Patrick Stewart is back again to save the day, and he’s doing it in two ways.  As Sir Patrick Stewart, he has begun reading sonnets and sharing his readings online.  And as one of our favorite Captains, Jean-Luc Picard, he’s sharing news of the ability for anyone to stream the first season of his new series Star Trek: Picard on the CBS All Access streaming service–free.

As most know, the master thespian was an actor in the Royal Shakespeare Company before appearing in Star Trek: The Next Generation and as Charles Xavier in the Marvel X-Men franchise films, including one of his landmark performances in James Mangold’s 2017 Oscar-nominated film, Logan.  On his social media (see his Instagram page here) Sir Pat has begun reciting a sonnet a day, in the hopes that “a sonnet a day keeps the doctor away.”  He has so far read Shakespeare sonnets 116, 1, and 2.

And Tuesday he announced more good news for his Star Trek fans: “Our #StarTrekPicard season finale is Thursday, and starting today until 4/23, you can watch for free on @CBSAllAccess in the US with the code: GIFT.”  All you need to do is sign up for the streaming service and use the code GIFT.  Check out the CBS All Access website for full details.

Star Trek: Picard takes place twenty years after the events in the movie Star Trek: Nemesis, which resulted in the death of Brent Spiner’s character Data, and also after the events of Star Trek (2009), which resulted in the destruction of the planet Romulus.

Returning to the Star Trek universe is Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, along with Spiner, Jonathan Frakes as Riker, Marina Sirtis as Troi, Jonathan Del Arco as Hugh, and from Star Trek Voyager, Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, along with a next generation of new characters.

On his Twitter feed, Sir Pat wrote, “It’s felt good to bring Picard back.  I can’t wait to reunite with our cast and crew for Season 2.”  The offer is for U.S. customers (check the website for other areas of availability).

Keep watching Stewart’s social media accounts for his ongoing sonnet readings, and if you’re going to sign up for the free Picard season make sure you sign up before April 23.  The second season of the series does not yet have a release date, but was originally expected around January 2021.  With coronavirus delays expect a release date that may drift even further out.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
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