STAR TREK: DISCOVERY set photos hint at all-new Klingon look

A leaked set photo from Star Trek: Discovery suggests that the show will feature yet another radical redesign of the Klingons, everyone's favourite psychotic-but-honourable warrior race.

The Klingons first appeared in the original Star Trek in 1967, in the first season episode Errand of Mercy, and were portrayed as humans with dark make-up. They appeared in six further episodes of Star Trek in a similar vein.

The Klingons as they appeared in the original Star Trek episode Day of the Dove (1968).

Realising this was a little cheap, they were redesigned for their brief appearance at the start of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979 and gained their familiar forehead ridges and long hair. This look was confirmed in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock in 1984 and remained a constant design all the way to the end of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005. However, both Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-94) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) refined the look of the race further with numerous different forehead designs and hairstyles.

The Klingons as they appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). With minor refinements, this look would remain constant until the end of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005.

For Star Trek: Into Darkness in 2013, J.J. Abrams gave the race another makeover, giving them a more symmetrical skull shape but overall still a refinement of the established look.

The Klingons in Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013).

The "new" Klingons appear to be hairless, with extensive ridges along the skull that go right round the head and sides, along with elongated and near-conical heads. They really don't look much like Klingons at all. This has led to speculation that these are either new aliens or a servitor race or sub-race of Klingons (something theorised in spin-off fiction but not the main series).

If they are Klingons, it is a baffling choice to redesign them. Much has been made of the fact that Star Trek: Discovery is set in the original or "Prime" timeline, ten years or so before the events of The Original Series. Using either of the first two designs would make sense (CBS do not have the rights to any designs from the Abramsverse movies, so would not be able to use the Into Darkness appearance), but redesigning them so they don't look like Klingons any more is both unnecessary and does little but alienate a fanbase already sceptical of the new show's poor design sensibilities and status as yet another redundant prequel.

Hopefully the producers will confirm what's going on soon.

Terry Pratchett documentary airing tonight in the UK

The BBC are airing a new documentary about Sir Terry Pratchett tonight in the UK. Entitled Back in Black, the documentary will explore his battle against Alzheimer's as well as his larger life story. Pratchett was in the middle of writing his autobiography when he passed away in early 2015 and sadly never got to finish it, so this documentary will instead explore his life in greater depth.

The documentary airs tonight (11 February) at 9pm on BBC2.

DEEP SPACE NINE fans crowdfund a new documentary

Fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine have crowdfunded a major new documentary about the series.

Ira Steven Behr, the executive producer, showrunner and lead writer on the show from its third season through to its end, has created a new documentary called What We Leave Behind (named after the DS9 series finale). The film will delve deeply into the show's origins, writing and creation and will feature contributions from all of the major players on the creative team and all of the actors, bar Avery Brooks (possibly for availability reasons).

One of the most interesting things about the film is a related, separate roundtable with the DS9 writing team, including Behr and Ron Moore, where they brainstorm a theoretical eighth season of the show.

Behr and his team asked for $150,000 to help finish and edit the film. They've now raised £215,000 and added extra stretch goals, including a live musical score and the possibility of adding extra interviews (hopefully including Brooks).

It's also been pointed out that the level of interest in the project this crowdfunding exercise raises could be used to bolster the case for remastering Deep Space Nine in high definition. CBS has so far remastered The Original Series, The Animated Series, all of The Next Generation and several movies (Enterprise was made in HD in the first place), but has held fire on DS9, citing disappointing sales of the TNG remasters. However, if the documentary raises a very large sum of money, that might convince CBS to take a look and may test-remaster a few select episodes (like they did ahead of TNG).

Dan Abnett's THE WARMASTER confirmed for December release

The Warmaster by Dan Abnett, the fifteenth novel in the highly popular Gaunt's Ghosts series, has been finally scheduled by Black Library for release in December this year.

The book is the third of four novels in the Victory sub-arc (to be followed by a novel provisionally entitled Anarch), itself apparently the penultimate series in the much larger Gaunt's Ghosts series, with possibly two novels in the final series (subtitled Archon) to wrap up the saga. However, these plans may have changed.

