Well, what can I say about Destination Star Trek London? It’s a busy little event, that’s for sure and we had a couple of days with amazing people and from every decade since it began in 1966. With queues already forming outside the ExCel Centre in London, we arrived early to grab some photo time with the legend himself, William Shatner. In close proximity was DEEP SPACE NINE’s Avery Brooks, followed up by many stars including Connor Trinneer, Rene Auberjonois, David Warner, Chase Masterson, John DeLancie, Denise Crosby and the legendary Walter Koenig who played Chekov in the original series.
In fact, the entire history of STAR TREK was represented as stars of past and present attended from the original, right through THE NEXT GENERATION, VOYAGER, DEEP SPACE NINE and then ENTERPRISE. Friday evening also saw the momentous reunion of all five captains on the main stage as Sir Patrick Stewart, Kate Mulgrew and Scott Bakula joined the previously presented Shatner and Brooks.
Early on in the day, I managed to find myself trapped by Worf himself Michael Dorn and Enterprise’s Dominic Keating as Shatner waved as sped away on a chauffeured golf cart. Not even kidding. We grabbed a few photo ops with a number of STAR TREK legends, producers and most importantly the fans. There were signing opportunities a-plenty for Trekkies old and new, the queues may have been spread across the arena but everyone was enjoying the occasion and fans took full advantage of every moment.
Saturday afternoon was spent with Sir Patrick Stewart as he answered questions from the audience about his life, his acting memories from the series and so much more. He gave an inspiring speech over how believing in your ability can take you anywhere you want to, and a reminder that he got the role in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION when he was 46, after many years of hard work. Candidly, he was already a star for me but the talk only reinforced my belief that he’s an inspiring man. He’s very aware and humbled by his success, plus told us that this was because of the people around him who, quite literally, made him believe in his talent. We’d be a poorer place in the world of film, television and theatre without Sir Pat, there’s no doubt.
Just below, you’ll find a federation of photos from the stars attending. We’ve also got some good old-fashioned cosplay from the fans as well by just clicking here! Do let us know if you attended and your thoughts on the event, we were honoured to be a part of such science-fiction history. We’re also glad to report that Trekkies beat the costume-clad world record with 1,083 people getting up on stage tonight, beating the previous record set at the bigger LA gathering by 43, well done London!
Photos: Dan Bullock and Ben Markham
critical popcorn 