The Doctor creates a holographic family.
The Doctor creates a holographic family to learn what it is like to be a husband and father, and with Torres's help, he makes the program as realistic as possible. Soon he must face the problems that come with a normal family.
The episode uses the holodeck as a tool to examine the question of what a family is, and it gives the Doctor a lesson in the pains of parenthood. It is a character piece that brings together comedy and drama, and it adds to the Doctor's growing understanding of human life.