Quiz: Got the makings of a Trekkie?

Spock himself would no doubt have raised a single quizzical eyebrow at the highly illogical outpouring of grief that greeted the news of the death of the actor who played him.

Emotional tributes to Leonard Nimoy rained in from humans across planet Earth, with fans, fellow actors and even the President of the United States expressing their sense of loss.

Star Trek, in which Nimoy played Spock, the mixed-species alien with a Vulcan’s dedication to logic but a fascination with all things human, was a much-loved, ground-breaking show that originally ran for three seasons and 79 episodes.

But how well do you really know it? This quiz sorts out the Klingons from the hangers-on. No cheating — that would be all too human.

1 In the episode The City on the Edge of Forever, which British starlet played the character of Edith Keeler, an anti-war protester who delays the entry of the USA into the Second World War?

A Diana Rigg

B Joan Collins

C Cilla Black

2 Mr Spock’s “Vulcan nerve pinch” first appears in the fifth episode, The Enemy Within. However, who invented the celebrated manoeuvre?

A Leonard Nimoy himself

B William Shatner

C Steven Spielberg

3 Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols, was one of the first regular black characters to appear on American television. Who told Nichols that it was vital she continued to play such a positive role model?

A Martin Luther King Jr

B Bobby Kennedy

C Lyndon B Johnson

4 In which episode does Kirk first say, “Beam me up, Scotty”?

A The Trouble with Tribbles

B He never says it

C Journey to Babel

5 It has often been remarked that the distinctively colourful Star Trek uniforms looked both tight and short on the actors. Was this because…

A Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner suggested the idea to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry over cocktails?

B The uniforms were cast-offs from a failed 1962 CBS show called Sweet Galaxy Sixteen that starred only teenagers?

C They were made from velour, and shrank whenever they were dry-cleaned?

6 The transporter beam is one of the most iconic effects from the original series. But how was it created?

A Grains of aluminium powder were filmed in slow-motion against a black background

B By using a Cray-2 supercomputer on loan from Nasa, in the earliest known piece of computer animation on television

C The bubbles on the oxygenator in an aquarium were filmed incredibly close up

7 James Doohan, the late Canadian actor who played Scotty, had lost the middle finger of his right hand several years before filming. How had this happened?

A In a particularly vicious game of ice hockey

B From a piece of farm machinery, when he was growing up in British Columbia

C On D-Day during the Second World War, when he was accidentally shot six times by a fellow Canadian, and only survived thanks to one of the bullets hitting his silver cigarette case

8 The instantly recognisable theme tune to Star Trek was written by Alexander Courage and featured lyrics by Gene Roddenberry. Even though the words were never heard in the show, they enabled Roddenberry to scoop 50 per cent of the theme’s royalties. How did the lyrics start?

A Beyond the rim of starlight, my love is wand’ring in star-flight

B I tried but I could not find a way, looking back all I did was look away

C Boldly going through the Milky Way, we search the stars ev’ry day

9 In 1975, “official” blueprints of the Enterprise were published. To the surprise of many fans, the plans showed a room that never featured in the series itself. What was this room?

A A small petting zoo, featuring a sardonic camel called Neil Armstrong

B A six-lane bowling alley

C A brothel exclusively for the use of Vulcans

10 After the first pilot show, NBC wanted to get rid of which of these characters?

A The “Number One” officer, because she was both female and “too cerebral”

B Mr Spock, whom they dismissed as “the guy with the ears”

C Both of the above

11 Throughout the filming of the original series, it is well known that William Shatner often struggled with his weight. How did the show’s producers make Captain Kirk shed those pounds?

A They made the on-set caterers serve Shatner half-portions

B Shatner was forced to watch the rushes from one episode, and he went on a crash diet

C They failed, and a corset was made to order from a well-known Beverly Hills lingerie store

12 The kiss between Capt Kirk and Lt Uhura in “Plato’s Stepchildren” is often cited as the first interracial kiss on a scripted TV series. However, it wasn’t. Which show, broadcast in 1964, did feature the first such kiss?

A Emergency - Ward 10

B The Avengers

C Dr Kildare

13 In an April 1968 memo to the crew and writers of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry discussed the way the characters were shaping up. As regards Captain Kirk, Roddenberry observed that the “best guide” to Kirk’s character should be which other fictional captain?

A Captain Ahab

B Captain Hornblower

C Captain Nemo

14 According to the American space historian Dwayne A Day, the last clause of the show’s famous opening monologue, “to boldly go where no man has gone before”, was borrowed and adapted from which document?

A An advisory note on space written for President Eisenhower in 1958 in the wake of the Russian launch of Sputnik

B The Gettysburg Address

C Shakespeare’s Sonnet 14

15 For how many Emmy Awards was the original series nominated, and how many did it win?

A Seventeen, and four

B Nine, and two

C Eleven, and none

16 In May 1985, the town council of Riverside, Iowa, unanimously passed a motion that declared…

A that all new councillors had to perform an oath upon assuming office while holding their left hand in the Vulcan salute

B that the town be declared the future birthplace of Captain T Kirk on March 22 2228

C that Star Trek uniforms be banned on Hallowe’en because of their combustibility

17 What was the title of Leonard Nimoy’s autobiography?

A I Am Spock

B I Am Not Spock

C He wrote both of the above

18 Which of the actors who played a major character in the original series is a vocal advocate of gay rights and also helped to build the Los Angeles subway system?

A Walter Koenig, who played Pavel Chekov

B George Takei ( Lieutenant Sulu)

C DeForest Kelley ( Dr McCoy)

19 Many of the props used in Star Trek were designed by the late Wah Chang, a Chinese-American sculptor. Which modern- day invention was directly influenced by one of his designs?

A The flip mobile phone

B The automatic sliding door

C The tablet computer, such as the iPad

20 Who said, “I never watched Star Trek. I have not even seen any of the Star Trek movies. I don’t watch myself”?

A Leonard Nimoy

B William Shatner

C DeForest Kelley

ANSWERS:

Answers 1 (b); 2 (a); 3 (a); 4 (b); 5 (c); 6 (a); 7 (c); 8 (a); 9 (b); 10 (c); 11 (b); 12 (a); 13 (b); 14 (a); 15 (c); 16 (b); 17 (c); 18 (b); 19 (a); 20 (b)

SCORE:

0 to 5

Oh dear. You’ve got about as much nous as a Regulan bloodworm.

6 to 10

Not bad. Count yourself as the Eddie Paskey of Trekkies. Paskey appeared as Lieutenant Leslie in 57 episodes, and yet only spoke in four episodes.

11 to 15

Respectable. Although you are unlikely to be seen at conventions begging members of the cast for their autographs, you’ve probably got the entire remastered series on DVD.

16 to 20

It’s hard to know whether to be impressed or appalled. You probably entered Klingon as your religion on the last Census return. Live long and prosper - which may mean you need to get a job.

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH