The Hour

Actors Karl Urban and John Cho have given their first Star Trek interview for STV, and said that it was a big thrill to be part of the saga’s long-awaited reboot.

Urban, who plays the craggy Dr Leonard "Bones" McCoy, said: “This is the first one, so you’re getting it all fresh.”

He also admitted he was a childhood fan of the show: “I watched the original show as a boy, and caught quite a few of the subsequent series, so for me it was a big thrill to be a part of this.”

Explaining the long-term appeal of the show Cho, who stars as Hikaru Sulu, said: “One is that Rodenberry created really meaningful characters, or whatever it is that pull between Kirk’s passion and Spock’s logic, that has said something to generations and really appealed to them.

“It also has a very optimistic and hopeful vision of our future,” he added, “and the Enterprise is essentially a group of people of different genders and races and species working towards a common goal, and I just think that’s a very attractive message.”

After receiving almost unanimous rave reviews Star Trek has grossed £70.9m worldwide in its opening weekend, currently ranking at number one in 23 markets  and already dwarfing the entire intake of the last movie in the series.

Directed by Lost and Fringe guru JJ Abrams, who is now being hailed as the new Steven Spielberg, the rebooted Star Trek chronicles the early days of Captain James T Kirk and his crew on the starship Enterprise.

With all this positive buzz, the film's new cast is already signed on for two sequels, and Abrams has said that screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are starting to plan the second film.