‘Star Trek: Discovery’: Jonathan Frakes Gets a Visit From Marina Sirtis in Behind-the-Scenes Video

Jonathan Frakes is back behind the camera of Star Trek: Discovery.

CBS has released a new promo video showing Frakes at work on this week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery, “New Eden.”

The video recounts Frakes’ history with Star Trek, from his time playing Cmdr. Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation, to directing episodes of Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, to directing the films Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection. He also directed an episode of Star Trek: Discovery‘s first season.

In the video, Frakes is joined by his Next Generation co-star Marina Sirtis, who paid a visit to Discovery‘s Toronto set. You can watch the video above.

Frakes directed the second and ninth episodes of Star Trek: Discovery Season Two. He also directed an upcoming episode of the second season of FOX’s The Orville, Seth MacFarlane’s love-letter to Star Trek. He spoke previously about how the two series compare.

“The Star Trek that we have has really found its voice, and Discovery has really found its voice,” Frakes said. “And The Orville has filled in a void. For a lot of people, The Orville is their new Star Trek because it does tell stories like [The Next Generation], and it’s got wild humor in it.

“[Seth MacFarlane] clearly wanted [The Orville] to look like [The Next Generation]. So, he hired the cinematographer [Marvin Rush] and the camera operator, and Brannon Braga, who wrote First Contact among other things that are fabulous. Robbie Duncan McNeill, one of our wonderful directors from Voyager, James Conway, who directed a bunch of great Next Gen episodes; he hired me. He filled the room with Next Gen people so that the show would look and feel like it. I think he did it.”

While Frakes may appreciate both series, the Star Trek: Discovery set is likely the only place where he’s greeted with William Riker-shaped cake.

Are you excited to see Jonathan Frakes‘ upcoming episodes of Star Trek: Discovery? Do you hope he’s involved with the upcoming Picard series as well? Let us know what you think in the comments!

The first season of Star Trek: Discovery is available to stream in its entirety on CBS All Access in the U.S., through CraveTV in Canada and through Netflix in other international markets.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery Season Two become available to stream Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS All Access.