Philip Boyce was the chief medical officer onboard the USS Enterprise in 2254, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike.
Personality and traits
Boyce was an acerbic realist who did not hesitate to tell Captain Pike when he thought Pike was wrong. He was known to carry a portable martini kit with him, reasoning that, "sometimes a man will tell his bartender things he'll never tell his doctor." In this capacity, Boyce counseled Pike to remain in the service when Pike confided in him that he was considering retiring. Boyce realized that Pike's sentiment was stemming from a recent incident on Rigel VII in which three Enterprise crewmembers, including Pike's yeoman, were killed, an incident on which Pike blamed his own complacency.
Talos IV
Boyce was a member of the landing party investigating the apparent existence of survivors of a crashed survey expedition on planet Talos IV, reporting to Pike on the extraordinary health of the survivors despite supposedly being stranded for eighteen years. Later, when it became clear that the existence of survivors was an illusion created by the Talosians for the purpose of abducting Pike, Boyce participated in a staff briefing, cautioning the crew as to the dangers posed by the Talosians' mental powers. (TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I", "The Menagerie, Part II")
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Appendices
Background information
Dr. Philip Boyce was played by John Hoyt.
In Gene Roddenberry's original pitch for the series, the following is written about Boyce:
- Ship's Doctor --
- Phillip Boyce, an unlikely space traveler. At
- the age of fifty-one, he's worldly, humorously
- cynical, makes it a point to thoroughly enjoy
- his own weaknesses. Captain April's only real
- confidant, "Bones" Boyce considers himself the
- only realist aboard, measures each new landing
- in terms of relative annoyance, rather than
- excitement.
The following character biography appears in The Making of Star Trek, during a time in production when Robert April was still being considered as the name of the Enterprise's captain:
- Ship's Doctor. Philip Boyce, M.D., is a highly unlikely space traveler. Well into his fifties, he's worldly, humorously cynical, makes it a point to thoroughly enjoy his own weaknesses. He's also engaged in a perpetual battle of ideas and ideals with Jose. Captain April's only real confidant, "Bones" Boyce considers himself the only realist aboard, measures each new landing in terms of the annoyances it will personally create for him.
At one time, David Opatoshu was considered for the role of Doctor Boyce.[1]
Apocrypha
According to the novel Enterprise: The First Adventure, by Vonda N. McIntyre, Boyce was the CMO of Starbase 23 following his tenure aboard the Enterprise.