Why Robert Picardo's EMH is being included in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

After spending seven years as the Emergency Medical Hologram on Star Trek: Voyager and returning for the second season on Star Trek: Prodigy as the same character, Robert Picardo is onboard a third Star Trek project. Picardo joined Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and will play The Doctor as a 900-year-old hologram. The series, which was recently picked up for a second season, will, most likely not premiere until some time in 2026.

Picardo recently appeared on a local television show in Toronto (TVO Today: The Agenda) to discuss his upcoming journey on the new show and what viewers can expect. We also learned how his inclusion in the series came to be. [via Trekmovie]

With his character not looking that much older than what we saw on Voyager, obviously, Starfleet Academy will use de-aging technology for Picardo. Even the actor said "I don't look that much older." And even though he first stepped into the holographic shoes of The Doctor almost thirty years ago, he is still excited about this new venture.

"They’ve taken me out of holographic mothballs. The character is an artificial intelligence. He’s now several hundred years old, but it is set in the more distant future that Star Trek: Discovery propelled itself into. So in that future that my character is now several hundred years old, maybe 900 years old. Remarkably, I don’t look that much older. But I’m having a ball working on it, revisiting the character."

- Robert Picardo

As far as Picardo joining the series, Alex Kurtzman clarified that via speakerphone at the Star Trek: Las Vegas panel saying essentially that since The Doctor was teaching cadets in Prodigy, it made sense that he would still be teaching in the future. And, according to Starfleet Academy's showrunner, Noga Landau, there's going to be a few changes with the character as "he is going to do things we have never seen The Doctor do before."

Including The Doctor in Starfleet Academy makes perfect sense, especially with his vast array of knowledge spanning centuries. And having Picardo on the series may encourage more than a few Voyager and Prodigy fans to tune in!