1. Stephen Hawking
Top of the pile, for me, has to be the very man who's life work could well contribute to making Star Trek a reality someday. Have you ever had one of those hypothetical conversations about who would be your guests at the dinner party or a round of drinks at the bar? Well, the android version of this conversation becomes reality thanks to holographics in the Next Generation episode "Descent". Data brings together the greatest minds in human history for a game of poker as a way of expanding his understanding of humanity. The actors who played Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton must've made the whole experience particular thrilling for Hawking, as they appeared very passable in their respective roles, but it was the very notion of Stephen Hawking on-board the Enterprise that made me smile with a child-like sense of awe. The fact that Hawking seemed to genuinely enjoy himself as he whooped Einstein's ass with four-of-a-kind, cracked a nerdy physics joke and delivered a real eye-roller of a line when Newton mentioned "The Apple Story", summed up the warm intelligent humour Star Trek has occasionally treated us to. There was a real poetic quality to Stephen's appearance in Star Trek. The show has always been about the unity of mankind, and here we have a man who has been severely disabled all his life, yet managed to become a leader in the field of physics and is widely regarded as one of the greatest minds of our time, making an appearance on a television show designed to give us hope for the future. It is for this reason that I've awarded him the accolade of 'Best Guest Star'. I hope you've enjoyed reading this countdown as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Of course, everyone will have their own ideas of who would make their lists. Please, feel free to discuss and debate your thoughts in the comments section below. I look forward to hearing your ideas.