star trek logo background

• Digwallpapers

Star Trek Logo Wallpapers

Show your love for the iconic Star Trek logo with this wallpaper collection. The sleek and futuristic design of the logo represents the spirit of exploration and discovery that defines the Star Trek universe. Display the logo proudly on your screen and let it serve as a reminder of the endless possibilities that lie beyond the stars. Explore the Star Trek logo collection and choose your favorite wallpaper today!

More collections

Star Trek Logo Wallpaper

Looking for the best wallpapers? We have an extensive collection of amazing background images carefully chosen by our community. If you have one of your own you’d like to share, send it to us and we’ll be happy to include it on our website. Feel free to download, share, comment and discuss the wallpapers that inspire you!

More wallpaper collections

Upload wallpapers

Upload image Please, create an account or sign in to submit an image

What is a desktop wallpaper? When you boot your computer, there is an initial screen that comes up, in which your folders, documents, and software shortcuts are placed. The background of this screen can be a single colour, multiple colours, or some other graphical representations. A desktop wallpaper is highly customizable, and you can give yours a personal touch by adding your images (including your photos from a camera) or download beautiful pictures from the internet. What you need to know is that these images that you add will neither increase nor decrease the speed of your computer. What is the use of a desktop wallpaper? Well, adding a wallpaper to your desktop is not mandatory. In fact, you can decide to use a dark colour, and life will move on as usual. However, this element comes with a sense of beauty. They add glamor to your computer and make it look aesthetically appealing and highly presentable. Sometimes, people display their feelings through the use of desktop wallpapers. Interesting, huh? You can add an image that shows how you feel or one that means something to you. Adding a quote will act as a reminder of what inspires you in your day-to-day life. That said, desktop wallpapers cannot be ignored, they mean different things to different people. Can I design desktop wallpapers? Yes, you can! You do not need to be a graphic designer for you to do this. All you need to do is to know how to save images as wallpapers, and there you go! You will have a wallpaper that suits your needs and preferences. How do I make an image my desktop wallpaper? You can do this by following a simple process: 1. Select a photograph from your collection. 2. Right-click the image and select the option to set it as your background. Once you are done, you can play around with an array of 3D, screen resolution, and tiling options available, and choose one that befits you.

See more tags

• ❶ GetWallpapers

3840x2160 Star Trek logo, Star Trek, movies HD wallpaper free download

• Wallpaper Flare
• Star Trek logo, Star Trek, movies HD wallpaper
• 3840x2160 wallpaper

Wallpaper detail:

Wallpaper keywords:.

• Star Trek ,
• 3840x2160 ,

Wallpaper dominant color:

Related 59 hd wallpapers.

The talented Kristian Trigwell (aka “Reverend”) spent many months researching hundreds of logos, insignia, and symbols seen in every Star Trek series and movie, and then faithfully reproduced them as vector artwork. He also included a few original designs of his own. Do you wonder what the governmental emblem of Angosia III looked like? Or are you looking for a good version of the insignia for the Department of Temporal Investigations? From the Great Seal of the Federation to the logo of Dyson-Yoyodyne Corporation, there’s a good chance it’s listed here!

Disclaimer: All images in this section are copyright © 2004-2009 Kristian Trigwell, and are reproduced with the permission of the artist. Star Trek is a registered trademark of CBS Studios Inc. No copyright infringement is intended. These images are intended for noncommercial purposes only. Read the complete legal notice for more information.

• AI Generator

29 Star Trek Logo Stock Photos & High-Res Pictures

Browse 29 star trek logo photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more photos and images..

File : Star Trek text logo.svg

File history, file usage on commons, file usage on other wikis.

Original file ‎ (SVG file, nominally 650 × 650 pixels, file size: 9 KB)

Summary [ edit ]

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

You cannot overwrite this file.

The following page uses this file:

• File:Star Trek Classic logo.svg

The following other wikis use this file:

• Benutzer:Chaddy
• Benutzer:Chaddy/Vorlage:Star Trek
• Discussion utilisateur:SerSpock
• Wikipédia:Atelier graphique/Images à améliorer/Archives/Octobre 2007
• Discussion utilisateur:Phe/Archive 2008 avril-juillet
• Gebruiker:ATX-NL
• Wikipedia:优良条目/2009年1月
• Wikipedia:优良条目/2009年1月6日

Structured data

Items portrayed in this file, copyright status, copyrighted, dedicated to the public domain by copyright holder, copyright license, released into the public domain by the copyright holder, 15 october 2007, source of file, original creation by uploader.

