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Admiral April in Star Trek Strange New Worlds explained

Star Trek admirals come in all shapes and sizes, and are known for letting their morality slip. That's except for Strange New Worlds' awesome Admiral April.

Adrian Holmes as Admiral April in Star Trek Strange New Worlds

Who is Admiral April in Star Trek Strange New Worlds? The truth is, we’ve become so used to Star Trek’s evil admirals (badmirals, for short) that it’s a bit of a shock when there’s a nice one.

But, still, they do exist, and not all Star Trek admirals are bad. In fact, they include one of our favorite recent Star Trek characters: Admiral April. Seen as a frequent guest star, Admiral April looks set to take on an even bigger role in the Star Trek Strange New Worlds season 2 cast.

But who is Admiral April, and what do we know about the former Star Trek captain‘s backstory?

Who is Admiral April in Star Trek Strange New Worlds?

Admiral April is a former Starfleet captain, who was promoted to the rank of Admiral in recognition of his service and quality. And he wasn’t just any captain either: he was in command of the USS Enterprise before handing the reigns over to Captain Pike, who himself preceded Captain Kirk.

Throughout Star Trek Strange New Worlds, we see that Admiral April has extensive contact with Captain Pike, with the two coordinating on the missions of the Enterprise. However, Admiral April also has other concerns, and we’ve seen the him worrying about the threat of a Federation war with the Gorn.

In Star Trek Strange New Worlds, Admiral April is played Adrian Holmes. Holmes is best known for his work on 19-2, and currently stars in Bel-Air.

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Admiral April’s backstory explained

Admiral April served as the first captain of the Constitution class USS Enterprise. He also had a close relationship with Commander Chin-Riley, sponsoring her entrance into Starfleet Academy.

As revealed in the new episode Ad Astra Per Aspera, Admiral April chose to break the Prime Directive (then named General Order one) on several occasions, including by warning a pre-warp civilization of an impending apocalyptic threat from a meteor shower. He argued that discretion was the job of a Starfleet captain.

He is previously seen in other forms of Star Trek continuity, including the animated series (where he was voiced by James Doohan) and the Star Trek comic series Early Voyages, which also follows the adventures of Captain Pike after April becomes an admiral.

That’s it on Admiral April, but as we learn more we’ll be back with plenty of updates. For more, find out which Star Trek captains would survive in a zombie apocalypse, and check out our Star Trek Strange New Worlds season 2 review, as well as our explainers on the Crossfield classPelia, and Lanthanites. You can also find out how we celebrated Captain Picard Day, before learning how Patrick Stewart’s pride nearly killed Picard season 3.