Which Version Of The Doctor Is On Star Trek: Starfleet Academy?

Robert Picardo's character in the "Star Trek" franchise can be a tiny bit confusing for new viewers, because he's an Emergency Medical Hologram, a holographic program with a full personality who seems to be completely sentient. On the series "Star Trek: Voyager," the EMH that was meant to only be for emergencies became the ship's primary doctor, which meant that the holographic entity became a very real character to audiences. And much like James Darren's holographic Vic Fontaine on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," the EMH who became known as the Doctor had feelings and dreams, even if his form kept some of them from coming true. Now, in the upcoming "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy," we're going to get to know and love the Doctor all over again. But which version of the EMH is it?

Over the course of "Voyager," it's revealed that there was an EMH back-up that was stolen from the titular spaceship by an alien race called the Kyrians, who activated it in the 31st century. That's closer to "Starfleet Academy" in the "Star Trek" timeline than the original "Voyager," so it's possible that Picardo is playing the back-up on "Starfleet Academy," or even one of the other copies of his program. On the social media site Threads, Picardo stated that he's playing the original EMH from "Voyager" and not the back-up or any other version. That's great, because it means that the Doctor will have all of his "Voyager" memories and quirks, even if he's centuries removed from that era.

On Threads, someone asked if Picardo was able to say which version of the EMH he was playing, to which he replied, "[The] original EMH [from 'Voyager']. But it is an excellent question. I remember asking myself long before I saw the first script."

There are only a handful of "Star Trek" characters who can exist across the entire franchise, as it spans well over a thousand years, but the nigh-immortal Doctor is one of them. He appeared in not only "Voyager" but also the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" movie "Star Trek: First Contact" and the animated series "Star Trek: Prodigy." Now, almost 900 years after the events of "Voyager," he'll be working with students at Starfleet Academy in the new series, and it's great to see Picardo in the role again. The actor has aged a bit, of course, but this has already been explained away as easily as Brent Spiner's Data being older in "Star Trek: Picard" was. (Honestly, let immortal beings age if they want!)

It will be interesting to see how the Doctor has changed since his time on "Voyager," along with how the series will handle his holographic nature, especially as we deal with the rise of Artificial Intelligence in our own time. "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" is set to premiere on Paramount+ on January 15, 2026.