Sir Patrick Stewart has begun work on his new Star Trek TV series, heading into the writing room to plot out his return to the iconic role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Stewart took to Twitter to share this snap, which shows him at a table – well stocked with refreshments – surrounded by writers and producers.

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) 24 September 2018

So great is our desire to see Stewart back in this role that even the sight of the actor in a chair with armrests – which is, admittedly, a far cry from the captain’s chair of the Enterprise bridge – somehow generates a smidgen of excitement.

Stewart isn’t the only person with Star Trek pedigree at that snazzy writer’s room table, either. Kirsten Beyer is a staff writer on Discovery, Akiva Goldsman executive produces Discovery and James Duff wrote for Enterprise.

This is the first Trek work for Michael Chabon (who worked on Spider-Man 2 and John Carter) and Diandra Pendleton-Thompson (who comes onto this project having previously worked on a brace of short indie films).

We still know very little about the Picard TV show, which is being prepped for airing on CBS All Access, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated as we hear more.