Star Trek: The Next Generation Original Series" in 1969, the "Star Trek" franchise had continued with "" (1973–74) and a series of films, all featuring the original cast. In the 1980s, franchise creator Roddenberry decided to create a new series, featuring a new crew embarking on their mission a century after that of "The Original Series". "TNG" featured a new crew that starred (for the majority of its seven-year broadcast run) Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker, Brent Spiner as Lt Commander Data, Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf, LeVar Burton as Lt Commander Geordi La Forge, Marina Sirtis as
Sarek (Star Trek: The Next Generation) wife for Sarek. Perrin was played by Joanna Miles in her first "Star Trek" appearance. Both Miles and Lenard would return in the same roles for the first part of the episode "". The writers and producers were nervous about mentioning Spock in "Sarek", with an early version of the script only calling for a reference by Picard to Sarek's son's wedding. The third season had seen a relaxation in Roddenberry's previous direction that "The Next Generation" could not touch on aspects of "The Original Series". This was especially seen at the end of "Sarek", in which Picard mentions Spock