Bryan Fuller stepping down from Discovery showrunner position

Drama in the Star Trek: Discovery production office! Bryan Fuller has stepped down from his showrunner role, due to the pressures of juggling work on several other shows at the same time. But his vision will still shape the series, and he continues on as an executive producer and writer. In a statement CBS explained the situation:

We are extremely happy with the creative direction of Star Trek: Discovery and the strong foundation that Bryan Fuller has helped us create for the series. Due to Bryan’s other projects, he is no longer able to oversee the day-to-day of Star Trek, but he remains an executive producer, and will continue to map out the story arc for the entire season. Alex Kurtzman, co-creator and executive producer, along with Fuller’s producing partners and longtime collaborators, Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts, will also continue to oversee the show with the existing writing and producing team. Bryan is a brilliant creative talent and passionate Star Trek fan, who has helped us chart an exciting course for the series. We are all committed to seeing this vision through and look forward to premiering Star Trek: Discovery this coming May 2017.

In a tweet, Fuller endorsed Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts to take the lead on the production now:

Riker spent 7 years of TNG unready for Captaincy, @GretchenJBerg @AaronHarberts are ready. Thrilled to see them in command of the Bridge.

According to Variety, the new arrangement was worked out quickly, to allow Fuller to continue to be a key creative voice in the production, while also juggling his other projects. Variety also report writer-director Akiva Goldsman is also to join the production in a "top creative role". Goldsman's previous work is mostly on movies (with writing credits including A Beautiful Mind, I, Robot, and I am Legend), but has also worked on several TV series, including writer, producer, and director credits on fellow Discovery producer, Alex Kurtzman's, series Fringe.

Reporting on the news, The Hollywood Reporter also noted lots of new character details for the series from "sources":

...the cast also will feature an openly gay actor as one of the male leads (which Fuller confirmed), a female admiral, a male Klingon captain, a male admiral, a male adviser and a British male doctor.

Although with production due to start next month, the female lead is apparently yet to be cast.

Star Trek: Discovery is due to start in May next year, it will be distributed almost everywhere in the world on Netflix, except for the US where is will be available on CBS All Access, and Canada where it will be on Bell Media channels and services. To keep track of all the latest details from the new show, visit my Star Trek: Discovery guide page.