• Star Trek logos
• Self-published work
• Unchecked SVG validity
• SVG created with Inkscape:Important
• Unspec New SVG created with Inkscape
• Unspec SVG created with Inkscape
• Graphic Lab-fr
• Files created by User:Sémhur
• Diagrams by User:Sémhur
• Location not applicable

Navigation menu

• More to Explore
• Series & Movies

Published Aug 23, 2023

The Starfleet Insignia Explained

No Star Trek symbol captures the eye or imagination quite like the delta.

StarTrek.com

"The Starfleet Symbol." "The Arrowhead." "The Delta."

Star Trek uses symbols to convey a lot of things, but none captures the eye or imagination quite like the delta. In the years since The Original Series first aired, fans have tried to determine the meaning behind the various insignia shapes we see in the show. To most, it seems that the iconic delta shape is some sort of ship assignment patch meant to represent the U.S.S. Enterprise .

Some arrive at this conclusion because they see various Starfleet personnel wearing a number of different insignia. However, like any puzzle without a key, it’s impossible to precisely interpret the meaning of these other insignia.

The hidden key to the puzzle was finally uncovered a few years ago. The discovery was a memorandum written by producer Robert H. (Bob) Justman to  costume designer William Ware (Bill) Theiss . The subject? STARSHIP EMBLEMS.

A copy of that memorandum has been digitized from the Gene Roddenberry  Star Trek  Television Series Collection (held in the Library Special Collections division of the Young Research Library at UCLA in Irvine, California) and is shown below:

This memo, written during the production of the episode "The Omega Glory," and referencing Captain Ron Tracey, nullifies the long-held assumption that Starfleet assigned different insignia shapes to starships during TOS. Theiss’ inclusion of an alternate insignia for the  Exeter 's captain and chief medical officer, unfortunately, downplays how genuinely ubiquitous the delta insignia is within the  Star Trek  universe. As a result, fans of the series are left with conflicting visual information regarding the meaning of the insignia worn throughout the original series.

Nearly 50 years after Bob Justman wrote his memo, we now have the opportunity to clarify the use of each and every Starfleet uniform insignia used in   TOS. With a wee bit of Scotty's ingenuity, and a pinch of Vulcan logic, the complete picture of what Gene Roddenberry envisioned for the delta insignia should snap into focus.

There are six Starfleet duty insignia used in The Original Series:

• Starship Duty Insignia (Fleet personnel emblem)
• Spacecraft Duty Insignia (Auxiliary Fleet/ Merchant Marine personnel emblem)
• Outpost Duty Insignia (Outpost and Colony personnel emblem)
• Cadet Duty Insignia (Starfleet Academy student emblem)
• Starbase Duty Insignia (Headquarters,  Space stations, Drydocks, and Ground installation personnel emblem)
• Fleet Command Insignia (Senior field commander personnel emblem)

In the  Star Trek  universe, the delta emblem is a direct descendant of the vector component of the old NASA (and later UESPA) logos in use during Earth’s space programs of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Those symbols were worn by some of the first space explorers and adorned uniforms and ships during humanity’s first steps into the final frontier.

United Earth Space Probe Agency integrated with Starfleet as the leading United Earth space exploration service.

The delta insignia was first drawn in 1964 by costume designer William Ware Theiss with input from series creator Gene Roddenberry. The delta — or “Arrowhead” as Bill Theiss called it — has evolved into a revered symbol and one that's synonymous with  Star Trek  today.

The delta also conveys information about the wearer’s duties aboard ship using a series of division symbols. When paired with a distinctive, elongated “star,” the insignia represents someone assigned to the Command division aboard ship. When it displays the “planet” symbol, it represents the Sciences division, a stylized “e” stands for Engineering (later Operations), and a red “Swiss Cross” is worn by starship personnel assigned to the Nursing Corps.

