Transformers x Knight Rider. Kamala Harris x The Simpsons. Robert Downey Jr. x Marvel, but again and different and way weirder this time. It’s been a year of crossovers at San Diego Comic-Con, but one that’s, perhaps suitably paradoxically, both not happening yet and already happening is Doctor Who and Star Trek, thanks to a delightful panel at the con celebrating the two shows.
The “Intergalactic Friendship Panel”–bringing together Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies and Star Trek architect Alex Kurtzman–raised eyebrows when it was first announced ahead of San Diego Comic-Con. After Ncuti Gatwa’s debut season of Doctor Who casually slid in an acknowledgement from the Doctor that Star Trek is real in his universe, and he and his companion Ruby should go visit them some day, there was plenty of buzz of a potential on-screen team-up. That day, it seems, is still far off, official panel or otherwise.
“We’re not announcing anything, but if fans can make it happen,” Davies teased during the panel (via TrekCore), “With our two empires and their lawyers, then we’ll do it!”
Doctor, meet the crew of the USS Cerritos! #DoctorWho and #StarTrek Lower Decks will collide in a new story in the mobile games Doctor Who: Lost in Time and Star Trek: Lower Decks pic.twitter.com/eB6L7Q3xiC
— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) July 28, 2024
One crossover did get announced–an in-game event for the Lower Decks and Doctor Who mobile games The Badgey Directive and Lost In Time. But for the most part, the panel was mostly for Kurtzman and Davies to wax lyrical about how Doctor Who and Star Trek inspire each other, and their respective showrunners in turn. One fun question did arise: if there was no official crossover yet, what episodes of each others’ series would Kurtzman and Davies want to write?
The Star Trek mastermind hedged on his own answer (“We couldn’t afford you,” cried Davies), but Doctor Who‘s showrunner leapt at one opportunity in particular. “Borg, Borg, Borg! I love the Borg!”
Even being told by Kurtzman that the Borg are pretty much done for in Trek at the moment–largely thanks to Star Trek: Picard‘s one-two punch of an allied fragment of the Collective at the climax of season 2, and then by re-blowing-up the Borg queen again at the end of season 3–wouldn’t stop Davies. “There’s always a way,” Davies added. “The Daleks keep coming back!”
Try not to be too surprised then, if the Cybermen make another comeback in Doctor Who‘s next season. After all, if you can’t do it officially yet, why not go for the cyborg villains you already have at home?
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