Dr Who/Star Trek Crossover WAS planned by RTD

[zodin4spock]

From SFX magazine's trawl of RTD's new book.

http://www.sfx.co.uk/page/sfx?entry=20_things_we_learnt_from

back in 2004, a Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover was seriously on their list of plans, until Enterprise was axed.

Shame it never happened.

 

[23skidoo]

I don't really think it was ever a serious plan, or if it was it would have been a Children in Need-style spoof. For one thing, RTD's era had already acknowledged Trek as being a fictional franchise -- anyone remember Rose calling the Doctor "Mr Spock" in The Empty Child?

Before anyone bashes RTD over this, let's wait and see what he really wrote in his book, first. This is just paraphrasing. RTD was known for brainstorming, but also had the good sense to veto many of these ideas - such as Rose Tyler: Earth Defense.

Enterprise was cancelled months before Doctor Who returned to DVD, and I can't see RTD doing anything with Trek in that first year back, so if the idea ever existed, it likely died a-borning.

I do wish RTD had kept a line of Steven Moffat's though. When Rose calls him "Mr Spock" the Doctor was originally to have replied "I'd rather be 'Doctor Who' than 'Star Trek'" !

Alex

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Enterprise was cancelled months before Doctor Who returned to DVD, and I can't see RTD doing anything with Trek in that first year back, so if the idea ever existed, it likely died a-borning.

It was also mentioned in an interview Davies gave to the Telegraph about a month ago. Chances are the Enterprise crossover would have been in the "Boomtown" slot (which was a replacement for "Pompeii," which could well have been a replacement for scenery-chewing by Eccleston and Scott Bakula).

 

[Sci]

I don't really think it was ever a serious plan, or if it was it would have been a Children in Need-style spoof. For one thing, RTD's era had already acknowledged Trek as being a fictional franchise -- anyone remember Rose calling the Doctor "Mr Spock" in The Empty Child?

That was in Series One, and this was a plan that RTD had initially had for Series One.

And I for one don't see why both shows couldn't have done a crossover story that was out-of-continuity for both series.

 

[RoJoHen]

Why the hell would you guys want a Doctor Who crossover with Enterprise?

That just sounds awful.

 

[John Picard]

Why the hell would you guys want a Doctor Who crossover with Enterprise?

That just sounds awful.

Would have been hella cool.

 

[Sci]

Why the hell would you guys want a Doctor Who crossover with Enterprise?

That just sounds awful.

Are you kidding? It would probably have been one of the most delightful ENT stories ever! Why, RTD might even have found a way to give Reed, Travis, and Hoshi personalities!

 

[RoJoHen]

Why the hell would you guys want a Doctor Who crossover with Enterprise?

That just sounds awful.

Are you kidding? It would probably have been one of the most delightful ENT stories ever! Why, RTD might even have found a way to give Reed, Travis, and Hoshi personalities!

ENT is one of the worst shows I've ever seen. I just can't imagine why you'd want to taint Doctor Who with that garbage. Not to mention that it's completely random for a Trek crossover. You want to bring Trek into Who, find a way to use TOS (kind of like DS9 did with "Trials and Tribble-ations")...don't use Enterprise!

 

[KottenFutz]

Maybe the Doctor was Future Guy?

 

[EJA]

Honestly, I think this was just a joke on RTD's part, cos they'd just never have been able to pull it off.

 

[Sci]

Why the hell would you guys want a Doctor Who crossover with Enterprise?

That just sounds awful.

Are you kidding? It would probably have been one of the most delightful ENT stories ever! Why, RTD might even have found a way to give Reed, Travis, and Hoshi personalities!

ENT is one of the worst shows I've ever seen. I just can't imagine why you'd want to taint Doctor Who with that garbage.

Well, for one, I don't think it's pure garbage. Amongst other things, it had a strong premise, and I quite enjoyed Season Four, and suspect that had Season Five been produced, it would have been very good.

For another thing -- it's Doctor Who and Star Trek! The TARDIS aboard the Enterprise! Doctor Who talking to Vulcans! Wonderful fun.

Thirdly, I don't accept the idea that Doctor Who would be tainted by crossing over with a bad show. I think it would just elevate the show by virtue of its presence.

