Star Trek: Discovery: Jonathan Frakes returning to direct an episode

As an actor, Frakes played Commander William T. Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation

With the release of Star Trek: Discovery fast approaching, more and more information regarding the series has debuted online.

Following the first trailer last month, the showrunners detailed some key plot information, mainly concerning First Officer Burnham, played by The Walking Dead's Sonequa Martin-Green.

Excitingly, Entertainment Weekly has unveiled that Jonathan Frakes — known around the world for playing Commander William T. Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation — will once again be returning to the series. However, this time, Frakes will be behind the camera, directing one of the episodes.

“Jonathan Frakes will rejoin the Trek world with Discovery,” writer-producer Gretchen J. Berg told the publication. “He’s a fantastic guy and great director.” Showrunner Aaron Harberts added: “Our cast is dying to work with him.”

Frakes has directed multiple Star Trek projects, including episodes of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, along with the films First Contact and Insurrection. Both Berg and Harberts have previously worked with Frakes on the series Roswell, where he directed five episodes.

The highly-anticipated show will begin airing in the United States on the 2 September on CBS, starting 8:30 p.m. ET/PT. The first two episodes will then be made available on CBS All Access for US viewers, with subsequent episodes being uploaded on the streaming service weekly.

For UK viewers, the show will launch on Netflix 25 September, with new episodes uploaded every Monday.