Star Trek: Strange New Worlds–Doctor Who crossover collapsed over Paramount–Disney rights dispute
Russell T Davies says a planned Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Doctor Who crossover, possibly more than one episode, fell through when Paramount and Disney could not agree on who would show it first.
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The story, neutrally told
Mixed · 2Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has said a crossover between Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Doctor Who came close to happening before it was killed by corporate disagreement. The A.V. ClubLC “has confirmed that a crossover between his franchise and Paramount’s Star Trek very nearly happened” Read at The A.V. Club ↗ /FilmN “Why didn't "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" and "Doctor Who" cross over? The short of it: corporate bickering.” Read at /Film ↗ Mixed · 2Davies made the comments on Empire's Pilot TV podcast, as relayed by TrekMovie. He said the Star Trek side was "dying to do it" and that he and fellow Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat had tickets booked to go to Los Angeles to work out the story in the Strange New Worlds writers' room. /FilmN “It reached the point where me and Steven Moffat had tickets booked to go to L.A. to go to the writers' room to try to work out how to do it.” Read at /Film ↗ The A.V. ClubLC “he and fellow Who guy Steven Moffat had been booked on flights to go to Los Angeles” Read at The A.V. Club ↗ Mixed · 2Davies blamed the failure on getting Paramount, which owns Star Trek, and Disney, which was then partnered with Doctor Who, to agree. He described the "nightmare" as getting them to share it, and said the constant battle in co-productions is over who shows a programme first. /FilmN “couldn't come to an agreement over who would get to show it first” Read at /Film ↗ The A.V. ClubLC “The nightmare…would be to get Paramount and Disney to share it.” Read at The A.V. Club ↗
Left · 1According to the A.V. Club's account of the interview, the companies tried to find a way to air the episodes close enough together to avoid a problem, but the talks came to nothing and Davies said "In the end our tickets were cancelled and we never got there." The A.V. ClubLC “In the end our tickets were cancelled and we never got there. We had such good ideas.” Read at The A.V. Club ↗ Centre · 1Davies also said talks involved "more than one episode", so the project could have been a miniseries. /Film notes this is not what Strange New Worlds co-showrunner Henry Alonso Meyer described earlier this year, when he mentioned perhaps a separate spin-off episode rather than a season finale. /FilmN “Davies also noted on "Pilot TV" that there were talks of "more than one episode."”“I think we had even talked about potentially doing it as a separate spin-off episode.” Read at /Film ↗ Mixed · 2Strange New Worlds had hinted at the idea: co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman has said he and Davies discussed it, and the character Pelia (Carol Kane) says she once spent time with "a time-traveling doctor I once knew." /FilmN “Remind me to tell you about the time I spent with a time-traveling doctor I once knew.” Read at /Film ↗ The A.V. ClubLC “giving Carol Kane’s character a line about her travels with “a time-traveling doctor.”” Read at The A.V. Club ↗
Mixed · 2Davies, who has a new memoir out, remains hopeful that something might one day work between Star Trek and whatever comes next for Doctor Who. For now, fans have only a non-canonical comic crossover. The A.V. ClubLC “Davies has a new memoir coming out” Read at The A.V. Club ↗ /FilmN “we'll merely have to content ourselves with non-canonical crossovers like the comic book "Assimilation²."” Read at /Film ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left1 outlet
- Framing
- Snarky, entertainment-news treatment that leads with Davies's blame of corporate egos, written with humour about fan wishes.
- Emphasis
- The corporate ego clash, the cancelled tickets and Davies's hope for a future project.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not mention Meyer's remarks about a separate spin-off episode or the possibility of a multi-episode miniseries.
- Charged language
- “corporate pissing contests”“Disney and Paramount’s egos”
- For example
-
“the cosmic forces known as “Disney and Paramount’s egos” intervened to smash the project to bits.” — The A.V. Club
Centre1 outlet
- Framing
- Explainer on why the crossover never happened, framed as a petty corporate failure that denied fans a miniseries.
- Emphasis
- Detail on the proposed format (more than one episode, a separate special), earlier comments by Goldsman and Meyer, and the Pelia setup.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not mention Davies's memoir or that the companies tried to schedule episodes close together.
- Charged language
- “Killed By One Ridiculous Thing”“corporate interests to muck things up in the worst way”“petty reasons”
- For example
-
“it was shut down for petty reasons” — /Film
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Davies said the crossover nearly happened and was blocked by Paramount and Disney.
- Davies and Steven Moffat had trips to Los Angeles booked to meet the Strange New Worlds writers.
- The dispute was over who would show the crossover first.
- Both outlets relay the account from Empire's Pilot TV podcast via TrekMovie.
Russell T Davies person
Says he and Steven Moffat were ready to work on the crossover, that the Star Trek side was eager, and that Paramount and Disney could not agree on who would show it first. He hopes for a future collaboration.
“They were dying to do it.” — /Film
“We really tried,” — The A.V. Club
Star Trek other
Strange New Worlds creatives are reported as keen. Goldsman says he and Davies discussed it, and Meyer says there was discussion of a separate spin-off episode.
“We had a lot of discussion with [the writers] about trying to make it happen.” — /Film
Doctor Who other
Doctor Who's Disney partnership is described as short-lived and as an obstacle to the crossover, which Davies says was derailed by corporate rights wrangling.
“Disney was pushing its (ultimately short-lived) investment in the Who franchise” — The A.V. Club
Left1 article
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Russell T. Davies says corporate pissing contests killed a Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover
Mixed Jokey, irreverent retelling that stresses corporate ego and cancelled flights.
Centre1 article
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/FilmN ·
The Star Trek And Doctor Who Crossover Miniseries Was Killed By One Ridiculous Thing
Critical Explains the collapse as petty corporate bickering that cost fans a possible miniseries, with extra detail on format.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 17 Oct 15:00 First /FilmN The Star Trek And Doctor Who Crossover Miniseries Was Killed By One Ridiculous Thing
- 17 Oct 18:49 +3h 49m The A.V. ClubLC Russell T. Davies says corporate pissing contests killed a Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.
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