Star Trek went back to basics with the previously untold tale of the original crew of the first Starship Enterprise. With the show now available on DVD, Blockbuster's Marshall Julius met two of its hottest stars, Jolene Blalock and Dominic Keating.

There's been a lot of Star Trek over the years, many crews boldly going, countless aliens blasted or befriended, worlds saved, wars fought and the very fabric of time and space messed with too frequently to mention. Back-to-back, it would take 20 days of continuous viewing to bring newcomers up to speed with the exploits of Captains Kirk, Picard, Sisko and Janeway, with phasers and warp cores, Klingons and Vulcans, and of course, the many incarnations of the glorious Starship Enterprise.

There is a shortcut, though, for those intent on giving Trek a try without having to first catch up on 35 years of TV history. Simply titled Enterprise, this latest incarnation of the long-running franchise focuses on Starfleet's beginnings, a 22nd Century adventure which takes us back (though also, obviously, forwards) to a time when everything was new and no one knew anything. More contemporary in feel, and set long before Spock was even a glint in his daddy's eye, this fifth live-action Star Trek series has managed to please just about everyone, from obsessive fans and long-lapsed viewers to hardened critics and total newcomers, both young and old, who never expected to catch Trek fever even once in their lives.

"For people like myself," explained actress Jolene Blalock, "who loved the original show, but got lost along the way and never really got into the later Treks, Enterprise brought everyone back." A former Maxim cover girl who ranks among the sexiest Trek stars in the series' history, Blalock relished the opportunity to play pointy-eared alien T'Pol. "I loved playing a Vulcan," said Blalock, "but I almost blew the opportunity to play her. I used to go to a minimum of three auditions a day, and film was my highest aspiration. When the Star Trek call came I said 'no', without knowing anything about the show at all, without knowing the premise, without any knowledge of my role, because the last couple of shows hadn't intrigued me at all. After I'd passed on it a second time my agent dropped the script in front of me, didn't say a word about it, just told me to go home and read it. And it was beautifully written, set in a much more interesting time than the last few series, and my character was incredible. It was irresistible. Suddenly I was desperate to be a part of the show, and fortunately the producers still wanted me."

Also on hand to talk about Enterprise was British actor Dominic Keating, an easily likeable and chatty bloke already well known to fans of classic sitcom Desmonds. "18 months before Enterprise started shooting," he revealed, "I'd had enough of acting, at least I thought I had, and I was going to quit.

"I was gonna get married. Well, was I really? I don't know. I bought a ring, I know that much. At the time I was jobbing as an actor and it was a good living for a single white male, but not enough to start a family. She lived in Texas, and we had this crazy whirlwind romance, and there was some sort of madcap plan to sell my flat in London, in the Portabello, take the cash and open a restaurant in Austin."

Clearly Keating couldn't quite believe how close he came to blowing his career. Pausing to groan, then laugh and finally shake his head in disbelief, he continued. "It's funny how life is, isn't it? There's something timely about that moment when you think it's all over. Just when I was going to pack it in, Enterprise came along."

Having already experienced fame on a small scale, Keating was more than ready for the real thing. "The first time someone asked for my autograph it was because they thought I was Jim Dale from the Carry On films. My first real taste of fame came the day after Desmonds started. I went down to Brixton Rec, where I used to go and swim, and I was standing butt naked in the shower, soap in my eyes, when suddenly I was surrounded by twenty naked blokes all talking about the show.

"Going to America and being a complete nobody again was a rude awakening, but I was warned that things were about to get manic, and that's exactly what happened. I've never minded people coming up for a chat or asking for autographs. It's part of the job, and you know what, I like it. It means you're doing your job well, you're reaching people, and that's what actors want - besides free food, of course!"

As enthusiastic armoury officer Malcolm Reed, Keating blends a very British sensibility with the urge to "bomb the s**t out of everything", although, "when September 11 happened, it didn't rub easily with me that I was playing someone so keen to blow things up. I still don't know where my feelings lie with it all."

"I didn't expect them to make Malcolm the action man of the show, but he quickly become the guy who dropped to one knee, levelled his phaser and got the Captain out of scrapes. You need a guy like that. There's a lot of humour in Malcolm wanting to blast everything while the Captain insists on a more reasonable course of action. It's always a bit disappointing, though, when he has to put his weapons away, but fear not, he had them out more often than not!"

Besides, there's a lot more to Malcolm than violence. He also has a rather spiffy way of speaking. "I do like playing him somewhat quintessentially British. At the original audition I went in very clipped, sort of Brief Encounter, but they thought that was a little overdone, so word came back that I should make him more blue collar. So I went back with this nice Sheffield accent and auditioned again, and after my first scene one of the producers asked 'is that Scottish?' And another replied, 'don't be silly, that was Welsh'. With that I could see my job practically skipping out the door, so I asked if I could just do it in my own voice and it worked out really well. I think Malcolm turned out to be one of the most interesting characters. He's quite enigmatic. He's got that mystery about him. Though you knew very little about him when the series began, that definitely changed over the years. I hope I did him justice."

Blalock was similarly proud of her role, stressing that there was a lot more to T'Pol than her skin-tight catsuit. "There's no denying I wore a very tight, figure-hugging outfit, but I wasn't just in the show for sex appeal," she insisted. " I don't know if this was intentional or not, but they made my outfit without pockets. That was fitting for T'Pol, as everyone thought she had ulterior motives, that she had something up her sleeve, but she didn't. She had nothing to hide. What she said was what she meant."

Equally committed to their characters as they were to the success of the show, Keating and Blalock couldn't be happier to have been a part of the ever-expanding Star Trek universe. "We were all really fortunate," explains Blalock. "Each of us got along so well, both cast and crew. Over a hundred people working together every day and we never argued. It was incredible. Like being part of a family. I've had bad days in my personal life, but it was always a joy to go to work. There's also a sense of immortality that the show gives you, that you worked on something that will never die and your contribution will last forever. That's a very special feeling."

Marshall

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