Captain James T. Kirk wearing the Starship Duty Insignia, Command Division.

Let’s continue our study of  Star Trek ’s insignia with personnel assigned to other starships that are wearing the delta insignia.

Before we knew about this memo, we assumed that each ship had its own unique insignia, but there are problems that theory doesn't account for. For instance, does it bother you, or at least seem odd to see the surly guys in Starbase 11’s Officer's Club (in the episode "Court Martial") giving “their captain” a hard time over the presumed death of their mutual friend Ben Finney? Or, to see deceased crew members aboard the  U.S.S. Defiant  (in the episode "The Tholian Web") wearing the delta insignia?

If different starships had different symbols, why weren't they wearing them? Simple. The memo makes it clear that those Starfleet officers are not assigned to the  Enterprise ; they are simply wearing Starfleet’s standard-issue Starship Duty Insignia.

Non-Enterprise Starfleet personnel in Starbase 11’s Officer’s Club in Court Martial, and Below: Deceased U.S.S. Defiant crew member wearing the Starship Duty Insignia in "The Tholian Web."

By now, you might be saying, “What about U.S.S. Exeter ’s Captain Ron Tracey and his chief surgeon, Dr. Carter?” As these two insignia patches are the error being addressed in the memo, they need no further explanation. They alone are the anomaly (an anomaly Theiss never repeated), which led to the misconception that every ship has its own assignment insignia.

Above: Captain Ron Tracey of the U.S.S. Exeter, and Below: his CMO, Dr. Carter.

As you can see here, Theiss thoughtfully, if erroneously, provided both officers with unique assignment insignia patches, and in keeping with his fastidious reputation, insured both patches included their appropriate division symbols.

Early in TOS, we get our first look at non-delta insignia. In the episode "Charlie X,"  Antares ’ Captain Rampart and his first officer are wearing the Spacecraft Duty Insignia, which indicates that they are assigned to an auxiliary spacecraft serving in Starfleet's Merchant Marine Corps — just as Justman points out in his memo. 

Antares' Captain Rampart, and his XO wearing the Merchant Marine Spacecraft Duty Insignia.

Not long after that, we get a look at another new insignia. The Outpost Duty Insignia is worn by Starfleet personnel assigned to outposts on the very edge of Federation space, the frontier. This emblem is characterized by a gold spikelet against a black background. Warning: Do not put yourself in a situation where this insignia goes on your uniform. Personnel wearing this badge never seem to live happily ever after.

Outpost Crew from "Balance of Terror" & "Arena" pictured wearing the Outpost Duty Insignia.

A few episodes later, the Enterprise takes shore leave and Kirk reminisces about his days at the Academy. Worn by students attending Starfleet Academy, the Cadet Duty Insignia is characterized by a pewter colored, smaller version of the Starbase Duty Insignia.

Second Class Midshipman Finnegan wearing the Cadet Duty Insignia.

First seen in "The Menagerie," the Starbase Duty Insignia is worn by personnel assigned to Federation Starbases, which include Starfleet Headquarters, space stations, drydocks, and other ground installations. The emblem, which is devoid of any departmental symbol, is a stylized representation of an “Evening Starflower” (a flowering plant native to the western hemisphere of Earth).

Above: Admiral James Komack of Starfleet Command - Sector 9, and Below: Admiral Fitzpatrick.

Miss Piper, assistant to Commodore Mendez, and Lt. Areel Shaw Starbase 11 JAG Officer wearing the Starbase Duty Insignia.

So how does Commodore Wesley in "The Ultimate Computer," or Commodore Decker in "The Doomsday Machine," fit into the spectrum of Starfleet insignia?

Well, let’s talk about commodores for a moment. A commodore is a flag officer rank, one position above captain. A starship captain usually commands a single vessel, but a commodore ordinarily commands more than one ship. Usually, commodores command a group of ships (either close to their flagship or distant), or in the case of TOS, they normally command a starbase.

In charge of evaluating the operational performance of the M5 computer while it's in total control of a starship, Commodore Wesley sits in temporary command of the  U.S.S. Lexington  to lead a battle fleet in war games against the  Enterprise . Throughout the episode, Commodore Wesley continues to wear his Starbase Duty Insignia, while the  Lexington  crew would have been wearing the delta.

