Why Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Doctor Replacement Guest Star Looks So Familiar

Image credit: Paramount+ Published Aug 28, 2026, 9:30 AM EDT John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 6 - "Off-Hour"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds reintroduces a classic USS Enterprise doctor to replace Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), and he's played by a familiar face. Directed by Dan Liu and written by Bill Wolkoff, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 6, "Off-Hour" is an intense starship crisis centering on Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) trying to save the mortally injured M'Benga's life. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 6 brings back Dr. Phil Boyce. Played by John Hoyt, Boyce's last canonical appearance was in Star Trek's original 1965 pilot, "The Cage," which was rejected by NBC. Boyce was technically the first doctor in Star Trek, and the character was reworked and replaced by Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelly) in Star Trek: The Original Series. Dr. Phil Boyce is back aboard the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds as the beta shift Chief Medical Officer who takes over Sickbay when Dr. M'Benga is off duty. However, M'Benga requested Boyce's transfer to the Enterprise with an eye on Phil replacing him full-time. With Joseph incapacitated, Boyce becomes acting CMO in "Off-Hour." Brian Markinson Plays Dr. Phillip Boyce In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Image credit: Paramount+ Brian Markinson plays Dr. Phil Boyce in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The veteran actor has a lengthy acting resume, with numerous movie and TV roles, many of them in science fiction. However, Markinson is best known to Mad Men fans as Dr. Arnold Rosen, the neighbor and friend of Don Draper (Jon Hamm), even though Don has an affair with Arnold's wife, Sylvia (Linda Cardellini). Markinson's sci-fi resume is impressive and extensive. Brian has played memorable roles in The X-Files, Millennium, Stargate: SG-1, Supernatural, Bionic Woman, iZombie, and Godzilla. Markinson also played Commander Silas Nash in Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome, Jordan Duram in Caprica, Inspector Dillon in Continuum, and Everett in The Magicians. Beyond science fiction, Brian Markinson has appeared in China Beach, NYPD Blue, Psych, The L-Word, Saving Hope, and Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce, where Brian worked with his friend, director Robert Duncan McNeill, who played Lieutenant Tom Paris in Star Trek: Voyager. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds updates Dr. Phil Boyce's canon, establishing that he was only interim Chief Medical Officer in "The Cage" until Dr. M'Benga took over. Boyce then transferred to the USS Sunita but didn't get along with the crew. Back aboard the USS Enterprise, Boyce is M'Benga's handpicked replacement as CMO if and when Joseph decides to leave Starfleet. Brian Markinson Is A Veteran Rick Berman Era Star Trek Guest Star Brian Markinson is especially familiar to Star Trek fans, as he achieved a trifecta by guest starring as multiple characters in every Star Trek series set in the 24th century executive produced by Rick Berman. Stardate 47988.1 · Crew Assessment The Final FrontierTrivia Challenge 🚀ShipsEnterprise! ⭐CrewMake it so ☠EnemiesResistance is… ⚡TechWarp speed! 📖LoreLive long… ENGAGE → 01 The USS Enterprise is the most iconic starship in science fiction. What is the registry number of Captain Kirk’s original Enterprise from The Original Series? ANCC-1701-D BNX-01 CNCC-1701 DNCC-74656 ✓ Correct! NCC-1701 is the registry of Kirk’s original Constitution-class Enterprise. The “-D” suffix belongs to Picard’s Galaxy-class ship, NX-01 is Archer’s Enterprise, and NCC-74656 is Voyager. ✗ Red alert! The answer is NCC-1701. Kirk’s original Constitution-class Enterprise carried this now-legendary registry. NCC-1701-D is Picard’s Enterprise from TNG, NX-01 is Captain Archer’s, and NCC-74656 belongs to Voyager. NEXT → 02 Kirk’s most trusted officer is a half-human, half-Vulcan science officer famous for his logic and iconic salute. Who is this legendary character? AData BSpock CTuvok DSarek ✓ Correct! Mr. Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, is the half-Vulcan science officer whose “Live long and prosper” salute became a cultural icon. His struggle between logic and emotion defines the heart of the Original Series. ✗ Red alert! The answer is Spock. Data is an android from TNG, Tuvok is Voyager’s Vulcan tactical officer, and Sarek is Spock’s Vulcan father. Only Spock is the half-human, half-Vulcan first officer of Kirk’s Enterprise. NEXT → 03 Starfleet’s most important regulation forbids interference with the natural development of alien civilizations. What is this guiding principle called? AThe Temporal Accord BGeneral Order One CThe Omega Directive DThe Prime Directive ✓ Correct! The Prime Directive (also known as General Order 1) is Starfleet’s most sacred law. It prohibits interfering with less-developed civilizations — though Kirk, Picard, and Janeway have all famously bent or broken it when lives were at stake. ✗ Red alert! The answer is the Prime Directive. While “General Order One” is technically another name for it, the Prime Directive is the universally known term. The Omega Directive and Temporal Accord are separate, more specialized Starfleet protocols. NEXT → 04 “Resistance is futile.” This chilling declaration belongs to a cybernetic collective that assimilates entire civilizations into its hive mind. What is this fearsome species