The Warmaster was originally scheduled for release in 2013. The reasons for the lengthy delays are unclear: Abnett was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2009 which delayed his work on the Horus Heresy series as he adjusted to medical treatment, but apparently the problems caused by this are years in the past. Abnett has also been working for Marvel Comics, his work in demand since he created the modern iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy series (which the two movies are based on). However, Abnett has always produced a prolific amount of comics work alongside his novels without issue in the past.

More likely is the fact that Black Library and its parent company, Games Workshop, have been going through numerous convulsions and changes in the last few years. They have nuked their classic Warhammer fantasy setting, lost several high-profile authors and, bizarrely, deleted the omnibus editions of their novels and reprinted the individual books for a higher cost than the omnibuses, which has gone down like a lead balloon with fans and has put off potential new readers. Games Workshop's release schedule has slowed to a crawl recently with very few novels put out, the Horus Heresy series still nowhere near a conclusion after eleven years and forty-one books and the company seemingly focused on finding ways of selling existing material rather than producing new work.

Anyway, the good news is that The Warmaster is coming out and hopefully we will see the remaining books in the Gaunt's Ghosts series quite quickly afterwards. Abnett is also working on Penitent, the second novel in the Bequin trilogy (ending the storylines begun in the excellent Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies), which is likewise eagerly awaited by fans.

There will also be a companion novel to The Warmaster. Matthew Farrer has written a stand-alone Space Marines Battles novel called Urdesh which will take place simultaneously with The Warmaster, but it will not be necessary to read both to enjoy either novel.

Meanwhile, there is no word on Paul Kearney's Warhammer 40,000 novel Umbra Sumus. The book was pulled from release in 2015 when its series title, Dark Hunters, was ruled as infringing the copyright of Sherrilyn Kenyon's urban fantasy series Dark-Hunters. GW has yet to announce if the book is going to be renamed and reissued. Kearney has recently released a new Warhammer 40,000 novel in the Space Marine Battles line, Calgar's Siege, however.

Fox open to FIREFLY reboot

In a somewhat surprising statement, David Madden of Fox Entertainment has said he is open to resurrecting Joss Whedon's TV show Firefly, but only if Whedon was involved.

Firefly ran for fourteen episodes on Fox TV in 2002 before being cancelled due to disappointing ratings. It was resurrected in 2005 for a one-off feature film, Serenity. Both the TV show and the film have gone on to be cult successes, selling millions of DVDs and Blu-Rays, as well as being successful on streaming services.

Whedon was upset with Fox's decision to terminate Firefly after they aired the show out-of-order and provided insufficient marketing for the series, vowing he'd never work with the network again. However, he later relented and returned to Fox for the series Dollhouse, which ran for two seasons in 2009-10 before being cancelled, having lost half of its viewership. Whedon was more accepting of that show's fate, feeling that Fox had given it a fairer shot. Whedon subsequently directed the hit movies The Avengers (2012) and The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), as well as co-writing and producing the sleeper hit Cabin in the Woods (2012) and directing a low-budget version of Much Ado About Nothing (2012).

Whedon has ruled out further work for Marvel Studios, citing insufficient prep time for Age of Ultron, and has been writing a new film script which is reportedly a historical drama. However, he has also said he would consider returning for a Black Widow stand-alone movie.

Whedon's attitude to Firefly is more complex, having pointed out that, fifteen years later, it would be hard to simply make a second season of the show as the passage of time would have disrupted the storylines left hanging from the show and movie. Previously Whedon has also said that there is a problem that some of the Firefly actors were busy on other shows and projects, although Firefly's leading star Nathan Fillion recently became available following the cancellation of his long-running comedy drama, Castle. Jewel Staite, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau and Sean Maher also appear to be available, but Morena Baccarin and Gina Torres have ongoing series roles at present, on Gotham and Suits respectively.

Whedon has not yet responded to the overture, but it sounds like this was a very serious offer from the people who own the rights to Firefly, and may be the most positive news in some time for the show. The question now is if Whedon is willing to consider a return to the series.

TORMENT: TIDES OF NUMENERA story trailer released

inXile Studios have released the story trailer for their roleplaying game Torment: Tides of Numenera. This is the "spiritual successor" to the classic Black Isle CRPG Planescape: Torment, set instead in Monte Cook's Numenera roleplaying setting.

A billion years into the future, a man strives to escape death by transferring his consciousness from body to body. However, each time he leaves a body, a new consciousness is born within. At first he embraces these entities as his "children" but as time passes he becomes colder and more remote, more willing to cast off these offspring. Until he transfers to his last body, and a new being is born...you.

