I was sitting in the auditorium of The Royal Institution of Great Britain, a look of awe plastered across my face. If the fact that I was getting the rare opportunity to see Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan on the big screen wasn’t exciting enough, this majestic venue was one of the best possible settings to watch it in.

“Strange to actually be in this place after watching all those science lectures,” my companion remarked in respectfully hushed tones.

“YOU WHAT?” I shouted back.

“You know, the science lectures they show on the BBC every Christmas. You must have seen them!”

“Oh, yeah, I remember seeing them now,” I mumbled, not entirely truthfully.

Suddenly a smiley Institute representative was beamed onto the podium (well, OK, she walked through the door). She thanked us all for attending and informed us that not only will there be plenty more sci-fi screenings to come, but there will also soon be a bar so we can get sloshed first. As the rep strolled over to the projector a sense of feverish anticipation gripped the gathered Trek addicts.

Unfortunately the rather warped, scratchy print looked as if it had been taped off TV in the 1980s, an apparent result of the difficultly in obtaining a print that can be publicly shown (which is why screenings such as this are so rare). Star Trek fans in the audience initially made scowly sounds at the picture quality, but soon just sat back to enjoy the movie.

Undoubtedly, The Wrath of Khan remains one of the best big screen ventures for the Enterprise crew. The scenes featuring the Ceti eels still maintain their power to frighten and the witty dialogue elicits plenty of chuckles (“Did she change her hairstyle?”). Surprisingly, only one plucky audience member dared scream along with Kirk’s immortal cry of “KHAAANNNN!”

We've been assured that the technical glitches were just teething problems, and all will be resolved by the next screening. We hope so, as if all goes smoothly this could genuinely be one of the best, most unusual venues in town to catch sci-fi on the big screen. Watch this space…

Posted by Matt McAllister