called? AThe Borg BThe Dominion CThe Romulans DSpecies 8472 ✓ Correct! The Borg are Star Trek’s most terrifying villains — a hive-mind collective that forcibly assimilates species and technology. Captain Picard was famously assimilated and transformed into Locutus in the landmark TNG episode “The Best of Both Worlds.” ✗ Red alert! The answer is the Borg. The Dominion is the Gamma Quadrant empire from DS9, the Romulans are a rival empire, and Species 8472 is actually one of the few species that the Borg themselves fear. Only the Borg declare “Resistance is futile.” NEXT → 05 Captain Jean-Luc Picard commands the Enterprise-D in The Next Generation and later received his own series, Star Trek: Picard. Which acclaimed actor portrays him? AWilliam Shatner BAvery Brooks CPatrick Stewart DScott Bakula ✓ Correct! Sir Patrick Stewart brought gravitas, Shakespeare, and Earl Grey tea to the captain’s chair for seven seasons of TNG, four films, and three seasons of Star Trek: Picard. His “Make it so” is one of TV’s most iconic catchphrases. ✗ Red alert! The answer is Patrick Stewart. William Shatner plays Captain Kirk, Avery Brooks is Captain Sisko on Deep Space Nine, and Scott Bakula captains the NX-01 Enterprise. Only Sir Patrick Stewart portrays the legendary Jean-Luc Picard. NEXT → 06 Starfleet vessels travel faster than light by bending space around them using a matter-antimatter reaction. What is this propulsion system called? ATranswarp Drive BWarp Drive CSlipstream Drive DSpore Drive ✓ Correct! Warp Drive is the standard faster-than-light propulsion in Star Trek, powered by dilithium-regulated matter-antimatter reactions. Zefram Cochrane invented it in 2063, which led to humanity’s first contact with the Vulcans. ✗ Red alert! The answer is Warp Drive. Transwarp is an advanced Borg technology, Slipstream is an experimental quantum drive, and the Spore Drive uses mycelial network navigation (from Discovery). Standard Starfleet vessels use Warp Drive. NEXT → 07 At Starfleet Academy, cadets face a notorious no-win scenario designed to test their character under impossible circumstances. James Kirk is the only cadet who ever beat it — by cheating. What is this test called? AThe Prometheus Trial BThe Omega Simulation CThe Corbomite Maneuver DThe Kobayashi Maru ✓ Correct! The Kobayashi Maru is an unwinnable rescue simulation that tests how cadets handle certain death. Kirk reprogrammed it so he could win — earning a commendation for original thinking. It was memorably featured in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. ✗ Red alert! The answer is the Kobayashi Maru. The Corbomite Maneuver is a TOS episode, not an Academy test. The Kobayashi Maru is the famous no-win scenario that Kirk defeated by reprogramming the simulation — because he doesn’t believe in the no-win scenario. NEXT → 08 In the widely regarded greatest Star Trek film, a genetically enhanced superhuman from Earth’s past seeks revenge against Captain Kirk. “KHAAAAN!” Who is this iconic villain? AKhan Noonien Singh BGeneral Chang CQ DGul Dukat ✓ Correct! Khan Noonien Singh, played by Ricardo Montalbán, is Star Trek’s greatest villain. First appearing in the TOS episode “Space Seed,” he returned in The Wrath of Khan (1982) for a devastating revenge plot that cost Spock his life. ✗ Red alert! The answer is Khan Noonien Singh. General Chang is a Klingon from Star Trek VI, Q is TNG’s omnipotent trickster, and Gul Dukat is DS9’s Cardassian antagonist. Only Khan inspired Kirk’s legendary scream across the cosmos. REVEAL MY SCORE → Mission Complete Your Starfleet Record / 8 Are you an Admiral — or still a cadet on deck-scrubbing duty? ↻ RE-ENGAGE Markinson's first appearance in the final frontier was in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 13, "Homeward." Brian played Vorin, the historian of the Boraalan people, who Worf's (Michael Dorn) brother, Nikolai Rozhenko (Paul Sorvino), led through caves to safety, with the twist that they were really inside the USS Enterprise-D's holodeck. In Star Trek: Voyager season 1's "Cathexis" and "Faces," Brian Markinson played Lieutenant Pete Durst, who is killed and has his organs harvested by the Vidians. The Vidian chief surgeon, Sulan, then grafts Durst's face onto his own. Markinson auditioned to play Sulan and was cast in both roles since Sulan wears Durst's face. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5's "In the Cards" saw Brian Markinson play Dr. Elias Giger, who built a machine that he claims prevents people from dying. Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) and Nog (Aron Eisenberg) tried to finagle a Willie Mays baseball card from Giger, who memorably ranted against "the soulless minions of orthodoxy." Like Strange New Worlds' puppet episode guest star Rachael Harris, who played the mother of Kes (Jennifer Lien) in Star Trek: Voyager, Brian Markinson returns in Star Trek's Paramount+ streaming era. As Dr. Phil Boyce, Markinson looks to be a recurring character throughout the rest of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 and, possibly, its fifth and final season. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's new episodes premiere Thursdays on Paramount+ Release Date 2022 - 2027-00-00 Network Paramount+ Showrunner Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman Directors Dan Liu, Amanda Row, Maja Vrvilo, Akiva Goldsman, Dermott Downs, Eduardo Sánchez, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Jonathan Frakes, Jordan Canning, Leslie Hope, Valerie Weiss, Sydney Freeland, Christopher J. Byrne, Rachel Leiterman Writers Onitra Johnson Franchise(s) Star Trek Creator(s) Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet