Doctor Cottle is Battlestar Galactica's irascible Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Because the ship is operating with a minimal crew compliment leading up to its expected decommissioning, Cottle is the only real physician/surgeon aboard Galactica (perhaps in the entire Fleet), supported by a handful of medics such as Layne Ishay and Howard Kim. Cottle is somewhat eccentric -- a heavy smoker, despite knowing the risks, and one not overly impressed by positions of power. He is, above all things, a healer- to him nothing else really matters, be it rank, riches, or species.
Biography
Cottle is the third person in the Fleet to learn about President Laura Roslin's fight with cancer (Act of Contrition), after Lee Adama (Bastille Day) and Billy Keikeya (Miniseries). He agrees to treat her condition, without revealing it to anyone else, and further agrees to support more unorthodox treatments such as Chamalla extract. Knowing the extent of her illness and Roslin's reluctance to undergo diloxin therapy, the doctor also recommends prayer.
Cottle takes a personal interest in Starbuck's recovery after she breaks her leg during a mission (You Can't Go Home Again). The doctor works with Lee Adama to get her out of sickbay (Six Degrees of Separation) without initial success.
Grumpy of attitude, yet always professional, Cottle instantly inspires trust, despite his attitude.
After the assassination attempt on William Adama, (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II) Cottle is unavailable to stabilize the Commander as he is aboard another ship in the Fleet. Matters worsen after Galactica's jump to the emergency coordinates separates Cottle and the battlestar. Colonel Tigh orders Cottle's medics to stop Adama's internal bleeding (Scattered). However, while the medics stabilize the Commander's condition, they are unable to fully stop his bleeding. Cottle finally arrives and is able to operate on Commander Adama. After much risky work, the doctor saves Adama's life (Fragged).
Cottle speaks rather contemptuously of Colonel Saul Tigh's authority. When Tigh asks of Adama's condition as Cottle begins surgery to save the Commander's life, he tells the XO, "How should I know? I'm not a psychic. Now get the hell out of here" (Fragged). Later, after Tigh orders an ill-advised attempt to restore supply runs to Galactica on the Gideon, resulting in four civilian deaths, Cottle is anything but sympathetic when Tigh asks what happened: "What'd you expect, genius? You put a pilot in charge of crowd control" (Resistance).
At the request of President Roslin, despite her straight-to-the-point warning about its illegality and danger (Cottle: "You're a lousy salesman."), he assists Roslin in escaping Galactica by filing a request for a Raptor flight away from the battlestar, to care for patients on other ships. Roslin leaves Galactica on this "appropriated" Raptor with Lee Adama at the helm (Resistance).
Major Cottle performs a series of medical scans on Gaius Baltar's head at Baltar's request. Unknown to Cottle, Baltar is looking to see if there is a Cylon computer chip implanted into his brain. The scans show absolutely nothing unusual, and Cottle dismisses Baltar as a hypochondriac ("There's one on every bloody ship.") (Home, Part II).
Even Cottle's stony exterior gives way to the pain he sees on Laura Roslin's face when he gives her a new prognosis on her fight with cancer. Her cancer has spread aggressively, and the good doctor gives Roslin, on the outside, one month to live (Flight of the Phoenix). His concern for Cylon Sharon Valerii and her unborn hybrid child is remarkable, especially in the face of the rest of the crew's distrust and even hatred of her, hinting at his extremely strict sense of medical ethics. He described her attempted rape by Lt. Thorne as "unforgivable," and voiced his opposition to Baltar using Sharon's baby's blood as a cure for Roslin's cancer (Resurrection Ship, Part I, Epiphanies).
Cottle has gained a reputation among the fleet for performing abortions. When Rya Kibby, a young Gemenese girl, wanted to end her pregnancy, she stowed away to get aboard Galactica and see Cottle. Cottle explained the situation to Admiral Adama by acknowledging, "I get a note that a girl's on the way. She arrives. I do my work. And then she leaves. I don't ask a lot of questions." When Admiral Adama asked Rya to return to her parents, Cottle suggested that the girl instead request political asylum aboard Galactica, earning a stare from Adama. (The Captain's Hand)
Cottle's outspokenness could be attributed to the fact that, as one of the few remaining doctors left in the Fleet, he is far too important to the Fleet to penalize for acts of insubordination that anyone else would be punished for. It's also possible that Dr. Cottle's personality is a result of the stresses of the Cylon holocaust. Given his advanced age, Cottle was likely on the verge of retirement when he was forced to spend his twilight years in space, trying desperately to meet a far-too-high level of demand for his services.
After the election of President Baltar and the settlement of New Caprica Cottle, like most of Galactica's crew, retires from military duty. One year after the election he is still serving as a doctor on New Caprica in private practice (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II).
Notes
- Cottle's counterpart in the Original Series is Salik.
- In accordance with Ron D. Moore's naturalistic science fiction principles used to form the re-imagined series, unlike another popular medical officer in television science fiction, Cottle's personality is grumpy, callous, and rude.
- In the DVD commentary for "Act of Contrition", RDM states that actor Donnelly Rhodes was one of the three finalists up for the role of Col. Saul Tigh, though in the end the part was given to one of the other finalists, Michael Hogan.
- Doctor Cottle is named after Michael Rymer's childhood pediatrician, who was actually a very nice person unlike his fictional counterpart.
- Doctor Cottle is first mentioned in "Bastille Day", but he does not appear until the next episode, "Act of Contrition".