It’s been a long road… gettin’ from there to here. By which I mean: it took me almost four hours on three separate trains and one tram to travel from my home to Destination Star Trek in Blackpool on Saturday. That’s right: Trekking with Dennis made it to a Star Trek convention – my first since 2011. This is, somewhat embarrassingly, a pretty big deal for me – my health has been poor for a long time, and I haven’t felt up to an outing like this in years. Aside from medical appointments and a couple of visits earlier this year to meet my newborn niece, this became my first excursion in over a decade.
I’d looked into last year’s Destination, but I didn’t feel well enough in 2024 so I opted not to go. But this year, bouyed a little by those visits to my sister, brother-in-law, and newborn niece, I was feeling a little stronger, and perhaps a little braver… so I bit the bullet and bought a one-day ticket for Saturday. It was a long day – hours of travel each way, leaving the house at 5:30am and not making it back until after 10pm. But despite being exhausted and in a lot more pain than usual by the time I got home… I had a good time.
(Faces in all photos have been censored for privacy.)
The Star Trek fan community is just… wonderful. There are so many kind people in the community; Trekkies are patient, respectful, encouraging, enthusiastic, and just a joy to be around. I might be sitting on a seat, catching my breath in between events, walking to the bathroom, or waiting in a queue, and someone would strike up a conversation about something they enjoyed about the event last year, share their experiences of having met the guest speaker, or just compliment me on my Star Trek t-shirt. The atmosphere was incredibly friendly and welcoming… I felt, for the first time in years, like I was among my people!
And I must give special thanks to the staff and organisers. Due to my poor health, I’d filled out a form on Destination’s website to request some extra help. I didn’t really know what this would include, I just hoped there might be somewhere to sit down in between events or while queuing. Upon arriving at the event, I spoke with one of the members of staff who issued me a wristband – and I got to join a special queue for several of the photographs (more on those in a moment) which meant less time spent standing. Members of staff helped me find a seat at several of the talks, and they were all very friendly, chatty, and passionate about Star Trek. I simply wouldn’t have been able to attend Destination without this extra support, and I am beyond grateful to the organisers, the staff, and everyone at the convention who accommodated me, in spite of my limitations.
Let’s talk about why I decided to go to Destination this year. Because… well, let’s just say it didn’t quite go the way I first intended!
I’d been keeping an eye on Destination 2025 for a few months, weighing up whether to buy a ticket or not. But it was only when Anson Mount – Captain Pike himself from Strange New Worlds – was confirmed as a guest that I decided it was something I had to do. As you might’ve heard, though, Mount unfortunately had to pull out of the event at the last minute after contracting covid. I wish him well as he recovers. Again, credit to the organisers and staff, here: refunds were issued automatically for the panel I’d paid for when Anson Mount had to pull out.
Such things are unavoidable. Anson Mount’s last-minute withdrawal from Destination led to a few changes to the schedule… which, in the end, ultimately worked out in my favour. Connor Trinneer – Trip Tucker from Enterprise – was taking part in a talk on Saturday afternoon, and when I was no longer scheduled to meet Anson Mount for a photograph, I that time was freed up to attend the talk. As we’ll discuss, Trinneer’s panel was a lot of fun, and I’m glad I didn’t miss out on it. Oh, and Anson Mount did ultimately call into Destination by video-link, though I didn’t attend that event.
Photo: Destination Fan Events via Facebook
I’ve mentioned photos a couple of times now, so let’s talk about that.
Some people love to collect autographs. My mother had Elvis Presley’s autograph, for instance, which was something she loved to tell people about! But I’ve never really been big on autographs, even personalised ones. If I have the opportunity to meet someone famous, or someone important to me… I’d rather take that time to shake their hand. That memory, that moment… it’s always seemed more worthwhile than an autograph, at least to me. No shade to the autograph collectors – this is purely a subjective thing.
So I booked several photographs with Destination’s attendees. I met two guest stars from the first and second seasons of The Original Series, including an actor who appeared in The Man Trap, which was the very first episode of Star Trek to be broadcast. I met Chase Masterson – Leeta from DS9. I met the aforementioned Connor Trinneer, and Martin Quinn – who has taken over the role of Scotty on Strange New Worlds. I made a bit of a tit of myself, blurting out “I love Strange New Worlds it’s great!” as I waddled over to him. Poor man must’ve been traumatised. But I shook their hands, smiled awkwardly for the camera, and I have those photographs as mementoes of the day.
It’s been a while since I went to Blackpool. The seaside resort is a peculiarly British place, though it’s definitely in need of some TLC these days. But I have fond memories of being taken there as a kid, going to the Pleasure Beach funfair, seeing the Illuminations, and eating chips on the pier. This time, I got to take one of Blackpool’s new, modern, ultra-sleek trams – and use an app to buy my ticket! I’m still adjusting to life in the smartphone age, but on the short walk from the railway station to the tram stop, I managed to download the app, buy my ticket, and activate it.
As soon as I disembarked, I started seeing signs of the convention! The tram stop is right outside the Norbreck Castle Hotel, and there were already dozens of people milling about in costume, in Star Trek tops and t-shirts, and wielding phasers and other props. I made it inside, freshened up, and I was on the convention floor in time for the first event I’d been planning to see: a talk all about artificial intelligence.
This presentation, by a member of the UK military and Space Command, was genuinely fascinating. I’m not a “doomer” when it comes to A.I., though I certainly believe its practical applications are more limited than some optimistic utopian predictions would suggest! But discourse surrounding A.I. online can often feel overly negative. While the speaker was clear that there can be drawbacks and disadvantages to A.I., and some areas where it may not be useful, he was broadly positive and passionate about its current and future applications.
It was also very interesting to catch the tiniest glimpse of military applications of A.I. from someone directly involved with that side of things. Again, there’s a lot of “doomerism” surrounding killer drones and A.I.-engineered bio-weapons… so to get some perspective and learn a tiny bit about how A.I. systems are currently being used by real-world militaries was absolutely fascinating. Obviously this wasn’t directly related to Star Trek, though the speaker was a Trekkie, but Star Trek has long been a pioneer in predicting A.I. – from The Ultimate Computer to Data, Voyager’s Doctor, Control, and beyond.
I was able to attend two talks (or panels, if you prefer), one in the morning and one later in the day. Chase Masterson’s talk was first, and she was a really engaging speaker. I enjoyed a story she told about being invited to rehearse with her DS9 co-stars at the home of Armin Shimerman (Quark), which sounded like it must’ve been a lot of fun. And she spoke a little about the late Aron Eisenberg, as well as working with Max Grodénchik (Nog and Rom respectively).
Masterson also spoke about some of her other roles, her charity work, and what the audition process was like as she made the move to Hollywood in the 1990s. It must’ve been a big deal for her as Leeta went from having a few lines in a single episode to slowly building up to become a recurring character with some big moments in the show’s later seasons. It also sounds like there was a complicated working environment for anyone not a series regular; Masterson explained how, on DS9, the recurring cast never had a contract, and could theoretically have been let go at any time.
Connor Trinneer also had some fun stories to share at his panel. He talked about the audition process, how he thought he’d completely blown his first audition for Enterprise, and how, after not being called back when he hoped he would be, he thought the role had gone to someone else. I also learned – and maybe you already knew this, but I certainly didn’t – that Trip Tucker almost got a different name. That’s right: he was originally to be called “Spike.” It was only because of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which was on the air at the same time, and also had a character named Spike) that the name was changed – and that was after production had begun on the pilot.
Trinneer is another wonderfully engaging speaker, recounting his time on the show effortlessly. I think there’s still a twinge of sadness or regret that Enterprise was cancelled when it was; he mentioned the show’s premature ending several times, as well as talked about the possibility of exploring more of Trip and T’Pol’s relationship had a fifth season been greenlit. In a joking reply to a fan asking if he’d be willing to reprise his role, he said “he’s dead!” to much laughter. But he then elaborated: no one is ever really dead in sci-fi, and he’d be fascinated to learn how Trip might’ve survived the events of Enterprise’s finale.
Two really entertaining and interesting talks.
Before we come to the photo sessions, I also got to take part in something really special. Chase Masterson did a script reading from the episode Bar Association – which is a huge episode for her character, Leeta. This was a separate event, in a smaller room away from the main stage. There were only about… I wanna say maybe ten of us, or so, as well as Masterson and a couple of the event’s organisers. It was small-scale, intimate, and just a ton of fun to have been present for. We all remember Bar Association, right – it’s the episode from Season 4 where Rom leads the staff at Quark’s to form a union.
This smaller script-reading session was so much fun, and definitely one of the highlights of the day for me. Chase Masterson is really funny, she hasn’t lost a step when it comes to embodying Leeta, and even though it’s been almost thirty years since Bar Association aired… I felt I was right back there, watching it all over again, just in a completely different way. These are the kinds of experiences you really can’t get anywhere else… and I’m so glad I chose to pay for a ticket to something like this instead of buying another action figure or model ship!
The first photo I took – and therefore the first actor I got to meet – was with Martin Quinn. Quinn has taken over the role of Scotty in Strange New Worlds, showing us a younger and less-experienced take on the character that has just been really well-created and interesting. I noted in my recent reviews of The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail and Four-and-a-Half Vulcans that Quinn has great on-screen chemistry with Paul Wesley (SNW’s Kirk), and it’s just been a lot of fun to see this younger version of the character and Quinn’s take on Scotty’s younger days. And yes, from now on, you can expect me to say “Martin Quinn (whom I have met)” in every future episode review where Scotty’s featured!
