Why Star Trek's Original Doctor Returned In Strange New Worlds Explained By Co-EP

Published Aug 31, 2026, 8:30 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. Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 6 - "Off-Hour"Dr. Phil Boyce's (Brian Markinson) surprise comeback in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 is explained by co-executive producer and writer Bill Wolkoff. By virtue of his appearance in Star Trek's original 1965 pilot, "The Cage," Dr. Phil Boyce (played by John Hoyt) was technically Star Trek's first-ever doctor and Chief Medical Officer. Boyce and most of "The Cage's" cast, except for Leonard Nimoy's Mr. Spock, were excised, and the characters were reworked for Star Trek: The Original Series. However, "The Cage" and Dr. Boyce became canon when they were woven into Star Trek season 1's two-parter, "The Menagerie." Image credit: Paramount+ Appearing on The 7th Rule with Cirroc Lofton and Ryan T. Husk, co-executive producer Bill Wolkoff, who wrote Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 6, "Off-Hour," explains Dr. Boyce's comeback. Wolkoff says Boyce's return "came out of the necessities" of the episode, where they needed "someone to come in" as Dr. Joseph M'Benga's (Babs Olusanmokun) potential replacement. See Bill's quote below: Bill Wolkoff: “It really did come out of the necessities for this episode in particular. We’d been talking a lot about where M’Benga is, and where he’s going to be in The Original Series era. We knew that we wanted this episode to be an episode where Dr. M’Benga is talking about possibly leaving the Enterprise. We needed somebody to come in, and it seemed like a terrific opportunity to have Dr. Boyce come back.” Watch Bill Wolkoff discuss "Off-Hour" on The 7th Rule below: As "Off-Hour" revealed, Dr. M'Benga is making plans to leave Starfleet, and he arranged for Dr. Boyce to return to the Enterprise to replace him as Chief Medical Officer. This was news to Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush), who tied her career and loyalty to M'Benga, and the two argued before Joseph was mortally wounded by the Enterprise falling into a slipstream wormhole. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds establishes that Dr. Boyce was only "interim" Chief Medical Officer in "The Cage," and he transferred to the USS Sunita when Dr. M'Benga became available for the position. However, Boyce "didn't get along" with the Sunita's crew. Before M'Benga's injury, Boyce was the beta shift's Chief Medical Officer, running Sickbay during Chapel and M'Benga's off-hours. With Dr. M'Benga recuperating after Chapel saved his life during "Off-Hour," Dr. Boyce becomes acting CMO. This means working with Nurse Chapel, who defied his orders to let M'Benga die and come to the Port Galley to help Boyce with the injured crew. It remains to be seen how well Chapel and Boyce will get along after the events of "Off-Hour," and if M'Benga does leave Starfleet. When Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was initially announced as a show about Captain Christopher Pike's (Anson Mount) USS Enterprise, fans naturally assumed Dr. Boyce would be Chief Medical Officer, as he was in "The Cage." The choice of Dr. M'Benga was a surprise, but turned out to be inspired as Joseph became one of Strange New Worlds' most compelling characters. Dr. Boyce's return in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds places him in a prime position to become Chief Medical Officer if M'Benga leaves, although Babs Olusanmokun is expected to remain in the show throughout its fifth and final season. Since there's no indication that Babs is leaving Strange New Worlds before the end of the series, so Boyce may just be a recurring backup doctor. Ironically, even if M'Benga quits Starfleet, Dr. Boyce's tenure will be short-lived anyway, since Dr. Leonard McCoy (Thomas Jane) will become Chief Medical Officer when Captain James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) takes command of the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' series finale. 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