A new STAR TREK podcast launches, hosted by die-hard Trekkies Rich Matthews, Ian Spelling and Toby Weidmann…
Join die-hard Star Trek veterans Rich Matthews, Ian Spelling and Toby Weidmann as they embark on an ongoing mission to explore and celebrate the strange new worlds of the vast Star Trek universe in an original podcast, Beyond the Final Frontier (BFF).
As three entertainment journalists who have written about Star Trek for decades, Rich, Ian and Toby are bringing their extensive geek universe experience, longtime camaraderie and in-depth behind-the-scenes knowledge to the podcast world. Each Beyond the Final Frontier mission will see our trio explore a unique topic from across the Trek-verse, discussing everything from their personal favourite stories, characters and themes to the ongoing cultural impact of the science fiction phenom.
Expect deep-dives into beloved moments in Star Trek history, extensive breakdowns of developments in the modern era and occasional special guests from the Star Trek cast and crew to provide even greater insight. Everything Trek!
Grab your tricorder, click your communicator and prepare to boldly go…
Beyond the Final Frontier!
• The first BFF episode is live now on Apple, Spotify and Patreon, with subsequent episodes due to be released weekly from September 23, 2025
Meet the Crew
In another life, Rich Matthews was senior editor of The Official Star Trek Magazine, then was a regular contributor for nearly 20 years. Now a PhD candidate studying fandom through the dilithium prism of Star Trek, he’s also development director at charity Rural Media and a teaching Fellow at the University of Birmingham. He films, writes and talks about stuff. Sometimes coherently (but no guarantees). He once had a wee next to Captain Picard (true story).
Ian Spelling has spent nearly 40 years covering the Final Frontier, starting when he interviewed George Takei, Walter Koenig, Majel Barrett and Gene Roddenberry for his college newspaper. He sold the Roddenberry and Barrett interviews to Starlog, which kicked off 25 years of exploring Star Trek for the popular sci-fi entertainment magazine. He went on to write for the official Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyagermagazines, several licensed Star Trek movie magazines, and Star Trek Monthly. He penned the New York Times Syndicate weekly column, ‘Inside Trek’, for 27 years and served as editor of StarTrek.com, the official website (2010 to 2019). Ian co-authored the acclaimed book, Star Trek: The Original Series – A Celebration, and appeared as an extra in an episode each of Deep Space Nineand Voyager. Additionally, Ian has moderated panels at conventions, including Star Trek Las Vegas and Destination Star Trek, as well as on the Star TrekCruise.
Outside of Trek, Ian has covered the entertainment industry for the New York Times Syndicate, TV Guide, The A.V. Club, Reader’s Digest, Chicago Tribuneand more, as well as for such genre outlets as SCI-FI Wire and the official magazines for Charmed, Buffy/Angel, Smallville, Star Wars, Stargate, Heroes, among others.
As editor of the official Star Trek Magazine (UK, Australia) and overseer of The Official UK Star Trek Fan Club for almost three years, Toby Weidmann steered the Star Trek Magazine ship through the perfect storm of three seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise and the theatrical release of Star Trek: Nemesis. Toby was also print editor at the British academy for film, games and TV, BAFTA; has written extensively about the UK home entertainment industry for various trade publications; and was editor of the award-winning The Official Walking Dead Magazine. He’s also penned chapters for two genre books, Sci-Fi Art: A Graphic History and The End: An Electric Sheep Anthology.
• The first BFF episode is live now on Apple, Spotify and Patreon, with subsequent episodes due to be released weekly from September 23, 2025
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Digital Media, downthetubes News, Other Worlds, Podcasts, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Television
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