When he's in full Klingon gear complete with weaponry and scary sword, Keith Batt of Stopsley struts his stuff, looks menacing and behaves badly. But when he's in his usual kit, the former Irish Guardsman reverts to being a mild, well-mannered 47-year-old husband and father of two.

Cineworld supervisor Keith, who lives in Littlefield Road, has been a Star Trek groupie as long as he can remember. He said: "I've been a Trekkie forever. It started when I was a kid. Then it progressed to the convention circuit. Now I'm the UK co-ordinator. I do personal appearances and I've also taken part in a couple of spin-offs."

The Klingons have always been his favourite characters from the iconic series. "They're very cultural people," he explained. "But I think they're misunderstood. They're war-like, yes but they have tremendous respect for family honour and doing the right thing."

He even speaks the lingo. "I'm not fluent," he admitted. "But I can curse reasonably well. And the worst insult is to tell someone 'Your mother has a smooth forehead.'"
Keith is heading to America in June to take part in New Voyages, a feature-length episode. He's already appeared in Star Trek: Of Gods And Men.

He got his big break 15 years ago when he met stuntman John Kerrigan at a convention: "I told him I'd love to be an actor. He asked: 'What's stopping you? You're still breathing, aren't you?' He gave me some coaching and pointed me in the direction of drama schools. Since then I haven't looked back. I've made lots of contacts and met some of my heroes."

He said: "Making a movie involves hours of boredom, moments of terror and seconds of glory."

And he added: "Star Trek has been good to me. It's taken me all over the world and cemented some fabulous friendships. You get away with murder in costume - it releases something inside that enables me to walk down the street being outrageous. I'm doing all the things I ever dreamt of doing."