One of the more curious events for San Diego Comic-Con this year was a collaboration between the Star Trek and Doctor Who franchises with Paramount and the BBC joining forces to promote the first “Intergalactic Friendship Day” on Tuesday, July 30th. We have a video and highlights from the panel, and the first look at a mobile games franchise crossover.
Star Trek x Doctor Who video
The Intergalactic Friendship Day panel on Saturday featured a discussion with Star Trek franchise showrunner and executive producer Alex Kurtzman and showrunner and executive producer of the Doctor Who Universe, Russell T. Davies. It kicked off with this “Friendship is Universal” video to celebrate this new intergalactic togetherness…
Here is the official description of the collaboration:
On July 30th, fans will rejoice as Doctor Who and Star Trek come together to celebrate the creation of the inaugural Intergalactic Friendship Day, aligning with International Friendship Day which was established in 2011 with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities. Throughout both franchises’ long history, there have been numerous on-screen nods to each other to delight fans, and now the two pop culture titans Doctor Who and Star Trek are joining forces to spotlight shared values of friendship, hope, and fandom with fan celebrations, digital activations, and special giveaways.
Alex Kurtzman and Russell T. Davies at San Diego Comic-Con 2024
Showrunners talk shared themes and what it would take for a real crossover
Both showrunners talked about what the two franchises share:
Kurtzman: Doctor Who and Star Trek share such deep history as these two incredibly storied franchises. I think we share values. I think we share perspectives of the world. I think we want to tell stories that are illuminating about the human race. Each iteration of The Doctor and each iteration of Trek has endeavored to do that for every generation that it serves. And I think that is what our friendship is about. It’s that beautiful connection.
Davies: In a way the difference between the two shows is one is military and one is not. Star Trek is more military and the Doctor would never join the military and the military would never put up with that idiot. They have monsters and adventures every week and fights and chases and yet they’ve never come together. And yet what I love about Star Trek is it’s not about the military, it is the friendships. It’s Kirk and Spock. It’s all of those things.
The pair traded compliments for each franchise, with both talking about some of their favorites including Davies saying of Trek “Oh, Michael Burnham! was the thing that properly brought me back to Star Trek, and now I watch everything.” Kurtzman said of Doctor Who, “I became more aware of The Doctor during the time of Eccleston, he’s obviously amazing. Ncuti is quickly becoming my favorite. I think he’s amazing. And obviously Tennant.”
When asked if we would ever see the franchises actually work together on television or film, Davies said “We would love to announce a crossover between Star Trek and Doctor Who. If anyone can make that happen, fans can make that happen. And then two great big empires, and their lawyers, would have to make that happen. We can do that, can’t we?… That opening video literally shows what it could feel like, the joy of it. It must happen.” Kurtzman agreed, repeating, “It must happen.”
Another thing shared by both franchises is the aspiration to make the world a better place. In the spirit of friendship, the two series are donating to their charities of choice. Paramount is making a donation to The Boys and Girls Club of America on behalf of Star Trek, and BBC Studios is donating to BBC Children in Need on behalf of Doctor Who.
Alex Kurtzman and Russell T. Davies at San Diego Comic-Con 2024
Mobile gaming crossover
The worlds of Star Trek and Doctor Who will intertwine in mobile gaming in two mobile games from East Side Games, Star Trek: Lower Decks Mobile and Doctor Who: Lost in Time, starting on August 1st. Here is how they describe the special crossover event between the games:
Beginning August 1, fans will be treated to the same thrilling story, experienced from two unique perspectives, when a mysterious space-time ripple that throws the Doctor onboard Star Trek: Lower Deck’s U.S.S. Cerritos, while Lieutenant Brad Boimler and Ensign Beckett Mariner find themselves thrust into the enigmatic Doctor Who universe. With the ripple disrupting the very fabric of reality, the Doctor must join forces with the resourceful crew of the Cerritos, while Boimler and Mariner team up with the legendary River Song. Together, they race against time to repair the ripple and set things right.
