From: thetruemelissa@gmail.com   
      
   Verily, in article <10lavo0$3psau$1@dont-email.me>, did ahk@chinet.com   
   deliver unto us this message:   
   >   
   > The True Melissa  wrote:   
   > >did weberm@polaris.net deliver unto us this message:   
   >   
   > >>No, it wouldn't. They also should not be able to walk around outside a   
   > >>holodeck, either.   
   >   
   > >Wasn't the Doctor originally unable to leave the sick bay?   
   >   
   > >I guess this is far in the future from that era, but still.   
   >   
   > The Doctor began using a mobile emitter in a season 3 episode of Voyager   
   > so the writers could use him in other scenes. It was a literal plot device.   
      
   Sounds like they borrowed light bees from Red Dwarf. Rimmer originally   
   had to be in a projection cage in order to leave the ship, but that   
   constrained the plots, so they invented light bees and "hard light."   
      
   Is the Doctor made of hard light yet?   
      
   > Quite frankly, while EVERYTHING about holodecks and holographic   
   > characters is literally a plot device, this was a massive retcon. The   
   > point was that the ship had a skelaton crew and the military surgeon had   
   > been killed. How would the crew exist without a doctor especially if he   
   > couldn't be used on away missions? It was supposed to be part of the   
   > adventure. Space is dangerous, especially without the rest of the fleet.   
      
   I didn't watch much of Voyager, but that matches my memory. He was a   
   backup, not the original plan.   
      
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