Star Trek

Star Trek was a popular American television series of the 1960s that became a cultural icon of the late 20th century; it later spawned a long-running entertainment franchise that included movies and spin-off TV series into the 21st century. It featured, among other characters, Mr. Spock, Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy. Star Trek had many avid followers, who felt thrilled at the debut of movies based on the series. (NA: Return of the Living Dad)

References

• The first time Bernice Summerfield watched Star Trek, she thought it was a documentary. (NA: The Left-Handed Hummingbird)

• The Doctor explained the chameleon circuit to Grace Holloway in terms of a "cloaking device", using a term closely associated with Star Trek (although in the context of Star Trek a cloaking device was used to turn space vehicles invisible, not change their appearance as was the theoretical function of the TARDIS' chameleon circuit). (DW: Doctor Who: The TV Movie)

• The Doctor wore a space helmet that bore the ship registry NCC-1701D, the registry of Picard's Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation (WC: Shada)

• As a young science fiction fan, Izzy Sinclair, watched Star Trek to vicariously escape her unhappy home life. (DWM: Oblivion)

• Rose Tyler compared the Doctor to the Star Trek character Spock, a name Rose later gave as the Doctor's own when she introduced him to Jack Harkness; Harkness subsequently began calling him Mr. Spock until he was corrected. (DW: The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances)

• A Time Lord, Marnal, going by the Human alias Marnal Gate, sold a script to Star Trek. Unhappy with the changes made to the script, however, he saw to it that he did not get credited for it. (EDA: The Gallifrey Chronicles)

• When the Gorgon's followers trapped Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith, Maria Jackson, and Clyde Langer and Sarah's sonic lipstick was taken from her Clyde commented that they didn't need a "Star Trek gadget" to get out. (SJA: Eye of the Gorgon)

• When Clyde and Luke Smith were on Kudlak's ship Luke asked Clyde if he could use his mobile phone. One of the other captives told him that it would be useless in space unless he knew Captain Kirk's phone number. (SJA: Warriors of Kudlak)

• The Doctor and Donna Noble once compared the sonic screwdriver to Star Trek's tricorder. Shortly afterwards, the Doctor and Donna, briefly adopted the aliases Doctor McCoy and Captain Kirk, respectively. (BBC Audio: Pest Control)

Other information

• Destrii watched a spacecraft design closely resembling that of the fictional Enterprise (DWM: Oblivion)

Behind the scenes

The Star Trek and Doctor Who franchises are the "grand old men" of science fiction fandom, each with many thousands of devout followers, and an extensive and long running media spinoff empire involving spinoff series, movies, novels, comics, audios, and other merchandise.

Other references to Star Trek in the Doctor Who Universe

• The Blue Angel parodies Star Trek, with Captain Robert B. Blandish of the Nepotist standing in for Captain Kirk of the Enterprise.
• A line cut from the script of The Empty Child would have had the Doctor reply to Rose saddling him with the "Mr. Spock" nickname, "I'd rather be Doctor Who than Star Trek".
• The Doctor has some similarities to the Vulcans from Star Trek. The Third Doctor, for example, has been seen knocking people out by pinching the back of their necks, and the Tenth Doctor has been seen communicating telepathically by putting his hand on people's faces in much the same way as the Vulcan mind-meld. (Indeed, his psychic linking with Madame de Pompadour in The Girl in the Fireplace is done in much the same manner as a mind-meld.)

References to Doctor Who in Star Trek

• In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Neutral Zone" contains, a computer console, in the background, has the names of the first six actors to play the Doctor displayed.
• "Future Tense", an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise features a TARDIS-like spacecraft, that could travel through time, that's bigger on the inside than on the outside; the interior design of the craft included TARDIS-like roundels.
• The Star Trek novel Ishmael includes a reference to a race of powerful beings from the constellation of Kasterborous. It should be noted that, per a directive from Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and the franchise owners, Paramount Pictures, novels are not considered part of mainstream Trek continuity.

Casting and crew connections

• A few actors have crossed over between the Star Trek and Doctor Who franchises. In terms of major co-stars, Daphne Ashbrook (the Eighth Doctor's companion Grace Holloway), played the character of Melora on the Deep Space Nine episode of the same name. In 2009, Simon Pegg, who played The Editor in DW: The Long Game, narrated Doctor Who Confidential, and did vocal work for Big Finish Productions, takes on the role of Scotty in the rebooted Star Trek film franchise.

• Others that have appeared in both Star Trek and Doctor Who include:
• Guy Siner
• Barrie Ingham
• Christopher Neame
• John Franklyn-Robbins
• Maurice Roëves
• Olaf Pooley
• Gregg Palmer
• Deep Roy - Roy shares several scenes with Pegg in the 2009 Star Trek film, playing Scotty's alien sidekick.

• Alan Dale has not appeared in Doctor Who but it's spin off Torchwood

• Star Trek stars who were considered to contribute to the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie include Patrick Stewart (who was considered for the role of the Eighth Doctor and The Master, Stewart has stated in a recent interview that he might have been considered for the roles but he was never formally approached), Kate Mulgrew (who was considered for the role of Grace Holloway) and Frank Welker (who was considered to voice several aliens had the TV Movie pilot been extended to a series).

Other information

• In April, 2009, Russell T Davies revealed in an interview that he had considered writing a Doctor Who episode that crossed over with Star Trek: Enterprise. "I would have loved to have done a Star Trek crossover," said Davies. "The very first year, we talked about it. Then Star Trek finally went off air. Landing the Tardis on board the Enterprise would have been magnificent. Can you imagine what their script department would have wanted, and what I would have wanted? It would have been the biggest battle."
• The fan novella The Doctor and the Enterprise by Jean Airey, initially published privately as a stand-alone fanzine and then in a professional edition in 1989 by Pioneer Books. Many other amateur fan fiction crossovers between the two universes that have been written over the years, though Airey's book remains (as of 2009) the only one to be published professionally, if unofficially.

See more on this, see separate article.

• There have only been two periods in which the rights to publish comic books based upon Star Trek have been held by the same company holding the rights to publish same based upon Doctor Who. The first was in the 1979-81 period when Marvel Comics published a monthly Star Trek comic at the same time it published (with comic strips) Doctor Who Weekly in the UK (although Marvel's licence on Trek had ended by the time it began republishing the DWM strips in America). More recently, IDW Publishing began a line of Doctor Who originals and reprints in 2007, concurrent with its own ongoing line of Trek-based comic books.
• In 1994 Leonard Nimoy was reportedly under consideration to direct one of the many aborted Doctor Who feature film projects under consideration during the 1989-96 interregnum.
• In October 2008, Trek actor Zachary Quinto, the new Mr. Spock, announced David Tennant as the winner of that year's National Television Awards; it was during Tennant's acceptance speech broadcast live via remote that Tennant announced his departure from Doctor Who. Quinto shares a distinction with Matt Smith, the actor chosen to replace Tennant, in having to take over a popular role from a popular actor.

External links

• Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
• Memory Alpha's page on Doctor Who