Summary
- Doctor Who and Star Trek have a long history of respectful nods and crossovers, with actors from both shows appearing in each other’s productions.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation referenced Doctor Who multiple times, including name-checking the first six actors to play the Doctor.
- Both the Doctor and Captain Kirk have faced off against the Borg and the Cybermen in comic book crossovers, creating thrilling adventures for fans of both franchises.
They’re the two biggest television sci-fi franchises in the world, and there have been a handful of crossovers between Star Trek and Doctor Who. Both shows have been entertaining audiences for six decades, and show no sign of stopping any time soon. Rather than being bitter rivals, Doctor Who and Star Trek regularly make respectful nods to one another. For example, in Doctor Who season 1, episode 9, “The Empty Child”, Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) expressed her disappointment that the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) wasn’t more Spock-like.
On top of this, many stars have been actors in Star Trek and Doctor Who, and not just on TV. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Alexander Siddig has played several roles in officially licensed Doctor Who audio dramas, and Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Marina Sirtis recently appeared in the spinoff audio The Year of Martha Jones. However, it’s not just actors that have jumped between the worlds of Star Trek and Doctor Who over the past 60 years.
10 Star Trek: The Next Generation Had A Deep Cut Tom Baker Reference
Star Trek: TNG, Season 5, Episode 23, “I Borg”
In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5, episode 23, “I Borg”, the crew of the USS Enterprise-D discovered a crashed Borg ship in the Argolis Cluster. It was named after the planet in “The Leisure Hive”, a Doctor Who story that also terrified Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker as a child. The Argolis Cluster would later feature in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, when the Dominion sought to use it as a route to invade Vulcan during the war. And in another Doctor Who link with DS9, Twelfth Doctor actor Peter Capaldi was once considered for the role of Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks).
9 The Sixth Doctor Starred In Star Trek Continues
Star Trek Continues Episode 4, “The White Iris”
Colin Baker is no stranger to fan films, as he starred in Doctor Who copycat series The Stranger during the 1990s. In 2015, the Sixth Doctor actor played Minister Amphidamas in an episode of the Star Trek fan film series Star Trek Continues. An alien politician, Amphidamas is one of the diplomats that Captain James T Kirk (Vic Mignogna) must negotiate with while dealing with a serious head injury and the side effects of an experimental new drug used to heal it. It was a small role for the Doctor Who actor, but historic in the sense that he’s the only TV Doctor to appear in both shows, albeit in a Star Trek fan production.
8 John Debney Composed Scores For Star Trek And Doctor Who
Doctor Who: The TV Movie
Composer John Debney’s arrangement of the Doctor Who theme tune was an appropriately cinematic glow-up for Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire’s original. The Paul McGann Doctor Who TV Movie was an attempt to relaunch the show on US TV, alongside the golden age of Star Trek. It made sense, therefore, for John Debney to be hired to compose the score, given that he had done the same for both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Debney had scored the DS9 season 1 episodes “The Nagus” and “Progress”, and the TNG season 7 episode “The Pegasus.” Interestingly, Spock actor Leonard Nimoy was considered as a director for the 1996 TV Movie.
7 Star Trek: TNG Name Checked The Six Doctors
Star Trek: TNG Season 1, Episode 26, “The Neutral Zone”
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1 finale, “The Neutral Zone”, the Enterprise awakens a group of ancient humans from stasis. While researching the family tree of Claire Raymond (Gracie Harrison), a graphic displays the names of the first six actors to play the Doctor, including a misspelled “Peter Davidson”. On the remastered Bluray release of Star Trek: TNG season 1, the graphics were updated not to correct Peter Davison’s surname or add in Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy, but to provide a more “believable” family tree for Claire.
6 Will Riker Uses A “Sonic Driver”
Star Trek: TNG Season 1, Episode 3, “The Naked Now”
The first Doctor Who reference in Star Trek: The Next Generation comes much earlier, in TNG season 1, episode 3, “The Naked Now.” Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) requests the use of a “sonic driver” to open a force field. This is a direct nod to Doctor Who‘s sonic screwdriver, which has been opening force fields, doors, and putting up shelves since 1968. Clearly, by the 24th century, Starfleet technology had caught up with Gallifreyan technology, making the sonic driver an integral part of any officer’s toolkit.
5 Nicola Bryant Was A Star Trek Villain
Star Trek Continues Episodes 10 & 11, “To Boldly Go…”
Following on from her Doctor Who colleague Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant appeared in the substantial role of Lana in Star Trek Continues‘ two-part finale. A sequel to the successful Star Trek: The Original Series pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, it sees Bryant’s character imbued with the same powers as Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood). Lana threatens the future of humanity and Earth itself, but is eventually defeated by Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise as their five-year mission ends where it started.
4 Jon Pertwee Interviewed William Shatner In The 1990s
As part of UK televisions This Morning, Third Doctor actor Jon Pertwee interviewed Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, via satellite linkup in the 1990s. The two men traded stories about being part of huge sci-fi franchises, and how that defines how the public sees them. William Shatner states that he briefly became more well known for TJ Hooker than Star Trek: The Original Series, though that’s certainly not the case now. Interestingly, the interview takes place after Shatner completed filming his first scenes as Kirk in Star Trek Generations, and announces that the movie will be the final time that he plays the role.
3 The Eleventh Doctor And Captain Picard Fought The Borg
IDW Comics’ Star Trek: The Next Generation – “Assimilation²”
In 2012, IDW published an eight-issue series called “Assimilation²”, in which the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) and Captain Jean-Luc Picard teamed up to battle the combined forces of the Cybermen and the Borg. Written by Scott and David Tipton, it’s a thrilling Doctor Who crossover that gets the balance just right between both sci-fi titans. In a genius bit of writing, Picard is quite skeptical of the Eleventh Doctor, no doubt because his quixotic nature reminds him of the omnipotent trickster god Q (John de Lancie). However, both men get past their differences, and the Doctor even helps Picard confront his hatred of the Borg.
2 The Fourth Doctor And Captain Kirk Fought Cybermen
IDW Comics’ Star Trek: The Next Generation – “Assimilation²”
“Assimilation²” also features a flashback to the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) encountering the Cybermen alongside Captain Kirk and the Star Trek: The Original Series crew. It’s a brief interlude in the larger plot, but there’s a real childlike glee in seeing Captain Kirk face off against a Cyberman. TOS had long ended by the time that Tom Baker assumed the role of the Fourth Doctor in 1975, but he still feels like the perfect Doctor to slot into an unseen adventure for Kirk’s Enterprise. Another crossover was pitched to IDW by Tony Lee, who proposed throwing the Doctor into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Dominion War.
1 Star Trek: Enterprise Had Its Own TARDIS
Star Trek: Enterprise Season 2, Episode 16, “Future Tense”
Russell T Davies wanted to do a crossover with Star Trek: Enterprise, but the show ended just as Doctor Who came back to TV in 2005. The closest crossover between Enterprise and Doctor Who comes in the episode “Future Tense”, in which the Enterprise NX-01 discovers a mysterious time ship. It’s not in the shape of a police telephone box, something that co-writer Mike Sussman said was “nixed” in the Star Trek writer’s room. However, it is “bigger on the inside than it is on the outside“, a direct reference to the TARDIS from Doctor Who.
