See Also: 'Cease Fire' Episode Guide

Jeffrey Combs spoke recently about his many forays into the world of Trek, and his ongoing involvement with Enterprise.

"Working on Star Trek is a cherished gift and it's all been based on happy little accidents along the way," Combs told Ian Spelling at Star Trek Monthly. "I loved my time on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and I never thought for a minute that I'd be part of the Enterprise world."

Combs made his first appearance in DS9 as Tiron. He went on to play recurring characters Brunt and Weyoun, and guested as Penk in an episode of Voyager. In Enterprise, he's once again been playing two characters, the Andorian Shran in 'The Andorian Incident' and 'Shadows of P'Jem' and Ferengi Krem in 'Acquisition'. "Ah, yes, the Ferengi episode," Combs told the magazine. "That was fun. Scott Bakula insisted that my last name was 'brulee'!"

After playing Brunt numerous times in DS9, Combs had a challenge to make Krem unique. "Fortunately, Brunt and Krem are very different Ferengi," said Combs. "I also asked that he looked different from Brunt. I went to [make up maestro] Michael Westmore and I said, 'I don't want to wear the Brunt nose [or] the Brunt teeth'. I wanted to get as far away from Brunt as we could within the narrow parameters of the Ferengi appearance."

Many fans are concerned about continuity, but Combs is adamant that the episode was dealt with properly. "A lot of people don't like it when the writer don't go by the strict rules of Star Trek, but a good story is a good story, and I think they handled it pretty well. The Enterprise people never found out who we were."

Combs will next be returning to Enterprise on 12 February in the US, in the episode 'Cease Fire'. It will be the actor's third appearance as the Andorian Shran, something Combs is only too happy to do. "I hope they'll have me back to do more because I think here's some nice ore to be mined from the character."

The full interview, in which Combs talks more about DS9 and Shran, as well as his other genre work, can be found in issue 101 of Star Trek Monthly.

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