Returning to Star Trek for a second time, Robert Picardo is set to make yet another appearance as part of the new cast of Starfleet Academy as he revives ‘The Doctor’ hundreds of years after first materialising on screen in Voyager’s pilot episode. So, who is The Doctor…?
Conceptualised in the mid-24th century, the Emergency Medical Holographic Program was proposed to take action in the event of a crisis to supplement or replace the medical staff on a short term basis. The idea was simple. Whether in the heat of battle or during humanitarian aid, anything could overwhelm the medical team and that cost of life, any life, was too much to bear. With the advancement of holographic technology, the plan was to create a program that could be drafted in when required to save the day.
Leading Starfleet Engineer Dr Lewis Zimmerman was tasked with spearheading the project into development alongside some of the most advanced and skilled hole-engineers. An incredible challenge resulted in an incredible product; a highly sophisticated computer simulation based on the experience of 47 individual medical officers serving in Starfleet combined with the knowledge of the entire Federation medical database, covering three thousand species and containing over five million medical protocols to follow. It wasn’t just a walking database either; the EMH had to be able to adapt to it’s surroundings, learn new skills and techniques and even act as a psychologist if required.
Following successful tests, the EMH programs were built into newly developed designs and became part of the package on Intrepid and Nova Class Starships. Other designs in development, including the Sovereign Class, would also receive the new technology. After one year of service, nearly 700 EMH program’s were running and the software was considered for fleet wide rollout.
The original Mark I model did have some flaws. Mainly it’s short term nature. All in it only had the capacity to run for 1,500 hours before memory degradation and due to it’s usage being limted to emergency function, there was no research conducted on it’s social skills. Instead it’s physical model and personality was based on Zimmerman himself.
One of the earliest interventions of the EMH happened in 2370 on board the USS Voyager. During a mission to track down a Maquis ship, Voyager was captured by an entity known as the Caretaker and transported 70,000 light years from it’s position. The capture was fast, yet volatile, and in the transfer the ship was severely damaged and took on multiple casualties including it’s medical staff. Their EMH was activated to take control of the medical emergency, but there was a bigger problem to come; the ship would become stranded and their EMH would soon become a permanent installation.
That is where The Doctor began. Forced to become the sole medical officer, the Doctor spent nearly eight years in service on the ship where he had to evolve and break from his original programming; partly through crew intervention starting with them finding a way around the ‘expiry date’ of the software’s limited run time, and partly with self-tweaking and exploration of his program. His egotistical and sarcastic personality, a carry over from Zimmerman’s self implementation of himself, began to change and develop over time as he grew as both a program and a person with the day to day challenges of being a fully serving doctor, as well as in dealing with active situations that required learning and adapting well beyond his initial program.
In his early years he argued for more autonomy, being treated as a person instead of a program they could switch on and off at will, and despite being confined to sickbay and the holodeck – the only locations with holographic emitters – an encounter with 29th century technology would offer him more independence thanks to a mobile emitter that allowed him to roam the ship and beyond to any location.
Developing friendship the crew, and gaining the respect of their captain, the Doctor experienced a full range of emotional growth from a software that caused a psychological breakdown, to learning how to be an artist through song, writing and photography. He’d eventually become one of Seven of Nine’s mentors, using his own expanding humanity to help her understand and find her own and through contact that was eventually made with the Federation, became an inspiration to other holograms like him despite being denied the rights of an individual by Starfleet.
While the Doctor was asserting himself as a person more than a program, back home his model wasn’t faring too well. The original Mark I’s were withdrawn from service and reprogrammed for menial tasks dye to overwhelmingly negative feedback on their personality. The Doctor would meet his replacement, the Mark II in a mission to communicate with the people back home, but even then there were two more generations of improvements; not including the Long Term Medical hologam which was initially to be based on Deep Space 9’s Julian Bashir before knowledge of his genetic modifications was made public.
Yet in spite of his model being long retired, by the time Voyager made it back to Earth the Doctor had developed so far from his original programming that he became an anomaly. Given the nature of his unique growth, he continued his works as a author while continuing to serve in Starfleet even after Voyager was decommissioned. Rejoining Janeway’s staff years later, he’d become th echief medical officer on the Voyager-A acting as a mentor to new prospective cadets. And it seems that service would last several lifetimes as we’ll see the Doctor return in 32nd century show Star Trek Academy, centuries after being switched on during the Caretaker crisis.
