That Wacky Redhead

[Glen]

About time! Now for my detailed analysis....

"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

Deep Groan! That was bad, really really bad.... The titles are pretty fun, though!

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.

A reasonable surmise.

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.

Again, a reasonably plausible choice, and it really does change the pop culture history of several shows I suspect!

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.

That's fine - Jo Grant was a pretty generic name as well - and certainly better than Roberta Lincoln!

The final script was credited to four people: Gene Coon; D.C. Fontana; Doctor Who Story Editor Terrance Dicks; and frequent writer Robert Holmes.

That is actually a VERY GOOD team of people. Both shows are bringing their 'A' teams to the party.

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.

Nice detail, Brainbin!

Many of the other Star Trek writers had a hand in the script, particularly the scenes dealing exclusively with the crew of the Enterprise.

Okay - this seems like a superfluous point, unless you are trying to intimate something by it that I am missing?

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 Whowere 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.

Again, a reasonable approach, though I am slightly saddened by the fact that this approach will limit the amount of interaction between UNIT and Starfleet.

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.

And Roger Delgado arrives to create the timeless villian, the Master! Absolutely agree that this is how they would have gone.

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.

No offense, but I find Kor and the Master to be very different in character and style - only real similarity is they both have beards in my mind! But hey, maybe that's just me, and it is certainly nothing to worry about.

After the filming in Hollywood at the Desilu studios and in the backlot,

What, couldn't they find a quarry in California?

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]

Fun - but did they get to do any scenes with the Brigadier or other UNIT members while they were there? Remember, too, that the TARDIS at this point is pretty much grounded unless the Time Lords fiddle with it, so if Spock and Scotty are in the TARDIS, that also likely means they are in London for a time. Of course, with the Enterprise, it would be easy for them to transport to London for some purpose, meet UNIT and explore the TARDIS, then be beamed back to America for the rest of the story.

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.

Was this spreading of credit typical for Doctor Who episodes of the time? Seems a bit odd that they wouldn't just credit the episodes he directed in.

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]

Right, pretty much as already planned.

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.

So, not just the opening and closing sequences, but the whole of the episodes were scored differently? That really would change the mood of the two versions! Do you have any examples of this from OTL for any two series?

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,

This is a clever way to get it started, full marks!

in the "early 1970s" (the year is deliberately left ambiguous).

Why have the date referred to at all? Note that if you indeed have them say this, you are probably putting the kibosh on the UNIT dating controversy, for while you are being deliberately ambiguous, it is still diverging from OTL's UNIT episodes of the Third Doctor which made NO direct reference to the year.

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.

Hmmm, and how is it that the Doctor is in America? Sorry, but this actually needs to be explicit, given the state of the Doctor's TARDIS in this era, as previously referred to. On the other hand, about the only think likely to see the Doctor so far from his grounded TARDIS would be word of the Master mucking about.

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.

Noted - though 'far more malevolent than he'? That seems to imply a certain level of malevolence for the Doctor!

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]

Duly noted - I wonder if these scenes will be more 'actiony' rather than 'horrorific' to mesh more with the Star Trek style - and thus would not be as controversial as the scenes in OTL's Terror of the Autons in terms of being deemed unsuitable for children.

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.

This part needs work or expansion, Brainbin - this would work for a one off character, but as I mentioned, the Doctor isn't traipsing around in the TARDIS at this time in his story due to his exile. You need to have her somehow:
1) Get invited by the Doctor to be his new assistant (have Liz Shaw pulled but no replacement being proffered at the beginning of these episodes, with the Doctor vowing, "Fine, Brigadier, I shall find my own assistant, then!" And he decides on Johnson after seeing her resolution, courage, curiosity, cuteness, whatever. Or...
2) The Enterprise graciously offers to beam back to UNIT HQ, which he accepts, and at the last second Linda jumps onto him and is beamed with him to UNIT - much hilarity ensues in the next episode of Doctor Who getting her visa status squared away.. Or...
3) The mysterious Time Lord from Terror of the Autons of OTL appears to the Doctor to not only warn him that an old nemesis of his is on Earth (and mucking around with spaceships from the future at that!), but stating that the Time Lords will allow him limited use of his TARDIS only to transport from one site to another on earth, not to break his exile and allow him to fully travel through time and space (this would almost inevitably fall into some exposition explaining that the Doctor was trapped on Earth by the Time Lords for the American viewers).

