When Universes Collide (Dr. Who x Star Trek)

[Danja]

Beyond the big Star Trek Universe panels at San Diego Comic Con later this month, there’s another featured Trek event scheduled for the annual genre bash in California — this time, with another big sci-fi franchise along for the ride.

Star Trek franchise boss Alex Kurtzman will be joined by Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies on Saturday, July 27 at 5:30PM (Room 6A) for a panel set to kick off a co-franchise “Intergalactic Friendship Day” event on July 30.

STAR TREK and DOCTOR WHO Showrunners Join Forces for SDCC's "Intergalactic Friendship Day" Panel

Two outer-space franchises collide at San Diego Comic Con as STAR TREK and DOCTOR WHO showrunners join forces for a special panel to bring fandom together

blog.trekcore.com

 

[FredH]

STAR TREK and DOCTOR WHO Showrunners Join Forces for SDCC's "Intergalactic Friendship Day" Panel

Two outer-space franchises collide at San Diego Comic Con as STAR TREK and DOCTOR WHO showrunners join forces for a special panel to bring fandom together

blog.trekcore.com

You know… this makes me wonder if they’re getting ready to actually finally do it…

 

[fireproof78]

I don't know what this means and the comic crossover was irritating enough.

 

[Qonundrum]

Why not TNG meets ALF instead? Imagine that scene with Geordi shaving and he lets ALF use it for a couple hours?

 

[The Wormhole]

If this does happen, it's going to make the "Starfleet isn't a military" crowd explode. RTD considers Starfleet to be a military, and that would have been a central plot point in the potential crossover he was planning last time he was running Doctor Who, which would have been with Enterprise, though Enterprise's cancellation put an end to those plans.

 

[Tuskin38]

and the comic crossover was irritating enough.

Why? Did someone force you to read it?

 

[fireproof78]

Why? Did someone force you to read it?

At gunpoint, yes

 

[Nerys Myk]

I don't know what this means and the comic crossover was irritating enough.

I recall a skit at a con I attended in the 80s where ST, SW and DW crossed over.

 

[fireproof78]

I recall a skit at a con I attended in the 80s where ST, SW and DW crossed over.

I've seen some great fan art and fiction but I don't think it should be anything official.

 

[Citiprime]

There's a hint of a crossover in the new RTD season that just concluded.

From the first episode of the series, "Space Babies":

RUBY: But we're indoors! We... got through walls.​

​

(Zapping)​

​

RUBY: Uh-huh. Is that like a matter transporter, like in Star Trek?​

​

(The Doctor laughs)​

​

The Doctor: We've got to visit them one day.​

 

[FredH]

If this does happen, it's going to make the "Starfleet isn't a military" crowd explode. RTD considers Starfleet to be a military, and that would have been a central plot point in the potential crossover he was planning last time he was running Doctor Who, which would have been with Enterprise, though Enterprise's cancellation put an end to those plans.

What did RTD plan, that you know of?

 

[FredH]

(Also, are there really “Starfleet isn’t a military” and “Starfleet is a military” crowds, as such? They do the fighting, and also the exploring, and pretty much all the other stuff. That’s never going to change. Nobody’s head will be blown the next time a starship either fights a battle or discovers/saves a new world. What somebody calls them in any given era is semantics.)

 

[The Wormhole]

What did RTD plan, that you know of?

The broad strokes of it were that the Doctor ends up on board the Enterprise, presumably the NX-01, given it was Enterprise's cancellation which put an end to the idea. Not sure the exact details of what their adventure would entail, but the Doctor would continue to express skepticism at such "an obviously military outfit" claiming to be peaceful explorers, even to the point of scoffing at the climax that the "peaceful explorers" solved the problem with their weapons.

RTD did hold onto the idea with the intent of reworking it into a regular Doctor Who episode featuring a starship which resembles but is legally distinct from a Starfleet ship complete with all the tropes like Captain, First Officer, Security Officer, Alien Officer with a bumpy forehead, and so forth. It very nearly became one of the specials for David Tennant's "Gap Year" in 2009, but that clearly never came to pass.

are there really “Starfleet isn’t a military” and “Starfleet is a military” crowds, as such?

If you've ever actually sat through any of the "Is Starfleet a military?" threads we've had over the years, you'd know that there most certainly are such crowds.

