Scotty to beam into Linlithgow
Trekkies attending an historic film screening at Linlithgow Palace this weekend are in for a special treat all the way from Hollywood.
VisitScotland has announced Simon Pegg, who plays Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott in the rebooted ‘Star Trek’ films will welcome around 200 fans to the screening of ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ via a specially recorded video message.
Pegg also co-wrote Star Trek Beyond, which was released in July.
According to original ‘Star Trek’ script writer DC Fontana, Scotty – chief engineer of the starship Enterprise – will be born in Linlithgow in the year 2222.
And in an additional treat for the lucky winners of an online ballot to see the movie on Saturday (September 10) – the first to be screened at the palace in the monument’s 600- year history – the film’s acclaimed director, Nicholas Meyer, has also filmed a message especially for the occasion.
There were more than 1000 online ticket applications for the free event, which is organised by national tourism organisation VisitScotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Linlithgow Town Centre Business Improvement District and Film Mobile. The online ticket ballot closed on Sunday.
Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, said: “We are thrilled that Simon Pegg and Nicholas Meyer have agreed to record these exclusive welcome messages for what promises to be a truly memorable evening. Scotty, like Star Trek itself, is a television and cinematic icon and I can think of no better place to commemorate the golden anniversary of this classic franchise than in the Miracle Worker’s beautiful home town of Linlithgow.”
Ahead of the screening, former Oscar nominee Nicholas Meyer, who also directed ‘Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country’, said: “It gives the Star Trek franchise generally, and myself personally, the greatest pleasure to learn that ‘The Wrath of Khan’ is to be the first film ever to be screened in historic Linlithgow Palace.
“As the chief engineer aboard the Starship Enterprise, Montgomery Scott claims descent – and some portions of a Scots brogue – from this uniquely beautiful part of planet Earth, such a decision is only fitting.
“In addition, I believe Khan is the only instance in which Commander Scott plays the bagpipes. On behalf of the series, I acknowledge this signal honour accorded him and the film.”
Created by Gene Roddenberry and first broadcast on American television on September 8, 1966, Star Trek follows the five-year mission of the USS Enterprise, with Captain James T. Kirk ( William Shatner), Mr Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy (DeForest Kelley) among the crew members seeking out new life and new civilizations and boldly going where no man has gone before.
Scotty was played in the original series and seven movies by the late Canadian actor James Doohan, with Simon Pegg assuming the iconic role for ‘Star Trek’ (2009), ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ (2013) and ‘Star Trek Beyond’ (2016).
The Enterprise’s “Miracle Worker”, known for such phrases as “You cannae change the laws of physics”, “The haggis is in the fire, for sure” and “Aye – and if my grandmother had wheels, she’d be a wagon” is described as a son of Linlithgow in the 1989 spin-off novel ‘ Vulcan’s Glory’, written by Dorothy “DC” Fontana – a writer and story editor on the original series.
Since it was first broadcast, Star Trek has become one of the biggest franchises of all time, spawning four subsequent television series and 13 films.
Scotty, like Star Trek itself, is a television and cinematic icon