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Fans of the genre may remember him as Major Hayes on "Star Trek: Enterprise," but in the fall the actor Steven Culp will be trading his starship for a Stargate as he heads to the lost city of the Ancients in "Stargate: Atlantis."

According to Gateworld, Culp will be seen in the ninth episode of the series, entitled “Millers Crossing,” which sees Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) and his sister Jeannie (played by his real-life sister Kate Hewlett) kidnapped by a shadowy medical corporation on Earth. The corporation is said to be the main government contractor that has interfaced with alien technology received through the Stargate program.

Since the cancellation of it’s parent series “Stargate SG-1,” producers say that “Atlantis” will get the chance to tell more Earth-based stories that they could not previously do without stepping on a few toes. The means for the Earth-based stories was introduced in the third season with the construction of the space-gate network that stretches between galaxies, replacing the need for a ZPM (zero-point module) to open a single wormhole.

It's not yet clear who Culp will play on the series or if he will have a recurring role with the show after this episode, however Gateworld has put its money on the actor having a fairly integral role in the episode. On "Enterprise," Culp played M.A.C.O leader Major Hayes for the third season for its season-long Xindi arc. Since then, he has also appeared in "JAG," "ER" and "Desperate Housewives."

For the fourth season, “Atlantis” will be making its debut at the slightly later timeslot of 10 p.m. to make way for the flood of new shows making their debut. The move will also allow the series to tell slightly darker tales which the 9 p.m. timeslot would not allow.

New episodes of “Stargate: Atlantis” returns to the SciFi Channel on Sept. 28.

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