Il Dottore

Questa voce è stata parzialmente tradotta dalla lingua inglese.

Questo articolo è uno stub. Puoi aiutare Memory Alpha correggendolo.

Puoi contribuire terminando la traduzione o usando altre fonti. Non usare programmi di traduzione automatica.

Se nella pagina di modifica trovi del testo nascosto (incluso nel codice <!--- original text ---> ), controlla che sia aggiornato servendoti dei collegamenti alle «altre lingue», tramite il menu a sinistra in fondo alla pagina.

File:TheDoctor.jpg Il Dottore (MOE)
Specie:	Ologramma
Apparenze:	Umano maschio
Oloprogramma:	MOE, COE
Creatore:	Dr. Lewis Zimmerman
Occupazione:	CMO
Data di attivazione:	2371
Stato:	Attivo (2378)
Coniuge(i):	Charlene
Figli:	Jason Tebreeze Jeffrey Belle
Interpretato da:	Robert Picardo
Doppiato da:	Franco Zucca
Il Dottore (COE)

"In principio, regnavano le tenebre – il vuoto di una matrice in attesa della prima scintilla. Poi un singolo fotone rivelò la sua esistenza. Quindi un altro. Subito dopo, migliaia di altri. Tracciati optronici si congiunsero, sottoprogrammi emersero dal caos, e nacque una coscienza olografica."

- il Dottore (VOY: "L'autore, l'autore!")

"Il Dottore" era il nome assegnato dall'equipaggio della nave stellare della Federazione USS Voyager al proprio Medico Olografico d'Emergenza (abbreviato anche con "MOE"). L'MOE Mark I, di cui il Dottore ne era un esempio, era un programma informatico con un'interfaccia olografica dall'aspetto di un dottore maschio umano.

Sebbene questo programma sia stato progettato espressamente per attivarsi solo in situazioni di emergenza, il Dottore sulla USS Voyager fu costretto a diventare il dottore della nave a tempo pieno. Ciò fu il risultato della fatale perdita dell'intera squadra medica della nave quando questa, con minime possibilità di tornare indietro al Quadrante Alpha, venne improvvisamente scagliata nel Quadrante Delta dal Protettore. L'uso prolungato risultò nello sviluppo da parte del Dottore di nuovi comportamenti emergenti.

Origini[]

L'MOE Mark I, propriamente noto come Programma Medico Olografico di Emergenza AK-1 Subroutine Diagnostica e Chirurgica Omega 323, venne sviluppato da un team di ingegneri come supporto di emergenza al personale medico delle navi stellari. Progettato per svolgere le proprie funzioni per un massimo di mille e cinquecento ore, aveva una scarsa personalità e l'obiettivo apparente di accedere ad una situazione di emergenza prima di risolvere la tale crisi, il più efficentemente possibile. Era in grado di trattare qualsiasi tipo noto di ferita o di malattia; programmato con la conoscenza medica di ogni mondo membro della Federazione (almeno fino al 2371), aveva la conoscenza di cinque milioni di trattamenti chirurgici ed era in grado di adattarsi per creare nuovi trattamenti medici. Aveva inoltre un database di trattamenti medici spirituali praticati dai nativi americani. (VOY: "Intruso a bordo", "Un testimone insolito") Fu creato sulla stazione Jupiter, da Lewis Zimmerman (su cui erano basati l'aspetto e la voce dell'ologramma). Anche il tenente Reginald Barclay collaborò al progetto, testando le abilità interpersonali dell'MOE. (VOY: "Proiezioni")

Secondo il Dottore, il suo programma originale non era configurato per piangere, sanguinare, percepire dolore o fame, né cantare o ballare. Non fu neppure programmato con organi riproduttivo, dato che non ne aveva bisogno. (VOY: "Oltre il limite", "Proiezioni", "Anima e corpo", "Ladri di organi", "Il messaggio in bottiglia")

A bordo della Voyager[]

2371[]

Translation in progress - Traduzione in corso Il Dottore fu attivato dal guardiamarina Harry Kim in data stellare 48308.2, per aiutare nella cura di alcuni membri dell'equipaggio che erano rimasti feriti nel violento passaggio della nave nel quadrante Delta, dopo che lo staff medico originale era rimasto ucciso. Il Dottore comprese rapidamente che era rimasto l'unico in grado di provvedere alle cure mediche a bordo della nave. (VOY: "Dall'altra parte dell'universo")

Le prime settimane del Dottore sulla Voyager come medico a tempo pieno non furono facili. Non aveva il controllo delle sue subroutine di attivazione, così chiunque (ad eccezione di egli stesso) poteva spegnere il suo programma a piacimento. La maggior parte dell'equipaggio lo considerava solamente un programma del computer e lui, a sua volta, si dimostrava brusco e duro nei loro confronti. Non era contento dei propri doveri, poichè veniva utilizzato anche per sciocchezze, e perché si ritrovava sempre ad essere l'ultimo a venire a conoscenza di avvenimenti che non lo riguardavano direttamente, come l'equipaggio Maquis che si era unito alla Voyager e l'ingresso a bordo di Neelix e di Kes. (VOY: "Ancora una volta"). In una occasione (durante la creazione di una cura basata su radiazioni cronotoniche  per Chakotay, quando il suo corpo cadde all'interno del flusso temporale), egli notò: "In qualunque altro luogo, quell'antidoto mi sarebbe valso prestigiosi riconoscimenti [...] Qui, il mio è soltanto un altro normalissimo giorno nella vita di un MOE sottostimato." (VOY: "Riflessi nel ghiaccio", "Nelle pieghe del tempo")

Quando la Voyager venne catturata in una singolarità quantica, il processore d'immagine del Dottore iniziò a non funzionare, facendolo restringere. Questo mal funzionamento è stato alla fine riparato. (VOY: "Riflessi nel ghiaccio")

Uno dei primi maggiori risultati ottenuti dal Dottore a bordo della Voyager furono i polmoni olografici creati per Neelix; quando i polmoni di Neelix's furono rimossi e rubati da un Vidiano, il Dottore mise a punto un piano per usare la tecnologia olografica per creare polmoni olografici che gli permisero di restare in vita. L'idea del Dottore funzionò ma Neelix venne confinato sul lettino diagnostico in costrizione isotropica. Il dottore fu poi in grado di trapiantere uno dei polmoni di Kes in Neelix, con l'aiuto dei Vidiani e della loro evouta tecnologia medica. (VOY: "Ladri di organi")

Fu solamente quando Kes iniziò a lavorare volotntariamente con il Dottore come studentessa che le relazioni tra lui e il resto dell'equipaggio cominciarono a svilupparsi e a crescere, la maggioranza dell'equipaggio cominciò ad accettare il Dottore e vice versa. Kes fu la prima a considerare il Dottore come una persona; lei lo incoraggiò a pensare a se stesso come ad un membro dell'equipaggio (aiutandolo a sviluppare le parti migliori di se) ed iniziando ad insegnargli il comportamento sociale e l'educazione; abilità che in leguito lui insegnerò a Sette di Nove. Kes inizialmente fu stupita dal comportamento che in generale aveva l'equipaggio nei confronti del Dottore così chiese a Janeway che il Dottore potesse essere trattato come un membro dell'equipaggio, esattamente come tutti gli altri. Janeway fu d'accordo con lei e diede al Dottore il controllo della sua sequenza di disattivazione. (VOY: "La cruna dell'ago")

