Shatner told Wesley that Spock’s unusual appearance represented the freedom science fiction gave the programme’s creators.
William Shatner recalls fight to keep Spock’s pointed ears. Photo / Getty Images
He said: “In that pilot, I was attracted to the magic, the imagination behind that pilot with the swollen heads and the pulsing. It was such wonderful makeup. It was intriguing from many points of view.”
The programme had an unusual journey before Shatner joined the series.
NBC rejected the original pilot, The Cage, which starred Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike, but took the unusual step of commissioning a second pilot with a new script and an almost entirely different cast.
Nimoy was retained as Spock, while Shatner was brought in to play Kirk.
The resulting second pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before, helped convince NBC to order the series.
Shatner said: “There was a magic about the pilot, and that became the magic of Star Trek that caught the imagination of the audience.
“You can have weird people coming out of a rock and saying, ‘These are the people who live on this planet’, and accept it because you don’t know who’s living on that planet in the sky.
“That science-fiction magic was a big propellant in the popularity of Star Trek.”
His recollections come as Star Trek celebrates its 60th anniversary, with the original programme premiering on NBC on September 8, 1966.
The series initially lasted three seasons, ending in 1969, but subsequently developed an enormous following through repeats and expanded into television spin-offs and feature films.
Shatner reprised Kirk for the big screen, beginning with Star Trek: The Motion Picture and continuing through films including Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Shatner has also been working on William Shatner … And You, a new book examining the effect Star Trek has had on viewers.