Team Basement Holds Captain Lorca

When on Twitter, I would sometimes share my drawings. A few of them being sci-fi characters, actor Jason Isaacs played. Then, I got a response saying, “You should join #TeamBasement.” That got my attention.



GALAXY: Milky Way, PLANET: Earth, SPECIES: Humanoid. OCCUPATION: Fan Base, GENRE: Jason Isaacs…



IDENTIFICATION OF HUMANOID Organization: Team Basement

Team Basement is an unofficial fan club at 100%. It formed accidentally on Twitter in February 2018. We have grown in numbers and now have members in ten countries and spread over three continents.

I like to think people come in for the pictures and stayed for the love, support, and good laughs. Many of us have met in real life, attended conventions together, or just met for drinks and friendship.

Though we don’t have a hierarchy, I often get touted as a leader and truthfully, I’m a bit loud and probably at my happiest when I’m organizing things.

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SEARCH: ENQUIRY: TEAM BASEMENT INTERROGATION

Alexa Wayne (A.W.): When have you first thought about creating the fan club Team Basement?

VINTAGE1983: I didn’t! Being honest, I didn’t have any plans or intentions of creating anything. Perhaps one of the most extraordinary things about it is that it happened rather organically. It went from a small group of friends I had made to a ‘thing’ with a hashtag and people who regard themselves as members of a group.

I think I get this ‘leader’ tag under being the loudest. I am indebted to Deb, Amy, Heather, Lindsay, and Rachel. We made, and remain good friends, and they were very much the original ‘Basement.’

A.W.: Would you please give us an explanation as to why the fan club is called Team Basement?

VINTAGE1983: Around the end of Star Trek Discovery Season 1, tweeted a lovely shot of the cast holding a ‘Find Prime Lorca’ sign. I responded that he was fine and well, currently living in my basement and would be back for Season 2—I’ll get to that disappointment later.

It gathered a bit of traction, and I got chatting with people as you do and was encouraged to write a comedy fan-fiction about poor old Prime Lorca learning to cope with his new life away from Starfleet, in the home of a school teacher in 21st Century, North-East England.

[image error]Property of Vintage1983 – Team Basement

Captain’s Basement Log ended up on Archive of Our Own, and I expected it to have a niche audience of about three friends. I’m told it’s funny but needs to come with a guide to some of its uniquely British references. I feel like the reality is somewhat less salacious than people sometimes assume.

The first time one of our group met Jason, a lovely lady called Kat, he knew all about us—Team Basement, but had assumed it was a reference to the O.A. and Hap’s basement.

A.W.: Clearly, you are all fans of the British actor, Jason Isaacs, what is about this particular actor that you enjoy or admire the most?

VINTAGE1983: I’m not sure I’m allowed to say in polite conversation! I feel obliged to mention his blue eyes on behalf of the actor, . Ken has appeared in Star Trek Discovery as three Klingons, Kol, Kol-Sha, and Tenavik, but also appeared in the slightly more obscure Tennis Anyone alongside Jason.

The lovely blue eyes comments are something of a running joke. Ken entertained some of us so much at Destination Star Trek in Birmingham last year. We felt compelled to add an attic extension to the Basement!

Of course, there is admiration on a superficial level, but it’s nice that as an actor he unites the might franchises of Star Trek, Harry Potter and Star Wars.

[image error]Property of Vintage1983 – Team Basement

I think as largely likeminded souls, rather a lot of us admire and relate to Jason’s political beliefs, his sense of humor, commitment to good causes. His talent as an actor. I can hear a communal sigh from deep within the basement at all of that.

A.W.: I was told by a quite useful source that you had a specific shirt made for Jason Isaacs. Why did you make him a shirt?

VINTAGE1983: We didn’t get it made, but it was too good not to take as a gift. Jason has been a very vocal critic of Brexit. We are not a political group with a homogenous set of views, but as an international group with members from across Europe and beyond.

A lot of us share a belief that we are better together. When I presented him with a ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ t-shirt on behalf of the group, he did promise to wear it and be photographed in it.

[image error]Property of Vintage1983 – Team Basement

Even so, it was lovely to see it appear at the FACTS convention in Belgium and on Instagram on the day of the European elections.

A.W.: Most Star Trek Discovery fans were disappointed to see Captain Lorca die near the end of the first season. What are your theories about either Terran Captain Lorca or Prime Captain Lorca?

VINTAGE1983: My theories about Prime Lorca’s whereabouts are well documented. In all seriousness, if anyone picks up Dayton Ward’s Discovery novel Drastic Measures without giving away any spoilers, there is a glimmer of hope in there for Lorca fans.

We are clinging on to it. Part of me hopes he’s raising merry hell in the Terran universe, preferably with Mirror Cornwell in tow!

A.W.: We are a science-fiction based webzine. So, I must ask if you did watch, Event Horizon, and if so, what were your thoughts on Jason Isaacs’ character of Doctor D.J.?

