Star Trek Doctor Who Crossover Actually In The Works?
The recent Doctor Who episode “Space Babies” had so many great moments that it was easy to miss the most intriguing one. When new Companion Ruby Rose sees how the TARDIS has landed indoors, she asks the Doctor if this is a matter transporter like the kind in Star Trek. This prompts him to excitedly blurt out, “We’ve got to visit them one day,” potentially setting up a Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover that showrunner Russell T. Davies has been trying to make happen for decades.
Previous Crossovers
Star Trek and Doctor Who have had some crossovers before, both official and unofficial. For example, The Next Generation episode “The Neutral Zone” originally had the names of various actors who played the Doctor on a console, and Paramount replaced these names once the remastered episodes made it easier to see all the little in-jokes hidden on the various screens.
Additionally, IDW has released some fairly entertaining comics in which different versions of the Doctor (specifically, the Fourth and Eleventh Doctors) had adventures with both the TOS and TNG crews.
Russell T. Davies Has Been Trying For Decades
However, a proper onscreen crossover between Star Trek and Doctor Who has never happened. This is something that Who showrunner Russell T. Davies is eager to change, however. Beyond dropping that tantalizing line in “Space Babies,” this man has been trying to make an onscreen crossover occur since 2004.
Back then, Star Trek: Enterprise was still on the air, and Davies was hard at work on the Doctor Who revival. As detailed in The Writer’s Tale, a book he co-wrote with Benjamin Cook, he told producer Julie Gardner at that time how much he wanted to see a crossover between these shows. As he wrote, “I would so love to see the Doctor on board the Starship Enterprise, puncturing all that Starfleet pomposity with his sheer Doctor-ness.”
Enterprise’s Cancelation
Unfortunately, those potential crossover plans with Star Trek ended when Enterprise was unceremoniously canceled the very same year (2005) that the Doctor Who revival premiered. Because there wasn’t a new Star Trek show until 2017 and Davies initially left Doctor Who in 2010, it seemed like his dream of giving these beloved franchises a proper crossover had died.
Strange New Worlds Makes The Most Sense
Now, however, it seems like those hopes may have regenerated into a new form altogether. Davies is back as showrunner for Doctor Who, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is bringing the pioneering spirit of The Original Series to the (dare we say it?) next generation of fans.
Arguably, bringing the Doctor into that particular show wouldn’t even be that crazy because Strange New Worlds already had a crossover with the Lower Decks cartoon, and let’s face it: having the Doctor on the bridge of the Enterprise still wouldn’t be as crazy as that musical episode.
Hope For The Future
Right now, a crossover between Star Trek and Doctor Who is still just a dream, but “Space Babies” proves how much Davies wants to make that dream into a reality.
On paper, a collaboration between Disney and Paramount would have once seemed unthinkable, but considering that Sony is currently trying to buy Paramount out, the latter studio might be game to take some very big swings to prove they are still relevant. Should this crossover finally happen, Captain Pike might learn a thing or two from the Doctor about how to handle threats like the Klingons.
And if that day proves to be a good day to die, well…there’s always another regeneration, right?