Commodore Bob Wesley in the transporter room briefing Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock about the M5 computer.

Finally, we come to one of my favorite characters ever — Commodore Matt Decker in "The Doomsday Machine." We saved him for last because we could only properly discuss his insignia and what it means after we talked about Starfleet’s other symbols first.

William Windom as Commodore Matt Decker

Unlike Commodore Bob Wesley, who was only in temporary command of the  Lexington , Matt Decker is a Flag Officer with permanent field command of a starship. In fact, he's the only Flag Officer we see in  Star Trek  with a field command. As a consequence of Commodore Decker's rank and status as Commander of the  U.S.S. Constellation  (his flagship), he wears the Fleet Command Insignia denoting his status as a Flag Officer in the field. If we had seen Commodore Decker's crew (may they rest in peace), we would have seen the delta shape insignia in use on their uniforms. Commodore Decker's own first officer would have held the rank of Captain and worn the Starship Duty Insignia.

It should be noted that "The Doomsday Machine," which was filmed early in Season 2, is not referenced in Bob Justman’s memo. Some speculate that Decker’s absence from the memo is further indication of the inconsistent use of emblems in  Star Trek , but that presupposes that the production staff missed that detail. However, the very existence of the Justman memo, and a whole forest of others just like it, demonstrates that the opposite is true.

The production team of  Star Trek  worked diligently to ensure that every aspect of the future they were busy creating held up under scrutiny. Gene Roddenberry was notoriously rewriting scripts himself to ensure no less than exactly what he wanted ended up on-screen, and that fastidious nature permeated the entire production staff. That Decker’s unique emblem is not mentioned in the production memo indicates that his particular insignia isn't an error at all; but represents something else.

Check out Commodore Decker's insignia. Remember that when Theiss created the insignia for Captain Ron Tracey, he went out of his way to ensure it was emblazoned with a Command Star department symbol. Commodore Decker has no such departmental symbol in his insignia patch, which places it in the same design lineage as the Starbase Duty Insignia, which is also devoid of any departmental symbol.

At this point in  Star Trek , we’ve seen a number of flag officers; but they have all worn the Starflower shape, which indicates assignment to a starbase, while Matt Decker alone in TOS series serves as a flag officer in permanent command of a starship. He is wearing an insignia that conveys his unique status, the Fleet Command Insignia, and if you look closely, you'll see that Matt Decker’s emblem is visually related to the Starbase Duty Insignia. Decker’s insignia is a stylized representation of an individual petal from the same “Evening Starflower” emblem that comprises the starbase symbol. This insignia isn't mentioned in the production memo because it's not an error at all.

Hopefully, by now, you can see how consistent the  Star Trek  costume department really was in their use of insignia, and that Bill Thiess never repeated the error he made during "The Omega Glory" after it was pointed out by the memo.

Returning to the delta, Roddenberry and Justman intended it to be a very special symbol that communicates something important. The insignia worn on Starfleet uniforms is the equivalent of the badges worn by U.S. Service members — to show how they serve, not where they serve. Both men served with distinction in World War II. Roddenberry was an Army Air Corps pilot and Justman was a radio operator in the Navy. In the air and at sea, they understood the value of visual communication. In uniform, they themselves carried those values on their chests, on their collars, and on their sleeves. Twenty years after they wore their own various insignia, they helped to create something new — a symbol to inspire others. In the 1960s, the Starfleet delta had far more in common with the golden pin awarded to a NASA astronaut than a simple mission patch, and it was intended to equal that proud emblem in both use and sentiment.

The NASA Astronaut Pin. There are two versions of this pin, a silver pin awarded to those who complete their training, and a gold pin awarded only to astronauts who have flown in space.

The delta proclaims that the person wearing it has achieved the goal of every cadet entering the Academy, and the dream of many a devoted fan — to serve aboard a starship and set sail in an endless sea of stars.

Starfleet Insignia Badge, Command Division from Star Trek Discovery

They used to say if man could fly, he'd have wings. But he did fly. He discovered he had to.