VINTAGE1983: Event Horizon should shoulder the blame for all of this. I watched it on VHS, preferably late at night as a teenager and remember vividly that French footballer David Ginola instantly ceased to be the world’s sexiest man.

Poor DJ meets a grisly end, and I’m confident I had read it was intended that he would still be alive and begging for mercy when Miller arrived. I can also say there has been extensive interest in the Basement about what became of the full body cast taken for the death scene, in the interest of science and research of course!

[image error]Event Horizon – 1997

At the very least it was a proper preparation for twenty years as a Jason Isaacs fan, his characters have an awful habit of dying.

A.W.: I had a conversation with some friends about whom either should’ve been James Bond or should now be once Daniel Craig leaves after James Bond 25. I mentioned that theoretically, Jason Isaacs could’ve been chosen instead of Daniel Craig being about 2 years apart in age. What are your thoughts?

VINTAGE1983: I think he would have made a fantastic Bond. Sadly, I think Clark Devlin the Tuxedo is as close as we might ever get, but we live in hope. I honestly think he could play Bond starting tomorrow, but the realist in me says that ship may have sailed.

A.W.: What is the goal of Team Basement when it comes to the fandom?

VINTAGE1983: I am very sure I am not without my detractors, but in a climate of sometimes toxic fandom, Jason’s fans are primarily a charming group of people and either directly, or by association all seem to know each other!

The things I am most proud of are the relationships between people and the charity fundraising we have been able to do. A group of predominantly, though not exclusively, women of all ages and thanks to the wonder of time zones and being spread across the world provide a twenty-four-hour support network for each other.

I have seen people grow in confidence and move forward in their real lives because of the love and support they get from each other. One of the girls once described the group as a lifeline. I was very moved and overwhelmed to have been part of that journey.

[image error]Property of Vintage1983 – Team Basement

In the 18 months, we have been a group we have raised close to £3000, split between The Red Cross, Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and Lumos. It’s been fantastic to have a platform to do something meaningful for good causes. I think fandom is about bringing people together as much as the famous faces and franchises they follow.

A.W.: I know you’ve met Jason Isaacs. How was it the first time you met him, and what type of person would you say he is?

VINTAGE1983: He’s a charming bloke, gracious and appreciative of his fans. I am incredibly biased, of course. I met him again a few months later, and he remembered me, even down to where I worked, as well as my friend and Basement partner in crime, Deb.

He must meet hundreds of fans, and it meant a lot. It’s both strange and lovely that people meet him at events all over the world and introduce themselves to him as a member of Team Basement. His messages are always positive and encouraging.

[image error]Property of Vintage1983 – Team Basement

Despite my often-filthy sense of humor and love of a cheeky comment. I feel like he understands above all we are just having much fun, indulging in some harmless escapism and taking care of each other.

I would also add I was fortunate enough to meet his Dad at an Education conference Jason spoke at. He is also an adorable chap, and I encourage Jason to bring him to more events!

A.W.: What is your favorite movie with Jason Isaacs, and why?

VINTAGE1983: My friend told Jason she loved everything he had been in. He responded that he didn’t! I loved the Harry Potter films, most people did, but Peter Pan has a special place in my heart.

It isn’t perfect, but he is the definitive Captain Hook and having heard him speak about it at panels, he very much understands why it speaks to women.

Besides that, a mutual admiration for his Hook led me to one of the most distinctive and precious people in my life, and for that, I will always be eternally grateful.

A.W.: If we go back to speculations, what would be a science-fiction role you would like him to either take back (as reclaiming and acting) or pick in the future?

VINTAGE1983: I am a vocal advocate for Lorca to return to our screens. As a massive fan of Doctor Who, I would also love to see him appear there somewhere. I am confident the role of the Doctor was mentioned before the 2005 reboot.

[image error]Property of Vintage1983 – Team Basement

I suppose I understand why he might have turned it down. It would be nice to see him play the good guy, but a massive part of me thinks he would make a fabulous Master opposite Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor.

A.W.: As the last question, do you believe in a multiverse and if so, do you believe Team Basement lives there too, and Captain Lorca still exist?

VINTAGE1983: Though I claim to be at least half Terran, if there are other universes, I hope any iteration of Team Basement is as warm, friendly, and supportive.

The multiverse of the O.A. can also give us hope that at least one of us, in some version of the universe or other at the very least managed to get a snog behind the bike sheds!

A.W.: So, Vintage1983, where can people reach you if they would like to know more about your fan club and Team Basement in general?

VINTAGE1983: I’m easily tracked down on Twitter @Vintage1983V and via the hashtag #teambasement. I’m active on Instagram as Vin_of_the_Basement though I share a lot of my Star Trek artwork there, rather than group related shenanigans.

[image error]Star Trek Discovery – CBS All Access

I feel like we need a Facebook presence, and it’s my next task. I’m also @lorcastightpants on Tumblr, and my blog is pretty J.I. content heavy. Feel free to drop in and say hello and meet the gang!

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