Colin McComb, who co-designed and developed both the Planescape roleplaying game and Planescape: Torment itself, is the project lead on the game. Chris Avellone (CRPG demigod and lead developer of Planescape: Torment back in the day) has contributed quests and characters to the game, as has fantasy novelist Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind).

Torment: Tides of Numenera will be released on 28 February.

RIP Richard Hatch

Richard Hatch, an actor and writer best-known for his work on the Battlestar Galactica franchise, has passed away at the age of 71 from complications related to pancreatic cancer.

Born in 1945 in Santa Monica, California, Richard Hatch began acting in the Los Angeles Repertory Theatre in the 1960s. He broke into television in 1970 with a regular role on the soap opera All My Children. He left after two years and became a reliable guest star, appearing in TV shows such as Cannon, The Waltons and Hawaii Five-O. In 1976 he gained some acclaim and notice for his season-long recurring role on The Streets of San Francisco.

In 1978 he played the role of Captain Apollo in Glen A. Larson's space opera Battlestar Galactica. He played the serious straight man to Dirk Benedict's more flamboyant Lt. Starbuck, setting up a strong leading man double act. Hatch identified with the character strongly, as well as the epic story Larson was trying to tell. He was bitterly disappointed when the show was cancelled despite very strong ratings and declined to return for the heavily-derided, low-budget spin-off Galactica 1980.

Hatched continued to appear as a recurring guest star throughout the 1980s on shows such as Dynasty, Santa Barbara and Fantasy Island. In the 1990s he turned his attention back to Battlestar Galactica. Glen A. Larson had struck the terrible Galactica 1980 from the canon and planned a comeback series which would feature Apollo, and thus Hatch, in a leading role (effectively replacing his character's father, Commander Adama, after the death of actor Lorne Greene in 1987). Hatch wrote or co-wrote seven Battlestar Galactica novels in support of this effort.

In 1999 Hatch financed a trailer called Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming as a proof-of-concept for a revival of the show. Universal, who then held the rights, decided to reject both The Second Coming and a pitch by Larson focusing on the missing Battlestar Pegasus for a complete, fresh reboot project from Star Trek writer Ronald D. Moore. The rebooted Battlestar Galactica launched with a TV mini-series in 2003 before becoming an ongoing series lasting from 2004 to 2009.

Unlike co-star Dirk Benedict, who was critical of the show's diverse casting and the recasting of his role with a female actress (Katee Sackhoff, whom Benedict later admitted was good in the role and met her for a coffee and photo-op in, appropriately, Starbuck's), Hatch was more open-minded about the reboot. To his surprise, he was offered a role in the series in the recurring role of former terrorist-turned politician Tom Zarek. Relishing the character, who was multi-faceted and complex, Hatch committed to the role and appeared in all four seasons of the ongoing show. He was written out in the final season, but criticised some of his character's final decisions as being uncharacteristic and bizarre (a view echoed by many critics), a shame after the much more nuanced portrayal of the character in the first three seasons.

Subsequent to his final appearance on BSG in 2009, Hatch created a new space opera franchise called The Great War of Magellan, consisting of a roleplaying game and comic book. He also appeared in the Star Trek fan film Prelude to Axanar as a Klingon general and was due to reprise the role in the full-length follow-up before this was canned by CBS and Paramount's legal department.

Richard Hatch was notable for his strong involvement with fandom and winning fan support for attempting to resurrect the Battlestar Galactica franchise. Although his project failed, it certainly helped contribute to the momentum that led to the franchise's return in 2003. Hatch also gave an excellent, layered and nuanced performance as Tom Zarek, a role that challenged him much more than the straightforward hero Apollo of the original series, showing that he was a much more capable actor than perhaps some had first thought. He will certainly be missed.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Twenty years ago, a children's book about a young boy fated to become a wizard was published. Along with its six sequels, it went on to sell half a billion copies and created one of the biggest film franchises in history. Reviewing it is only marginally less futile than reviewing oxygen, as you'll have likely watched this film years ago or already decided to never watch it at all. But the biggest fantasy franchise of the last generation is certainly something that should be up for review and criticism.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Sorcerer's, if you're of an American persuasion) was released in 2001, adapting the first book in the series. That first novel in the Harry Potter series is also the shortest, meaning that the film had to make very little alterations or changes to fit the entire story into one movie. This is something in its favour over the later films: as the novels got longer and longer, the films had to make more and more substantial cuts and alterations to maintain a coherent story on screen.

