By Steve Krutzler / 00:00, 22 October 2004 / Enterprise

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION's Brent Spiner will debut in a three-week guest appearance on ENTERPRISE next week, beginning with the episode "Borderland." Next week's issue of TV Guide goes on the case to hear from Spiner about his role as 'Arik Soong', the dangerous architect of Eugenics Wars-era supersoliders.

"I am the old man here," the 55 year-old Spiner tells journalist Michael Logan. "When it comes to STAR TREK, I'm the one with the most experience on this set, and I have to be fearless about that. I'd resent myself if I didn't try to make it as good as it can be."

Spiner refers not only to his on-set cache, but the article reveals that the character of 'Soong' was originally written as a straight villain. Executive producer Manny Coto has said the original idea didn't even involve the ancestor of 'Data's creator -- it was 'Colonel Green' from "The Savage Curtain," instead. The magazine says at Spiner's insistence, the character was changed into "a misunderstood genius with a heart." It's the kind of ambiguity that the actor says STAR TREK creator Gene Roddenberry would've relished.

"The story asks big questions about embryo research and violence genes and what makes a murderer--the kind of issues Gene Roddenberry loved," he explains.

Producer Rick Berman tells Logan that it's no secret that the bulk of the TNG audience hasn't tuned in to ENTERPRISE. He's hoping Spiner's arc can do something about that. Spiner himself says he has no illusions about returning to the big screen after four TNG features of mixed success.

You can read much more about the "Borderland", "Cold Station 12," and "The Augments" story, Spiner's other current work, and see more photos of the actor as Arik Soong in the October 24th issue of TV Guide, now available on newsstands.