Check out the announcement trailer…
More info and download links for both games can be found at eastsidegames.com.
Who Trek poster
Panel attendees each received a special Doctor Who X Star Trek poster designed by artist Dusty Abell. There was also a giant-sized version of the poster at the “Friendship is Universal” gallery experience activation in the Gaslamp Quarter. The gallery featured original costumes and props from both franchises, “highlighting themes of friendship and shared values between the two universes.”
Doctor Who X Star Trek art by Dusty Abell at “Friendship is Universal” gallery at San Diego Comic-Con 2024
More Star Trek SDCC 2024
Check out our SDCC category for more from the Star Trek Universe panel, including announcements and reveals from Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, and Starfleet Academy. And we will have more coverage of what was said at the panel later this weekend.
Find more convention news and reports at TrekMovie.com.
No. Just no.
Perfectly put.
I know I’m likely to regret this, but why not?
Personally speaking, I’m not a fan of crossovers that involve fully separate universes, but the main reason is that the quality of recent Doctor Who has been diabolical. The most recent series involved the Doctor fighting a monster made of snot in one episode. Truly fantastic stuff.
The ratings for the most recent series (series 14), even including the seven day streaming, are the worst on record. They are below the figures that Doctor Who was cancelled for in the late 1989, and about a million an episode below the last series, which the producers have gone on record as saying was almost cancelled at the last minute due to the poor ratings of series 12. The reason the viewing figures are down so much is wholly due to the severe decline in the quality of the show.
While I would like to see a new Star Trek show like Legacy, I’ve enjoyed most of the newer shows a lot, and I don’t want to see the quality of Trek brought down by crossovers with what appears to be poorly written, dying series.
OS had ropey monsters in it, TNG had Picard against an oil slick.
And the rest of this year’s DW had brilliant EPs like ‘boom’, ’73 yards’ and ‘dot and bubble’- stories current ST would kill to have in its shows.
And DW’s 7-28 + ratings is higher, live viewing is low across UK channels and not just with this show.
But then how many current ST shows get over 3 mil viewers?
I agree. There’s even a “Very Short Trek” video where they have first contact with booger aliens.
Dot & Bubble was very relevant to today and was unique in that the girl that the Doctor was trying to save was much worse than he knew and we’re seeing things through her perspective.
Dying shows don’t get spin offs announced at Comic Con, and Dr. Who just had one announced.
So yeah, your “critical opinion” means diddly squat.
Yes, Just say Yes
Doctor Who is the ONLY franchise I’d like to see cross over with Star Trek. No other franchise would make sense, but this one does.
Also, I should add that the Doctor Who and Star Trek crossover from IDW, Assimilation2, was the only Trek crossover that worked well. Also, the 1970s crossover book between the two, The Doctor and the Enterprise, was excellent. People are acting outraged about this, but it’s nothing new–it’s been done several times before, and each time it’s been a lot of fun.
The Star Trek/Planet of the Apes crossover is excellent. They melded TOS and the original Apes world seamlessly in an interesting story.
I love both franchises but they are hardly compatible due to some creative choices by DW over the years: the moon is not an alien egg, there is no giant spider in Earth’s core etc… Otherwise I’d be fine with it!
you should see the crazy stuff DW did back in the 70s, 80s!
Well, I’ve seen all of Tom Baker’s stuff There was nothing remotely that crazy compare to those two eps….
But how do you know it isn’t?
I want a Star Trek version of Finding Nemo but I realize that’ll never happen.
Marlin would be an alien whose whole family except for one young son got wiped out by the Borg or something, and later on his son gets accidentally “rescued” by Starfleet and is in a medical facility, and so he journeys through the quadrant looking for him.
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Not a gamer at all but a nice crossover between the two. I assumed it would be a comic or something but this is probably more interesting.
