Strange New Worlds Has A Doctor Problem In Season 3, But We Think This Casting Solves It

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 has a problem with its USS Enterprise doctor, but we think this casting might solve it. The Star Trek: The Original Series prequel takes place aboard Captain Christopher Pike’s (Anson Mount) USS Enterprise. Some of the many legacy Star Trek characters in Strange New Worlds are Enterprise crew members we’ve loved since the TOS days, like Mr. Spock (Ethan Peck) and Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding). Others, like Pike and Number One (Rebecca Romijn), were deep cuts from Star Trek‘s first pilot, “The Cage”, before appearing in Star Trek: Discovery.

Another formerly obscure TOS character is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ current Chief Medical Officer is Dr. Joseph M’Benga, played by Babs Olusanmokun in SNW and Booker Bradshaw in two episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series. The addition of Martin Quinn as Lieutenant Montgomery Scott in Strange New Worlds season 2’s finale, “Hegemony”, makes Strange New Worlds one step closer to assembling the full complement of Star Trek: The Original Series characters. That means Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley) can’t be far behind, but McCoy probably won’t be Dr. M’Benga’s replacement—not right away, anyway.

There’s A Doctor On The Starship Enterprise Between M’Benga & Bones McCoy

Dr. Mark Piper Is The Problem Blocking The Straight Line From M’Benga To Bones

Dr. Mark Piper tends to Captain James Kirk in TOS

Between Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ Dr. M’Benga and Star Trek: The Original Series‘ Dr. McCoy, the doctor on the Starship Enterprise was Dr. Mark Piper (Paul Fix). Piper only appeared in Star Trek‘s second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” produced after NBC requested a massive retooling of “The Cage”. Like McCoy, Piper was described as an old country doctor, but Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry didn’t like Fix’s performance. Roddenberry had wanted DeForest Kelley to play the Enterprise’s doctor from the start and finally got his wish when Kelley joined the cast as Bones McCoy.

Year	USS Enteprise CMO	Played By	Appears In
2254	Dr. Phil Boyce	John Hoyt	Star Trek: The Original Series “The Cage”
2259–?	Dr. Joseph M’Benga	Babs Olusanmokun	Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
2265	Dr. Mark Piper	Paul Fix	Star Trek: The Original Series “Where No Man Has Gone Before”
2266–2286	Dr. Leonard McCoy	DeForest Kelley	Star Trek: The Original Series & related films

As a series about Captain Pike’s Enterprise, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is built on revisiting Star Trek: The Original Series’ earliest concepts, so it would make sense for Dr. Mark Piper to be in Strange New Worlds season 3. We already know that Dr. M’Benga will survive being kidnapped by the Gorn at the end of Strange New Worlds season 2, but there’s no telling what shape M’Benga will be in. Dr. Mark Piper being brought aboard the USS Enterprise as M’Benga’s replacement CMO would be the kind of nod to Star Trek history that Strange New Worlds loves to make.

Could Rhys Darby Play Dr. Mark Piper In Strange New Worlds Season 3?

Darby Could Be Dr. Piper As A Temporary Enterprise Doctor Before McCoy

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 casting Our Flag Means Death‘s Rhys Darby as Dr. Mark Piper could solve the USS Enterprise’s imminent doctor problem. After it was announced at New York Comic Con 2024 that Rhys Darby would be guest starring as a “familiar but different” legacy Star Trek character, we started speculating who Rhys Darby could be in Strange New Worlds season 3. Dr. Mark Piper wasn’t among those characters, but the resemblance between Darby and Star Trek: The Original Series‘ Piper actor, Paul Fix, makes Piper a strong possibility for Darby’s role.

Spock, Uhura, Pike and Chapel in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 – Cast, Story, & Everything We Know

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 ended with an epic cliffhanger and here’s everything known about when it will be resolved in season 3.

Even if Rhys Darby winds up playing Dr. Mark Piper, the possibility of a new Dr. McCoy in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 isn’t necessarily eliminated. With Paul Fix’s single episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, Dr. Piper wasn’t the Enterprise’s CMO for very long. Piper’s USS Enterprise posting in TOS could have been a temporary assignment while the crew waited for Bones to arrive as a more permanent replacement. That may also be the case if Dr. Mark Piper comes aboard Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to be the Enterprise’s doctor between M’Benga and McCoy.