For the first time, the Destination Star Trek London 2012 convention had gathered together the five captains – William Shatner (Capt. James T Kirk, The Original Series), Sir Patrick Stewart (Capt.Jean Luc Picard, The Next Generation), Avery Brooks (Capt. Benjamin Sisko, Deep Space Nine), Kate Mulgrew (Capt. Kathryn Janeway, Voyager) and Scott Bakula (Capt. Jonathan Archer, Enterprise) – for a special ‘Captains’ Summit’ hosted by Torchwood actor, presenter and trekkie John Barrowman. Following an interview and chat show style, John quizzed the captains on their first day on set, their favourite episodes and their trek uniforms before asking the audience for their questions. Some the questions were as bizarre as the answers they elicited. My favourite questions were:
Q. Can you sing me Happy Birthday as it’s my birthday – Captains Janeway, Picard and Kirk duly obliged!
Q. What’s the weirdest autograph you’ve had to sign? William Shatner answered that one female fan had once asked him to sign her left breast (double D cup)! Scott Bakula answered that he’d never been asked to sign a body part at which point John Barrowman offered him a butt cheek to sign!
What was apparent from the lively debate was that all the captains believed in the science. From the development of mobile phones (similar to the personal communicators on Trek) to the new research into handheld medical records (akin to the Trek tricorder). They were all true adherents to sci-fi mythology, able to name their favourite sci-fi films although William Shatner could not recall the blockbuster film with blue people until Patrick Stewart reminded him….it was Avatar. Each was reminiscent of their short tenure as Captain of a Star Trek series and a little wistful of a Captains reunion in some future time warp.
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