Star Trek: Khan — Ceti Alpha V Gets an Update From Nicholas Meyer

Nicholas Meyer has offered an update on the long-gestating project titled Star Trek: Khan – Ceti Alpha V. The concept — a story set between the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Space Seed” and the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan that would tell of Khan’s 15 years in exile on the planet Ceti Alpha V with his wife and other fellow augments – began life as a streaming television miniseries for Paramount+. On Star Trek Day in September 2022, Meyer announced that the project had become Star Trek’s first scripted podcast. There’s been no word on the Star Trek: Khan — Ceti Alpha V since then, but Meyer stopped by Trekland over the weekend to speak to Larry Nemecek about the podcast.

“It’s now being worked as a radio play: nine or ten half-hour episodes,” Meyer confirmed (via Trek Movie). That means the podcast version of Khan’s story could be longer than it would have been on television, as Meyer had pitched the miniseries as three episodes long. However, there’s still a chance the story will make it to screens. “I guess the thinking is, if it is successful, then we go back to making it something on film.”

As for the lack of official updates until now, Meyer says there are a lot of people shaping the series. “This is a show, all I can tell you about it, and I have no wish to be indiscreet, that has a kitchen filled with cooks,” he says. “Whatever timeline we had went out the window some months ago.”

Despite the long path to release, Meyer seems happy with the decision to turn Star Trek: Khan – Ceti Alpha V into a scripted podcast. “I really love radio plays, and I’ll tell you why I think they’re cool… I believe that all great artistic media, with one arguable exception, rely for their success on something that they leave out. Paintings do not move. Music possesses no intellectual content. Words are just code on a page… It is the imaginary contribution of the audience… that puts this all together.”

He continued, “When I’m looking for a movie, I’m looking for what I want to leave out. Radio is perfect because it’s all your imagination. Imagination is perfect because it doesn’t need to be trained.”

What is Star Trek: Khan – Ceti Alpha V?

Star Trek: Khan – Ceti Alpha V is Star Trek’s first official scripted podcast. Meyer — who helped elevate Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) from a one-off Star Trek villain-of-the-week into one of sci-fi cinema’s most iconic enemies when he directed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan — wrote the podcast’s story and is an executive producer. Alex Kurtzman, Aaron Baiers, Trevor Roth, and Rod Roddenberry are also executive producers.

“Nick made the definitive Trek movie when he made Wrath, and we’ve all been standing in its shadow since,” Kurtzman said when the podcast was announced. “Forty years have offered him a lot of perspective on these extraordinary characters and the way they’ve impacted generations of fans. Now he’s come up with something as surprising, gripping and emotional as the original, and it’s a real honor to be able to let him tell the next chapter in this story exactly the way he wants to.”