Alien (in-universe franchise)

Alien
Type:	Film series
First mentioned in:	Fire and Brimstone

According to Izzy Sinclair, there were multiple Alien films. In the same breath, she commented that she felt like she was a minor character, during the time that she was being chased by Contagium. (COMIC: Fire and Brimstone)

Films in the series included Alien (TV: Last Christmas, Dreamland, et al.) a sequel, (TV: Dreamland) and Alien vs Predator. (PROSE: Who Am I?)

History

When the Enemy became one with the Life-spores, they travelled to Earth in 1967. In order to go further back, they inserted themselves into the "meta-flow" of popular culture, in an era imbued with "iconic energies". They gained the power they needed in order to travel back into the Old-times. (PROSE: The Annotated Autopsy of Agent A)

David R was a fan of the Alien movies, except Alien vs Predator. (PROSE: Who Am I?)

Behind the scenes

Fact or fiction?

The Sixth Doctor, repulsed, picks up a "chestburster" inside a tube. (TV: Mindwarp)

Not uncommonly for Doctor Who, the events depicted in the Alien films are both established to be works of fiction and reality for the denizens of the DWU, in that the Xenomorphs exist in-universe, seemingly contradicting references to the films also existing in-universe. PROSE: The Annotated Autopsy of Agent A was a short story which tried to provide an explanation for this, positing that the life-spores were one identity of the Enemy, which inserted themselves into the meta-flow of Earth's popular culture, thus explaining that the films were based upon the life-spores. The story goes onto pass commentary of the further-evolving lore of the Alien franchise. The only downside is that the life-spores, while heavily implied to be Xenomorphs, aren't quite the same thing, and not just in name. For one, they reproduce via spores, not Facehuggers.

A communication device branded with the Weyland-Yutani logo. (HOMEVID: The Power of the Daleks)

On the topic of Facehuggers, they have been confirmed to be part of the in-universe franchise in TV: Last Christmas, a connection previously alluded to in PROSE: The Left-Handed Hummingbird.

Furthering the "mythos" that the events depicted in the Alien franchise are a reality in the DWU, an animated reconstruction of TV: The Power of the Daleks had a brief Easter egg depicting the Weyland-Yutani Corporation's logo on a monitor.

Other matters

The 1979 poster for Alien.

The Alien franchise is also implicitly set in the same universe as the Blade Runner franchise, as not only the films thematically parallel one another, various supplementary material provided in the home media releases of Alien and Prometheus reference elements from Blade Runner.

In the short story Alien Encounter (written by John Peel, printed in the charity anthology The Curse of Fanfic!) the Xenomorphs from Alien crossover with Fireball XL5.

Cast and crew connections

• Ridley Scott, the director of Alien, was originally scheduled to design The Daleks.
• John Hurt played Kane in Alien. As referenced by Toshiko in the DWU, the film was famous for the scene where the Xenomorph burst out of Kane's chest.
• Alibe Parsons played a Med Tech in Aliens.
• Tip Tipping played Private Crowe in Aliens.
• Trevor Steedman, who appeared as a guard in Warriors of the Deep, played Private Wierzbowski in Aliens.
• Brian Glover played Harold Andrews in Alien 3.
• Paul McGann played Golic in Alien 3. Paul McGann also exists in the DWU.
• Danny Webb played Morse in Alien 3.