Fan encounters in Star Trek and beyond.

For Star Trek fans, conventions offer a rare chance to get up close and personal with their heroes—whether that means snapping a selfie, getting an autograph, or buying them a drink at the bar. But Star Trek’s characters aren’t immune to the power of celebrity themselves. Many, in fact, find themselves distinctly star-struck in the presence of their own role models. Sometimes the experience can be disillusioning, as in the case of Zefram Cochrane in First Contact. The legendary inventor warp drive turned out to be less the bold pioneer of an enlightened age and more a lecherous drunk with a bad attitude. On the Holodeck, however, such encounters can be managed with less risk of disappointment, hence the appearances of such real-life luminaries as Leonardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton, and even Stephen Hawking.

In this special episode of Primitive Culture, recorded live at the Destination Star Trek convention in Birmingham, England, host Duncan Barrett is joined by five fellow Trekkies for a look at Star Trek’s fan encounters. We consider how our heroes’ own fanboy and fangirl moments offer a glimpse into their personalities, why Star Trek invests so much time in historical figures—real and fictitious—and how our expectations of the actors we encounter at conventions are colored by the characters they portray on screen.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Heroes on the Holodeck (00:09:02) Lower Decks (00:17:15) Celebrity Cameos (00:23:43) Host Duncan Barrett Guests Drew Barker, Murray Christison, Dana Kazim, Ben Keeling, and Terry Parsons

Production Duncan Barrett (Producer, Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Clara Cook (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)