This first movie follows the book closely. We're introduced to Harry Potter, an 11-year-old potential wizard raised by his non-magical (or "Muggle") aunt and uncle after the murder of his parents at the hands of the evil wizard Voldemort during a magical war. Potter survived, somehow deflecting the spell that Voldemort tried to use to kill him back at its wielder, leaving a strange scar on his head. Voldemort hasn't been seen since and is presumed dead. Potter is rescued from the negligent care of his aunt and uncle to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the reputation of his parents (and his own involvement in Voldemort's ultimate defeat) precedes him. At the school Harry makes friends with classmates Hermione and Ron and ultimately gets drawn into a disturbing series of events culminating in a showdown with a powerful magical foe.

The structure of the story is an extremely strong one. In the original novel Rowling set up Harry's world with skill and economy, establishing backstory, motivations and carrying out a fair bit of worldbuilding whilst also getting across a fairly intricate story, all in a very limited page count. The film does the same, with scriptwriter Steve Kloves and director Chris Columbus letting the story unfold with verve and economy. Columbus, a rather hit-and-miss director in his other work, knows when to let the story breathe and the camera linger on a magical moment and when he needs to get on with business and maybe cut some minor ancillary material from the book to accomplish that. Major set pieces from the book, like the Quidditch match, are fast-paced and exciting and the encounters with the shadowy figure in the forest and the final confrontation are effectively creepy. The highlight might be the life-sized wizard chess match, which is surprisingly brutal.

In terms of atmosphere and tone, Kloves and Columbus do mostly good work. In terms of acting and dialogue, the film is a bit less successful. Exposition is the order of the day and much of the dialogue, especially in the first half of the movie, tends to the clunky. The movie breaks the "show, don't tell" rule a few times, although it is able to deploy flashbacks to spice things up a bit. The adult actors also seem to start off struggling with their dry dialogue, with the notable exception of Alan Rickman who just commits 100% from his first appearance on screen, before getting to grips more with it later on.

Where the film lives and dies is on the performance of the three leads. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were all very young and inexperienced, and certainly give rough and unpolished performances. But they also have a huge amount of energy for their roles, making up in raw enthusiasm what they lack in experience at this stage.

The film is sixteen years old, so the CGI and effects have definitely dated, in some cases (particularly the troll, centaur and some of the actor replacement in the Quidditch match) quite badly. But for the most part it holds up well and the sets and overall production value remain impressive.

The biggest success of the film is that the film-makers recognise that the novels work because Rowling combined childhood whimsy with some very well-constructed worldbuilding and brief-but-effective moments of terror and action. This is a children's story, but one with some character and story depth to it.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (***½) is at times a rough movie with clunky dialogue and stilted performances, not to mention some cliched British story tropes (like the elaborate private boarding school). But once it relaxes and gets underway, the story becomes more enjoyable and the performances more nuanced. A long way from being a perfect movie, it's certainly an entertaining one that opens the series very well. The movie is available now in the UK (DVD, Blu-Ray) and USA (DVD, Blu-Ray) as part of the Complete Harry Potter Movie Collection.

Cities of Fantasy on Patreon: Sigil

My second post for Patreon backers has gone live.

This is the first part of the Cities of Fantasy project and explores the city of Sigil, the bizarre and wonderful (if dangerous) city that lies at the very heart of the multiverse, originating from the Planescape setting for Dungeons & Dragons.

This will be exclusive on Patreon for one month and will then be reposted in full here on 7 March.

This article drew on research from my earlier Worlds of D&D fantasy series from 2009, particularly the article on Planescape that can be found here.

Cover art for THE WITCHWOOD CROWN unveiled

Tad Williams has revealed the American cover art for The Witchwood Crown, the upcoming first volume in his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn sequel series, The Last King of Osten Ard.

As with the original trilogy, The Witchwood Crown's cover art is by genre star Michael Whelan. It depicts Hjeldin's Tower in the Hayholt, the great castle around so much of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn revolved.

The new book picks up thirty years after the events of To Green Angel Tower and the recent bridging novel, The Heart of What Was Lost. The novel will be released on 27 June.