Il Dottore fu mandato dal capitano Janeway nella sua prima missione fuori dall'infermeria con il compito di salvare Kim, Tuvok e Chakotay dall programma olografico di Beowulf che era stato invaso da una creatura di energia. Janeway ritenne di affidare questa missione al Dottore poichè lui era il solo che non sarebbe stato ferito nel ponte ologrammi. Invece rimase danneggiato comunque, perse un braccio nel suo primo incontro con l'essere di energia che si manifestò come il mostro Grendel. Samples of photonic energy had been beamed aboard Voyager and this energy was part of the alien. Once returned to the alien, the crew was released. (VOY: "Eroi e demoni")

When the mental energy of Chakotay and the Komar were forcing members of Voyager's crew to behave against their will, the Doctor was the only crew member who could not be controlled. As no-one but him could be trusted, Janeway transferred her command codes to the Doctor, so that he could countermand orders if he thought doing so was required. However, his program's initialization routine was later deactivated until the incident with the Komar ended. (VOY: "Intruso a bordo")

An accident aboard Voyager caused the Doctor to confuse illusion with reality. A hallucination of Lieutenant Reginald Barclay told the Doctor that he was real, that he was actually Lewis Zimmerman and was married to a very Human Kes. The illusory Barclay persuaded the Doctor that he was caught in a hologram of Voyager, with radiation killing him after an accident. The Doctor became convinced that the only way to escape was to fire a phaser into Voyager's warp core, an act that seemingly would result in the simulation's destruction. At the last possible second, Chakotay convinced the Doctor that he was about to destroy his own matrix – simultaneously telling him that he was their friend, regardless of whether he was a hologram or flesh and blood. The problem was solved, although the Doctor was left intrigued as to why he had hallucinated about the nature of his existence rather than to simply have had his program's defenses activated. (VOY: "Proiezioni")

He diagnosed that Kes' mating cycle (noto agli Ocampa come "elogium") had been activated by a swarm of space aliens. During this period, he acted in the role of Kes' father for a foot massage that served as the precursor to the Ocampan mating ritual. Kes eventually decided not to have a child at this point and her elogium was nevertheless ended when Voyager subsequently vacated the aliens' territory. It was assumed afterward that the elogium had been prematurely triggered by the aliens and that Kes would still be able to conceive, when the normal time came. (VOY: "Fertilità")

2372[]

In 2372, the Doctor still didn't consider himself a true member of the Voyager crew. Repeatedly, the Doctor (upon activation) opened communications channels all over the ship, until Janeway told him not to snoop. (VOY: "Genitori per caso")

In response to criticisms that he was unsympathetic to crew members feeling the effects of 'common' illnesses, he programmed himself with Levodian flu, a twenty-nine hour illness, as a demonstration of how a little illness shouldn't be a cause of whining or moaning. Thirty-one hours into the illness, the Doctor was almost fearful, not knowing what was happening or why and disliking the feeling of not being himself. Kes soon after admitted that she had modified the program to teach the Doctor a lesson, as it would have hardly been a real illness if he had known when it would end. (VOY: "Gli spiriti del cielo")

When a Vidiian scientist, Dr. Denara Pel, was beamed aboard Voyager, the Doctor attempted to cure her of the Phage. He transmitted her synaptic pathways into a hologram of her body without the disease and put her real body in stasis until he could find a cure or a way to extend her life. He grafted a piece of Torres' brain tissue onto Dr. Pel's brain, as Klingon DNA had been found to be resistant to the disease. He also became attracted to Pel, even going so far as to add dancing to his program so he could share the experience with her.

While trying to evade the Vidiians, Voyager entered a plasma cloud which caused the ship and its crew to be duplicated. The Doctor was on one of the ships and delivered Ensign Wildman's baby, who died shortly after birth. After the other ship was invaded by Vidiians, the Doctor on that ship saved that Ensign Wildman's baby, keeping it hidden from the Vidiians until that Kim and the baby could board the "first" Voyager, which they did just before their ship self-destructed, killing the Vidiians and saving the "first" Voyager. (VOY: "L'altra Voyager")

The Doctor found a way to separate and restore Tuvok and Neelix after a transporter accident combined them into a single entity named Tuvix. However, the Doctor refused to perform the procedure as he would have to kill Tuvix. Janeway eventually performed the procedure. (VOY: "Tuvix")

The Doctor played an essential part in the defeat of the Kazon led by Seska and Culluh. After the crew was captured and stranded on a primitive planet the Doctor – who escaped deletion by claiming that he was totally neutral as a hologram and thus didn't mind whether Kazon or Starfleet were in charge of Voyager – helped to sabotage the backup phaser couplings. This allowed Tom Paris and his Talaxian allies to retake the ship and save the crew. The Doctor was briefly disabled when Seska locked out Starfleet voice commands after turning him off, preventing Suder from reactivating him, but the Doctor left a message for Suder, assuring the former killer that the Doctor was confident he would succeed in retaking the ship and complimenting him on both his courage and dedication to the crew. (VOY: "Sopravvivenza - prima parte", "Sopravvivenza - seconda parte")

2373[]

In 2373, the Doctor reached the limit of his memory capacity and started suffering from massive amnesia. When an alien attack injured Paris, the Doctor was unable to operate due to forgetting his medical skills. It soon became clear that his program would disintegrate completely. Another hologram, Diagnostic Program Alpha-11, was used to find the source of the problem. The problem was in the Doctor's core programing which had become severely fragmented. This was caused by the constant use of the EMH over the course of 2 years. The Diagnostic Program stated that maximum operation was around 1500 hours (roughly 2 months.) To further complicate things, The Doctor had allowed his programing to develop interest in things such as Opera music, relationships with the crew and engineering skills. These "extras" had filled all of his available memory buffers leaving little room for his program to operate in it's intended function.

The only option was proposed by Kes. Her idea was to overlay the Diagnostic Program's programming matrix onto the Doctor's. This effectively deleted the Diagnostic program and integrated it's core portions as a graft onto the Doctor's program. This procedure restored the Doctor but led to massive memory loss, including his recollection of the crew's identities and most events of the previous two years. Although some memories seemed to survive intact, it was unclear if the Doctor would struggle to regain his hard-won personal skills. Evidence of hope was shown in the final moments of (VOY: "The Swarm") as The Doctor began singing an opera song to himself; a song that was learned prior to the transfer of the Diagnostic program matrix onto his own.

