The producers of TV phenomenon Heroes are going back to cult sci-fi series
Star Trek for another casting coup - Nichelle Nichols is to play a
Hurricane Katrina survivor in upcoming episodes.
Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura on Star Trek in the 1960s, will join
fellow Trekker George Takei as a Heroes regular when the second season of
the series begins in America this autumn (07).
The actress will play a financially-strapped grandmother, who is forced
to take care of her two granddaughters after the death of their mother -
her daughter - in the 2005 storms.
One of her granddaughters is one of the show's new heroines Dana Davis.
Nichols announced her part in Heroes at a recent fan convention, and
admits she was staggered by the response of devotees.
She tells TV Guide magazine, "The entire room went insane."