Make it so! The Star Trek timeline is finally moving forward, as our favorite facepalmer and lover of tea, Earl Grey, hot, is returning to the Trek universe in a new CBS All Access series.

UPDATE, 9/24/18 – It’ll be quite some time before we get to see our beloved Jean-Luc Picard take to the skies once more, but Monday afternoon treated us to something of an energy boost in the form of a photo of Patrick Stewart prepping for a new interstellar jaunt. Stewart himself tweeted the below picture, in which he is seen knee deep in the creative process behind the scenes of his new Star Trek venture, alongside the likes of a few familiar faces.

The journey has begun. Kirsten Beyer, Michael Chabon, Akiva Goldsman, Diandra Pendleton-Thompson, James Duff, and yours truly. #StarTrek pic.twitter.com/GxhwkTIgWQ

— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) September 24, 2018

Beside Stewart, we see Star Trek vet Kirsten Beyer (who works on Discovery and has penned 10 novels in the Voyager canon), Michael Chabon (a novelist known best for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and who also worked on Spider-Man 2 and John Carter), Akiva Goldsman (the polyhyphenate responsible for films like Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, I Am Legend, Winter’s Tale, and The Dark Tower), the relatively unknown Diandra Pendleton-Thompson, and James Duff (who has written for Star Trek: Enterprise, and who created the series The Closer).

8/4/18 – As reported by Deadline, Sir Patrick Stewart made the surprise announcement at the Star Trek convention in Las Vegas. The show will not be a Next Generation reboot, but will cover the next chapter in Picard’s life. Presumably, other Next Gen characters who still exist in the same era are free to make appearances, though the least likely would probably be Data/B-4, unless they find a way to explain the android naturally aging like his actor.

It is an unexpected but delightful surprise to find myself excited and invigorated to be returning to Jean-Luc Picard and to explore new dimensions within him. Read my full statement in the photo. #StarTrek @cbsallaccess Photo: @shervinfoto pic.twitter.com/8Ynuj3RBNm

— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) August 4, 2018

Stewart was encouraged to return in part by all the fans who’ve told him he was a comforting presence over the years, saying, “I’m ready to return to him for the same reason – to research and experience what comforting and reforming light he might shine on these often very dark times.” Given how much comfort all his memes with Sir Ian McKellen have given us over the years, we have to wonder (and hope) whether the Magneto actor could be persuaded by his pal to make appearances. Heck, just the two of them clowning around in Star Trek‘s version of a retirement home would be a show we’d watch. Stewart had previously stated he’d be willing to return for a Quentin Tarantino Star Trek film.

Expect this to sell subscribers to CBS All Access in a big way–unlike Discovery, it’s offering a familiar, proven quantity and will be our first step back into the Next Gen timeline since we briefly saw Romulus explode in J.J. Abrams’ first Star Trek movie. It will also give us an opportunity to see how much of the alternate future glimpsed in “All Good Things” turned out not to be the reality.

Has this return “engaged” your excitement? Beam down to comments and tell us!

Images: CBS/Paramount