Another canon character included in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, who debuts this week, is Robert April. In the new series, April is played by Adrian Holmes. This news leaked over the weekend from one of the first (supposedly spoiler-free) reviews, before being officially revealed today by Paramount+ along with their preview material. While some fans have expressed issues with the character looking different from the only appearance in Star Trek: The Animated Seriesthe writer of this episode expresses his excitement at seeing the character brought to life in Star Trek live-action.
Fred Bronson welcomes Adrian Holmes in April
The character of Robert April first appeared in 1974 in the season 2 episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series “The counter-clock incident.” April was created to be the first captain of the USS Enterprise, preceding Captain Pike and Captain Kirk. In the episode, he visits the Enterprise with the rank of Commodore, approaching his retirement age of 75. Through an encounter with an “inverted universe”, April rejuvenates for a time, before returning to her original age.
While the canon status of The animated series is debatable, April was listed as one of Starfleet’s most decorated captains in the first season Discovery episode “Choose Your Pain”. The second season Discovery the episode “Brother” also confirmed April as the Enterprise’s first commander with Christopher Pike as first officer. April’s name actually goes back to star trek the original pitch by creator Gene Roddenberry; he eventually changed the Enterprise commander’s name to Captain Pike for “The Cage”.
Robert Avril in Star Trek: The Animated Series
On Star Trek: Strange New WorldsApril is played by Adrian Holmes, an award-winning Canadian actor born in Wales in 1974. He currently stars in Peacock’s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to restart Bel-Air as Uncle Phil and may be known to genre fans for his recurring role in Arrow as Police Captain Frank Pike. In Strange new worlds April is an Admiral who first appears in the series premiere, piloting a shuttle to visit bearded Captain Christopher Pike.
Adrian Holmes as Admiral April
The TAS episode “The Counter-Clock Incident” was written by Fred Bronson under the pseudonym John Culver. This morning he reached out to Holmes to thank the actor, saying he’s been ‘waiting’ for someone to bring him to life since 1974.
@iamadrianholmes Hello, Adrian. In 1974 I created the character of Robert April when I wrote the last episode of the cartoon #Star Trek series, “The Clock Counter Incident”. Since then, I’ve been waiting for someone to bring it to life. Thank you!
— Fred Bronson (@FredBronson) May 2, 2022
There was some debate online about choosing a black actor to play April, but when asked about the “upset anti-fans,” Bronson said he was unaware controversy, although he acknowledged that the 48-year-old Holmes was younger. than he imagined April.
Not unpleasant at all. I haven’t seen any of these comments, but I wouldn’t agree with them. Sure, he’s younger than he should be the way I created him, but I can live with that.
— Fred Bronson (@FredBronson) May 2, 2022
Okuda joins
The representation in The animated series isn’t the only time we’ve seen April before. In the 1994 Star Trek Encyclopedia reference book, there was a picture of Robert April that put star trek Creator Gene Roddenberry’s head on Captain Kirk’s body. This book was written by Star Trek design veteran Michael Okuda, who added his voice to welcoming Adrian Holmes to the franchise as Robert April.
As someone who photoshopped Gene Roddenberry’s face in a photo of Captain Kirk to create a photo of Captain Robert April in the Star Trek Encyclopedia, I love Adrian Holmes’ role as Admiral April ! https://t.co/USqJKCNMyM
—Michael Okuda (@MikeOkuda) May 1, 2022
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debuts Thursday, May 5 exclusively on Paramount+ in the US, Latin America, Australia and the Nordics. The series will air on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi channel and stream on Crave in Canada. In New Zealand it will be available on TVNZ and in India on Voot Select. Strange new worlds will arrive via Paramount+ in select countries in Europe when the service launches later this year, starting with the UK this summer.
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