“BEAM me up, Scotty!” It’s the famous catchphrase of this week’s Icon, supposedly never said in exactly that form but none the worse for that.

Montgomery Scott was chief engineer of the Enterprise in Star Trek (“a science fiction show, M’lud”). “Captain, wuvv lost war-r-r-p power-r-r-r, sur-r-r!” That’s another-r-r of his catchphr-r-rases.

Scotty is a Scotsman in one of the first TV series to champion diversity, or at least diversity of stereotypes. He’s fond of a dram, plays the bagpipes, wears a kilt and was considered by series creator Gene Roddenberry to be “dour”.

He was first and most famously portrayed by James Doohan, a Canadian of Irish ancestry. At his audition, Doohan told Roddenberry the engineer should be Scottish because “all the world’s best engineers have been Scottish”.

That was before a quirk in the space-time continuum left most Scottish men today unable to change a lightbulb.

Doohan himself chose Scotty’s first name, Montgomery, his own middle name after his maternal grandfather James Montgomery.

But where was Scotty born? You had to ask. It’s a bone of contention among four towns and cities keen to claim the honour.

Most academics and fans confirm Aberdeen, as in one early episode Scott describes himself as “an old Aberdeen pub crawler”. And, face it, if you can survive a Saturday night on Union Street, you’ll have no fear of Klingons.

Furthermore, Doohan claimed to have based Scotty’s accent on an Aberdonian one he heard at Catterick camp, Yorkshire, during the Second World War. “I couldn’t understand a word he said!” Good start. However, he persevered, though not to universal acclaim. 

Scots are sensitive about such matters and, while he almost gets away with “The engines canna’ take it, Captain!”, his expressions “Have a bonny trip!” and “That’ll put the haggis in the fire!” elicited derision.

(Image: GNS)

Party like it’s 2222
Aberdeen’s claim has been contested by Linlithgow, based on a reference in Star Trek novel Vulcans Glory. There’s even a plaque, with his birthdate 2222, in the local museum. But Morayshire also has a claim, after Doohan said in an interview in the 1970s that Scotty came from “Elgin near Aberdeen”. 

It remains possible, however, that James was talking out of his impulse reaction chamber on this occasion.

No show without Punch, and so Edinburgh also put in a claim based on a reference on one fan website, but also in the film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, when the crew find themselves on Earth in 1986, and Scotty pretends to be a professor from Edinburgh.

James Doohan is not the only actor to play Scotty over the years (1966 to 1994 in his case). Simon Pegg took over for 2009’s Star Trek reboot and its sequels, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and Star Trek Beyond (2016), imbuing the character with his own estimable character and humour.

A young Scotty appeared in the final episode of the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, portrayed by Martin Quinn, who broke alarmingly with casting tradition by being Scottish. Across all these years and portrayals, Scotty has been involved in countless scrapes and shenanigans. 

He was even briefly killed by Nomad, a probe originally launched from Earth in the early-21st century. Kirk was distraught but Nomad said Scott could be “repaired” and duly revived him.

Scotty’s own ability to repair the ship in an emergency earned him the soubriquet “miracle worker” from Captain Kirk and yon Mr Spock. However, Scott later admitted he often exaggerated his estimates of the time needed. “I know this ship like the back o’ me hand!” he once said, before turning round and knocking himself out on a low hanging pipe. 

Other memorable lines included: “A cranky transporter’s a mighty finicky piece of machinery to be gambling your life on, sir.” And: “The notion of transwarp beaming is like trying to hit a bullet with a smaller bullet, while wearing a blindfold, riding a horse.” I see.

Modest enterprise
SCOTTY commands the ship when Kirk and Spock are oot on adventures. Despite being a capable leader when required, he never pursued his own command post because he “never wanted to be anythin’ else but an engineer”.

He was proud of the Enterprise and once started a bar fight aboard Deep Space Station K-7 when a Klingon suggested the ship should be hauled away as garbage. After the Enterprise was invaded by agents of the Kelvan Empire, Scott tried to incapacitate one of them by drinking with him. 

As planned, he got him so drunk that the alien passed out. Unfortunately, so did Scotty. He considered Scotch a drink for real men as opposed to vodka which he called “soda pop”. 

He wore his Scott tartan kilt on three occasions and played Amazing Grace on the pipes at Spock’s funeral in 2285. 

On one occasion, he also handled a  claymore (I too have done this; almost had my eye out).
In 2268, when an Excalbian took the form of President Abraham Lincoln, Scotty scoffed: “President Lincoln indeed! No doubt to be followed by Louis of France and Robert the Bruce.” 

Peter out
IN Star Trek III, Scott returned to Scotland to attend the funeral of nephew Peter Preston, an Enterprise midshipman.

On board, he pursued hopeless relationships with female officers who were younger and out of his league. In Star Trek Beyond, he got on surprisingly well with fierce warrior Jaylah, despite repeatedly referring to her as “lassie”.

After serving aboard 11 starships during a 52-year career, Scotty retired at the age of 72 with the rank of Captain. 

He was aboard a shuttle heading to a retirement colony when it crashed into a Dyson (not the vacuum cleaner) sphere. 

Understandably, Scott then “stored” himself in the bulwark for 75 years before being discovered by the Enterprise-D.

After helping the Enterprise-D itself from being trapped within the sphere, 147-year-old Scotty was given a shuttlecraft “on extended loan” to either continue to his retirement colony or explore the galaxy as he sees fit.

Leaving the character behind proved difficult for James Doohan. 

One producer told him: “I’m sorry, but we don’t have a part for a Scotsman.” However, he made a lucrative income from personal appearances, and had the satisfaction of encouraging many young peeps to go into engineering.

He also had the satisfaction of having both Elvis Presley and Groucho Marx shout “Beam me up, Scotty!” at him.

Robert McNeil has worked in newspaper offices for decades. In 2013, at the Scottish Press Awards, he was nominated unsuccessfully for Janitor of the Year.