Star Trek: Discovery Boldly Going Where No Series Has Before With New Lead Character

From James T. Kirk to Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek has a strong tradition of iconic starship captains as its lead character. However, it has been revealed that not only will the upcoming show Star Trek: Discovery focus on a lieutenant, the lead role will be female .

Showrunner Bryan Fuller discussed his decision to focus upon a lower-ranking crew member of the Starship Discovery at the Television Critics Association conference in LA. "The story that's fascinating for me now is not from the captain's perspective," he said, via Polygon. "We've seen six series from the captain's point of view and we wanted to do something different."

Fuller went on to explain that one of the most important things for him when casting was diversity, hence the decision to have a female lead. "Star Trek started with a wonderful diversity in its cast," he said. "Infinite diversity in infinite combinations, as Spock would say. We are absolutely continuing that tradition. We'll probably have some more aliens than usual in our cast, too."

The last show to feature a female lead was Star Trek: Voyager, which starred Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway.

Last week it was revealed that Star Trek: Discovery will be set before the events of the original '60s series. Fuller was asked whether this meant that younger versions of some classic characters might make an appearance in the new show. "Maybe. It could happen," he said. "It's in the realm of possibilities."

Star Trek: Discovery is to premiere in January 2017, with production beginning this fall in Toronto. Last month it was reported that Netflix had picked up the show for streaming outside of the US and Canada. It can be seen in 188 territories within 24 hours of every new episode premiering in the US.

American viewers will able to watch the first episode on the CBS network channel, with all subsequent episodes screening initially on the company's All Access digital subscription service. In Canada, it will be broadcast on the streaming channel CraveTV.

Disclosure: CBS is GameSpot's parent company.