Alien was a science fiction horror movie that had a sequel, (TV: Dreamland) both part of a series of films. (COMIC: Fire and Brimstone)
The film involved aliens, (AUDIO: Birthright, TV: Last Christmas, et al.) called Facehuggers. (TV: Last Christmas) Seemingly, air vents were a recurring element in the films. (TV: Dreamland) Alien also had a director's cut. (PROSE: Birthright)
History
Origin
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)
When the Seventh Doctor told Ace about the Wirrn, she was unimpressed, having recently watched the director's cut of Alien in Ealing. (PROSE: Birthright)
References
Professor Albert Smithe noted a resemblance between the dream crabs' method of consuming their victims' brains, by latching onto their face, and the facehugger from Alien. The Twelfth Doctor, upon hearing there was a horror movie called Alien, described it as "really offensive", commenting, "no wonder everyone keeps invading you!" Alien was also one of the DVDs on Shona McCullough's Christmas Day itinerary after she woke up from her dream. (TV: Last Christmas)
The Tenth Doctor referenced Alien and its sequel Aliens when he discovered an air vent, and felt sad that Cassie and Jimmy hadn't seen the movies. (TV: Dreamland)
Jason Kane compared the reproductive cycle of the Charrl to the aliens in the film. (AUDIO: Birthright)
Izzy Sinclair compared being chased by the Daleks and their Contagium to being "an extra in an Alien film". The Eighth Doctor wryly agreed. (COMIC: Fire and Brimstone)
Behind the scenes
Fact or fiction?
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.
On the topic of Facehuggers, they have been confirmed to be part of the in-universe franchise in TV Last Christmas. Though, they were first mentioned in PROSE: The Left-Handed Hummingbird, which was ambiguous regarding their existence as reality or fiction.
Furthing 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.
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.