Jonathan Frakes

With much of the cast now publicly confirmed and production well underway on ‘Star Trek: Discovery,’ there has been a steady flow of announcements coming out of the often secretive project. The latest of these is particularly exciting for longtime fans of the legendary franchise, as showrunner Gretchen Berg has confirmed that former ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ star Jonathan Frakes will be joining the series to direct an episode of the upcoming first season. Complimenting Berg’s announcement, co-showrunner Aaron Harberts (who, along with Berg, previously worked with Frakes on ‘Roswell’) noted that the news had generated excitement on the set, saying “Our cast is dying to work with him.”

Frakes, of course, is best known to ‘Star Trek’ fans for the time he spent playing Commander William Riker. However, he has also spent a great deal of time working on the franchise as a director, having helmed fourteen episodes across three series as well as the feature films ‘Star Trek: First Contact’ and ‘Star Trek: Insurrection’. Indeed, ‘Star Trek’ has a long history of giving its stars the opportunity to try their hand behind the camera. In addition to Frakes himself, Avery Brooks, LeVar Burton, and Roxann Dawson are among the more prolific of these actors-turned-directors, each of whom has directed several episodes, often across multiple shows. This is to say nothing of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, both of whom (like Frakes) have directed ‘Star Trek’ films.

‘Star Trek: Discovery’ is due to make its long-awaited debut on September 24, 2017. The show will premiere on CBS before moving to the CBS All Access streaming service for the remainder of its run. The series cast includes Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Jason Isaacs, Anthony Rapp, James Frain, Michelle Yeoh, Terry Serpico, Maulik Pancholy, Sam Vatholomeos, Chris Obi, Shazad Latif, Mary Chieffo, Rainn Wilson, Rekha Sharma, Kenneth Mitchell, Clare McConnell, and Damon Runyan.

Be sure to check back with ScienceFiction.com for more great ‘Star Trek’ content, including more news on ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ as it becomes available.