It goes without saying that when Star Trek: The Next Generation hit our screens in 1987 it had some big boots to fill.
The classic Star Trek series took off more than two decades earlier in 1966 and brought many beloved characters to both the small and big screens during that time. A sci-fi phenomenon, it spent decades winning the hearts of millions of space travel fans across the globe.
The mega-successful Gene Roddenberry creation has expanded into films, television series, video games, novels, and comic books. So with some impressive foundations laid in the Star Trek universe, the pressure was on Patrick Stewart and his new crew to deliver.
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Stewart, who played lead character Captain Jean-Luc Picard, said he didn’t want to repeat what his predecessor, William Shatner, had done before him on the Starship Enterprise.
(Image: CBS via Getty Images)
However, he did make one concession to retain a crucial element when he joined in on one of the most recognisable and highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
Stewart even went so far as to thank his predecessor, when he came to reveal in the one thing in which he did follow in Shatner’s footsteps with – the opening voiceover.
“In one very specific aspect, I owe a debt of gratitude to William Shatner,” Stewart wrote in his 2023 autobiography, Making It So: A Memoir.
(Image: Getty Images)
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“There came the time when I had to record the famous ‘Space, the final frontier’ speech that opens each episode of ‘The Next Generation,’ as it did ‘The Original Series.”
With the massive task ahead of him he made it clear that he didn’t want to put a fresh spin on Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s narration.
Instead, he decided to draw inspiration from the original series and Captain James T. Kirk’s legendary opening words, spoken by Shatner.
(Image: Getty Images)
“I carefully listened to Bill’s voiceover in preparation to do mine, and realised that there was nothing I could do to improve upon it,” Stewart wrote in his memoir.
“He’d done it perfectly, the tone and cadences spot-on. So I basically did his version syllable for syllable — the only time I intentionally copied Bill’s performance as the captain.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