Not to mention that it's completely random for a Trek crossover.

Umm, no, because that was the Star Trek series that was actually in production at the time.

You want to bring Trek into Who, find a way to use TOS (kind of like DS9 did with "Trials and Tribble-ations")

The reason that worked in "Trials" was that the DS9 characters were avoiding interacting with the TOS characters. For a proper crossover, though, you're gonna want to do an original plot with full character interaction -- so you wouldn't be able to use pre-existing footage. Hence the need to use the actual show that's in production at the time.

ETA:

Honestly, I think this was just a joke on RTD's part, cos they'd just never have been able to pull it off.

I think RTD honestly wanted to do it. It's a common criticism of RTD's that he's too over-the-top. I've never agreed with the "too" part, but I'll agree -- the man is absolutely a kitchen sink sort of writer. He likes things that are big and bombastic and outrageous and fantastic and fan-tastic. The idea of trying to pull off a major crossover with Star Trek is exactly up his alley.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

The one thing I wonder about is this.

Would Berman have been amenable? Because Berman doesn't strike me as the kind of person to do something for fun.

I'm curious of Moffat might be interested, because I could see J.J. Abrams being open to some sort of crossover episode in 2012. Hell, for Paramount it would be a way to promote the new film, remind audiences that Star Trek is about to return in a big way.

 

[RoJoHen]

I don't even have a response, really. I'm just amazed that people would actually want this. It's too bizarre, even for Doctor Who. Maybe if they had done it in the 60s with TOS and established it as something that is possible within both universes, I would accept it. But to do it starting with "Enterprise" just seems like a weird idea.

 

[EJA]

I reckon such a crossover could maybe work in a comic book or a novel, but not on TV, no.

 

[RoJoHen]

I reckon such a crossover could maybe work in a comic book or a novel, but not on TV, no.

Yeah, it reminds me way too much of the X-Men/Star Trek novel. Kind of a fun read, but I never ever want to see that kind of nonsense onscreen.

 

[wamdue]

you have Doctor Who crossover with Star Trek, not seriously, you could have him trapped on a planet that has based its development on Star Trek, but not an actual crossover. There is no way you could match the timelines.

 

[John Picard]

I reckon such a crossover could maybe work in a comic book or a novel, but not on TV, no.

Yeah, it reminds me way too much of the X-Men/Star Trek novel. Kind of a fun read, but I never ever want to see that kind of nonsense onscreen.

Geez, and people call me a grump

 

[RoJoHen]

I think you could pull it off with something more obscure like, I dunno...have Doctor Who encounter The Planet Killer or the Crystalline Entity or something...or have him have his own Trouble with Tribbles. Something from the Trek universe without actually getting the characters involved.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Could have been a disaster, could have been great. I think had RTD written it with Judith and Garfield Reeve-Stevens, it would probably have been the latter.

It would have been a logistical nightmare to make though. Two very different shows made not just in two different countries, but in two different continents, one airing on national UK tv and the other a syndicated US show? You'd probably need the Doctor on the production company to make it work.

Still, The Doctor meeting Dr Phlox would have been fun. Sigh.

 

[Sci]

I reckon such a crossover could maybe work in a comic book or a novel, but not on TV, no.

Yeah, it reminds me way too much of the X-Men/Star Trek novel. Kind of a fun read, but I never ever want to see that kind of nonsense onscreen.

Quite right. Doing a Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover wouldn't serve any meaningful dramatic purpose. It would just be to have fun -- a juvenile indulgence the boys at Star Trek were quite above.

you have Doctor Who crossover with Star Trek, not seriously, you could have him trapped on a planet that has based its development on Star Trek, but not an actual crossover. There is no way you could match the timelines.

Is there some law out there that says that every episode of either series has to be in continuity with every other episode? Is there any particular reason they couldn't do an episode that is intentionally set outside of both Trek and Whoniverse canon? There's really no need to mach up timelines.

It would have been a logistical nightmare to make though. Two very different shows made not just in two different countries, but in two different continents, one airing on national UK tv and the other a syndicated US show?

ENT aired on the network UPN; it was not syndicated.