All five 'Star Trek' captains unite at London event

LONDON - Reuters

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"Star Trek" is beaming over to London in October and boldly going where no trekkie event has gone before by bringing together all five TV captains on stage for the first time.
 
Organizers for "Destination Star Trek London" said on Monday that their fan convention would be the first official "Star Trek" live event in the UK for 10 years.
 
To mark the occasion, actors William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Sir Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard), Avery Brooks (Commander Sisko), Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway) and Scott Bakula (Captain Archer), who have commanded operations in each of their respective series based on the iconic TV franchise that began in 1966, will appear on stage together.
 
"The 'Star Trek' fan base in the UK is one of the biggest in the world, and it has waited a long time for the convention to return, so we wanted to make sure we did it right," said Liz Kalodner, general manger of CBS Consumer Products, which owns the TV franchise.
 
Shatner, 81, the first captain of the starship Enterprise, has been a fan favorite at conventions, mostly in the United States, that attract thousands of trekkies.
 
Avery Brooks, who became the first black actor to take the lead role when he appeared in the 1993-99 series "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", has also made appearances, along with Kate Mulgrew, who made a splash as female Captain Janeway in "Star Trek: Voyager" for six years.
 
But all five actors have never appeared together at an official event for the cult series.
 
Organizers said they were expecting some 10,000-15,000 people from all over the world to attend the London convention at the Excel Exhibition Centre from Oct 19-21. Tickets go on sale starting April 30.

"It's not just the five captains. There will be a host of other guests from the series. The fans will be able to get up close," said Rob Nathan, marketing director for Media 10 which is organizing the events in collaboration with CBS.
 
Nathan said the London event would be bigger and better than many other "Star Trek" events.
 
"We are going to make this really interactive. There are going to be stunt displays, we are going to recreate some sets, and get some original sets. People will be able to sit on the starship bridge with members of the cast," he said.
 
Nathan said some 14,000 people had registered to sign up for information about the London event after an initial, cryptic Twitter message was posted at the beginning of March.
 
"It's going to be an absolute pilgrimage for 'Star Trek' fans," he said.
 
More information can be found on website www.startreklondon.com which goes live on Monday.