How often, nowadays, can one claim to have met a guest star from The Original Series? Garth Pillsbury appeared in the iconic episode Mirror, Mirror as Wilson – a crewman aboard the ISS Enterprise in the Mirror Universe. He reappeared in Season 3 as a prisoner in the episode The Cloud Minders. Budd Albright appeared in The Man Trap – the very first episode of TOS to be broadcast. His character (Barnhart) was killed by the M-113 Creature, making him one of the first “redshirts” to die in the show! He reappeared in What Are Little Girls Made Of as a different character, Rayburn, who met a similar fate!
I then got to meet Chase Masterson (again, after the script-reading session) and pose for a photo with her. And I capped off my photo sessions later in the day with Connor Trinneer. There were pretty long lines for some of these, and I didn’t schedule photos with all of the guests who were there that day. But with the exception of Anson Mount, I got to meet everyone I set out to meet.
Meeting these folks, shaking their hands, and just… being with them for those few seconds… it’s an almost surreal feeling, in a way. Maybe if you’re a regular convention-goer this is all old hat to you, but for me, as someone who hasn’t done anything like it in so long… it was a wonderful experience. Being able to say I’ve met these folks, shaken their hands, told them (awkwardly) how much I enjoyed their shows and their characters… it’s just a really great feeling. It’s a connection between myself and the people who are actually *in* Star Trek that I didn’t have before.
And no, by the way, I’m not gonna publish those photos!
This might sound silly, but I was surprised to see so many people had gone all-out with their costumes. I felt underdressed in just a Star Trek-themed t-shirt, surrounded by people dressed up in full costumes from every series and every era of the show. It was great to see so many people wearing Picard, Discovery, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds uniforms, too – despite what some small groups of fans might want to think, the Trekkie community as a whole embraces, rather than rejects, those newer shows. There will always be some who complain, of course; I overheard one such conversation about “Alex Kurztman should be fired” at the convention. But it was great to see so many people who celebrated modern Star Trek just as much as the older shows.
The counterpoint to that is… well, a bit of an awkward one, to be honest. I’m no spring chicken – I’m in my forties – so this is not an attack on anyone, nor at attempt to be “ageist.” But… to be blunt, there’s not a lot of young blood in the Trekkie community at the moment. It’s rare for me to go somewhere and feel like one of the younger folks! But at Destination? I guess I’d say most people were in their mid-thirties or above. That gels, of course, with Star Trek’s 1990s heyday, and there are other factors such as younger people having less disposable income and perhaps more constraints on their time at this time of year. But it was noticeable, at least, that most of the folks there were in a similar age bracket to myself, despite Paramount’s attempts in recent years to broaden the Star Trek franchise’s appeal.
Destination was a lot of fun. It was a long, painful, and tiring day, but it was worth it in the end. The experiences I got to have – reading a script with Chase Masterson, meeting Budd Albright, who appeared in the very first Star Trek episode, and listening to Connor Trinneer talk about his time on Enterprise – just wouldn’t have been possible anywhere else, and I really value the time I spent and the memories I made far more than any of the merchandise I’ve bought over the years!
It also took a lot of effort, and I cannot stress enough how much I appreciate the assistance and help given to me by the folks at Destination. I paid for my tickets, so this is not some kind of sponsorship or ad, but the reality is that, given my health, I would not have been able to attend and do these wonderful things were it not for the extra help the staff and organisers were able to provide to folks with disabilities such as myself. I was exhausted after I got home – and yes, that’s why this week’s Strange New Worlds episode review was late – but I had a fantastic time.
So… what’s next? I was talking to my sister (who, coincidentally, doesn’t live too far from Blackpool) about the event, and she said words to the effect of “now that you’ve done it, you wouldn’t do something like that again… would you?” And… I had to hesitate. Because yeah, it was a hard day. And yeah, next year’s event will probably be kinda samey, with talks, panels, merchandise booths, autographs, and photo-ops. There may well be some of the same actors and guest stars present.
I also don’t know, given my state of health, whether I’ll be able to do something like this again. It was a major undertaking for me, and it took a lot of planning, a lot of effort, and quite a few painkillers just to get through the day as well as I did! But I’m not going to lie to you: part of me is eyeing that weekend in August 2026, back at the Norbreck Castle Hotel, and thinking… “why not?”
So hey, if you’re going to Destination next year… who knows. Keep an eye out for a fat fella with a walking stick perched awkwardly on a chair or excitedly standing in line to shake the hand of… whoever they manage to book! In the 60th anniversary year, it could be a lot of fun.
Destination is an unofficial Star Trek fan convention held at the Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool, UK. The Star Trek franchise – including all series, films, characters, and other properties discussed above – is the copyright of Skydance/Paramount. All photos taken by Trekking with Dennis unless otherwise stated. You may use them under the “share-alike” principle, providing you include a link back to this article. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Trekking with Dennis 