The Final Frontier has had some strange guest stars over the years. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had a fleeting appearance at the height of his WWE dominance, Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac took the role of a fish-faced alien, and Stephen Hawking played himself in a game of poker against Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and genius android Data. One of the more consistent and surprising celebrity appearances was that of Whoopi Goldberg, the comedic actor and later talk show host who had a recurring role as the bartender Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Her appearance in the series inspired her mate Robin Williams, who was a die-hard fan of cult sci-fi shows like Trek and Doctor Who. In 1991 it looked like he might get a chance at fulfilling his lifelong dream of appearing on the Enterprise, as the time traveler Professor Berlinghoff Rasmussen in A Matter Of Time, the ninth episode of the show's fifth season. The character was to be a historian from the 26th century who comes back to study the past, without wishing to change things. Unfortunately a scheduling snafu meant that Williams couldn't take the part, which instead went to Matt Frewer, now best known for his role on Orphan Black. We can't help but imagine what Williams would have done with it.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