He assisted in stopping Henry Starling's plan to steal a timeship which accidentally traveled into the past, simultaneously acquiring a mobile emitter that permitted him movement beyond the limit of Voyager's holoemitters. He rescued Chakotay and Torres from some freedom fighters, returned to Voyager and enjoyed his new found freedom from Sickbay. He also helped Janeway rid Voyager of an attacking macrovirus when she returned from an away mission and the rest of the crew had been infected. (VOY: "Future's End", "Future's End, Part II", "Macrocosm")

In an attempt to improve himself, the Doctor created EMH program 4C, adding personality subroutines to his holomatrix copied from many historical figures, including Lord Byron, Mahatma Gandhi, Socrates, Marie Curie and T'Pau. Unfortunately, the Doctor didn't realize that even great historical figures had character flaws and a dark side to their personality. Taking on a "Jekyll and Hyde"-type split personality, he attacked Zahir, an alien whom Kes had befriended. As the subroutines degraded, the 'Dark Doctor' kidnapped Kes and tried to arrange passage to another planet. During this time, he still apparently cared for Kes albeit in a twisted fashion compared to his normal personality. He attempted to kill Zahir, wanting Kes to remain with him, claiming that she needed his help due to her naiveté. After being beamed aboard Voyager, the added subroutines finally collapsed and the Doctor returned to normal. (VOY: "Il lato oscuro")

The Doctor once created a holodeck family in order to experience Human family values, assuming the name of "Kenneth." Initially the program was idyllic but, when Torres reprogrammed it to be more "realistic", the Doctor found it harder to cope, even contemplating deactivating it permanently after his 'daughter' was fatally wounded in an accident. Paris helped the Doctor learn to cope with the negatives as well as the positives in having a family and the Doctor returned to the program to mourn the loss of his daughter with his wife and son. (VOY: "Problemi di famiglia")

The Doctor proved instrumental in assisting the crew's escape after Nyrians commandeered Voyager and transported the ship's crew into an artificial environment. Chakotay, as the last crew-member on board, transferred the Doctor's program into the mobile emitter before he could be deleted. Torres subsequently modified the Doctor's optical sensors, allowing him to "see" portals between artificial environments and – with the aid of another prisoner, named Jarleth – the crew reached the Nyrians' spaceship and retook Voyager. (VOY: "Lo zoo")

2374[]

In 2374, Voyager became involved in a war between the Borg and Species 8472. Janeway made a pact with the Borg - in exchange for technology that could defeat Species 8472, the Borg would give Voyager free passage through their space. After Kim was injured in an attack by Species 8472, his cells began to be destroyed but the Doctor used nanoprobes to cure him, enabling Voyager's crew to develop a weapon that could be used against Species 8472 and therefore giving the crew a bargaining chip to negotiate a temporary alliance with the Borg. (VOY: "Scorpion, Part II")

The Doctor removed most of Seven of Nine's Borg implants, after she came aboard Voyager and was severed from the Borg Collective. He restored her to her human form, although she was left with a need to regenerate. Like the rest of the crew, the Doctor mourned Kes' departure from the ship, as her enhanced abilities became too dangerous for her to remain aboard Voyager. (VOY: "The Gift")

The Doctor and Torres answered a distress call and found a hologram named Dejaren alone on a ship. Initially, the Doctor tried to befriend the hologram, who was eager to learn about the Doctor's freedom on Voyager. Dejaren's own crew never treated him as anything other than equipment and kept him constantly confined in one part of the ship. Eventually, the Doctor and Torres discovered that Dejaren had killed the organic crew on the ship, having been driven mad by constantly being treated as a tool. After failing to convince the Doctor that holograms were a higher form of life, Dejaren tried to kill Torres and deactivate the Doctor by stealing his mobile emitter. Fortunately, Torres was able to successfully deactivate Dejaren by destabilizing his holomatrix, leaving the crew with a greater appreciation of the Doctor's personality. (VOY: "Revulsion")

The Doctor, upon his first mission to the Alpha Quadrant, was instrumental in establishing contact with Starfleet. Shortly after Voyager discovered a Hirogen communications network leading into the edge of the Quadrant, the crew attempted to send a message to a particular Starfleet vessel, the USS Prometheus, that was within range of the farthest relay. When the message failed to reach the Alpha Quadrant, however, Voyager's crew decided to send a hologram, as it was less likely to decompile before reaching its destination. The Doctor was the only program large enough to have a chance of making it through the network intact and Voyager's crew lacked the time to write a holographic message before the Prometheus moved out of range.

When the Doctor reached the Prometheus and discovered that the ship had been taken over by Romulans, he once again claimed holographic neutrality to escape deletion. The Doctor had to activate the experimental EMH Mark II on board the Prometheus and, despite the initial conflict between the two (the Mark II apparently thought that the Doctor was defective and obsolete, while the Doctor regarded the Mark II as an arrogant new upstart), the holograms retook control of the vessel, combining the Doctor's own personal experience with the Mark II's detailed knowledge of the ship. Having defeated numerous Romulan warbirds surrounding the Prometheus, Starfleet officers boarded the vessel and the Doctor was subsequently able to speak directly with Starfleet Headquarters wherein he set the record straight about Voyager's disappearance. The Doctor returned to Voyager, with welcome news that the ship was no longer alone. (VOY: "Message in a Bottle")

Later in 2374, the Doctor and Harry Kim played an important role in helping to retake the ship from the Hirogen, who were using the ship's previous crew as prey in holoprograms but had left both the Doctor and Kim free, so that the Doctor could heal the crew and Kim could work on expanding the holodecks. The Doctor was forced to treat Seven of Nine but, upon doing so, he secretly restored her memories, starting a chain of events that would bring Voyager back under the control of the crew. During a Nazi program, he and Neelix persuaded the Klingons in one program to attack the Hirogen and Nazi soldiers. (VOY: "The Killing Game", "The Killing Game, Part II")

2375[]

In an attempt to save Torres – who had a cytoplasmic lifeform attached to her – the Doctor called upon a holoprogram of a Cardassian named Dr. Crell Moset, who was one of the foremost exobiologists in the Alpha Quadrant. Ensign Tabor informed Janeway and the Doctor that Moset was accused of having committed war crimes during the occupation of Bajor. Moset wished to kill the creature, in order to detach it from Torres, but the Doctor overruled him and removed the creature after delivering it a neural shock. After Torres regained consciousness, the Doctor deleted the Moset program from all of Voyager's files. (VOY: "Nothing Human")

The Doctor undertook the role of the President of Earth in the holoprogram The Adventures of Captain Proton. In doing so, he interacted with photonic lifeforms, in a successful attempt to persuade them to help Captain Proton in stopping Doctor Chaotica; Voyager's Doctor even joked that he might run for office, once the crew returned to Earth. (VOY: "Bride of Chaotica!")