The Cerritos crew is doing a bit of time travel these days.
Lots of time travel, to facilitate lots of legacy characters
Are you just looking for ways to say ‘legacy characters ‘ in every post you create? Is this some game or challenge for you?
This is a real question because you’re obviously just trolling at this point. What else can it be?
If you’re this bored in your life get a cat pr something.
The way Star Trek is being handled makes the way Star Wars is being handled look like the way that Marvel used to be handled.
Picard when he met the Tamarians.
There’s no possible way there can ever be a canon crossover between Doctor Who and Star Trek, unless on-screen references in Doctor Who are ignored – for instance, Rose Tyler referencing Spock in one of the early episodes with Christopher Ecclestone.
So they’ll ignore it. Who cares? Also, it’s “Eccleston.”
I see no reason why Trek can’t be future “reality” and a TV show. Maybe GR had visions just like Benny Russel? Maybe he actually travelled to the future? Maybe the Great Koala is leaking intel on the future to various producers and writers. Or they simply found the Doc’s opus of Holonovels in Shakespeare’s secret hideout… There are many ways to explain that…
A visit to the set of one of the TV shows? Also the last season of DW saw the barrier between science and magic broken with a lot of fantastical villains showing up, so that opens up possibilities too.
‘space babies’ has the Dr mention he has been to the 23rd/24th century and name drops aspects of ST as a historical fact.
In the DW universe, Star Trek is just a TV show.
Not any more…
It’s all Harry Sullivan’s fault
DW would definitely need to treat Trek’s as an alternate universe. The Federation just does not fit into any of the continuity DW has set up for Earth’s future history.
Not sure if I would want it but that poster is awesome. Villains at the bottom look cool.
Jesus, just stop. Hollywood idiocracy. I still haven’t gotten over AvP. You start with an on-screen joke at the end of Predator 2, then all of a sudden there’s a comic, then video games, and then the movies come along, and you’ve basically destroyed two franchises with one blow. OK, you could probably make the argument that they are already destroying Star Trek, as we speak. But some of us still believe there might be people willing and able to turn this New Trek dumpster fire around. (Picard season 3 would be an example.) But a franchise crossover, meant seriously as a canon merger? That would destroy the whole universe, to the point of no return.
not the same, both DW and ST can crossover.
And have in the comics.
Maybe just take a deep breath and go outside.
This is the easiest yes please I’ve ever tried to will into the universe.
Yes 1000%
“the Doctor would never join the military and the military would never put up with that idiot.” – What about UNIT? I’m confused, was the Doctor not a scientific advisor for a military type organization during the third Doctor’s era?
Plus the Doctor still works with UNIT from time to time.
He worked with them but never consider himself military personnel , even now with his latest incarnation.
I think this would be all kinds of fun. And some people in the comments act like these two series are even remotely realistic. There’s no reason why they couldn’t cross over. It’s a parallel universe. It’s an alternate reality. It’s a parallel dimension. It’s a rift in the fabric of reality caused by an inverted beam of justmadethemup particles. Whatever. Star Trek and Doctor Who have come up with all kinds of crazy stuff over the decades. If you are into hard sci-fi, you are watching the wrong shows :D Sometimes I feel like a big part of the Trek “fandom” is just allergic to having a good time … Anyway. I would watch this!
What? Are you saying they’re not… real?! Lol
So aside from the return of Robert Picardo, was there anything good that came out of SDCC? Everything else I have seen looks terrible, including this.
Many people liked the Section 31 preview and the SNW Season 3 clip.
Section 31 looks horrible
They said many people, not everyone. Even the Grand Canyon has 1 star reviews. You’re entitled to your opinion but it doesn’t represent everyone.
The season 5 trailer for LDS seems to be the second most popular thing fans liked IMO.
No thank you. Just give us a new show like the proposed Legacy.
There’s a handful of Star Trek shows going on at a time, why can’t they do both?
yeah no