The Show Is Fake. The Fandom Is Real.

How “Ships of the Northern Fleet,” a crowdsourced sci-fi project, navigated from TikTok all the way to the convention circuit.

In early April, the cast and crew of “Ships of the Northern Fleet” were reminiscing at a virtual convention. Catie Osborn, who played the fan favorite Annie, recalled the time that one of the show’s guest stars, Dame Judi Dench, was nearly taken out by a laser-beam arrow. “I remember she was just sitting there, and she was looking over her script, and we just hear that pew pew,” Mx. Osborn said. “She didn’t even look up from her script — just caught the arrow midair and went back to reading her ‘King Lear.’”