Star Trek Discovery: Jason Isaacs to play the starship’s captain

But he won't be the show's protagonist like captains before him

Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films

Star Trek has found its latest captain, with Jason Isaacs set to head up the Starship Discovery in the new CBS series.

Isaacs, best known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter series, will play Captain Lorca, Variety has reported.

Lorca won’t be the centre of attention as Janeway, Sisko and Picard were before him though, as Discovery is switching from a captain protagonist to a lieutenant commander “with caveats”.

“We’ve seen six series from the captain’s point of view; to see a character from a different perspective on the starship — one who has a different dynamic relationships with a captain, with subordinates, it gave us richer context,” creator Bryan Fuller said last year.

The Walking Dead’s Sonequa Martin-Green will be playing Lieutenant Commander Rainsford, with the cast also including Maulik Pancholy (30 Rock) and Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), who will play a chief medical officer and captain of the Starship Shenzhou respectively.

Star Trek: Discovery was originally set to premiere on CBS All Access in January 2017, but was pushed back to summer or autumn apparently because of the extensive post-production it requires.

“It’s important to get it right, and Star Trek is the family jewels,” CBS CEO Les Moonves said.