The world would not be what it is today without Star Trek. The sometimes confronting, sometimes deeply moving, sometimes tragically cheesy ’60s SF show – that wouldn’t have happened without Lucille Ball – transformed so many lives in so many different ways. And probably it wouldn’t have had that amazing impact without the extraordinary character of Mr Spock – and the man who played him, Leonard Nimoy.

83 is a venerable age. And in his 83 years, Nimoy had an impact upon the world at large, upon the hearts and minds and imaginations of countless thousands of people. He was a unique individual whose contributions will live long after those of us who remember him living are gone.

And somewhere in the universe, Spock and Bones McCoy are happily quarrelling again …