NYCC ‘26: STAR TREK’s Robert Picardo says he’s "one of the few people who’s had it both ways"

Star Trek star Robert Picardo has brought his version of the charismatic hologram, the Doctor, to two different centuries of television, and he's got a clear-eyed take on what's changed.

Speaking with The Beat at the New York premiere of The Sixty Year Mission: How Star Trek Changed Television and the World on October 8, 2026, the Star Trek: Voyager and Starfleet Academy actor was asked how filming the franchise today compares to thirty years ago. Picardo, who originated the Doctor on Voyager and returned to Starfleet for Academy, said he's "one of the few people who's had it both ways."

His answer started with the sets. The Starfleet Academy main set, Picardo said, was the most extraordinary he's ever worked on as an actor, enveloping, enormous in scale. He added that he's heartbroken that it was dismantled and discarded once production wrapped. That kind of set build, he argued, is where modern technology earns its keep, as it makes the world realer for the people performing in it.

But Picardo wasn't about to crown the tech the hero. The most important thing, he added, is still the storytelling — and a great story doesn't need the new bells and whistles to land.

It's a fitting note from a Trek veteran at a premiere built around the question of why the franchise has lasted. Produced with William Shatner as executive producer and written and directed by Mark Altman, The Sixty Year Mission features interviews with the three living stars of Star Trek: The Original Series — Shatner, George Takei, and Walter Koenig — alongside cast from The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Strange New Worlds.

Source: Zoë Rice's interviews for The Beat