Captain James T. Kirk

I am grateful to have an experienced and learned group of expert Star Trek fans who helped with the research on this article — Steve Fronczek, Creative Services Manager, ANOVOS; Lieutenant Commander Michael J. Quigley, United States Navy; and Dayton Ward, Star Trek author.

Get Updates By Email

This article was originally published on October 7, 2018

John Cooley is a lifelong Star Trek fan.

• Behind The Scenes
• Star Trek 101

We’re sorry, but Freepik doesn’t work properly without JavaScript enabled. FAQ Contact

• Notifications
• Go back Remove
• No notifications to show yet You’ll see useful information here soon. Stay tuned!
• Downloads 0/60 What is this?
• My collections
• My subscription

Find out what’s new on Freepik and get notified about the latest content updates and feature releases.

• Star wars logo
• Onlyfans logo
• R star logo
• F star logo
• Asterisk logo
• Patagonia logo
• G star logo
• Lone star logo

Star Trek Logo Images

• Add to collection
• Save to Pinterest

• vintage badge
• space badge
• space stickers

• space rocket

• alien spaceship

• galaxy logo
• gradient logo
• business logo

• retro badge
• logo sticker

• beach doodle
• summer doodle
• beach sketch

• galaxy space
• galaxy universe

• rocket logo

• rocket ship
• rocket launch

• astronaut helmet

• space design

• Cartoon rocket

• game console

• business launch
• startup rocket

• vintage style

• space travel

• logo illustration
• letter logo
• logo symbol

• astronaut logo

• company logo

Filed under:

Star Trek: Discovery boldly goes where no Trek has gone before by saying religion is... OK, actually

‘Whistlespeak’ breaks from Trek tradition to be pretty chill about believing in a higher power

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Reddit
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: Star Trek: Discovery boldly goes where no Trek has gone before by saying religion is... OK, actually

Star Trek’s future is a secular one. Franchise creator Gene Roddenberry was an avowed atheist , and the series and its spin-offs have routinely criticized organized religion as manipulative, illogical, and detrimental to the evolution of a society. Individual members of the human race may have an undefined spirituality, a curiosity about the afterlife, or a sense of wonder at the unknown or unknowable, but specific religious beliefs are typically reserved for alien cultures.

But, if Trek’s fervently pro-science and anti-superstition has remained constant, so have the attempts by different storytellers within the franchise to approach religion from other, more tolerant angles. And the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery , “Whistlespeak,” may present Trek ’s most even-handed take on faith to date.

Religion as childhood fantasy

Somewhat restrained by the standards and practices of 1960s television, Star Trek: The Original Series used sci-fi allegories to criticize religion as an institution that stifled advancement and expression. In two episodes (“The Return of the Archons” and “The Apple”), Captain James T. Kirk and his Enterprise crew encountered a planet where a population was cowed into willful ignorance or repression by a deity that turned out to be a computer, which Kirk summarily destroyed.

In the 1980s, however, Star Trek’s writers were free to take the gloves off and criticize religion directly. In the 1989 Next Generation episode “Who Watches the Watchers,” Captain Jean-Luc Picard is mistaken for a god by a Bronze Age civilization for whom religion is already a thing of the past. Picard is mortified to be the catalyst for what he, in no uncertain terms, views as a societal regression, and steps in to reveal the truth to his new worshippers, even at the risk of his own life.

The position of “Who Watches the Watchers,” and of Star Trek at large, is that people turn to the supernatural when there are questions they can’t answer, but that the answers will always come, eventually. The willingness to pursue those answers and the patience to avoid drawing rash conclusions is a sign of maturity. By contrast, inventing digestible but unsupportable explanations for life’s mysteries is a sign of immaturity , a phase to be grown out of.

Other people’s gods

After Gene Roddenberry’s death in 1991, there was a gradual shift in the way Star Trek stories approached religion. The human species had still exited the evolutionary stage at which religion was practiced, but many of their peers in the galactic community — such as the Klingons and the Bajorans — held strong religious beliefs. And these beliefs began to be explored in much greater detail.

