![2023: A banner year for Star Trek — here’s why [Op-Ed]](https://treknews.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/star-trek-2023-year-in-review-600x337.jpg)
![[REVIEW] STAR TREK: SHORT TREKS "Children of Mars": All Hands... Battlestations](https://treknews.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/review-star-trek-short-treks-children-of-mars.jpg)
For decades, there has been a lot of crossover between the fandoms of Star Trek and Doctor Who. What about an on-screen blending of Trek and Who? In a recent interview, Steven Moffat — who has worked as showrunner on Doctor Who since 2010 — said he would do it “in a heartbeat”.
Although, he has a few caveats.
“If it crossed over with Star Trek, it would have to be real Star Trek,” Moffat said. “It would have to be Captain Kirk and Mr Spock. It has to be the Doctor meets Mr Spock – that’s the one you want.”
“I mean, would I do it? Yes, in a heartbeat. I think you might find the Americans a little bit trickier to deal with!”
The two universes have been combined in the pages of IDW’s Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation 8-issue comic book series, written by Scott and David Tipton, that was published in 2012.
What would you like to see in a Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover? Tell us in the comments below.
Doctor Who continues this Saturday, November 14.
via Digital Spy
Corylea
November 11, 2015 at 1:58 pm
I lived in a TV-free household for a couple of decades, so there’s a lot of television I’ve never seen. I became a TOS fan before moving into that household, and I’ve begun investigating other Star Trek since the rules were relaxed a short time ago.
That means that although I’ve read a lot of books and played a lot of computer games, I’ve missed out on many of the television mainstays of geek culture, including Dr. Who.
I already have a list of things that friends have told me I MUST see, including Babylon 5, Buffy, and Firefly. Where does Dr. Who rank? Is it a must-see? Would you put it ahead of B5 or after? Before or after Firefly?
ziplock9000
November 11, 2015 at 3:51 pm
Like ‘Trek, Dr. Who has been around for decades and will still be going for decades. The others you mentioned were good, but just flash in the pans in comparison.
Corylea
November 13, 2015 at 8:07 pm
All of which makes Dr. Who somewhat intimidating, since there’s so MUCH of it. I actually find the prospect of Firefly a lot easier to contemplate, since there aren’t decades’ worth of What Has Gone Before to catch up on…
Wobag
November 13, 2015 at 6:54 pm
Thats a really tough question, as a show thats close to my heart, Who is significantly ahead of all those other shows, and a little ahead of Trek. Who has been around so long it has been through its own eras, but as much as I care about the show I am objective enough to acknowledge that plenty of it wasnt actually THAT good. But what it has been is super influential, and super inventive.
What makes Who stand out is how ambitous it is, by several orders of magnitude over any other show even Trek. Other shows ‘live within their means’, Who largely does something completely different every week. Different place different time different monsters, and swings wildly in tone, happy to go super dark, then actiony, then whimsical, then poignant.
Ultimately there is so much of it, if you enjoy scifi, there is bound to be some in there that youll love, and some youll hate.
If I had to make a suggestion, I would say leave the old stuff alone, sample some well regarded stand alone episodes from the newer seasons. If you want you can dip into the ‘classics’ later and see some very cheaply made, but magnificently conceived stories.
You may actually be better placed to watch classic Who than most who come to it these days who find that the production values just arent high enough or flashy enough for them, but if your into to Tv scifi was TOS, maybe youll love it.
Wobag
November 13, 2015 at 7:08 pm
To continue. You raised some interesting choices. Trek was originally pitched as a western in space. Firefly is exactly that. It burned brightly and briefly, well regarded, it would be worth watching for comparison. Babylon 5 is interesting, and i really enjoyed it, but its basically Pepsi to DS9’s coke, if you are looking for variety, you might not find it here. Buffy was great fun, I love it for the dialogue, but dont judge it by the early stuff, it takes a while to get going.
If you want to give Who a shot however, I could definitely recommend some accessible stories.
Corylea
November 13, 2015 at 8:04 pm
Thanks for your thoughtful reply!
I’ve read science fiction all my life, so while I adore TOS, it’s certainly not my only exposure to science fiction. Although I like all kinds of SF, my favorite is the kind that reads like the anthropology of places that we haven’t actually been to yet — things like Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Left Hand of Darkness or Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead.
I don’t mind the cheesy special effects of TOS; in fact, I find them kind of endearing. But then, I first saw TOS in 1969, at the age of 11, and I think it’s easiest to develop that sort of whole-hearted adoration for something before one’s critical faculties have completely developed. 🙂
My favorite episodes of TOS are “Amok Time,” “Journey to Babel,” and “The Devil in the Dark.” All of those have elements of exposing us to other cultures or other ways of thinking and themes of bridging the gap between one culture and another. If there are any classic Who episodes with similar themes, those would be good places for me to start.
Of course, I have to finish working my way through the rest of non-TOS Trek, too…
Wobag
November 14, 2015 at 7:37 am
Thats made me think about Who, there arent too many ‘issue’ stories. In some ways its Mr Spock the series in that its the Doctor who is the alien one and his reflections on humanity, or an analogue for humanity.
However, I would say some episodes of the new Who (ie 2005 revival onwards) might be:
Hide
Vincent and the Doctor
Listen (if you have even the loosest understanding of who the Doctor is from wikipaedia).
The Hungry Earth/ Cold Blood
If you mean ‘old’ who by ‘classic’ (1663-1989) which consist of multi part serials its harder to pick something that might resonate with your tastes so Ill just give a couple of examples of diverse but continuity light stories: Pyramids of Mars, Kinda, Caves of Androzani, and City of Death.
Corylea
November 14, 2015 at 12:51 pm
Thank you!
James Ranish
November 15, 2015 at 8:29 pm
1663 is pretty old, even by classic standards.
Jaron Williams
November 11, 2015 at 4:38 pm
Ensign Sue did a great Trek/Who crossover…
https://interrobangstudios.com/comics-display.php?strip_id=989
Count of Monte Fisto
November 23, 2015 at 3:00 pm
Very interesting. I’ve been close to starting up Dr. Who but it just saddens me there’s so many missing episodes. I like watching a show from episode one all the way up to the present. It’d be nice if the BBC funded the recreation of said episodes through animation like how some have been recreated.