Your choice, but I think it has to be one of these three.

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.

I would elaborate this in having Kirk shoot who he believes to be the Master, only to find that it is a dupe of the Master's in a mask ala his escape in Terror of the Autons - also still have the Doctor nab his dematerialization circuit in the course of the story!

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.

Fair enough.

American and British audiences naturally had different responses to the crossover.

Yes, they would - they are coming at this from very different places in terms of knowledge of the two shows, as you rightly note.

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.

I wouldn't see the Linda character being used as an audience surrogate in this episode, but rather the episode to introduce the audience to her - it will be in the next episode after the crossover ones where she will take on this role, doing dual duty for both Britain and America (though our UNIT chappies will be able to help with this for the Brits) - I can just imagine her being used as an English to American translator.

"He stuffed the poor man into the boot of this car."

"What, Doctor, you mean he was trapped in the trunk?"

"Precisely, Linda."

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.

I agree. And I would hope the crossover would have had a scene where Spock and the Master square off in a confrontation - the Master tries to hypnotize Spock -

"Vulcanians are resistant to such mental manipulations."

Then Spock tries the old nerve pinch which fails -

"And Time Lords are immune to such primitive attacks!"

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.

So really it takes a bit of time to get used to the shift in perspective, but then they are swept away by the pure coolness factor!

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.

And this all is very, very good, very cool!

So....while they evade the issues the way you've portrayed it, there is a pretty heavy implication that the Star Trek and Doctor Who universes are one and the same in this crossover. While you seem to have Star Trek going into movies after the original series wraps, and not to come back in some form of television series (so far), it is unlikely that Star Trek will make any further reference to Doctor Who material. However, it is likely that we will see the odd tiny reference from time to time to Star Trek materials in the Doctor Who series, I believe.

---

[1] Yes, I've just cast Polly Sherman as a Doctor Who companion.

Which all now means that we will have to see how her career develops - however, she's married to Cleese so she still probably will end up in TTL's Fawlty Towers.

[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.

A fine point.

[3]

One publicity photo was taken by Letts, and features the two of them in the TARDIS along with Pertwee and Booth.

Fun! Someone should do a photoshop of that for you!

[4] In both cases, the first of these episodes functions as the season premiere.

Noted.

[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.

Makes sense.

[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.

This would seem to imply that Star Trek isn't as ubiquitous in reruns as in OTL? Or are you just saying for the period between Doctor Who reruns being distributed by Desilu and the end of the original run of Star Trek?

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...

Actually, given the talents working on this crossover, I believe it will be a damned sight better than Assignment: Earth, though perhaps a bit more uneven than Terror of the Autons. Also, this is going to be the highest production value Doctor Who made up until that time, which I also think will wow British audiences. I actually think this episode will be a lot better than you suggest, both in writing and in appearance. I agree it will not be the 'best' episode of either program, but I actually think it might be well regarded, not just 'important'.

Projecting into the future - as American audiences start watching the Third Doctor and UNIT, I can see in several years a joint UK-US spin off series for UNIT, especially after the Doctor gets his exile revoked - that way the Doctor can gallavant about and be the Doctor, but we still get our UNIT fix, with a crossover between the two shows every year or so.

 

[The Professor]

Well done. *blows out attendant torches*

And I agree with Glen on all points here.

Looks like UNIT could be a viable spin off . A sort of UFO replacement

 

[DTF955Baseballfan]

Noted - though 'far more malevolent than he'? That seems to imply a certain level of malevolence for the Doctor!

Looking at it from Kirk's perspective only, though, there could be - he's possibly interfering with the time stream, he's very evasive, and if they learn somehow that his Tardis is grounded, they may suspect some degree of...well, I personally would not call it malevolence but extreme annoyance, on the level of, say, Q to Captain Picard.

 

[phx1138]

given the talents working on this crossover, I believe it will be a damned sight better than Assignment: Earth

It would be difficult for it to be worse.

perhaps a bit more uneven than Terror of the Autons.

I imagine difficulties in meshing the very different stylistic approaches of the two shows.

 

[Glen]

It would be difficult for it to be worse.

I imagine difficulties in meshing the very different stylistic approaches of the two shows.

