10 Welcome Changes Deep Space Nine Made To The Star Trek Formula

10. Adopting Characters From Past Series

Admittedly, since The Original Series and The Next Generation are set a century apart, it would be hard for them to share any main cast members (despite many of the original crew still being alive by this point). This is not the case with TNG and Deep Space Nine, which run parallel to each other starting from TNG's sixth season.

As such, it's easy to see why the writers chose to relocate some of TNG's characters over to Deep Space Nine. The first example is Miles O'Brien, a humble transporter operator on the Enterprise-D who is, at best, a minor supporting character on the show. As a main character on DS9, O'Brien is promoted to Chief of Operations, and we get to see some intriguing new sides to his rich, down-to-earth personality.

Another recurring character, Ro Laren, was also intended to be part of the show, but when actress Michelle Forbes turned down the offer, the role was repurposed as Major Kira Nerys.

But what makes up for this is that Lt. Commander Worf, the Klingon fan favourite from TNG, comes to the station in the fourth season, staying for the remainder of the series. In this new environment, it's refreshing to see more of these old faces that still have a lot to give.