While Professor Moriarty is known as a self-aware hologram, Daniel Davis points out that the Professor Moriarty seen in "Picard" is not the same one that fans remember from "The Next Generation." He told StarTrek.com, "It wasn't until I saw the episode myself that I realized that I was a figment of whatever powers Data had left to guide Worf and Riker into where Data was so they could find him."
Having Davis return as the famous "Sherlock Holmes" villain took a lot of work, and it's a tale that goes back to "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Professor Moriarty and Data first battle it out in a holodeck program meant to improve Data's problem-solving skills, in which Data portrays Sherlock while Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) portrays Dr. Watson. But Professor Moriarty doesn't return until Season 6, Episode 12, "Ship in a Bottle."
Davis told Screen Rant that they had to wait until Season 6 to bring Professor Moriarty back because they did not receive clearance from the Arthur Conan Doyle Society the first time around, noting that the team thought that the characters were in the public domain. "Then they find out to their shock that the Conan Doyle Society holds the rights to those characters and stories in perpetuity because the Conan Doyle Society sponsors so many orphanages and charitable organizations," he said, adding that it took "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry a few years to smooth everything out, eventually leading to them getting the rights.
