Gates McFadden On How She Wants Dr. Crusher To Continue After Picard Season 3

Gates McFadden has revealed how she would like to return to the role of Dr. Beverly Crusher after Star Trek: Picard season 3 ends. Dr. Crusher, and her son Jack Crusher (Ed Speelers) are at the heart of the final season of Picard. It’s marked a significant change in the character of Beverly Crusher, who has been given a more defined role compared to how she was previously presented in Star Trek: The Next Generation. This new version of Beverly Crusher has clearly reinvigorated Gates McFadden’s interest in the role, as she’s clearly keen to continue playing her.

In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Gates McFadden discussed the new and improved Doctor Beverly Crusher. McFadden also gave her thoughts on how she would like Beverly to return after Star Trek: Picard season 3. Read her quote below:

Well, I would love to do more episodes of a series. I think there’s something quite magical going on. And I think you can have a lot of different things that come out of it, you can break form in many ways, and have all of the characters in play.

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How Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Sets Up A Beverly Crusher Spinoff Series

The 20-plus years that have passed between the end of Star Trek: Nemesis and the start of Star Trek: Picard season 3 give plenty of scope for a possible Dr. Crusher spinoff. Picard season 3 has revealed that Beverly left Starfleet to provide medical assistance to those living outside the Federation. Presuming that she goes back to this vital work after she and the combined efforts of the crews of both the USS Titan-A and the USS Enterprise-D defeat the plans of Captain Vadic, it could be a fresh format for a Star Trek spinoff.

Gene Roddenberry wanted a spinoff for Dr. M’Benga (Booker Bradshaw), focused on future medicine, rather than diplomacy and discovery. Star Trek: Picard season 3 has made this a real possibility for Dr. Beverly Crusher, especially as Gates McFadden is clearly positive about returning to the role. Now that Dr. Crusher has, presumably, reconciled her differences with Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), it opens the possibility for other legacy characters to appear in the spinoff.

Star Trek: Picard season 3 has also set up the next generation of Star Trek characters, who could also join a Beverly Crusher spinoff. Obviously, her son Jack would be a regular character, but others like Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick), Commander Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), and Ensign Sidney La Forge (Asheli Sharpe Chestnut) could be valuable active Starfleet contacts for their missions of mercy. It’s clear from Gates McFadden’s enthusiasm that Dr. Beverly Crusher’s story needn’t end when the Star Trek: Picard season 3 finale airs later in 2023.

MORE: Picard Proves A Titan Spinoff Would Be Awesome (With Seven AND Shaw)

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.