While performing medical exams on the crew, the Doctor found that he had performed a surgery on Kim that he did not remember. Janeway and the crew hid the truth from him until he discovered that, during an away mission, Kim and Ensign Ahni Jetal had been seriously injured in an alien attack. Even with Paris helping the Doctor, he could only save one of the injured crew and, since he knew the ensign better, it was Kim he saved, basically allowing Jetal to die. After this event, the Doctor started to have a mental breakdown – his program was unable to cope with the ethical side-effects of his choice, constantly trying to deduce why he had "decided to kill her" – and the crew were therefore forced to wipe his memory of the incident. Janeway debated whether she should wipe the Doctor's memory once again but, after Seven pointed out that they were essentially treating the Doctor like a piece of equipment rather than a person, Janeway helped him accept his decision, realizing that they couldn't give the Doctor the means to work with the crew as an equal only to treat him like a machine when things became difficult. (VOY: "Latent Image")

The Doctor tried to teach Seven of Nine social graces, including teaching her how to be pleasant with her fellow crewmates and how to act on a date. He also discovered her singing voice and they sang several duets together. The Doctor became attracted to her during their sessions but refused to admit it to her. When Seven told the Doctor that she no longer needed the lessons in romance, because there were no suitable mates aboard, the Doctor was crushed and returned to the holodeck for a lonely rendition of Someone to Watch Over Me. (VOY: "Someone to Watch Over Me")

An artificial intelligence was found on a planet and the crew discovered that it was a weapon sent on a mission of destruction. The machine interfaced with the Doctor's matrix and took it over. It threatened Voyager to take it to its target until it was convinced that its mission had been an accident; its systems had been triggered by a computer error and a target had merely been selected at random. Transferring its intelligence out of the Doctor, it was beamed off Voyager and destroyed other war machines on the same obsolete mission. (VOY: "Warhead")

At the end of the year, the Doctor was investigating the USS Equinox and was disabled by that ship's EMH, who stole his mobile emitter and returned to Voyager, posing as him. Later, when he was reactivated by Captain Ransom, his ethical subroutines were deactivated to coerce him into extracting information from Seven of Nine. After being restored to himself and escaping to Voyager, Seven offered to add security measures to his program to prevent further tampering, assuring him that she bore him no ill-will (she even 'teasingly' informed him that he was off-key when he sang to her as he tapped into her implants). He also deleted the Equinox EMH upon returning to Voyager, although the Equinox EMH tried unsuccessfully to threaten him with holographic bombs. (VOY: "Equinox", "Equinox, Part II")

2376[]

In 2376, Captain Janeway awarded the Doctor the Starfleet Medal of Commendation for his part in repelling raiders who wanted to strip Voyager of essential components. This predicament was both incited and resolved successfully thanks to the Doctor's experimentation with introducing daydreaming to his program; the aliens hacked into the Doctor's program but, due to his daydreams, they were given an exaggerated image of Voyager's defenses and were tricked into retreating. In light of his accomplishments, Captain Janeway gave permission for research into the creation of an Emergency Command Hologram, to take command of the ship if the senior staff were ever immobilized. However, he was left more than slightly embarrassed due to the fact that several of his daydreams featured Janeway, Seven and Torres competing for his affections (as well as one where he painted Seven in the nude), although Janeway assured him that it was only Human to fantasize. (VOY: "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy")

The Doctor played the part of the village priest in the Fair Haven program. When he tried to free Kim and Paris from the townfolk who believed they were evil spirits, he himself was captured and hypnotized. Pressed to reveal his true name, he admitted that he "had not decided on one yet." (VOY: "Fair Haven", "Spirit Folk")

When Voyager encountered con artists posing as Janeway, Tuvok and Chakotay in an attempt to make money, the Doctor proved instrumental in the recovery of the stolen property. After tricking Dala, one of the con artists, into boarding the Delta Flyer, the Doctor and Tom Paris knocked her out. The Doctor subsequently altered his holographic matrix so that he resembled Dala, allowing him to confront the other two con artists and learn where they had concealed their stolen property before turning them over to the local authorities. (VOY: "Live Fast and Prosper")

While encountering the Qomar he began singing, which awed the aliens, as they had no concept of music. He gave a recital on the planet. They asked him to stay and he considered resigning. However, on another visit to the planet, he discovered that the Qomar had made what they considered a superior holoprogram (in that it could sing notes outside the human vocal range) and that he was not wanted. He returned to Voyager. (VOY: "Virtuoso")

The second mission to the Alpha Quadrant occurred when Lewis Zimmerman was dying and the Doctor requested to be transmitted back to the Alpha Quadrant to help treat him. While he was at Jupiter Station, Lewis Zimmerman fought the Doctor and his treatment, regarding the Doctor's presence as an unpleasant reminder of his failure with the Mark I as a whole. This caused Reginald Barclay to contact Deanna Troi to help out with the situation. Neither the counselor nor Barclay could make either doctor reach any sort of agreement, as both of them were too stubborn to back down. It wasn't until the Doctor began to decompile that Lewis Zimmerman corrected the error and the two reached a mutual understanding that bordered on a father/son relationship. This was mainly reflected in a conversation where the Doctor admitted that he'd hoped Zimmerman would be proud of his accomplishments if they ever met and Zimmerman confessed that he was grateful that at least one EMH Mark I was still doing what he had designed them for. The treatment worked and, shortly before the Doctor left for Voyager, Zimmerman told the Doctor that he could call him, next time Voyager was given a chance to communicate with Earth. (VOY: "Life Line")

2377-78[]

During the last year of Voyager's journey home, the Doctor's program was stolen and sold to Dr. Chellick, who was in charge of a medical hospital on the planet Dinaali. The Doctor was appalled at the medical malpractice that was taking place. Only the rich or useful were accorded the best medical care, while others were left to die or denied medicine because of their social standing. He, along with a few medical personnel, helped change the situation although the Doctor suffered an ethical crisis afterward; in order to convince the staff to change procedure, the Doctor had deliberately infected a member of the hospital staff with a potentially fatal virus, the member of staff then being classified as a lower grade patient and forced to change his normal procedure to save his own life. (VOY: "Critical Care")"

Seven of Nine and the Doctor became one when, in order to hide his matrix from aliens who hunted and destroyed holograms, he was downloaded into her cybernetic implants. He experienced the Human feelings of taste and touch for the first time and although Seven was angered at his 'abuse' of her body while he was in charge; the Doctor felt Seven showed excessive restraint and did not allow for superfluous pleasure, a thing that the Doctor felt was an important part of life. After they returned to Voyager, however, Seven seemed to better understand his point of view, bringing a meal to sickbay and describing the sensations of eating it to the Doctor to allow him to continue to experience it. (VOY: "Body and Soul")

An away team became trapped on a planet with a toxic atmosphere and a rescue was launched. The Doctor not only went on the rescue mission but almost single-handedly rescued the entire team when he dressed as a native and infiltrated the native's caves. He explained that since he was a hologram, the radiation had no effect on him and he was able to effectively disguise himself as part of the plan. Later on Voyager, he treated a baby infected with radiation poisoning and cured him and a native with the help of Seven of Nine. (VOY: "Friendship One")

Shortly after this, the Doctor discovered that B'Elanna Torres was pregnant with Paris' child. At first, Torres initially tried to reprogram the Doctor to alter the child's DNA and remove the Klingon traits, fearing a repeat of her own upbringing, when her father left because he couldn't handle two Klingon women. After talking with her, Tom Paris eventually convinced Torres that he would love their children no matter what they were like and he hoped that every one of them would be just like her. After apologizing to the Doctor for reprogramming him, Torres asked him to be the child's godfather and he willingly accepted. (VOY: "Lineage")

When Voyager responded to a Hirogen distress call, the crew found that the holograms created as victims for Hirogen training had turned against the hunters. A group of these holograms had escaped to a ship and later kidnapped the Doctor. He discovered the holograms were just trying to find somewhere where they could live in peace. Eventually agreeing to help them, he escaped with them and took Torres to help the holograms set up a civilization of their own.

