Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Doctor

10. No For Neelix

It now seems impossible to imagine anyone other than Robert Picardo as the Doctor. Before January 1995, Picardo didn't, in fact, want the part. In rehearsals for a play at the time, Picardo wasn't 'technically available' for TV either. That didn't stop him from auditioning for the brand new Star Trek show, just not for its EMH.

"I [didn't] get the joke," Picardo admitted on the DVD extra Voyager Time Capsule: The Doctor, noting,

I read the audition scene, and the Doctor character [was] described as colourless, humourless, a computer program of a doctor. That [didn't] sound like much fun. I didn't see how that could be a rewarding experience to play.

Picardo had his eye firmly set on another character — Neelix. Picardo did indeed read for Voyager's cook in chief, but producers turned him down. They were still keen for him to try out for Voyager's misanthropic medic. Picardo managed to sneak in a little improvisation, which he has credited with getting him the job.