Star Trek: Strange New Worlds just keeps dropping delightful Doctor Who Easter eggs. Star Trek has always loved time travel, and all the signs suggest Strange New World Season 4 is about to explore it in more depth than ever before. The season premiere dives straight into space-time, rewriting the rules of time travel with the biggest paradox in Star Trek history. But the story also featured a delightful Easter egg to the world’s longest-running sci-fi TV series, Doctor Who.
Videos by ComicBook.com
For context: during Season 3, co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman revealed the Strange New Worlds team had conversations with Russell T. Davies and the BBC about an actual crossover. “We were trying with Russell to do a crossover,” he told Awards Radar. “Again, these are the near misses, but we got not unclose, and we had some really cool conversations about it.” All we’ve had are Easter eggs, though, such as hints the Lanthian Commander Pelia once traveled in the Doctor’s TARDIS, and a brief glimpse of the TARDIS in the background.
Strange New Worlds Doubles Down on its Doctor Who Connection
The Strange New Worlds Season 4 premiere, “Valles Marineris,” opens with the USS Enterprise sent to investigate a category ten interstellar squall, which Pelia describes as “space-time gone wild.” To Pike’s bemusement, she says she has actually seen one before, and thinks she was traveling in a police box at the time. It’s an absolutely wonderful moment, not least because Carol Kane and Anson Mount deliver fantastic performances. I love the look of confusion on Pike’s face as he reacts to Pelia’s rambling comment.
By now, of course, it’s pretty clear the Doctor is supposed to be real in Star Trek. Over on Doctor Who, there have been quite a few references to Star Trek as a fictional franchise, but the latest season was partly about legends and myths becoming real – which would easily fit with the Doctor meeting Kirk, Spock, or other characters from the United Federation of Planets. It’s a delight to imagine some of the possibilities; Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor bickering with Q, or Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor offering Spock a jelly baby.
Sadly, Goldsman was pretty clear these Easter eggs and references are not setups; hopes for a Doctor Who crossover fell through. Russell T. Davies’ most recent era involved a partnership with Disney, and it’s doubtful Disney liked the idea of a crossover with a competitor like Paramount. When that deal fell through, it plunged Doctor Who into limbo; the BBC has just put the franchise up for competitive tender, inviting whole new takes. All of which means nobody is going to risk licensing a Doctor Who crossover that could affect the new production team. It’s a shame, but Easter eggs are almost certainly all we’re getting.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
More TV Shows
-
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