However the holograms, led by Iden, took extraordinary measures to achieve their freedom even going along with Iden's plan to attack and eventually destroy a mining vessel to obtain and "liberate" fellow holograms. The Doctor's suspicions were confirmed about Iden when he admitted he wished to start a new religion, with him as the "man of light" having freed numerous holograms in various and often violent fashions. Eventually, the Doctor had to destroy Iden, to protect everyone else. Ashamed by his actions, he volunteered to turn in his mobile emitter but Janeway assured him that nobody blamed him for doing the human thing and making a mistake in judgment. (VOY: "Flesh and Blood")

When Voyager was abandoned due to tetryon radiation flooding, Captain Janeway activated the ECH for the first time, allowing the Doctor to repair damage to the ship while the crew waited in the escape pods for Voyager to be declared safe once again. The Doctor managed to defend the ship against scavengers and had begun enacting repairs by the time Chakotay and Kim, who had been on an away mission, returned to the ship. The Doctor further demonstrated his command abilities by utilizing a photonic shockwave to disable two Quarren ships. While repairing the ship along with Ensign Kim, they frequently conflicted regarding the impromptu chain of command – while Kim was actually a commissioned officer, the Doctor was programmed with the experiences of renowned commanders throughout history. After it was Harry's strategy that saved the ship from attack, the Doctor was later forced to admit he lacked the valuable practical operational experience of other officers and made peace with Harry before returning to his normal role as the Chief Medical Officer. (VOY: "Workforce", "Workforce, Part II")

When the crew was forced to transport alien prisoners to a distant planet, where they would be executed for their crimes, the Doctor was appalled at the death penalty rule enforced by the planet. He also discovered that Iko, one of the patients, had actually been born with a brain defect that left him prone to violence. Using Seven's nanoprobes, the Doctor managed to cure Iko of this defect, effectively restoring Iko's conscience and making him a new person. Iko's appeal was, tragically, rejected but the Doctor and Seven were able to take some small measure of comfort in knowing they had helped him. (VOY: "Repentance")

The Doctor activated his command subroutines again in 2378 in an attempt to rescue Captain Janeway from the aliens who had kidnapped her. His holographic matrix altered to allow him to pose as various members of the crew, such as Janeway, Torres and Chakotay, the Doctor was eventually able to evacuate engineering and subsequently active the ECH program. As the Emergency Command Hologram, the Doctor had the authorization to eject Voyager's warp core; he then tried to free the captain by exchanging the core as ransom. He was able to rescue Janeway and recover the core but when the excess subroutines inserted by the aliens nearly caused his program to collapse, he made several embarrassing "deathbed" confessions including his love for Seven. Having recovered, he subsequently spent a whole week in sickbay out of sheer embarrassment but was eventually convinced by Janeway to rejoin life on the ship. (VOY: "Renaissance Man")

He returned to Earth when Admiral Janeway changed the timeline by going back in the past and helping Voyager return to Earth quicker than the fifteen years it originally took. The Doctor's last action on the ship was to help deliver his goddaughter, Miral Paris while in the Borg transwarp hub. As the crew were contacted by Starfleet ships, the Doctor then alerted Miral's father that "There's someone here who'd like to say 'Hello'." (VOY: "Endgame")

Personal Life[]

Kes[]

Kes and the Doctor bonded considerably. Their friendship began early in the first year after Kes displayed great interest in medicine. This interest led the Doctor to commence training with her which brought them close as colleagues. (VOY: "Phage") Kes was able to quickly study the works given by the Doctor, which greatly intrigued him. Although the Doctor's personality wasn't pleasing to the rest of the crew, he reacted in a kinder manner to Kes, treating her as a colleague and friend. (VOY: "Eye of the Needle") Early in the second year of their journey, the Doctor once commented that he found Kes beautiful. When his program began to degrade, prompting holographic hallucinations that he was his own creator Lewis Zimmerman, he became convinced that he was married to a Human version of Kes. (VOY: "Projections")

However, there was never any romance in their relationship; the Doctor and Kes quickly settled into a father/daughter role, with the Doctor teaching Kes as a medical assistant. Kes also trusted the Doctor enough to perform the role of her father in the rolissisin, a foot massage that was a precursor to the mating ritual, commonly marking the change in relationship between father and child as the child became a parent herself. (VOY: "Elogium")

It was Kes who persuaded Janeway to give the Doctor control over his own deactivation code, a significant step towards the Doctor being regarded as a full member of the crew rather than a piece of equipment. She helped him become part of the crew and interact with them, as well as helping to restore the Doctor's program when it began to degrade from being online for so long. (VOY: "The Swarm") She also encouraged the Doctor to tell Denara Pel about his feelings for her and subsequently worked with Tom Paris to set the Doctor and Denara up on a date in the holodeck. (VOY: "Lifesigns")

The next year Kes helped save the Doctor's matrix when, due to his program having been active for far longer than it was designed for, he began to lose his memories and skills as a doctor. After Torres activated a hologram of Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, he explained that the Doctor had been online too long and was deteriorating. Kes persuaded Dr. Zimmerman to graft his matrix onto the Doctor, restoring his mental capabilities. (VOY: "The Swarm") When the Doctor's program developed a secondary, evil personality, the 'Dark Doctor' still appeared to care for Kes, albeit in a more twisted fashion than the normal Doctor. Not only did he try to kill Zahir, the alien whom Kes had developed feelings for, but he also claimed, during his capture of her, that she needed his help due to her naivete. (VOY: "Darkling")

Tom Paris[]

Although their relationship was often a difficult one, the Doctor also managed to become close friends with Paris, who affectionately referred to the Doctor as "Doc" on several occasions. One of the key points in their friendship was the fact that it was Paris who helped the Doctor explore one of the most difficult aspects of being a member of the crew: relationships. When the Doctor was initially rejected by Denara Pel, he went to Paris for relationship advice and Paris helped set the Doctor and Denara up on a date in a holoprogram, informing the Doctor that his current approach to women was all wrong. (VOY: "Lifesigns") When the Doctor created a holographic family and one of his 'children' faced death after an accident, it was Paris who convinced the Doctor to keep running the program rather than shut it down, realizing that the Doctor needed to experience the negative aspects of family life if he wanted to develop as a person. (VOY: "Real Life")

After Kes' departure from the ship, Paris was chosen as the Doctor's new medical assistant, serving as Voyager's CMO when the Doctor was unavailable. Over time it became clear that, although he complained about the role, he still wanted the Doctor's respect as a person. This was the main reason Paris resented the Doctor's holonovel about abused holograms, Photons Be Free; he worried that 'his' character, a womanizer called Lieutenant Marseilles who cheated on his wife, reflected how the Doctor saw him. Despite this, when the crew arranged a trial to determine the Doctor's legal rights, it was Paris who objected to Tuvok's suggestion that they claim that the Doctor had no right to sell the holonovel in the first place, as they would basically have been admitting that the Doctor was not a real person. (VOY: "Author, Author")

