I think I know where Daisy is...

[Gob]

The UK's first official Star Trek convention for more than a decade has brought together all five captains from across the TV show's 50-year history. BBC News was there to witness the occasion.




A Star Trek convention is pretty much like its stereotype. Fans dress up as their favourite character - alien or human - and queue up for hours for the opportunity to have their photo taken with one of the sci-fi show's stars.

Yet some unique things have happened at Destination Star Trek, which runs at London's Excel Centre until Sunday.

It has hosted the UK's first Klingon wedding - the bride and groom were Swedish - and broken the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of fans dressed as Star Trek characters.

It has also managed to bring together all five starship captains - Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Sisko and Archer - for the first time outside the US, and for only the second time ever.

William Shatner: "I did a documentary called The Captains and I learnt to love every one of them"

For Trek fans this is a big deal. Indeed, it is rarer than having five US presidents in the same place at the same time.

"I would presume getting together is a problem because we live in divergent areas of the world," William Shatner, who kicked it all off as Captain James T Kirk, tells the BBC.

The 81-year-old assures us that any friendly rivalry between the five "has long since past" and they are now "good friends".

The event was looking doubtful when Sir Patrick Stewart - aka Jean-Luc Picard - was absent for the group's press photocall to promote the occasion.

But he did materialise on stage later for their question and answer session, which hundreds of fans had paid £95 each for the privilege of attending.

[Econoline]

all five starship captains - Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Sisko and Archer

They forgot about Captain Christopher Pike.

[rubato]

all five starship captains - Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Sisko and Archer

They forgot about Captain Christopher Pike.

As well they should.

yrs,
rubato

[Econoline]

I won't argue that point one way or the other...but then they shouldn't have said "ALL five starship captains."

(And, after all, I did put the "geek" smiley after my post--as in "only a real geek would care about this")

[Scooter]

These are the five people who captained the Enterprise over the history covered by the five series; in that sense they are "all" the captains. The pilot episode in which Christopher Pike was captain was never aired; his other appearances in TOS were as a former captain of the ship. As such, he never captained the Enterprise over the course of the series.

[Lord Jim]

Actually there's a bigger faux pas here than quibbling over Pike....

Benjamin Sisko, (Avery Brooks...I love his documentary narrations) never captained any version of the Enterprise....

He was the commander of the Deep Space Nine Space Station....

[Scooter]

If you're gonna get technical, they don't actually say all five captains of the Enterprise, they say all five starship captains, and Sisko was captain of the Defiant as well as DS9.

Saying that they all captained the Enterprise was my mistake.

[Gob]

Oh god what have I started?

[Lord Jim]

And of course while Janeway did command a Starship, it was an Intrepid Class....

[Crackpot]

you forgot about the woman who Commanded the Enterprise C

[Scooter]

I thought about her, but I didn't think that past events brought into alternative universes by temporal rifts counted.

Christ, how much of a geek am I sounding like right now?

[Lord Jim]

And maybe we should also include Captain Jellico, (Ronny Cox) who while he only commanded the Enterprise-D briefly, was formally installed as the Captain....

[Crackpot]

I thought about her, but I didn't think that past events brought into alternative universes by temporal rifts counted.

Christ, how much of a geek am I sounding like right now?

She commanded regardless of the alternate universe or not. The guy who took here place OTOH.....

[Sean]

Oh god what have I started?

You think they'd at least have the decency to conduct the debate in Klingon...

[Crackpot]

What and give you the chance to Brag about your mad klingon skills?

[Jarlaxle]

They missed a couple...

Captain (formerly Colonel) Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) commanded DS9 and Defiant before resigning her commission...her replacement as commander of DS9 was Commander (later Captain) Ro Laren.

And to TRULY get technical, William Riker also commanded Enterprise (NCC-1701D) and held the rank of Captain briefly, when Captain Picard was assimilated by the Borg. (Later, of course, he accepted the permanent rank of Captain and command of Luna-class deep space explorer Titan.

Chakotay commands Voyager...after returning home, Janeway was almost immediately promoted to Admiral. (I recall she appears as Admiral Janeway in First Contact.)

In Peter David's New Frontier series, Jellico is an admiral. (And yep, he's still a dickhead.)

[The Hen]

You think they'd at least have the decency to conduct the debate in Klingon...

Bah-tok. (Or "arse" to you non-Klingon speakers.)

[MajGenl.Meade]

[Daisy]

I wasn't there an old work pal went, she even paid the £95 extra for the q&a.

I was at the caravan this weekend, we've had a season pitch at Buxton. Yesterday was spent taking down the awning and chasing off spiders and earwigs.

I think I would rather have been off chatting to Katie Safeway

[MajGenl.Meade]

Can't think how I missed this one... (yawn)

The Captains takes the audience on a voyage of discovery as pop culture phenom William Shatner interviews Sir Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard Star Trek: The Next Generation), Avery Brooks (Captain Benjamin Sisko Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager), Scott Bakula (Captain Jonathan Archer, Star Trek: Enterprise), and Chris Pine (Captain James T. Kirk, Star Trek 2009). With each of these celebrated actors Shatner explores the pressures and pitfalls that came along with donning the Starfleet uniform and reveals for the first time his own embarrassment over the role which made him a household name. With the help of his fellow captains Shatner learns to respect his work on the original Star Trek and finishes the film with a new perspective on life, death, and the legacy he will leave behind.

edit: image