TrekWeb talks to Nick Cook, actor/producer of the fan production series Starship Intrepid about their upcoming episode titled "The Stone Unturned".
1- Nick, what you can reveal about the upcoming Starship Intrepid episode "The Stone Unturned" ?
In "The Stone Unturned", an archaeological mystery draws Jean Luc Picard to the Charybdis Sector, where he is forced to work with the crew of the Intrepid. The script was written by Helena Chronicles writer, Brian S. Matthews, and is essentially an Indiana Jones homage.
2- I understand that Captain Jean Luc-Picard appears in the episode. Who is the actor playing Picard and what role the Picard character plays in the story ?
We have Giles Aston, who is a professional Patrick Stewart impersonator appearing as Picard. I was familiar with his work, and thought it'd be fun to have him appear in Intrepid. In all honesty, I didn't really expect him to be interested, but figured 'what the heck' and asked anyway. I was thrilled when he very graciously agreed. He's been great fun to work with, and really threw himself into the experience, which is not small feat given some of the hoops we made him jump through. You can find Giles' website at jeanlucpicard.com.
Picard serves as the lynchpin of the story, the reason Intrepid is drawn into the plot. Most of the action in "Stone Unturned" is character-driven, and Picard's presence drives the majority of it.
3- Will we see the Enterprise-E in this new episode ?
Sadly no. There really wasn't a role for the Enterprise in this story, so we chose to feature Picard alone.
4- When the episode will be released for download ?
We're aiming to release it some time next year.
5- Finally, can you gives us an update on the Hidden Frontier / Intrepid fan film Operation Beta Shield ?
We actually shot part of David Reid's S'Ceris footage for Operation Beta Shield this weekend, and we'll catch the remaining scene in the next week or so. After that, Lucy and I fly out to LA in a little under three weeks to shoot our scenes.
