Doctor Who and the Enterprise (1970-71)
"Any suggestions, Bones?"
"Me? I’m a doctor, not… not the Doctor."
- Captain James T. Kirk and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, "Lords of Time and Space, Part II" / "Starship from the Future", Episode 3
In initial preparation for the crossover, it was agreed on all sides that, in hopes of appealing to the American audience, the Doctor's new companion (an audience surrogate character) would also be American. However, there would be no additional time for the BBC or the producers of Doctor Who to conduct a casting call in the USA, and they did not want to entrust that responsibility to NBC or Desilu. Therefore, the natural solution was to hire an American expatriate living in London. In a stroke of good fortune, they hit upon a promising candidate very early on, after having started their search by looking at young women connected to the BBC.
Connie Booth [1] was married to John Cleese, a member of the Monty Python troupe, who starred in "Monty Python's Flying Circus" on the BBC. Booth had appeared on the program, but had relatively little television experience otherwise. Cleese personally vouched for her abilities, and she did have the advantage of being fresh-faced - ideal for an audience surrogate. Booth agreed to commit to the program for at least two seasons of episodes, and to return to her native land for filming. Her character was given the name Linda Johnson [2] - initially "Jackson", but it was changed at the last minute because of the similarity to British actress Glenda Jackson.
The final script was credited to four people: Gene Coon; D.C. Fontana; Doctor Who Story Editor Terrance Dicks; and frequent writer Robert Holmes. Clearances with the Writer's Guild of America were extremely cumbersome to arrange, though fortunately it was one of the few tasks that could be tackled well in advance of all the others. Many of the other Star Trek writers had a hand in the script, particularly the scenes dealing exclusively with the crew of the Enterprise. The shooting schedule was another logistical nightmare, but eventually it was settled that those scenes with only the Star Trek characters would be shot first, followed by the location scenes with both sets of characters, followed by the on-set scenes, and finally, pickup shots in London (mainly those set within the Doctor's peculiar vehicle, the TARDIS). Those scenes not featuring any characters from Doctor Who were shot in May, three weeks in advance of the arrival of the principals from London. In the closing days of that month, six - and only six - people arrived in Hollywood: Dicks; Holmes; director-producer Barry Letts; Jon Pertwee, who played the Doctor; Booth; and Roger Delgado, chosen to portray the main villain.
Actually, the situation was somewhat more complicated than that. The writers had planned for an over-arcing villain who would serve as the antagonist of each serial for the entire eighth season: a fellow Time Lord, like the Doctor, who was created as his equal and opposite. They were willing to compromise on the casting of the Doctor's new companion - obviously, they would have preferred a British woman - but they were resolute on Delgado for the part of the Master. It was later noted by several members of the Star Trek crew that the Master somewhat resembled the nefarious Klingon Captain Kor, the primary antagonist of their own program.
After the filming in Hollywood at the Desilu studios and in the backlot, the cast and crew of Doctor Who returned to London to film the TARDIS scenes. The plot called for Spock and Scotty to investigate the mysterious craft, so Leonard Nimoy and James Doohan were able to take an all-expenses paid trip to England for a few days. [3] Those scenes were directed by Letts, who was credited (in the United States) for the second part of the two-parter; Marc Daniels, who directed the American footage, was credited for the first part. In the UK, both directors were jointly credited for all four episodes of the arc, even though no footage by Letts appeared in either of the first two episodes. Altogether, the shooting schedule was 16 days, completed (with the footage flown back to Hollywood, along with Nimoy and Doohan) by mid-June. The first part of the two-parter was due to air on September 14, 1970, in the United States; and the first of the four-episode arc on January 2, 1971, in the United Kingdom. [4] As per the agreement between Desilu and the BBC, the American studio handled all aspects of post-production (with the help of the necessary sound effects from the BBC library), with the exception of the music; as the soundtrack styles for the two programs were distinctly different, they would have to continue to be scored separately.