Given life by veteran character actor Robert Picardo – who’d previously be seen as everything from the Johnny Cab in Total Recall to a stern executive in Gremlins 2 – the Doctor became a huge fan favourite for his wit, sarcasm and surprising depth in character. Picardo has since managed to make multiple appearances across the franchise, including in a cameo as the EMH in First Contact, Dr Zimmerman and test holograms on Deep Space Nine as well as revising the character for Prodigy’s second season and the upcoming Academy show launching in 2026.
About the author
[Ships of the Line] Send ‘nubes! The Danube Class Runabout
The world of Star Trek is filled with graceful and elegant ships, huge forces of nature packed to the rafters with a bustling crew with every skill imaginable under one roof for any situation. But not all of the fleet's numbers are massive hulks ready for adventure. Sometimes you just need a little runner to get you from one place to another for missions that might last a few weeks more than a few years. Put into action in the late 2360's, the Danube Class Runabout was ideal for short term missions or teams that needed more than a cramped and empty transport shuttle to get the job done. At at least four or five times the size of a standard shuttlecraft, the Danube class was a step up from the range of short-range craft. Designed as a tightly condensed […]
Who is The Doctor?
Returning to Star Trek for a second time, Robert Picardo is set to make yet another appearance as part of the new cast of Starfleet Academy as he revives 'The Doctor' hundreds of years after first materialising on screen in Voyager's pilot episode. So, who is The Doctor...? Conceptualised in the mid-24th century, the Emergency Medical Holographic Program was proposed to take action in the event of a crisis to supplement or replace the medical staff on a short term basis. The idea was simple. Whether in the heat of battle or during humanitarian aid, anything could overwhelm the medical team and that cost of life, any life, was too much to bear. With the advancement of holographic technology, the plan was to create a program that could be drafted in when required to save the day. Leading Starfleet Engineer […]
[Ships of the Line] The Pathfinder
Building upon the discoveries and experiences of Voyager's unplanned trip through the Delta Quadrant, the Pathfinder class is the first line of starships designed specifically for the Delta Quadrant. Less a replacement for the Intrepid and more of a specialised offshoot, the Pathfinder was conceived for a return to the Delta Quadrant with a ship and crew prepared for what to expect. [Image Note: Pathfinder Class model by Thomas Marrone. Screencap taken in Star Trek Online with Sovereign Refit Livery.] After being stranded in the Delta Quadrant, the USS Voyager returned to Earth in 2378 with a little intervention from their future selves, Borg transwarp conduits and enough technology from the future that would drive Temporal Investigations to insanity. Between the new technologies brought in by Admiral Janeway to the discoveries and modifications applied to the ship throughout it's isolated […]
[Inside Trek] Behind the Viewscreen: Roxann Dawson
Best remembered for her turn as Voyagers volatile half Klingon Engineer B'Ellanna Torres, Roxann Dawson seven years on Voyager was a breakout moment for her on screen acting career as well as a transition to a new aspect of her career. Drawn to acting from an early age, Dawson began her career on stage in regional productions following her studied at the University of California earned her a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Moving into television in 1985, Dawson racked up dozens of credits ranging from Matlock to Baywatch in guest roles before being cast for Voyager in 1994, a role that quickly saw her become a fan favourite in the complex role of an engineer with a temper, lending her talents to Starfleet as an outsider. During her time on the show, her passion for the inner workings of building […]
A Fistful of Sci Fi
Over the past few years we've been spoiled with a dazzling amount of Star Trek on our screens, but with shows coming to an end, the close of Season 3 of Strange New Worlds leaves us impatiently waiting for more! With a bit of time to go until we see season four, and the next live action show Starfleet Academy coming next year, we need some geeky joys to fill the gap! Taking a look around at recent sci fi releases, we've picked the top five from the year to keep us engaged before our return to the Star Trek Universe in 2026. Murderbot Based on the series of books by Martha Wells, Murderbot is stars Alexander Skarsgård as a refurbished security unit who's hacked his safety protocols to gain free will and horrible at hiding that fact. Assigned to […]
What If…. the Romulans Learned The Truth?
