Star Trek's Starfleet Academy is kicking off the 2026 TV schedule for the franchise, and as we get closer to the premiere date, we're learning more details about what to expect. Now, after seeing a new clip that confirms it may not be the teen drama a previous poster hinted at, we're getting some answers from Robert Picardo on which version of his EMH will be showing up from Voyager.
In what's been a topic I've heard a lot leading up to this new series, people have wondered if Picardo's EMH Doctor would be the original one from Voyager, or a backup of the character from the iconic episode "Living Witness." Well, wonder no longer because the actor cleared it up on Threads after a fan asked:
Voyager's original EMH. But it is an excellent question. I remember asking myself long before I saw the first script.
I wasn't entirely sure if this would be the case, though I leaned more on this being the answer rather than Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. As beloved as "Living Witness" is, having the EMH be a backup that was found 700 years after could create some unnecessary discourse about things he may or may not remember. Would it be a cool callback to Voyager? Sure, but not the easiest thing to account for in the writers' room.
I would much sooner have the EMH that knows of all the wtf moments Voyager encountered, as well as any of his adventures that occurred on Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2. Then again, I guess the EMH backup could have the same memories, which would then make the argument of why it would have to occur in the first place.
One thing that is almost assuredly different is that the EMH could have more autonomy in Discovery, given the advances in technology in the 32nd century. We saw that crew members could perform the same functions of a transporter via their comm badges, so I think it's safe to say Holo beings can do a lot more in this era as well.
That's my assumption, anyway, considering that actress Kerrice Brooks will play Sam, a holo-being attending Starfleet Academy as a cadet. It's wild to imagine, considering that one might assume it'd be easier to make a holo program that is already equipped with all the knowledge to join Starfleet. I can't wait to see why that decision was made, and how The Doctor might've changed in his nearly 1000 years of operation.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premieres on Paramount+ on January 15th. I've been itching to watch new episodes of Trek throughout this long stretch with no new episodes, so I cannot wait to finally dive in when it arrives.
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