I Met William Shatner

I’ve told this story once before here on the website, so please bear with me. In the mid-1990s, around the time Generations was in cinemas, I attended my first-ever Star Trek fan meet. I’d read about it in a sci-fi magazine, and after what felt like a long journey to a kid, I ended up in a big city where I had my first real-life encounter with the Star Trek fan community. As a kid, I grew up in a small, rural area, and I was the only person (that I knew of, at any rate) who even *watched* Star Trek, let alone was a big fan. So being able to hang out with other Trekkies was a blast.

At that meet-up, I was the youngest person there by an entire generation, but the Trekkies I met were incredibly welcoming, and several of them had fun stories to tell about their favourite episodes, merch they owned, or encounters with some of the stars. I distinctly remember a couple of folks sharing tales of how they’d been able to meet William Shatner at fan events in the United States – Captain Kirk himself. Although my way into the Star Trek fan community was via The Next Generation, and by that point I wasn’t fully caught up on The Original Series, I remember being very impressed! And a little jealous.

Well, some three decades later, I can finally check that item off my bucket list! Because this past weekend, I got to meet William Shatner.

Over the past year or so, I’ve been pushing myself harder to get out of my “comfort zone” and become a bit more resilient to the pain. You may know if you’re a regular reader, but I’m disabled, and I can’t walk without the aid of a walking stick, walk very far at all, or stand for any length of time without being in pain. But my desire to spend more time with my family – I have fewer family members these days, so the ones who are still here are important to me – spurred me on to try new things, push myself, and grow my confidence a little. I still can’t manage these kinds of events very often… but some things are worth trying to achieve.

Last year, for the first time in fifteen years, I made it to a Star Trek convention. And I had a blast meeting some of the actors from The Original Series all the way through to Strange New Worlds! It was a long, difficult, painful day, but I made it to the end with a smile on my face and some wonderful memories. The success of that event led me to look for similar things this year, as I’ve been interested in spending money on “experiences” rather than just… stuff.

I’ve never been to a Comic-Con event before. But when, just after New Year, I saw that Liverpool Comic-Con here in the UK had booked William Shatner – Captain Kirk – as a guest… well, I decided to push myself once again. Because of Mr Shatner’s age (he’s 95 years old, though you’d never know it), as well as my own shaky health, I spent the next few months talking it down. “It probably won’t happen”, and “we’ll see” became my refrains, as I tried to put a lid on any potential disappointment if, for whatever reason, I wasn’t able to get there and meet him.

But, to my surprise, the day of Comic-Con rolled around, and everything was still on the schedule! I’d bought my train tickets weeks in advance (Liverpool is actually slightly easier and more convenient for me to reach than Blackpool had been last year), so I set off. It was an early start, and I actually made it to Liverpool with almost two hours to spare before my 11AM entry to Comic-Con. I killed some time at a nearby shopping complex, the Albert Dock, and with a ride on the Wheel of Liverpool – a large ferris wheel which is that city’s equivalent of the London Eye. The Wheel of Liverpool was right outside where the convention was taking place – and I was the *only* rider when I boarded, for some reason!

I’ll be honest: Liverpool Comic-Con, and the venue that hosted it, felt quite poorly-organised, and not very disability-friendly. The event was, in my opinion, oversold, which resulted in densely-packed crowds in some of the venue’s relatively narrow hallways and areas. There were fewer stalls and shops than I expected for an event of this size, too, and even though I wasn’t really there for shopping, it would’ve been a way to kill time while I waited for my meet-and-greet with Mr Shatner.

From a disability access perspective, there were very few accessible bathrooms, even fewer “changing places” bathrooms, and an almost total lack of seating. There *may* have been a way to gain access to extra help, as I was able to do at last year’s Star Trek convention, but the only way I could find to get that access at Comic-Con was by *paying for* some kind of special disability access card, which I refused to do – partly on principle, and partly due to lack of funds.

Then we come to the meeting itself. A few days before Comic-Con, I was invited to book a timeslot for my photo session with Mr Shatner, and I duly chose one out of the available options, which were in half-hour increments. I arrived a few minutes early, hoping that there’d at least be somewhere to wait… but I was *stunned* to see that a massive queue had already formed. With none of the staff checking to see timeslot bookings, it seemed as if it was a free-for-all, with everyone just turning up and a giant queue forming for the photo sessions. I was a little disappointed by that; if I’d known, I would’ve arrived way earlier and could’ve perhaps been closer to the front of the line.