While they are mostly different in styles there are times they cancome close. Compare the Curse of Peledon to Jouney to Babel for example.

 

[phx1138]

While they are mostly different in styles there are times they cancome close. Compare the Curse of Peledon to Jouney to Babel for example.

I'll take your word for it. Not a fan of The Doc at all.

 

[Glen]

I'll take your word for it. Not a fan of The Doc at all.

Nobody is perfect.

 

[Glen]

Well done. *blows out attendant torches*

And I agree with Glen on all points here.

Looks like UNIT could be a viable spin off . A sort of UFO replacement

Thanks for the seconding!

 

[Glen]

Looking at it from Kirk's perspective only, though, there could be - he's possibly interfering with the time stream, he's very evasive, and if they learn somehow that his Tardis is grounded, they may suspect some degree of...well, I personally would not call it malevolence but extreme annoyance, on the level of, say, Q to Captain Picard.

Fair enough - I have to say, I love the idea of the Doctor as Kirk's 'Q'! That would be hilarious!! Not happening ITTL apparently, but hilarious nonetheless.

 

[stevep]

One warning is that series eight of Doctor Who sees the introduction of the Master. Keeping him as part of the crossover is awesome. Loosing him would be catastrophic.

Glen

Well on that point I would have to differ. Found him even more overdone that the daleks have been in recent series.

Steve

 

[stevep]

Brainbin

Hell, its now 5:45 in the morning and finally got up to date on this thread. [Still got one more of my subscribed ones to read]

Forgotten most of what I was going to say. Think Glen covered most of the points over the cross-over. Got the problem of the Tardis being grounded as he says but the 3rd option would get around that and allow some background for US audiences.

One danger is that if 'Linda' is popular or possibly continued US sells become important we could have a more persistent US companion presence and hence butterfly Sarah Jane!

Also if the Tardis is allowed simple movement around Earth how does it interact with Enterprise several centuries in the future and probably several light years away?

Doesn't necessarily mean that the doctor and ST are in the same universe as there have been references to multiple universes in both series.

Anyway, feeling knackered so stopping now.

Steve

 

[Glen]

Glen

Well on that point I would have to differ. Found him even more overdone that the daleks have been in recent series.

Steve

But deliciously overdone! We will likely have to disagree on the entertainment value of that.

 

[Glen]

Brainbin

Hell, its now 5:45 in the morning and finally got up to date on this thread. [Still got one more of my subscribed ones to read]

Forgotten most of what I was going to say. Think Glen covered most of the points over the cross-over. Got the problem of the Tardis being grounded as he says but the 3rd option would get around that and allow some background for US audiences.

One danger is that if 'Linda' is popular or possibly continued US sells become important we could have a more persistent US companion presence and hence butterfly Sarah Jane!

Also if the Tardis is allowed simple movement around Earth how does it interact with Enterprise several centuries in the future and probably several light years away?

Doesn't necessarily mean that the doctor and ST are in the same universe as there have been references to multiple universes in both series.

Anyway, feeling knackered so stopping now.

Steve

Third option would give America more background yeah. The TARDIS the Enerprise follows to get back in time is the Master's. You are correct thatit doesn't have to be that they are in thesame universe, but the fact that UNIT is in the Enterprise's historical database highly implies it. With regard to companions, once the Doctor is well established in America the need for an American companion will not really be there, and even if it is, they could go with more than one companion leaving ample room for Sarah Jane or other British companions. I need to see just how likely Sarah Jane as a compaqnion would be ITTL.

 

[Glen]

If Letts looks for another companion in a couple years then it is plausible that Lis Sladen gets cast.

 

[Brainbin]

All right, so let's talk about this wacky crossover idea in which That Wacky Redhead played a substantial part:

Noted. Knowing the average suit, tho, hard SF will appeal far less than soft SF or fantasy, since it doesn't require understanding hard things, like the Grandfather Paradox, or what a supernova is, or the speed of light.

Everybody knows that the speed of light is just a helpful guideline

I'll be the first to comment on the Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover, and I thought it was excellent! Well, the update was, the actual episode was probably mediocre, but hey, I think that's what Brainbin was going for.

Thank you very much, vultan. And you hit the nail on the head. I wanted to create the impression of a slap-dash, jury-rigged crossover, held together only by the lavish budget, the competence of the writers, directors, and actors, and a lot of elbow grease.