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , the human members of the command crew go to great lengths to not only respect but participate in the Klingon rituals of their comrade, Lt. Commander Worf. Ahead of Worf’s marriage to Jadzia Dax, his colleagues Captain Sisko, Chief O’Brien, and Dr. Bashir join him for four days of fasting and physical exhaustion (though not without complaint). When Jadzia is murdered and Worf fears her death has not earned her a place in the Klingon Valhalla of Sto-Vo-Kor, Bashir and O’Brien follow Worf on a potential suicide mission to win glory in her honor. Worf’s friends are content to take Klingon religion at face value, and the existence of Sto-Vo-Kor is never questioned.

During this era of Star Trek, alien religious beliefs were not merely tolerated, but validated. This is an important wrinkle in the case of the Bajoran religion on Deep Space Nine , whose worshiped Prophets are undeniably real: a species of non-corporeal beings who live outside of time and periodically intervene in the development of the nearby planet Bajor. Whether or not the Prophets have done the things the Bajorans worship them for is not up for debate, only whether or not they should be treated with religious reverence. Through DS9 ’s exploration of Bajoran politics, religious power is as dangerous as the person wielding desires it to be — not inherently malevolent or infantilizing towards its people. But, of course, since the existence of the Bajoran gods can be scientifically proven, their value as an analog to real-life religion is limited.

Discovery’s middle way

The streaming era of Star Trek under executive producer Alex Kurtzman, which began in 2017, has seen some new, minor references to religious practices in human society. For example, an unnamed background character serving aboard the USS Cerritos on Star Trek: Lower Decks can be seen wearing a hijab, indicating that some semblance of Islamic tradition is still observed in the 24th century. Not long after we meet Captain Christopher Pike during the second season of Star Trek: Discovery , we learn that his father taught both science and comparative religion.

But “Whistlespeak,” which comes midway through Discovery ’s fifth and final season, returns fully to the Original Series’ territory of a classic “weird alien religion” episode, and with a much more multi-faceted approach. Captain Burnham and her crew visit the planet Halem’no. which is nigh-uninhabitable except within the radius of a tower-like device that was secretly installed by a Federation scientist centuries earlier. The planet’s surviving inhabitants are a peaceful and friendly pre-warp civilization who believe that the towers are temples built by their gods.

Disguised as locals, Burnham and her friend and shipmate Lt. Sylvia Tilly join the faithful Halem’nites for a ceremonial marathon up to the towers as tribute to their divine saviors. It’s a joyful ritual that brings the entire community together, but there’s a shocking twist the Starfleet visitors only learn after the race is finished. Tilly and the marathon’s other winner, a Halem’nite named Ravah, are locked inside the tower, where they will eventually asphyxiate; a sacred sacrifice to keep the planet’s terrible storms at bay.

Though Starfleet officers are forbidden to interfere in the development of pre-warp civilizations, Burnham isn’t about to let Tilly (or Ravah) die to satisfy some arcane ritual. However, rather than tearing the whole society down like Kirk might have done, Burnham appeals directly to the community’s leader — Ravah’s father, Ohvahz — and implores him to stop the sacrifices, explaining the tower will do its work whether or not his child gives their life. Ohvahz is, naturally, open to the idea of not killing his child, but fears that revealing that their temple is actually an alien artifact will shatter his community and lead to violent conflict. What is their civilization without their faith and traditions?

“Better off,” is how Picard would probably answer. But Burnham’s response is more measured.

“There is still what you believe. Nothing we’ve shown you means gods don’t exist… it’s just that you know that there’s also us… Beliefs can evolve. Denying that can cause almost as much chaos as the worst storm.”

It’s probably no accident that Ravah, the teenager who’s supposed to be sacrificed in this episode, is gender non-binary, a trait which is not controversial for the Halem’nites but is condemned by many conservative religious groups here on present-day Earth. There’s also a parallel to the climate crisis, as the Halem’nites will need to learn to maintain the alien weather tower in order to keep their world safe. Would Christianity collapse if their leaders recognized that some of their flock don’t fit into the gender identities described in their holy texts, or that human intervention is required to undo human-made damage to the Earth? Probably not, and their inflexibility is only doing harm to their community. It’s not necessary to hold onto harmful policies or practices, nor is it necessary to throw out an entire system of beliefs because of new, contradictory, or unanticipated information.

