I might be willing to do a 180 on 2009’s Star Trek. Like many Trekkies, I was very disappointed when I watched it eight years ago: I didn’t like the way it rewrote or did away with what most fans see as Star Trek cannon. Yet having watched it subsequently, and again on TV last night, I have found I’m more comfortable with it. Yes, it changed Trek as we knew it, but film is art, and like all art must be open to reinterpretation. One must be able to take franchises in new directions, otherwise they stagnate. At the same time, I saw many glimpses of the franchise I love last night; it was clear Abrams loved the source material he was working with and knew it back to front, but wanted to breathe new life into it.

I now think I’ve been too dismissive of the Trek reboots. When thinking about them, I’ve had my hardcore trekkie hat on, rather than my film writer hat. They take the franchise in a new direction, but that was precisely what it needed. In a way, Abrams did trekkies a favour in keeping their franchise alive: without him, it would just have passed into history. Inaugurating the so-called Kelvin Timeline was a vital step. What I need to do now is rewatch the subsequent films before waiting for the next one. After all, taken in a new direction, anything is possible: I’m secretly hoping Picard might make a comeback.