Armed to the teeth with the ability to replenish ships, troops and supplies at rapid speed, the Dominion were a force to be reckoned with who were systematically crushing their opposition. The Jem'Hadar were taking their fair share of losses, but any soldier lost could be replaced by another batch of clones and with a huge amount of planets in servitude to the Dominion combined with a sharp focus of genetically engineered talents, there were always spare resources to replenish and push back. It was a dire situation for the Federation. Waves of fleets would be lost in battle, boots on the ground were struggling to hold the line and even with the Klingons vast resources and more battle-ready way of life, it just wasn't enough to push back hard enough against the invading Dominion. Not until another large nation […]
Related
Relay Recap: July 2024
All Features Universe Categories Fleet Alert Comms GORN GIRL recap; july 2025 Picking up on the Season 2 cliff-hanger, Strange New Worlds returned to our screens this month to find Captain Pike and his crew on the edge of war with the Gorn as Season 3 was finally released!Exploring new worlds and new problems, the Enterprise crew are back in action on Paramount Plus and we're keeping ourselves up to date with weekly episode discussion threads on our FB Continuing Mission Group & Weekly episode reviews from Admin ! Explore... Episode Reviews Spoilers Group ACROSS THE UNIVERSE As we look back on Pike's adventures on the Enterprise in the prequel series, Paramount also gave us a look at whats to come next as Entertainment Weekly and SDCC's Star Trek Universe panel gave us a sneak peek at the reopening of […]
Who is Roger Korby?
During the second season of Strange New Worlds, Christine Chapel spends a big chunk of her time advancing her career with studies and opportunities. One of which gets her away from the Enterprise to spend time working with one of the Federations greatest minds. In season three, we come face to face with that mentor – Roger Korby. And with all their charm and the beginnings of a new story, the original series has already told us how this will end... Roger Korby coming home to the Enterprise was a surprise to Spock. It wasn't a surprise to anyone else. Not just for the first episode of seasons three emphasising that Chapel was pretty much done with the drama and ready to move on, but those who've seen the original series would know the legacy characters have a bit of […]
Who Is…. Montgomery Scott?
Starfleet engineers are known throughout the universe for their innovation and ability to fix absolutely anything. Whether it's connecting all the warp cores or turning rocks into replicators, the legend of the engineer all started with one man: Montgomery Scott. Born in the early 22nd century, Scott was raised in the years of Starfleet's mission that turned a small force into stuff of legend. With a passion for learning Scott was trained in a mix of obsessively learning everything he could to the point of reading technical manuals as a pass time, to hands on experience working on some of the finest and most complex systems in the fleet. Assigned as chief engineer of the Enterprise in the 2260's, Scott saw the prestigious ship as his own; engineering his complete domain where even the captain was merely a guest on […]
Who Is Phillipa Georgiou?
Phillipa Georgiou was one of Starfleets finest. Commanding an exploration mission on an aging vessel, she was a decorated and respected leader in the fleet that would inspire future generations and colleagues alike. And then she died, killed while boarding an ancient Klingon ship whose captain was determined to reignite a new war to bring the great houses together again. In comparison to the honourable captain who stood by the rules, the Georgiou that exists now is her opposite. In her world she wasn't a hero, but a savage ruler of the Terran Empire. Reigning with fear and terror, her empire was built on slavery, genocide and war. Eventually her dominance was challenged when Gabriel Lorca – himself a Terran hiding in the Prime Universe – would use Discovery's experimental spore drive technology to pull the ship back to his […]
Who Is Rachel Garrett?
Narendra III was a long standing Klingon colony first visited by Starfleet in the mid-22nd century. In 2152 it hosted the first human on trial under Klingon law at a time where the warrior caste was overshadowing all others, but almost two hundred years later it would also be the place where peace with the Klingons would be secured by an act of sacrifice for the Empire.
Who Is Agent Daniels?
Assigned to the Enterprise NX-01 as a simple crewman, the man known as Daniels had always been a bit of a mystery. Even when he was revealed to be a time traveller from the 31st century trying desperately to avert the complete destruction of the timeline. Hang on. Maybe we should start from the beginning. If there is such a thing...
