10 Best Stargate SG-1 Guest Performances
2. Dr. Svetlana Markov (Marina Sirtis)
Star Trek star and all-round legend Marina Sirtis was in a single episode of Stargate SG-1 as Russian scientist Dr. Svetlana Markov. In the episode Watergate, she recruits SG-1 to investigate a base in Siberia, where the Russians have been operating their own Stargate program with the assistance of Harry Maybourne. Something has gone terribly wrong, since their Gate has now been stuck open for days and the entire base staff are dead.
As the team investigate and utilise a micro-submarine to explore the planet on the other side of the Gate, they find it to be an ocean with sentient water. Samples of the water had been taken back to Siberia, which the sentient ocean viewed as some kind of hostage situation. Eventually, everyone is returned back to where they're meant to be and we're led to believe that the Russian program is discontinued. This episode had a lot more filmed to it, but much of it was cut short due to running over it's time.
Amusingly, Marina Sirtis (who is not Russian) beat out seventeen Russian actresses for the role and was then told on set if she could tone her Russian accent down a bit. Which makes you wonder why they made Counsellor Troi audition in the first place.