Meanwhile, aboard Discovery, Dr. Hugh Culber has been trying to make sense of his own spiritual awakening, a feeling of connection to a higher power that has lingered with him since an out-of-body experience on a recent away mission. As a scientist, Culber’s first instinct is to investigate, understand, and catalog this sensation, but the explanation eludes him. He seeks the advice of his friend Cleveland Booker, a non-human with his own spiritual life, who essentially asks him, “Why do you need to understand it?” With this guidance, Culber decides that the value of his new spirituality is in how it feels, not where it comes from.

The approach to religion in “Whistlespeak” does not broadly condemn religion like The Original Series or The Next Generation , or rationalize and tolerate faith as a quirk of the other, like Deep Space Nine . Instead, “Whistlespeak” questions why a philosophy that is rooted in the unknowable should be attached to absolutes. Spirituality is what you make of it, whether that’s on an individual or community level. Religion can do harm, but it doesn’t have to, so long as its leaders and its believers are willing to embrace uncertainty. In this way, at least, science and religion can find some common ground.

Star Trek: Discovery is cracking open a box Next Gen closed on purpose

Star trek: discovery is finally free to do whatever it wants, the 10 horniest episodes of star trek, ranked by cultural impact, loading comments....

site categories

‘9-1-1’ crew member killed in car accident after 14-hour overnight shift, breaking news.

• Showrunner Russell T. Davies On Ushering An Inclusive Era Of ‘Doctor Who’

By Destiny Jackson

Destiny Jackson

Awards Writer

More Stories By Destiny

• ‘The Morning Show’ Showrunner Charlotte Stoudt Teases Season 4 & Talks How The Series Stays Relevant — Contenders TV 
• ‘Genius: MLK/X’ Team On Creating “Aha Moments” To Bring Fresh Perspective To Civil Rights Leaders  — Contenders TV

After 13 years away from the smash-hit British sci-fi series Doctor Who , showrunner and executive producer Russell T. Davies is back and ready to (slightly) reintroduce the Doctor in a way that’s a bit more nuanced and bolder than ever before.

Related Stories

'Scavengers Reign' Canceled After 1 Season At Max

'Doctor Who' TV Review: New Season Sees New Time Lord, New Disney Partnership, The Beatles & A Lot Of Joy In The Tardis

Deadline spoke to Davies about the importance of his work as a queer filmmaker and the unabashedly fun choices in the latest season of Doctor Who .

DEADLINE: You ushered in Doctor Who’s iconic revival in 2005, and now you’re back almost a decade later. I’m curious about the throughline of your work on things like Queer as Folk to Years and Years to now cultivating this new queer Doctor Who. As a queer person yourself, what does all of this mean to you? 

When you get lucky like that, I think you have to act with responsibility. I know it’s a very hungry audience that is rarely satisfied. I met someone recently who loved a show I’d written called Cucumber . Believe me, that show died a death—no one liked Cucumber . So, meeting someone who loved it was such a special moment for me. I’m always aware, especially as time marches on, that I carry this legacy of being white, male and gay. And it’s my job to look beyond that because there’s no point in sitting still. I have to look at myself and be certain that I’ve moved on. I look to society and try to listen to what’s going on and open gateways. When you become more of a senior figure in television, it’s your job to open doors and let the next people through and to let trans and queer stories through and to become familiar with this language myself instead of settling into middle age. 

One of the marvelous things about being gay is that actually you’re always in the news, whether you want to be or not. It’s in every presidential election or prime ministerial election in Great Britain, someone will ask about gay rights, someone will ask about queer rights; you find yourself in this remarkable position of always being topical and newsworthy.  And although I wish a lot of those problems and discussions didn’t happen—that they’d be fixed and settled but nonetheless, you find yourself always being in the news. And I think that keeps you topical and alert. It means you can’t quite settle into middle age because your rights are not enshrined and are paper thin. I have always said that our rights are paper thin, and lo and behold, the past five years have proved me right. I don’t take any joy or satisfaction in being proved right in this at all. So, when it comes to this whole world, this whole vortex of this whole continuum, my own work that I’ve created, then Doctor Who is simply just a natural part of that. And I have to believe that I’ve been employed to write, to be me, to simply write the way I write, and to say the things that I say.