 

[FredH]

The broad strokes of it were that the Doctor ends up on board the Enterprise, presumably the NX-01, given it was Enterprise's cancellation which put an end to the idea. Not sure the exact details of what their adventure would entail, but the Doctor would continue to express skepticism at such "an obviously military outfit" claiming to be peaceful explorers, even to the point of scoffing at the climax that the "peaceful explorers" solved the problem with their weapons.

RTD did hold onto the idea with the intent of reworking it into a regular Doctor Who episode featuring a starship which resembles but is legally distinct from a Starfleet ship complete with all the tropes like Captain, First Officer, Security Officer, Alien Officer with a bumpy forehead, and so forth. It very nearly became one of the specials for David Tennant's "Gap Year" in 2009, but that clearly never came to pass.

If you've ever actually sat through any of the "Is Starfleet a military?" threads we've had over the years, you'd know that there most certainly are such crowds.

Huh. That’s odd, since in the latter years of ENT when this would have been planned, they’d just fought a war, Archer was arguing they needed to be more armed, and Starfleet didn’t seem to be making any particular arguments about what they were or weren’t, unlike in the shows set later. No doubt RTD was operating from a slight misconception based upon all those later series.

There are certainly people who argue about whether Starfleet is or is not a military, but it’s hard to imagine why would form a “group identity” about it. It’s always been perfectly obvious that Starfleet (1) is *a* military, and/but (2) not *only* a military; it’s also NASA, the Merchant Marine, etc. (And there are certain military functions I can’t see Starfleet performing; say, performing purely punitive strikes on Romulan cities.). There are periods where its focus is mainly defense, and periods where that’s very low on the list. It’s “Our Organized Spaceships, For Whatever Reason”. Hanging your hat on one side of the other of that is just setting yourself up for disillusionment when the pendulum swings back the other way.

 

[The Wormhole]

Huh. That’s odd, since in the latter years of ENT when this would have been planned, they’d just fought a war, Archer was arguing they needed to be more armed, and Starfleet didn’t seem to be making any particular arguments about what they were or weren’t, unlike in the shows set later. No doubt RTD was operating from a slight misconception based upon all those later series.

RTD was undoubtedly just thinking of a generic Star Trek setting in general, he just fixated on Enterprise because it was the Trek series in production at the time and therefore would have been the easiest to arrange a crossover with. It should be noted when the discusses the idea for his "similar but legally distinct" idea in-depth in his book The Writer's Tale it does seem more in-line with 24th century Trek.

There are certainly people who argue about whether Starfleet is or is not a military, but it’s hard to imagine why would form a “group identity” about it. It’s always been perfectly obvious that Starfleet (1) is *a* military, and/but (2) not *only* a military; it’s also NASA, the Merchant Marine, etc. (And there are certain military functions I can’t see Starfleet performing; say, performing purely punitive strikes on Romulan cities.). There are periods where its focus is mainly defense, and periods where that’s very low on the list. It’s “Our Organized Spaceships, For Whatever Reason”. Hanging your hat on one side of the other of that is just setting yourself up for disillusionment when the pendulum swings back the other way.

And it's probably best to cut this avenue of discussion off right here. This issue will never have a satisfactory answer, and this is not the thread to attempt to find one.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I've seen some great fan art and fiction but I don't think it should be anything official.

Even if it's an out of continuity thing like Very Short Treks, I'd like to see it. I loved Jean Airey's The Doctor and the Enterprise fanfic

 

[Shawnster]

I don't know what this means and the comic crossover was irritating enough.

There are certainly people who argue about whether Starfleet is or is not a military, but it’s hard to imagine...

Perhaps you missed this?

Is Starfleet Military?

This thread was suggested by a mod, so as not to clog the "Controversial Opinions" thread. So, is it? I say absolutely, and the regulations and ranks and all that are basically irrelevant. As to why? That you can chalk to organizational discipline. Now, Starfleet certainly does have OTHER...

www.trekbbs.com

37 pages. Enjoy!

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

The topic has been re-litigated time and again, yes. What I really want to know is whether or not Starfleet is a 501(c) organization.

 

[The Wormhole]

Perhaps you missed this?

And perhaps you missed this?

This issue will never have a satisfactory answer, and this is not the thread to attempt to find one.

Emphasis mine.

 

[Shawnster]

And perhaps you missed this?

Emphasis mine.

No. That was why I posted a link to the appropriate topic.