Paramount+Before DeForest Kelley’s Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy became the most beloved (and crankiest) physician in the original Star Trek, there were actually not one but two different characters who were his predecessors. Well before the spinoff/prequel series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds asserted that Dr. Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) was the CMO of the Enterprise prior to McCoy, Star Trek’s two pilot episodes from 1964 and 1965 had different characters filling the ship’s doctor role: Dr. Boyce (John Hoyt) in “The Cage” and Dr. Piper (Paul Fix) in “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Counting M’Benga, this means there are no fewer than four men who served as ship’s doctor between 2254 and 2265.And now, in Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 6, “Off Hour,” Dr. Boyce has returned to the Starship Enterprise for the first time on screen in 62 years, a rebooted character from a kind of prehistory of Star Trek. This time, he’s played by Brian Markinson, who, oddly enough, is now playing his fifth role in the Trek franchise. Here’s what to know about how Boyce fits into canon, how the Dr. Piper question of it all has not been addressed, and what Markinson has to say about rejoining the Final Frontier. Spoilers ahead.Who is Dr. Boyce in Star Trek canon?Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike and John Hoyt as Dr. Boyce in "The Cage" | Paramount/CBSDr. Phil Boyce, originally played by veteran actor John Hoyt (he showed up in The Twilight Zone and The Planet of the Apes TV show), was the first ship’s doctor of the Enterprise under Pike’s command. He’s remembered for coming to Pike’s quarters early in “The Cage” to console Pike about the pressures of command. Boyce famously produces a homemade martini on the spot in order to get Pike to open up.“He has some fantastic lines in that scene,” actor Brian Markinson tells Inverse. “Especially the famous one about telling things to your bartender that you won’t tell your doctor.”As mentioned, Markinson played four characters in Trek before: Vorin in the TNG episode “Homeward” (“The first episode directed by Michael Dorn!” the actor notes), Lt. Durst in two episodes of Voyager, Sulan in Voyager’s “Faces,” and Elias Giger in DS9’s “In the Cards.” But, obviously, playing a legacy character like Boyce is a big deal. Because now, in theory, the character could appear again.“What a gift to throw that uniform on with that insignia, to step onto this magnificent set they've built,” Markinson says. “I sort of equate it to Mad Men. I did a season and a half of Mad Men, and you walk into this time capsule, and so 90 percent of the work is done for you. It's the same thing walking onto the bridge of the Enterprise, or e walking through those hallways. Every space you walk into, it's remarkable.”How Strange New Worlds changes Boyce canon, and foreshadows the futureBrian Markinson as Dr. Boyce and Jess Bush as Christine Chapel in a tense moment in “Off Hour.” | Paramount+Although SNW hasn’t addressed the idea that Dr. Piper seems to show up as a substitute medical officer in “Where No Man Has Gone Before” in 2265-ish, there is a very clear implication that Dr. Boyce is returning to the Enterprise. Early in Episode 6, Chapel (Jess Bush) says that Boyce was “the interim CMO” and now, in coming back to the ship, he’ll be “second banana” to M’Benga.This dialogue goes by quickly, and overall, the episode’s scenes with Chapel and M’Benga further the notion that M’Benga has a bit of a “should I stay or should I go” feeling about the Enterprise. But the idea that someone would leave the ship, then return, and essentially work in a demoted position, happens all the time in Star Trek. More to the point, by the time of TOS, this exactly explains M’Benga’s role in the classic timeline: He’s not the CMO; that’s Bones. So, in TOS, M’Benga is “second banana” to Bones, the same way Boyce’s return to the ship makes him a subordinate, after having been the boss.All of this certainly means that Markinson could 100 percent return for future episodes. In fact, everything about “Off Hour” seems to make it clear that Boyce will be part of the Enterprise support crew going forward.“I’d never say no to this franchise,” Markinson says. “Who knows where they’re going with this. I’ll return anytime if they’ll have me.”Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams on Paramount+.Phasers on Stun!: How the Making — and Remaking — of Star Trek Changed the WorldAmazon -