TF01
3,Voyager Press Launch
4,by Simon Plumbe

Stardate: 1406.95
Location: Atlantic Bar & Grill, Picadilly, London, England, Earth


To promote the release of Star  Trek:  Voyager  on video on 26th June
1995, CIC Video held this promotional  event  to tell the press about
the release of the series and to generally promote the show. Infinite
Frontiers managed to obtain a couple of invitations to this exclusive
bash, and myself and Mark Platts went along...

Arriving in London the day  before,  we  managed to find a relatively
inexpensive hotel for the night  before  voyaging (!) to Picadilly to
try and find the bar to avoid  problems in the morning. Two hours and
a phone call to Tim Gaskill later (who  had to look up the address in
an A-Z!), we managed to stumble  past  it  - less than a minutes walk
away from the entrance to Picadilly  Circus tube station! Oh, for the
day when transporters are invented...!!

The rest of that day was  spent  in the Trocadero centre, spending an
absolute fortune in the arcades  there...  especially on the 8-player
Daytona USA machines!! Oh, and not forgetting the obligatory visit to
Pizza Hut!!

There were a number of celebrity Star  Trek fans out to celebrate the
launch with CIC (and  to  add  to  the  media  profile  of the event)
including Red Dwarf's Craig Charles  and  Danny John Jules, respected
actor Don Henderson (whose work in  Star  Wars and Doctor Who will be
familiar to genre fans), childrens TV  presenter Timmy Mallett, and a
few others. Unfortunately, none of  the  cast themselves were able to
attend, but no-one there seemed to mind.

After a brief problem with the security  staff on the door, trying to
convince them that we were supposed to be attending (while we had the
invitations, our names had been missed off the invitation list!!), we
managed to sneak in early to  check  the  bar out, grab a few photos,
and to generally familiarise ourselves with  the layout. We were also
subjected to a sneak preview of what was to come...

Then the launch started officially, as we were all ushered into a bar
where a really weird free  non-alcoholic  cocktail was being given to
everyone. When I say  weird,  can  you  imagine  a  drink  made up of
several layers of colour??!! After this,  we   spent a while in here,
chatting  to  some  of  the  other  journo's,  the  celebrity  guests
(including a nostalgic chat between  ourselves  and two of the guests
from T'Kon '94 - Danny John Jules  and  Tim Gaskill!) and a few other
fans who were present (drafted in by CIC to be dressed in costumes) -
which included one guy who turned out to be a TFF reader!!!

Then disaster struck! We noticed that a TV crew were present from the
newly-launched L!VE cable  station,  and  they  were interviewing the
celebrities about the show and  the  launch  in  general. I turned to
Mark warning him that the camera  crew were looking in our direction,
but Mark was  insistent  that  they  wouldn't  bother  with us! Yeah,
right! They spotted that I was wearing a Voyager t-shirt (most of the
other writers and video reps there were  in suits!) and that was it -
they homed in and proceeded to  interview  both myself and Mark... on
national LIVE television!! If that  doesn't make you nervous, nothing
will!!

To try and create a sense of atmosphere, all of the CIC staff present
were in Starfleet uniforms,  and  after  everyone  had received their
drinks and settled down,  Robert  Hollocks  walked  into  the bar and
introduced himself. Suddenly, lights started  to  flash as a group of
Klingons burst in through the doors  and a staged fight sequence took
place with the Klingons and a group of Federation officers. All great
fun! After the Klingons  were  suitable  despatched,  we were ushered
into the main hall where a video was set up simulating a transmission
from Starfleet discussion the  incident  and  the impedning situation
with the newly-launch USS Voyager. This was a very slick presentation
with video and slides, combined with apparent interaction between the
person on the video and the CIC  staff  in the crowd. Then, the video
handed over to "Admiral" Robert Hollocks, who took everyone through a
brief potted history of the series and  where it fitted into the Star
Trek legacy.

After  this,  Robert  left  the  stage   for  the  video  showing  of
"Caretaker", which managed to  hold  people's  rapt attention for the
full 90 minutes, leaving everyone present  in no doubt that they were
witness to yet another success for  Paramount and CIC Video. Everyone
seemed to enjoy it  thoroughly  going  by  the  reaction of people we
spoke to afterwards, although  I  must  admit  that  my attention did
wander somewhat during the screening  -  well,  I  had seen the pilot
several times by  then  and  I  had  started  to  learn  much  of the
dialogue!!

After this, we were all then  given  a  Voyager press kit in a rather
swish presentation case. Granted, the  case  was  the one used by CIC
for the Jurassic Park "DNA" Pack, but it still looked quite good with
the Voyager logo on it! Inside,  there was a complimentary time-coded
preview copy of  the  pilot,  "Caretaker",  press releases containing
information  on  the  show,  it's  characters  and  behind-the-scenes
trivia, a copy of the video sleeve, the background booklet/additional
leaflets that  were  included  in  the  first  volume,  a  35mm slide
featuring the full cast shot, plus  (courteousy of MicroProse) a demo
CD for the ST:TNG game "A Final  Unity"  for the PC. As well as this,
Titan Books included a free copy of  the latest edition of their Trek
magazine, which just happened  to  be  a  Voyager  special.  It was a
really impressive pack that I'm sure  helped  to win over more than a
few journalists present!

After the official presentation, and after everyone had enjoyed their
free lunches (!), we managed to spend  a short while grabbing some of
the guests for brief interviews,  and  we  had  a chance to chat with
Robert about the overall success  of  the  day itself. Then, while we
were interviewing Don  Henderson,  I  encountered  a problem... Craig
Charles!

It transpires that Craig Charles REALLY liked the press pack that was
being given out... so much that  he  decided  to take an extra couple
home with him. Now,  the  supplies  that  CIC  had  to give away were
deliberately limited to one per person - anyone who has ever seen how
much Star Trek press kits tend to  be worth would see why. That being
the case,  what  Craig  Charles  did  was  inexcusable.  He obviously
decided that it would be a great  idea  to grab as many press kits as
he could to take with him  and  he  proceeded to walk around the bar,
picking up any press pack that  wasn't  being guarded. If anyone went
to the toilet or left  their  pack  alone  for  a few seconds, he was
there grabbing it. Eventually,  according  to  eyewitness reports, he
left the bar with at least six.

How do I know all this?  Well,  he  ended  up taking MY pack while we
were busy with Don  Henderson.  This  would  have  been bad enough in
itself, but because I was already  carrying a tape recorder and other
items, I had stored some personal items in the pack for safe storage.
Fortunately, CIC provided  me  with  a  replacement  pack,  and after
chasing  Craig  Charles,  they  managed  to  get  my  personal  items
returned. But why did he take it  in  the first place? And why didn't
he return the WHOLE pack instead of just the personal contents?

That really was the only  thing  I  didn't  enjoy  about the day, and
overall everyone there seemed to  be  very impressed with Voyager. It
certainly gained a few new fans on the day! I just can't wait now for
the next Star Trek series...  and  the  next  CIC launch to accompany
it!!