The Doctor aka Holodoc
From LoveToKnow Sci-Fi
Holo-Doc, the Outsider
Every Star Trek series had one character whose outsider status was used by the writers to explore what it means to be human. In the original series, Mister Spock was not just a Vulcan, he was half-Vulcan and half-human. His attempts to reject his human side allowed the question of what is humanity to be explored. Star Trek: The Next Generation had Data the android, not rejecting humanity, but trying to be as human as possible.
Star Trek: Voyager had a number of alien characters, including a Klingon-human cross and later a human Borg, but the principal player exploring humanity was the Doctor.
What's In A Name?
Why is Voyager's Doctor (played by Robert Picardo) referred to as simply the Doctor? Because for the run of the show, he had no name. The Doctor's search for a suitable name was a continual running plot line throughout the show.
Where Did the Doctor Come From?
In the premiere of Star Trek: Voyager, the ship was thrown by a powerful alien force to the far side of the galaxy and was stranded decades from home. The force of the powerful fling damaged the ship and resulted in many fatalities, including the ship's first officer, engineer, pilot – and the ship's doctor and medical staff.
To handle the casualties, the crew activated the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH). The Doctor. The EMH was an experimental program, and as the name implies, was intended for use in emergencies. But on Voyager the EMH was the only doctor available and so became the ship's doctor.
We think of holograms as visual transmissions without substance, but in the future world of Star Trek, holographic technology has advanced to the point where holograms can have temporary substance and interact with real solid objects. This enables the Doctor to actually practice medicine, including performing surgery and delivering babies.
From Emergency Room to General Practice
The Doctor does not behave like a computer program, but has very human characteristics and mannerisms. Brusque, impatient and sarcastic, his often abrasive manner rubbed many crewmembers the wrong way. His personality makes sense when you consider he was designed to be used in emergencies; emergency room doctors seldom have time for chit-chat.
Once he became the ship's only Doctor, his program required some tweaking. He was given control of his own program, so crewmembers couldn't turn him off. While he remained abrasive and sarcastic, that became almost lovable once the crew got used to it.
For the first few seasons, the Doctor was confined to the Sick Bay. He couldn't leave the area of his holographic emitters, after all. Eventually holoemitters were added at key points throughout the ship, allowing the Doctor to appear on the bridge and elsewhere, and then a mobile device allowed him to even leave the ship on away teams. The Doctor's mobility became extremely useful in situations where there was a lack of atmosphere or other circumstances that made sending a human team impossible.
The Doctor Off-Duty
When not serving the medical needs of the Voyager crew, the Doctor had plenty of time to develop his own interests. He became an opera buff, a pursuit that lasted throughout the series. He fell in love – several times – with 'real' people. Sometimes it seemed as if the Doctor was getting more romantic action than any of the flesh and blood characters on the show. At one point, he created a holographic family for himself, but that didn't work out.
The Doctor is one of the favorite characters among Voyager fandom. He may have been a transmission from holoemitters, but there was something so admirably human about him.
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