Trekkies rejoice – everyone’s favourite USS Enterprise Captain is returning to our screens in a new Star Trek spin-off show, Star Trek: Picard. This new series has been created for the streaming platform CBS All Access (USA), but for Aussie fans, we’ll get access thanks to Amazon Prime Video.
How to watch Star Trek: Picard Season 1 in Australia and release date
Season One of Star Trek: Picard is now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video with the first episode of season 1 originally premiering on Friday, 24 January, 2020. New episodes were released weekly on Fridays, and there are 10 episodes in season one. However, now you can binge-watch the entire season as all episodes are now available for streaming.
Even before the first season had aired, the show has already been picked up for a second season of 10 episodes, however release dates are unconfirmed at the moment. There is also the potential for a third season, but CBS has not yet commented on this rumour.
To watch Picard on Amazon Prime Video, you’ll need to sign up to the streaming service, which is $6.99 per month. You can also choose to pay for a year subscription in advance at just $59 upfront, with both options including a 30-day free trial.
Alternatively, you can sign up to Amazon Prime, which gives you access to free and fast delivery on Amazon orders, as well as access to Prime Video, Prime Reading, Prime Music and Twitch Prime.
What is Star Trek: Picard about?
For those who haven’t watched any Star Trek: The Next Generation or its series of movie spin-offs, this is definitely complicated territory. While the original Star Trek series with William Shatner starring as Captain James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock introduced the world to a new kind of Sci-Fi show, The Next Generation was vastly different to The Original Series.
The Next Generation introduced a whole new starship of characters and adventures, set around 100 years after the Original Series. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is a vastly different captain to Kirk. Picard was much more logical and put a higher emphasis on diplomacy than the impulsive Kirk, and he also had a love of Earl Grey tea, Shakespeare and detective stories. He also had many struggles both personally and as a Captain, creating a complex and totally delightful character who grew throughout the series. All of this combined made Picard one of, if not the, most loved Captain of any Star Trek series, so there’s little wonder why Patrick Stewart’s character is set for his own spin-off show.
Star Trek: Picard is set around 18 years after the events of the film, Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), which was also the last time we saw Picard on our screens. This older Picard is much changed — no longer a Captain, no longer part of Starfleet, and struggling after the loss of a close friend and the destruction of the planet Romulus (which was depicted in the 2009 movie reboot, Star Trek, featuring Chris Pine as a young James T. Kirk).
What we can tell from the trailers is that Picard is starting a new adventure, but possibly outside of Starfleet command. We’ll see some familiar faces from past Star Trek series, some new faces, and a lot of mystery surrounding this new character who has come to Jean-Luc for help. See for yourself in the trailer below.
Sign up to Disney+
Prefer Star Wars to Star Trek? Porgs and Wookies over Borg and Klingons? Disney+ is the streaming home of Star Wars, along with Disney, Pixar, Marvel and more — so you can binge non-stop at home and on-the-go.
There are two plan options to choose from – you can sign on for a monthly subscription, or prepay for a year. Both plans include the same features, with unlimited downloads, and the ability to stream on up to four screens at the same time.
Brand | Subscription Type | No. of Screens/same time viewing | Advertised Cost^^/month or year | |
---|---|---|---|---|
min. cost $13.99 over one month |
4 | $13.99 |
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min. cost $139.99 over one year |
4 | $139.99 |
Get DealCanstar Blue receives a commission for sign-ups through Disney+ * | |
^^View important information |
Star Trek: Picard Season 1 release dates Australia
Amazon will air new episodes of season one every Friday, after the premiere date. While we don’t have an official release schedule, new episodes will be available in Australia on the following dates:
- Episode 1: January 24
- Episode 2: January 31
- Episode 3: February 7
- Episode 4: February 14
- Episode 5: February 21
- Episode 6: February 28
- Episode 7: March 6
- Episode 8: March 13
- Episode 9: March 20
- Episode 10: March 27
How can I watch Star Trek shows and movies in Australia?
Want to catch up on all the Star Trek shows and movies? The good news is you can find most of these on streaming platforms Netflix and Stan. On Netflix, you’ll find the shows Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Discovery. Discovery is the newest series (apart from Picard) with a third season to be released some time later in 2020.
As for the films, you’ll find all six of the movies starring the original cast (Star Trek: The Motion Picture through to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country), along with all four films made with the cast from The Next Generation (Star Trek: Generations through to Star Trek: Nemesis). As for the more recent films, currently you can catch both Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness on Stan (Star Trek Into Darkness is also on Netflix). Neither streaming platforms currently have the rights to Star Trek Beyond.
If you’re not the biggest Trekkie out there, but you’re interested in watching Picard, you should probably watch Star Trek: Nemesis and the 2009 Star Trek movie reboot, as both movies provide some context for the plot for Picard.
Whether you’re a dedicated Trekkie or you’ve only watched the more recent movies, Star Trek: Picard looks like it’s going to be a wild ride into the final frontier with one of the franchise’s most loved characters. This next step for one of the biggest Sci-Fi franchises certainly looks like it’s worth engaging with — make it so and bring on season one.
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