Picardo recalls talking to one of the show’s head writers and co-creators Brannon Braga about the mobile emitted shortly before it was implemented on the show … and that he didn’t like it. The actor said: 

“I remember I was in Brannon Braga’s office when he told me. He said, ‘Your character is so popular, we need to be able to put you in more scripts, in more situations and settings. What do you think?’ I said, ‘I think it’s a bad idea.'” 

What, Picardo thought, was the point of a holographic character if he was unbound by certain practical limitations? Picardo felt that the reason the Doctor was so popular was specifically because he wasn’t able to leave sickbay or a holodeck. He was a medical doctor with no physical body, making him constantly resentful of the being he had been programmed to heal and protect. Picardo admitted, however, that Braga was ultimately wise to invent the mobile emitter. He said: 

“This was one time when I was clearly wrong and the producers were absolutely, 100% right. I conveyed to [Braga …] that the character’s differences define him and make him interesting to the audience. If I’m not limited to the Sickbay or the Holodeck, then I’ll just be like anybody else. I’m glad they did it, as it gave me many more stories. But because the character had been kind of a break-out character … whenever somebody plans to mess with a winning formula, I think anyone’s reaction would be, ‘Are we sure we want to do that?'”

The Doctor not only gained autonomy but also began to develop hobbies — he loved to sing — and a sense of social justice. The stories began to flow.