Fan-Favorite Star Trek: Voyager Character Return Has A Big Question To Answer
Star Trek: Voyager fans were understandably excited by the announcement that Robert Picardo is coming to the Starfleet Academy show because it means we’ll be seeing more of the holographic Doctor. However, the announcement has also led to some debate about which version of the Doctor this will actually be. You see, the Voyager episode “Living Witness” revealed a copy of the EMH program that was alive on a different planet in the 31st century, and because the Doctor began traveling back to the Alpha Quadrant at the end of that episode, he may very well be the one who shows up in the upcoming Starfleet Academy show.
The Doctor
For this Star Trek debate to make sense, it’s important to bring you up to speed on this tale of two Doctors. The first one is familiar to most fans: he is the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) of Voyager who ended up becoming the permanent Doctor, and later gadgets like the mobile holographic emitter gave him an autonomy that few holograms have ever enjoyed.
Most recently, this version of the Doctor was last seen on the animated Prodigy cartoon, serving as both medical officer and ersatz principal on the Voyager-A, a teaching ship of which Admiral Janeway is in command.
It Could Be The Doctor We’re Most Familiar With
It’s possible that the Star Trek producers behind Starfleet Academy may wish to bring this particular version of the Doctor back to help catch fans up on our favorite characters. If Prodigy doesn’t get renewed for a third season, this character (the only one who could convincingly survive into the 32nd century) could, via dialogue, reveal some of what our favorite Prodigy characters managed to accomplish.
For that matter, since it looks like we may never get a Star Trek: Legacy series, this version of the Doctor might be the only way we will get canonical updates on popular characters like Seven of Nine or Ensign Kim.
Living Witness
However, the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Living Witness” presents the possibility that we might get a very different version of the Doctor. In that episode, a copy of the EMH program is recovered by aliens and he is reactivated 700 years later to help correct the planet’s mistaken history record which claims Captain Janeway and her crew were genocidal villains.
After providing answers that ease growing tension on the planet between different factions, the Doctor–now something of a global hero–sets off toward the Alpha Quadrant because of his “longing for home.”
Delta-Alpha Transportation
Considering that the Star Trek spinoff Starfleet Academy takes place in the 32nd century, it’s entirely possible that this version of the Doctor last seen heading home in the 31st century is the one we’ll be seeing. There are a few procedural questions about this, including how (or if) the Burn affected the alien planet he was on or his journey back home.
Speaking of that journey, he might be able to access whatever shortcut or alternative transportation (such as slipstream warp drives) that have implicitly allowed Delta Quadrant residents like the Talaxians and Hirogen to make it to the Alpha Quadrant, as we discover in Discovery and Picard.
Welcome Back
For Star Trek fans, there are pros and cons to bringing each version of the Doctor back: some prefer the original because that’s the character we watched for all seven years, but others want the “Living Witness” version because he is (after more than 700 centuries) practically a brand-new character.
We won’t know until the Starfleet Academy premieres. You could always try asking Robert Picardo, of course, but don’t be surprised if he hits you with a gruff line like “I’m a doctor, not a spoiler.”