All of this is to say that, despite having a wonderful time with Mr Shatner and achieving what I set out to on the day… Liverpool Comic-Con was not well-run, not nearly accessible enough, and if I’d been going there to experience the event rather than for one specific reason… I’d have been *very* disappointed. I felt last year’s Star Trek convention in Blackpool was, in some ways, quite low-budget, but its organisation absolutely blew Comic-Con out of the water, and especially in terms of being accessible and disability-friendly, it takes the win.

However!

I wasn’t there to go to Comic-Con. There really wasn’t anything else going on at the event that I wanted to do; the only thing I even *considered* was booking a photo session with a couple of the voice actors from Futurama, who were also in attendance. This isn’t actually a slight against Liverpool Comic-Con, it’s just that most of the guests that were booked, as well as the panels and events on the schedule, involved franchises, films, and TV shows that are either not my thing or that I’m just not interested in enough to want to spend that kind of money on.

From my perspective, I was going to Liverpool for one reason and one reason only: to meet William Shatner. And I can now tell you, dear reader, that I did it! A lifelong dream to meet Captain Kirk – and to meet someone who’s actually travelled into space – has been achieved, and I can check that off the bucket list once and for all.

I talked about this last year, when I went to the Star Trek convention, but if I have the choice, I’ll always choose a meeting or a photo rather than an autograph. I know some people are autograph collectors, and this is no shade to them at all, but I’ve personally never been all that interested in autographs. With the money I had, I couldn’t have gotten both a photo and an autograph from Mr Shatner, so I chose to have my photo taken with him. That moment – which probably lasted less than a minute – is a memory that, frankly, I couldn’t put a value on. Being able to be there, with him, to talk to him and thank him for his incredible contributions to the Star Trek franchise… that’s something so incredibly special.

And William Shatner, for many folks, is *still* the one person they associate the most with the words “Star Trek.” To have been able to meet the man who, arguably more than any other, defined what Star Trek was for decades… it’s a really incredible feeling. I could’ve spent that money on something like a Captain Kirk statue, or put it towards that stupidly expensive Star Trek Lego set, maybe, or a prop replica. But I don’t think any of those things really compare to the feeling of being there in that room, standing right next to him, talking to him, even for just a moment, and making that memory.

So it was another long day. And it was difficult day, thanks in no small part to Liverpool Comic-Con’s poor organisation and lack of disability access. By the time I was on my way back to the railway station I was exhausted, overheating, and probably a little dehydrated, too. But I made it home in the end with my prize: a simple photo of myself standing with William Shatner. And despite everything… it was worth it.

As Star Trek celebrates its sixtieth anniversary, this was even more of a special thing to have been able to do. And I’m glad that both Mr Shatner was well enough to make the trip, and that I myself was able to do it. I have to assume that Mr Shatner doesn’t do this kind of thing for the money any more, not at his time of life and given his financial situation. So I can only imagine that he still attends conventions like these because he likes them, or because he genuinely *enjoys* meeting fans. That’s a pretty incredible thing, to be honest, and at 95 years of age, no one would blame him for retiring quietly and never shaking another hand again!

So I hope this has been interesting – and I hope you aren’t *too* envious! I know a lot of Trekkies will have had similar opportunities in the past; it’s by no means a unique thing for a fan to meet the star of their favourite franchise. But for me, this was my first time meeting Mr Shatner, and having been a Trekkie for thirty-five years (I first began watching The Next Generation during its original broadcast run here in the UK in the early ’90s), it was just a really special thing to have been able to do. I’m glad I felt up to it, and I’m glad I pushed myself – even though I’m still feeling the lingering after-effects a couple of days later!

I know I haven’t been as active here on the website over the last month or so, but I have a few ideas in the pipeline as Star Trek’s sixtieth anniversary gets closer. Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll stay tuned for some of that in the days and weeks ahead.

Live Long and Prosper, friends!

---

The Star Trek franchise – including all films and TV series discussed above – is the copyright of the Paramount Skydance Corporation. Logos, branding, etc. for Comic-Con and Comic-Con Liverpool are trademarks/copyright of their respective owners and organisers. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.