Kathryn Janeway[]

As the crew's journey unfolded, Janeway soon found herself becoming friends with the Doctor, despite initially regarding him as just another hologram. The Doctor also initially disliked Janeway, making several notes on what he regarded as her more 'questionable' command decisions before he fully came to regard himself as part of the crew. As the journey unfolded however, the two of them became closer, particularly when Janeway and the Doctor were the only two crew members standing between Voyager and the macrovirus that was attacking the ship. (VOY: "Macrocosm")

As the journey went on, the two of them also began to develop an almost mother/son relationship, with the Doctor often coming to Janeway when he needed personal advice or information about how his program was developing, as well as consolation about any wrong decisions he had made in recent times. It was Janeway who stopped the Doctor from deleting the additional subroutines that made him unique when he felt responsible for a death (VOY: "Retrospect"). Janeway assured the Doctor that none of the crew thought any less of him when he was embarrassed about the fantasies created by his daydream program, (VOY: "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy") and Janeway told the Doctor that none of the crew blamed him for betraying them to try and help a crew of holograms. (VOY: "Flesh and Blood") As well as that, when Janeway faced death after being captured by an alien species, the Doctor risked everything to save her. (VOY: "Renaissance Man")

Relationships[]

Freya[]

Early in his activated existence, the Doctor began a search for a name. His first idea was Schweitzer, before his first away mission on the holodeck to investigate disappearing crew members. During the mission he attracted the attentions of a holographic character Freya. Before going to sleep she kissed the Doctor and invited him to join her saying, "You know where I sleep." On the following holodeck mission, she was stabbed protecting him and died with his name on her lips. As a consequence the Doctor found it painful to use that name anymore and began his search anew. (VOY: "Heroes and Demons")

Denara Pel[]

In 2372, the Doctor encountered the Vidiian doctor Denara Pel and developed romantic feelings for her; indeed, it was implied later on that the two of them had sex. She gave him the name Shmullus, after her uncle who always made her smile. When they met again later that year, Denara again called the Doctor Shmullus, although he never used the name despite his fondness for it; presumably, like with "Schweitzer," he found the memories attached to the name too painful. (VOY: "Lifesigns", "Resolutions")

Holo-Family[]

The Doctor decided to create a holographic family, Doctor's Family Program Beta-Rho, in Voyager's holodeck in 2373, using the name Kenneth for himself. At first it was blissfully perfect until B'Elanna Torres, after a visit, suggested adding randomness and "realism". As a result, his teenage son Jeffrey became rebellious and began to hang out with some unsavory Klingon youths. In addition the Doctor had arguments with his wife Charlene and lost the formerly close bond he had possessed with his daughter Belle. The family bonded together better shortly after, as a result of his daughter's death. After a conversation with Paris the Doctor was persuaded not to delete the program after this incident but to work through the death with his remaining family. (VOY: "Real Life")

Mareeza[]

Later that year Voyager became trapped in orbit around a planet where time advanced at a much faster rate than normal. The Doctor determined that the transition in to this accelerated timeframe could be fatal to a humanoid and so volunteered to transport to the surface himself. It was intended that he would only spend three seconds on the planet which equated to around three days on the surface but attempts to transport him back to Voyager failed. Chakotay guessed that the Doctor would spend his time in the city's cultural center and he was located a short time after being transported down. However, to the Doctor, he had spent three years on the surface. He met a woman named Mareeza, whom he later described as his "roommate", and had a son named Jason Tebreeze. (VOY: "Blink of an Eye")

Seven of Nine[]

The Doctor was responsible for the removal of Seven's implants and also conducted her weekly maintenance sessions. He also took it upon himself to teach Seven social behavior, using the same interpersonal relationship exercises Kes once practiced with him. (VOY: "Prey") Later, he created a holodeck simulation of Voyager for her to become more comfortable with large social gatherings. (VOY: "One")

The Doctor encouraged Seven to explore romantic relationships in 2375. He coached her in the basics of dating and grooming, using a lesson plan entitled Love Amid the Stars. He also discovered her singing voice and the two sang a duet of You Are My Sunshine. He was partially motivated by a wager made with Ensign Paris, who believed that Seven would not be able to bring a date to a reception planned aboard Voyager without making a scene. Although Seven's date with Lieutenant Chapman ended up in disaster, she attended the reception with the Doctor and charmed the guests with a toast to individuality. However, she was hurt to discover that the Doctor's help was due to the bet. At this point, the Doctor found himself falling in love with Seven but refused to admit it to her. He tried to apologize to her but she came to him first and said she no longer needed the lessons in romance, because there were no suitable mates aboard. The Doctor was very disappointed that Seven did not reciprocate his feelings. (VOY: "Someone to Watch Over Me")

In 2376, while the Doctor was stranded aboard the USS Equinox along with Seven, the crew disengaged his ethical subroutines to extract activation codes for their warp drive from Seven's cranial implants, which would leave her mentally disabled. The Doctor almost went through with the procedure but Captain Rudolph Ransom stopped him. He apologized to Seven for the incident and she held no ill-will towards him. (VOY: "Equinox, Part II")

The Doctor created a subroutine for daydreaming in early 2376. Seven featured prominently in several fantasies, either serving as a damsel in distress or competing with other female Voyager crew members for the Doctor's affections. He even fantasized about painting her in the nude. When the fantasies began to overrun his program, his mental activity was tied into the holodeck, allowing Seven to see what he had been daydreaming. She did not take offense but after she kissed him following Captain Janeway's announcement that the Emergency Command Hologram subroutines would be developed, she made it clear that it was simply a platonic gesture. (VOY: "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy")

While Ensign Kim, Seven and the Doctor conducted a routine survey onboard the Delta Flyer in 2377, they were captured by a race known as the Lokirrim. The Lokirrim had waged war against holographic lifeforms who rebelled against Lokirrim rule and, as a result, banned all holographic activity within their borders. Seven transferred the Doctor's program to her cortical implant in order to hide him from the Lokirrim and prevent him from being decompiled. In the process the Doctor took control of Seven's motor abilities and was essentially trapped in her body. The Doctor tried to engineer an escape by cultivating a relationship with a Lokirrim official, Ranek, but the new sensations of taste and emotion were too tempting for the Doctor. He ended up overindulging in several foods and causing pain to Seven. Ranek later called Seven to the ship's bridge with the intention of setting up a romantic liaison. Although the Doctor was able to see his command codes, Ranek attempted to kiss him in Seven's body. Shortly afterward, he went to complain about the incident to Jaryn, a crewwoman whom the Doctor had been working with to treat injured Lokirrim crew. The Doctor became sexually aroused when Jaryn gave Seven a neck massage. Both incidents greatly irritated Seven and, once the Doctor had been returned to the mobile emitter, they got into an argument about the values of indulgence. The Doctor felt Seven showed excessive restraint and did not allow for superfluous pleasure, which the Doctor believed was an important part of life. Kim managed to return the subject to escape and the Doctor and Seven worked together once again to transmit a distress signal to Voyager. The Doctor was downloaded back into Seven's implants and was able to convince Ranek to join her on a second date. They knocked him out at the first available opportunity and transmitted a message to Voyager including the ship's command codes. Their plan was discovered by Jaryn and Seven was taken captive. After Voyager arrived, Seven returned the Doctor's program to the mobile emitter and they escaped. Upon their return to the ship, Seven decided that the Doctor had a point about her restraint concerning pleasures such as food. She brought a meal to sickbay and described the sensations of eating it to the Doctor, allowing him to experience it vicariously. (VOY: "Body and Soul")