With regards to the plot, the Enterprise encounters a mysterious source of unusual waves of temporal distortions. To Mr. Spock's surprise, the source appears to be moving at warp speed. Kirk orders Scotty to fire up the engines in pursuit, and the ship does indeed catch up with the mysterious vessel (said to be "smaller than one of our shuttles"). In following the peculiar entity, Sulu notes that the chronometer is moving backward; they are travelling through time. It eventually becomes clear that they have followed the machine to Earth, in the "early 1970s" (the year is deliberately left ambiguous). Arriving in the United States, several crew members beam down, in an attempt to determine the source of these waves. While conducting their investigation, they encounter an enigmatic individual who claims that he can be of some assistance; he calls himself "the Doctor", working on behalf of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Though the library computer aboard the Enterprise provides the history of UNIT, it does not discuss the "Doctor", who refuses to provide his real name; and tricorder scans reveal him to be non-human. Kirk becomes increasingly frustrated with their so-called ally, until he finally reveals the truth about himself: he is a Time Lord, and he believes that their quarry is another Time Lord; far more malevolent than he.
The Master is not content to spend time in hiding; he begins launching attacks against the good people of the United States, with the help of recurring adversaries, the Autons. [5] During the course of the adventure, a young female bystander named Linda Johnson finds herself embroiled in the crossfire. With continued tensions between the Doctor and the crew of the Enterprise, both sides part company, attempting to seek out the Master on their own terms. The Doctor is able to find the Master first; but in tracking him down, little does he know that he too is being followed, by Johnson. It's all for naught, however, as the two of them find themselves caught in a trap. Their rescue comes from an unlikely, but at the same time, entirely expected source: the Enterprise. The crew beams down, rescuing the Doctor and his companion, but allowing the Master to escape. Captain Kirk and the Doctor finally put their differences behind them, with the Enterprise bidding the Doctor and his new companion farewell, departing Earth to take a slingshot back to their own native time.
American and British audiences naturally had different responses to the crossover. American audiences, being unfamiliar with the Doctor, weren't entirely sure what to make of him. The character of Linda, though intended as an audience surrogate, did not prove entirely successful in this role, given that the viewers already identified with the crew of the Enterprise. However, audiences were intrigued not only by certain aspects of the Doctor, but also by the character of the Master. They noted his resemblance to Kor, and that he seemed a good deal more clever and devious. The promise of continued clashes between the Doctor and the Master in the future provided the narrative hook that made further adventures an appealing prospect. British audiences also had mixed reactions, though for different reasons. By early 1971, the third season of Star Trek was being broadcast on the BBC, and viewers were therefore familiar with the crew of the Enterprise. However, they were even more familiar with the Doctor, and seeing the adventure being told from their perspective, rather than his, made little sense to them. Despite this, fan reception was very positive, as they were aware that they were watching history in the making. Seeing Captain Kirk, Spock, Bones, and Scotty all interacting with the Doctor was a thrill to them.
Starting in the summer of 1970, Desilu sold the earlier seasons of Doctor Who into syndication [6], in anticipation of the crossover that fall. Surprisingly, the show became a sleeper success; that, plus mostly good reaction to the actual two-part episode, convinced NBC to buy the rest of the eighth season from the BBC. Doctor Who would begin airing in a weekly timeslot in September of 1971, Mondays at 8:00 PM.
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[1] Yes, I've just cast Polly Sherman as a Doctor Who companion.
[2] Linda was the second-most common name for baby girls in the US in the 1940s and 1950s; Johnson is the second most common surname in the United States (it ranks seventh in the UK). The most common names, Mary and Smith, were deemed too generic. At least, when used in combination. Perhaps one or the other, when combined with a slightly more interesting name, could be useful.
[3] One publicity photo was taken by Letts, and features the two of them in the TARDIS along with Pertwee and Booth.
[4] In both cases, the first of these episodes functions as the season premiere.
[5] The Autons, automated mannequin creatures, were the featured adversaries in the OTL serial that this crossover replaced: "Terror of the Autons". They were added here to raise the stakes, and because they were easy for Desilu costumers and prop masters to fabricate.
[6] Many of these off-the-dial UHF stations that carried Doctor Who at the oddest hours are the same ones that, IOTL, decided to make room for that little show about boldly going where no man has gone before.
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So there you have it! Doctor Who is coming to America - on one of the Big Three networks, in a weekly timeslot! And as far as the tone of the crossover, think "Terror of the Autons" meets "Assignment: Earth". Far from the best for either show, given the inevitable clash of characteristics, but considered an important piece of television history even in the present day of TTL. As it should be...