DEADLINE: As you stated, the times and cultural climate have certainly changed, especially since you were last at the helm of Doctor Who in 2010. This is also reflected in some of the themes laid out in the early episodes of the show. The thing that particularly jumped out to me was the mental health of it all. The Doctor and Ruby Sunday seem more introspective about their backgrounds, or lack thereof, in this exploration of their identity crises. 

DAVIES: It’s a world now in which the greatest thing we can do is reach out to people and try to help in matters of mental health. To all young people, more so than ever before, we need to reach out to them and say, “Express yourself and tell us when you’re unhappy, and actually tell us when you’re happy.” One of the glorious things about TikTok is that they can all dance and show themselves having enormous fun in their bedrooms. It’s not all misery; there’s real joy in being a teenager.

So, for those people who’ve been through the adoption process or the fostering process, and certainly, amazingly, for people who’ve been foundlings, it is a very rare thing but an astonishing experience to have to go through. We’re all wondering who we are, and I think that’s a very modern question to put into Doctor Who . And when you also factor in that the Doctor has recently discovered that he is not a Time Lord by birth, that he was an abandoned child, it just starts to resonate. The best thing you can do with a science fiction property is make it mean something at home. In the way that I love Star Trek, it aspires to be the best of us. Star Trek genuinely encourages us to do well, to trust our friends, to have faith, and to have faith in the system.

Doctor Who has different values, Doctor Who’s much more individual and idiosyncratic and would run away from a formal process as being the crew of a spaceship. Nonetheless, they’ve all got something to teach us, and I think that’s a great place to be working. I love writing this stuff. I love doing this stuff because if you can humanize it, then as all great science fiction has always done, it’s only people who don’t watch science fiction who think that science fiction is cold. 

DEADLINE: This season has so much zaniness than in the previous iterations. Now that Doctor Who has a Disney budget, how has that amplified your approach for the new season? 

DAVIES: I wanted the show to be fun and a bit nuts. I think there’s an awful lot of television now, and I watch an awful lot of television, but I think there’s so much television that [sticks too rigidly] to the three-act structure. You know when there are 10 minutes left to go, when there’s going to be a major event, or when the murderer is going to be caught. So, I think it’s time for a show just to break those rules. Writing is about the heart and the pulse and sparks in the brain. Writing is about psychology. It’s about understanding people and why they do what they do. It’s not about hitting a particular beat 17 minutes in. So, I wanted to show this kind of laughing in the face of those rules. 

Doctor Who has its own charm and property; it’s always been mad. The whole fundamental principle is here’s a wooden box that’s bigger on the inside than on the outside, and it just goes anywhere for no reason. It’s not his job, it’s not his mission, it’s not his task, it’s not a quest, he just pops off to the next place at random, and that is joyously freewheeling. You have goblins who sing, a God of Music, and you pop back in time to meet the Beatles. And I can promise there is lots more of that to come [in future episodes]. 

But, at the same time, it’s worth saying to new viewers that there’s always a very strong story. There’s always good and bad at work. There’s always a crisis for the Doctor. There’s always the human companion to experience things through. So, the bones of a proper story are still there, but I think the chance to have fun and go wild is irresistible.

DEADLINE: Speaking of music, there’s quite a bit of singing this season. When you cast Ncuti and Millie Gibson , did you tell them they’d do all this beforehand? 

DAVIES: To be honest, we didn’t. Just in case they ran away [laughs]. I think they were surprised. I’m putting words in their mouths, but I think they weren’t ready for the fact that they actually had to sing in the studio. I think they thought it’d all be pre-recorded, but we did a kind of Les Misérables on them and said, “Let’s actually sing it for real,” so that was a shock. 

Doctor Who is now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes every week until June 21, 2024. [This interview has been edited for length and clarity]

Must Read Stories

Fall schedule; ‘cleaning lady’ & ‘the floor’ renewed; ‘hi-surf’ post-super bowl slot.

Sydney Sweeney ‘Barbarella’ Pic Has Edgar Wright In Talks To Helm; Writers Eyed

Latest on will smith & jason statham pics; ‘megalopolis’ deals; more, iatse aims to conclude general negotiations with amptp on thursday.

Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.

Read More About:

Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. All Rights Reserved.