Are you particularly proud to be associated with a show that�s credited as inspiring many, many thousands of students to take up science?

Oh absolutely. I�m very proud of that, and I�m proud of being associated with a show that�s watched by Stephen Hawking. He came to the sets when I was on Next Generation and I was blown away.

He�s a fan of the show. I got to write the teaser to an episode that he appeared in, and I�ll be able to tell my grandchildren about that.

So I�m very proud of my association with Star Trek. It�s meant a lot to a lot of people, it�s inspired them in a lot of different ways in science and technology and writing and acting and it�s an amazing thing to be a part of.