Aberdeen pursues Star Trek plans

Doohan played engineer Scotty in Star Trek

Aberdeen City Council is boldly going to pursue beaming up ideas to mark the city's apparent links with Star Trek character Scotty.

Aberdeen is one of the places to have laid claim to being the birthplace of the late James Doohan's character.

It has now been decided to investigate "low and no cost" options.

This includes assessing the benefits and drawbacks of bars and clubs developing a range of Star Trek-related drinks to boost tourism.

The plan has gone before the city council's economic development sub-committee, which has decided to pursue further investigation.

Head of economic development Rita Stephen said that several towns in Scotland had claimed to be Scotty's official birthplace, but noted an episode in which the character described himself as "an old Aberdeen pub crawler".

Officials will now look into the options and report back to councillors.

West Lothian question

Doohan died of Alzheimer's disease and pneumonia in July last year, aged 85.

The Canadian-born actor had been a successful character actor on radio and TV before landing the role in the pilot Star Trek episode.

Last year, West Lothian Council said it planned to erect a plaque in his memory in Linlithgow.

Scripts of the sci-fi series were said to show that his character was born in Linlithgow in 2222 and that his parents still lived there.