Now an indelible part of Star Trek lore, John De Lancie’s Q was only added to the pilot of The Next Generation – ‘Encounter at Farpoint’ (S1, Ep1-2) – by Gene Roddenberry to bulk out the 90-minute running time after the network insisted on a two-hour TV movie.

Since then Q has appeared in 12 episodes of the TNG, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager,  one episode of Lower Decks, and returns to the character for Picard Season 2.