When the Doctor's rights as an individual came into question, Seven testified at the hearing conducted with Starfleet Command. She spoke highly of the Doctor, appreciative of his efforts to help her develop individuality. (VOY: "Author, Author")

In 2378 when the Doctor believed he was about to die he finally admitted his feelings for her and was embarrassed when he survived. (VOY: "Renaissance Man") The Doctor was also crestfallen when he learned Seven had begun to date Chakotay. (VOY: "Endgame")

Lana[]

In an alternate timeline when it took Voyager twenty-three years to get home, the Doctor got married in 2404 to a woman named Lana. He had also finally given himself a name, Joe, after Lana's grandfather. He had also become a significant figure at Starfleet Medical and remained close friends with Reginald Barclay. Remaining fiercely loyal to his former captain, he didn't hesitate to obtain some chronexaline for Admiral Kathryn Janeway despite not knowing why. When he found out from Reg he informed Captain Harry Kim and they decided to keep it in the 'family' (the Voyager crew. Kim moved to apprehend her without telling Starfleet or his crew the true reason why, although in the end Kim allowed the Admiral to proceed with her mission to change history. (VOY: "Endgame")

The Mobile Emitter[]

In 2373, Voyager encountered the Aeon under command of Captain Braxton. Due to a temporal paradox, Voyager was transported to Earth in 1996. During this mission the Doctor obtained a piece of 29th century technology from Henry Starling, originating from the Aeon, called a mobile emitter. This device, though only a few centimeters long, was able to contain the entire EMH program and project the Doctor autonomously. After the timeline was restored and Voyager returned to the Delta Quadrant, the Doctor kept the emitter. It was quickly established that the transfer of the Doctor's program to and from the emitter would be quite easy; practically all the Doctor had to do was issue a voice command and attach the emitter to his left shoulder.

This device proved to be of vital importance and saved the crew of Voyager on numerous occasions. One of the most notable times when the emitter proved useful was shortly after the Doctor had acquired it. He helped Captain Janeway fight off a swarm of macroviruses that had infected the ship; since Janeway had been away at the time, and the Doctor (as a hologram) was naturally immune to the virus, they were forced to stand alone to save the crew. (VOY: "Macrocosm") It also allowed the Doctor to help crew members all over the ship which was especially useful after Kes left the ship a short time later. (VOY: "The Gift")

The mobile emitter helped the Doctor to watch over the ship while the crew was in stasis during a trip through a radioactive mutara class nebula. While proving to be helpful in allowing the Doctor to help Seven of Nine during this situation, the nebula affected the mobile emitter damaging its electro-optic transmitter. The Doctor, later, linked the emitter to the EPS relay network. For some time, this worked, until the EPS relays started to fail, after which the emitter went off-line. (VOY: "One")

Due to a transporter accident, the mobile emitter was combined with some of Seven of Nine's nanoprobes. This, combined with Ensign Mulcahey's DNA, created a new Borg drone with 29th century technology and the mobile emitter intact as an integral part of its central nervous system. This drone called himself One and eventually sacrificed himself in order to save the crew of Voyager. Afterward, the mobile emitter was salvaged and returned to the Doctor. (VOY: "Drone")

On some occasions the emitter was stolen from the Doctor and used by rogue programs, such as Dejaren, Iden (VOY: "Flesh and Blood") and the reprogrammed EMH Mark I of the USS Equinox. (VOY: "Equinox, Part II") On all occasions however, the Doctor was able to recover the emitter with no apparent side effects to his program. The mobile emitter was also used by a version of the Doctor that had corrupted files after he had attempted to improve his personality. (VOY: "Darkling")

Other notable occasions where the emitter was used by holograms other than the Doctor were when the Leonardo da Vinci hologram was transferred to it after both the emitter and main computer core were stolen in a transporter attack (VOY: "Concerning Flight") and when the Doctor loaned the emitter to the Barclay hologram that had been received in a data stream. (VOY: "Inside Man") Micheal O'Sullivan also used it to be transferred out of the holodeck and onto the Voyager bridge, believing the emitter to be a charm to get into the spirit world. (VOY: "Spirit Folk")

Alleged War Crimes[]

In 2374 a group of Kyrians, lead by Tedran, beamed aboard the Voyager and took several people hostage. They were defeated when Tedran was killed by the Vaskan ambassador Daleth.

Several days later Voyager was attacked by nine Kyrian ships. Several troops managed to board Voyager and stole various pieces of technology before escaping including the Emergency Medical Hologram backup module. The devastating war between the Vaskans and Kyrians that followed was called The Voyager Encounter, as the official records were altered to portray the Kyrians as the victims and Voyager as the aggressors.

700 years later a backup copy of the Doctor's program was reactivated in the Kyrian Museum of Heritage by Quarren and blamed for war crimes the crew of Voyager didn't commit. The Doctor explained the real history of the Kyrian/Vaskan conflict and although this caused old tensions between the two races to once again boil over, it led to a new understanding between them and eventually created a harmonious society.

The copy of the Doctor became the Kyrian Surgical Chancellor for many years after these events. Eventually, however, he left his post in a one man ship with the aim of reaching the Alpha Quadrant, claiming that "he had a longing for home". (VOY: "Living Witness")

Alternate realities and timelines[]

• In the alternate timeline that Kes experienced when she began to travel backwards in time, the Doctor was offline for months during the "Year of Hell" conflict. When his program was restored, the Doctor developed a full head of hair, chose the name "Doctor Van Gogh" (although he briefly thought about calling himself Mozart) and tried to develop a means of extending Kes's life via use of a bio-temporal chamber which triggered her jumps back through time. Subsequently – or previously, depending on your perspective – the Doctor of the present cured her of her sudden jumps back in time and this timeline never came to pass. (VOY: "Before and After")

