US on Sunday (24 September) and the critical consensus has been cast.

Fortunately, this latest addition to the long-running series seems to tick all the boxes required for longtime Trek fans with reviews branding it both a “promising” and “rollicking” piece of television welcome alongside past inductions to the Gene Roddenberry-created franchise.

Former The Walking Dead star Sonequa Martin-Green's lead performance as Michael Burnham has been unanimously praised by critics with EW preferring her role to Chris Pine's portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek film franchise.

The series, episodes of which will air in the UK on Netflix one day after its CBS premiere (with Klingon subtitles, no less), also stars Michelle Yeoh, Jason Isaacs and James Frain who plays Spock's father, Sarek.

The Independent

"Where Discovery goes from here is anyone’s guess, but its first two episodes have set up a compelling central character, placed her in a world, and then completely wiped away that world. This new, harder-edged Trek feels of a piece with a post-Game of Thrones landscape, but it remains to be seen how much of the idealism can survive in 2017. "

Variety

"There are reasons to hope that Discovery will be promising addition to the Trek canon. If it capitalises on the conflicts at its core, and if it embraces the ambiguity and complexity baked into its DNA, “Discovery” could provide viewers with the kind of character-driven, space-set sci-fi narrative that has long been missing from the television scene. It’s early days yet, and the CBS All Access drama, which contains some wobbly elements, may let lapse into the usual array of alien-of-the-week formulas, but this voyage has potential."

Radio Times

"...the signs weren’t good... but happily for us all Discovery has confounded those expectations to create a rollicking piece of television, paying tribute to the legacy of the half-century-old franchise while taking it to pastures new. It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot of fun."

EW

"...[Sonequa] Martin-Green latches onto some essential Trek protagonist ideal. Call it dutiful toughness... with equivalent material, Chris Pine played his Kirk with physical comedy and flop-sweating tension. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer Burnham’s no-bull professionalism."

Esquire

"The moment when Captain Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and First Officer Michael Burnham (Martin-Green) transport onto an enemy Klingon ship, phasers drawn to save the downed U.S.S. Shenzhou, is a glorious moment of television - one that perfectly fits with the storied history of Star Trek. It also feels at home in this era of prestige TV, in which shows like The Handmaid’s Tale, Atlanta, Veep, and Master of None recently cleaned up at the Emmys."

Vulture

"Viewers will surely quibble over all the contrivances that the writers believed were necessary to manoeuvre its characters into dramatically expedient positions, but even when the plotting is a hunk of Swiss cheese, their psychologies are rock-solid. This is light years removed from being a perfect TV show, but it already shows signs of being a great one."