Although initially reticent to return to the Star Trek fold, Jeffrey Combs (Shran) agreed to appear in Enterprise when he realised he'd be laying the groundwork for the Andorian race.

"The Andorians were one of the founding members of the Federation and that's very significant," Combs told Star Trek Monthly's Michael A. Martin (via Sci-Fi Pulse). "Just from an historical lineage point of view, the opportunity to be a part of an echo of the Original Series was too big for me to turn down. I'm really pleased to be part of Enterprise. I think it's a terrific series, and it has a freshness to it that harkens back to the original. I'm really proud to be a part of it."

The character of the blue-skinned aliens was modified to reflect their position in the 22nd century Trek universe. "They're like the freedom fighters now, and that's much more visceral than before," Combs said. "When they were just volatile and conniving in the hallways, that's not so interesting as fighting for your life."

Combs also liked the idea of sparring off with the poker-faced Vulcans. "We start out being just the bad guys and everyone's willing to accept that because, gee, Vulcans couldn't possibly be that conniving," the actor said of his debut appearance in 'The Andorian Incident.'

"At the end, though we may be mistaken in beating up the Captain, we're justified in everything we've done. Every episode points out, 'Now wait a minute, these Vulcans aren't what you think they are!' I like that a lot. I'm sure that the Andorians are saying, 'Okay, you have just begun working with the Vulcans, we tried that, look where we are now.'"

The full interview can be found in the latest issue of Star Trek Monthly, out now in the United Kingdom. Alternatively, extracts are available here at Sci-Fi Pulse.

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