It’s hard to imagine a star of Elvis Presley’s magnitude being a fan of anything but a new documentary on the late singer, The Seven Ages Of Elvis, reveals that he was such a huge of fan of sci-fi series Star Trek that he named his horse after the show.

The documentary, which is to be broadcast of Sky Arts tonight (August 16) to mark the 40th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley at the age of 42, also claims that he once recorded a staggering 35 tracks in just five nights.

Speaking of Elvis’ fascination with the celebrated sci-fi show, The Mirror reports that Presley’s co-star in the 1968 musical comedy, Live A Little, Love A Little, and Star Trek actress Celeste Yarnall said: “Elvis was a Star Trek fan. He even had a horse named Star Trek.”

She continued: “First day on set, Elvis gave me the biggest hug, and he said, ‘I just couldn’t wait to meet you. I knew you were coming. And I know you from Star Trek.’ We became very, very dear friends and very close very quickly.”

Elsewhere in the documentary, Elvis’ former bassist Norbert Putnam recalls Elvis’ phenomenal work rate during a 1970 recording session when he recorded 35 tracks in just five days.

Putnam said: "No-one had ever accomplished that much work ... and it couldn't have been done with any other artist. He would learn a song in two or three takes ... and Elvis would say, 'Let's do it. Come on, guys.'

"It's almost like an athlete, like, 'Give me the ball, I'll score'. He's pumping, he's saying, 'Guys, we're going to nail this first take, come on.'... and (he'd nail it) first time through.

"He's phenomenal, and he just heard this song for the first time 10 minutes ago.”