Destination Star Trek London: An Overview

This article can also be found on Step2TV.

Last weekend, the biggest Star Trek convention to be hosted in the UK in over a decade beamed down to London’s ExCel centre. With a wide array of guests ranging from every series in the Trek Universe - plus the momentous union of all five captains for the first time ever at a European convention - the greatly anticipated Destination Star Trek London promised to be nothing short of spectacular.

With the hall packed with a range of fantastic guests, rows of autograph signing booths, photo opportunities, talk areas, stalls stocked with merchandise, a prop museum and a stunt show, Star Trek London was like a particularly pollen rich flower to a hive of Trekkie bees. Over 17,000 Star Trek fans swarmed to the event to meet the stars of the show, hunt autographs and memorabilia, and indulge in two great British past-times; queueing, and tutting about the length of the queue.

Friday started off with a dedicated press hour; photographers, journalists and bloggers gathered inside the venue for the red carpet event, eagerly awaiting the arrival of some of Starfleet's finest. Headed by William Shatner, the stars made their way into the hall, pausing for photographs and interviews before being shown to what would be their home for the next three days. This is when the first defining experience of the event occurred, as Shatner shot past me on a golf-buggy yelling “warp factor 5!” If that doesn’t set the tone for the event, I don’t know what does! Of course, the monumental occasion of the first day was the opening ceremony, which saw the captains from each of the five Star Trek series take to the stage. Hosted by John Barrowman, the talk covered their experiences on the show, at conventions with the fans, the impression the series has made on the world, and generally all things Star Trek. It was a superbly fitting opening to this celebration of what Patrick Stewart most accurately calls “the absolutely unique phenomenon in the history of entertainment that is Star Trek.”

The first day of STL also played host to another first for the UK - a Klingon wedding. Held in the Klingon Zone (where else?!), Jossie Sockertopp and Sonnie Gustavsson were wed by Peter Wyllie in a traditional Klingon ceremony as seen in DS9: You Are Cordially Invited. The setting for the ceremony was complete with throne, faux-flames, and a 10ft Klingon statue, which I'm sure is something that not many other people can boast about their own wedding day. The wedding cake, created by Charlotte White of Restoration Cake, was composed of three Borg Cubes. As it turns out, Borg Cubes aren’t actually harbingers of destruction but are in fact primarily composed of delicious Red Velvet cake and fondant icing... Resistance was indeed futile (may the Prophets forgive me for this terrible cliche).

I wish Gustavsson and Sockertopp many happy years together, as I suspect Klingon divorces aren’t quite as pleasant.

Saturday was the day I had dedicated primarily to the Q&As with the five Captains (although due to the typical unreliability of London transport when you actually need it, I arrived mere moments too late for the Q&A with Avery Brooks, which I caught on the Sunday instead). Throughout the day, Scott Bakula, William Shatner, Patrick Stewart and Kate Mulgrew took to the stage to talk about their experiences and answer questions from the fans. Highlights from the captains include (but are certainly not limited to) Stewart regaling the audience with tales about his friendship with Brian Blessed, a great many humorous anecdotes from Shatner, and Mulgrew’s views on “Mittens” Romney (“He’s missing a chip and needs to be removed from the country!”). In fact, each Q&A was a highlight in and of itself, and the many facets of each talk are far too numerous to list in this simple paragraph - I’ll have to write up dedicated articles for them soon!

Sunday - aside from catching up on the Avery Brooks Q&A - was focussed on the other talks being held at the event. The problem with an event such as Star Trek London is that there’s invariably at least three very interesting things going on at any given time, and this was very much the case for me, with the majority of the talks I wanted to attend conflicting with at least one other. In some cases the decision as to which Q&A I should choose quite literally pivoted on the toss of a coin. Once I’ve perfected my time machine, I’ll be travelling back to get to the things I missed!

Highlights from Sunday absolutely have to be Avery Brooks’ deeply reflective and insightful comments during his Q&A; he is a truly magnificent gentleman. In addition, there was a Q&A with the omnipotent Q himself, John de Lancie, a panel with a number of the stars of Deep Space Nine, and a session with renowned producers and writers Ronald D Moore and Ira Behr. It’s always fascinating to hear the guest’s views and experiences on the show, and the process the writers and producers go through to create it.

I was fortunate enough to meet and briefly interview Ronald D Moore whilst at the event; I’ve been a fan of his for quite some time, and it was a great privilege to chat with the man whose work has helped inspire some of my own writing. Moore has just started working on adapting the Outlander novels, written by Diana Gabaldon, which is definitely something to keep an eye out for!

It was also a great pleasure to meet Chase Masterson (Leeta on Deep Space Nine) and chat about her career. The interview (which will be published soon) covered her time working on Star Trek, her career as a jazz singer (her latest album, Jazz Cocktail, will be available soon at www.chasemasterson.com), and her charity work mentoring children at Homeboy Industries helping kids move away from gang culture. Masterson is currently working on her own Big Finish audio series, Vienna, as the impossibly glamorous bounty hunter Vienna Salvatori (who makes her first appearance in the upcoming Doctor Who audiobook The Shadow Heart, starring Sylvester McCoy), and is also working on a film adaptation of Karel Capek’s classic play R.U.R., which are certainly things to look forward to!

Overall, Star Trek London certainly did not disappoint; I felt that the event was indeed spectacular, with a great selection of talks and a fantastic array of guests. At times, the queues seemed a little disorganised (especially when it came to the captains) and some of the visitors I spoke to felt disappointed by the expense of the weekend, but I personally didn't experience this, and my overall sense of the event was remarkably positive and I sincerely hope that there’ll be more events like this in the near future.

Personally, the lasting impression I received from the convention was how the show had made an impact on it’s fanbase and on the people who had worked on it. Hearing how Star Trek had changed people’s lives, how it had inspired and taught them, and witnessing the power that this science fiction series has to bring so many people together... It’s that community, that collective dream for a better, brighter tomorrow and the innumerable ways it’s touched people’s lives; that’s the beauty of Gene Roddenberry’s vision.
May it continue to live long and prosper.

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Check out my pictures from the event here.