• In an alternate timeline where Voyager crashed into an ice planet while attempting to reach Earth via the use of a quantum slipstream drive, the Doctor's program was recovered fifteen years later by Chakotay and Harry Kim, who had been in the Delta Flyer when the crash took place. With the Doctor's help, they managed to devise a means of transmitting information to Seven of Nine's cortical implant before Voyager was destroyed, hoping to save the crew by stabilizing the slipstream and allowing them to reach Earth. After the attempt failed, it was the Doctor who suggested to a tearful, defeated Kim that rather than hold the slipstream, they should try to shut down the drive; if they couldn't get Voyager home, they could at least save the crew. With the Flyer's warp core about to breach and rapidly running out of power to send the data, the Doctor volunteered the use of his emitter as a power source. Kim wished the Doctor goodbye before removing the emitter. This timeline was erased when Kim, moments before the Flyer exploded, successfully transmitted the data to Seven of Nine that would shut down the slipstream drive, with a message from Harry to his past self the only trace left of that history. (VOY: "Timeless")

Creative outlets[]

The Doctor took a keen interest in opera, frequently practicing his singing with a holographic soprano. (VOY: "The Swarm")

Seven of Nine helped with the Doctor's singing capabilities when, while being held against her will on the USS Equinox, she noticed his vocal modulations deviated by 0.30 decihertz. When they returned to Voyager, she informed him of this fact and he agreed to meet her on the holodeck: "Just you, me and a tuning fork." (VOY: "Equinox, Part II")

Singing was not the only creative outlet for the holographic doctor. He worked hard to create a holographic novel called Photons Be Free, based on an EMH on the starship Vortex and the treatment he faced from the organic members of the crew. The characters and the environment were strongly based on the crew of Voyager. After discovering his friends were concerned about his interpretation of them, he agreed to change it despite the weeks of work involved.

His publisher didn't appreciate the delay and so published the original version. In an argument with the publisher, the Doctor was told he had no rights: although he may be the author, as a hologram he wasn't a sentient being. During the subsequent debate, Janeway, Tuvok, Seven, Barclay and Kim spoke on the Doctor's behalf: Tuvok pointed out that the Doctor had created an original piece of work; Seven explained how the Doctor helped her develop as a person; Barclay compared the Doctor's aid to Zimmerman as a son seeking his father's approval; Kim explained how the Emergency Command Hologram subroutines represented a Human desire to change; and Janeway cited the Doctor's defiance of her orders as a Human action, something that a mere hologram - designed to obey orders - couldn't have done. At the conclusion of the 'trial', the Doctor, though not deemed a "person" at the time, was found to have the same rights as a non-holographic author and was allowed to recall the original version of the holonovel in favor of the new one when it was ready. The judge further urged the Doctor to continue his fight for sentience upon his return to Federation space. (VOY: "Author, Author")

The Doctor also was something of a shutterbug. He enjoyed using a holo-imager to record his experiences, times with his friends and away missions. (VOY: "Drone", "Latent Image", "Life Line", "Course: Oblivion")

Memorable Quotes[]

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

- VOY: "Caretaker", et al.; programmed as the opening statement upon activation, although his program was later altered so that he was no longer required to say it every time he was turned on

"Doesn't anyone know how to turn off the program when they leave?!?"

- VOY: "Caretaker"; the Doctor getting a bit annoyed that people forget to turn off his program

"It seems I've found myself on the Voyage of the Damned."

- VOY: "Time and Again"; on learning that the captain is "missing" when attempting to contact her

"Who would have thought that this eclectic group of voyagers could actually become a family? Starfleet, Maquis, Klingon, Talaxian, Hologram, Borg, even Mr. Paris...."

- VOY: "Year of Hell"

"The computer sounds like it needs a stimulant."

- VOY: "One"

"Sticks and stones won't break my bones, so you can imagine how I feel about being called names."

- VOY: "Basics, Part I"

"Activate the photonic cannon."

- VOY: "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy"

"Interesting sensation blowing one's nose; it's my first time." - the Doctor, programmed with a flu

- VOY: "Tattoo"

""I've reconfigured the Doctor's optical sensors and as soon as they're aligned he should be able to detect the microwave signature of the portals." - Torres "Then I can begin my new career as a tricorder." - the Doctor

- VOY: "Displaced"

"What did he ingest?"
"Just a cup of Neelix's coffee."
"It's a miracle he's still alive...."

- VOY: "Threshold"

See also[]

• I'm a doctor, not a...

Background[]

The Doctor was played by actor Robert Picardo. The part of the Doctor disguised as a Hierarchy overlooker, in the episode "Renaissance Man", was played by J.R. Quinonez (see also: Roles with multiple performers).

In several early first-season Star Trek: Voyager scripts, the character of the Doctor was referred to by name as Doc Zimmerman, since the show's producers had not yet decided to leave him unnamed. The Doctor is one of two ongoing characters in science fiction who are referred to by this title as opposed to a proper name: the other is the protagonist of the long-running British television series Doctor Who.

Many people, including Picardo himself, were initially opposed to Brannon Braga's idea of the mobile emitter, believing the Doctor's limitations to be one of the appeals of the character. However, Picardo has since relished the opportunities for growth to his character due to the Doctor's new-found mobility, without noticing any negative impact to his appeal to the fans; Picardo subsequently apologized to Braga.

Robert Picardo also appears as the Doctor in "Borg Invasion 4D" at Star Trek: The Experience and also portrayed other EMHs in Star Trek: Primo contatto, DS9: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" and VOY: "Author, Author".

Many fans have wondered if Robert Picardo actually did all of his singing himself. To answer that question, Picardo said, "I did all of my singing except for the second half of "Virtuoso". The Don Carlo duet and Rondine al Nido are voiced by an opera singer, Augostino Castellnano (I hope I spelled that correctly). He's a terrific guy. I simply couldn't sing high enough or well enough to pull them off, but I did my own singing in "The Swarm", "Tinker, Tenor...", "Renaissance Man", "Someone to Watch Over Me" and all the others."

In the Special Features on the Voyager DVD collection, Picardo mentions that he ad-libbed during his audition, adding the line 'I'm a doctor, not a lightbulb' at the end of his script -- he says that he 'got a laugh' from the assembled studio executives, even though ad-libbing isn't something that's generally done on a Star Trek production.

Apocrypha[]

Robert Picardo has written a book based on and as told by his character, named The Hologram's Handbook. Picardo goes into depth about how he felt about various experiences while aboard Voyager, such as feeling "betrayed" by Kes when she extended the length of his bout with the flu, as well as genuine and helpful advice for any holograms finding it hard to fit in with 'organics'.

In the Voyager relaunch book series, the Doctor became a famous proponent of holographic rights and eventually joined a Federation "think tank" with Seven of Nine.

In the "Borg Invasion 4D" attraction at Star Trek: The Experience, the Doctor is the lead physician on board Copernicus Station on the edge of the Alpha and Delta Quadrants. While testing a group of people (the audience members) whose DNA apparently resists Borg nanoprobes, the station comes under assault by the Borg themselves. After the group of hopefuls is captured and in the process of assimilation, the Doctor breaks through the hallucination that the Borg Queen is projecting and informs them that help is on the way. Minutes later, Admiral Kathryn Janeway and the USS Voyager rescue the group and bring them back to safety. The story is helped by interactive 3D projections and real live actors. In the video segments, Robert Picardo reprises his role as the Doctor, as do Kate Mulgrew and Alice Krige for Admiral Janeway and the Borg Queen, respectively.