Star Trek: 10 Biggest Takeaways From 'William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill'

"I haven't changed the world," Shatner stresses as You Can Call Me Bill draws to a close. This is not any kind of faux self-effacement on his part, although he is, no doubt, being a little hard on himself. He was certainly part of something that did! There is a more nihilistic sense to Shatner's statement, however — that we all, no matter what, "fade into oblivion" soon enough. To his mind, the only thing that remains is "the good deeds" — and that, he hopes, will be his legacy… plus the tree!

Inasmuch as Shatner broaches the subject of death openly and honestly in You Can Call Me Bill, the documentary is equally a testament to his ongoing zest for life: "I don't want to leave. I'm having too good a time," he says. And to return to the hyperbolic for a moment, there is little more Shatnerian than his spoken word albums, equally parodied over the years, but here, you can't help but fall for the passion of them.

"Name a verb and you should be passionate about it," Shatner declares. "Go boldly, passionately. The last thing to boldly go into is death, so live your life fully." The man who played the Captain who first boldly went is still proving that verve through every word. He might doubt his impact on the world too, but we don't. In fact, there was only ever one doubt, Mr. Shatner, one question with the requisite verbs: Can we call you Bill?

Rent & buy on most digital platforms + stream on Prime Video 27 May. Blu-ray 3 June.