Looks like Noel Clarke is going to have to catch a plane across the pond.

Clarke, best known to genre fans as Mickey Smith, Rose Tyler's boyfriend in "Doctor Who," is making a return to science-fiction: in "Star Trek 2."

Director J.J. Abrams won't tell Trekkies the name of the character Clarke will play, or what role he'll have in the overall story. All we get is that he's a "family man with a wife and young daughter."

Clarke joins two other Brits, Alice Eve and Scotty's Simon Pegg. This is the first time Clarke will have a chance to share a project with either actor, although Pegg did appear in a "Doctor Who" episode (just not one that also included Clarke).

Clarke is not just an actor. He's also a writer and director, too. He wrote a short in 2002 that starred himself called "Licks," and later wrote "Kidulthood" after he gained popularity on "Doctor Who" about a group of troubled teenagers growing up in West London. That was followed in 2008 by its sequel, "Adulthood." Clarke also wrote the 2006 "Torchwood" episode "Combat," involving a ring of kidnapping and violent Weevils.

He has already filmed four projects for this year, according to Internet Movie Database, including a comedy/romance he wrote called "The Knot," as well as a drama he also wrote called "Fast Girls." He also is appearing in a genre film he wrote called "Storage 24" and along side "Person of Interest" star Jim Caviezel in "Bliss!"

Filming for "Star Trek 2" begins this month, and is expected to last through the spring. It's written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof, and directed by Abrams.

It will be released in May 2013.