Star Trek: Picard season 3 has heavily been pushing the return of The Next Generation cast in the marketing, which is quite the turnaround from the first two seasons.
It's a big deal for fans, getting to see their favourite characters together for their first new adventure in decades, but what was it like for the cast members reuniting on the set?
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, Riker actor Jonathan Frakes talked about how the cast didn't actually have the same feelings of 'bringing the band back together' that their characters did.
What to Read Next
Related: Star Trek: Picard boss explains why major characters were cut in season 3
"I think the concept is that we hadn't seen each other and that it would be, we'd have to catch up," he explained. "[But in real-life] we have a group text and we've been friends for 35 years, and we're like a family.
"So we have a lot — we see each other all the time, we work together, we do the conventions together, we communicate, we have drinks and have dinner and lunch together. So it was, we just happened to be caught on set again.
"It felt as if we had been gone for the weekend. So there was a great familiarity in our shorthand, working shorthand, professional shorthand, and our personal shorthand."
Related: Picard star Michael Dorn explains surprising change made to Worf in season 3
As we explained in our review, the show itself doesn't just have the TNG characters doing everything they used to do just for nostalgia's sake. The show actually takes them to new places and gives them nuance and depth that they never had before.
Star Trek: Picard airs on Paramount+ in the US and on Prime Video in the UK.
![Star Trek: Discovery season 4 [DVD]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1666870725-star-trek-season-4-dvd-1666870653.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Star Trek: Discovery season 4 [DVD]")
![Star Trek: Picard - Season Two [DVD]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1666870511-51kjM7O8fbL._SL500_.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Star Trek: Picard - Season Two [DVD]")
Audible Star Trek: Picard: No Man's Land: An Original Audio Drama
Pocket Books/Star Trek Star Trek: Discovery: Desperate Hours by David Mack
Pocket Books/Star Trek Star Trek: Discovery: Drastic Measures by Dayton Ward
Eaglemoss Publications Ltd Star Trek: Designing Starships Volume 4 – Discovery
Titan Books Ltd Star Trek Discovery: The Official Collector's Edition
IDW Publishing Star Trek: Discovery - Aftermath by Kirsten Beyer, Mike Johnson and Tony Shasteen
Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