And it doesn't matter, because now Cyberman, Silurians, and Daleks are canon in the Star Trek universe.

They're among very good company indeed

About time! Now for my detailed analysis....

Okay. But before I respond to your comments, point-by-point, I want to make one thing very clear. You are looking at this from the perspective of a fan. Which is fine, but you're not quite seeing the forest for the trees here. There are going to be gaping plot holes, because these two universes can't really fit together. Both sides are going to nitpick the flaws of the end product. All that said...

Deep Groan! That was bad, really really bad.... The titles are pretty fun, though!

It may not surprise you to learn that this little pun was among the very first things I devised for this post

A reasonable surmise.

You know the old stereotype: if there are no American characters present, then the American audience can't identify with anyone (I doubt the veracity of that, myself, but I don't think that the executives would.)

Again, a reasonably plausible choice, and it really does change the pop culture history of several shows I suspect!

I was thrilled when I hit upon Booth as a candidate, for that very reason. Butterflies are free to fly!

That is actually a VERY GOOD team of people. Both shows are bringing their 'A' teams to the party.

Well, Desilu, the BBC, and NBC are all pushing hard to get both creative teams to play ball. Basically, the Star Trek writing staff throw a bunch of story ideas into the pile, which Coon and Fontana fashion into a script; they then integrate it with Dicks and Holmes' ideas for their original season premiere, with the latter two writing their characters' dialogue, and of course the pick-up scenes.

Nice detail, Brainbin!

Thank you. Hollywood bureaucracy is notoriously cumbersome; expect that both the network and That Wacky Redhead herself would have to go to bat for the British writers at the WGA. Also, the British actors would have to join SAG (or AFTRA, or both).

Okay - this seems like a superfluous point, unless you are trying to intimate something by it that I am missing?

Just indicating that the writing was very much done by committee on this one. Most Star Trek scripts tend to be one person coming up with the story, and then initial drafts, followed by a polish by Coon, Fontana, and/or Gerrold; here it's the opposite. Everyone throws out ideas, and the three main writers bring them all together into a more-or-less cohesive script.

And Roger Delgado arrives to create the timeless villian, the Master! Absolutely agree that this is how they would have gone.

It also saved me from having to cast a different actor in the part

What, couldn't they find a quarry in California?

The plot called for a mostly "urban" adventure; therefore, they did not visit Kirk's Rock, alas

Was this spreading of credit typical for Doctor Who episodes of the time? Seems a bit odd that they wouldn't just credit the episodes he directed in.

From what I've read on the subject, the BBC could organize credits pretty much any way they wanted to. And they want to make it seem as if Letts is at least 50% involved in the direction of the crossover. (He's not; just the London-filmed scenes, and consulting with Daniels as they're shooting the American footage. 25% at best.) Daniels, learning of this, is bemused, but not too offended.

So, not just the opening and closing sequences, but the whole of the episodes were scored differently? That really would change the mood of the two versions! Do you have any examples of this from OTL for any two series?

I do indeed, though it breaks one of my taboos of mentioning one of the OTL Star Trek spinoffs, but it's so perfect an example that I'll mention it anyway. Contrast "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "Trials and Tribble-ations". Completely different scores, even over the exact same scenes. I'll give you no-points for guessing which score I prefer, by a country mile. (Hint: it's the one with actual melodies.)

This is a clever way to get it started, full marks!

Thank you very much

Why have the date referred to at all? Note that if you indeed have them say this, you are probably putting the kibosh on the UNIT dating controversy, for while you are being deliberately ambiguous, it is still diverging from OTL's UNIT episodes of the Third Doctor which made NO direct reference to the year.

I'm mentioning the date because the crew of the Enterprise, whenever they went back in time, always made a point of mentioning the year. The only reason that they don't in this case is because the episodes will air in different years in the two primary markets.

Noted - though 'far more malevolent than he'? That seems to imply a certain level of malevolence for the Doctor!

A lot of the others seem to have the general idea down; Kirk views the Doctor as a cross between Trelane (to avoid an anachronistic and, ITTL, non-existent reference ) and Arne Darvin. He would find him just a touch malevolent.

Duly noted - I wonder if these scenes will be more 'actiony' rather than 'horrorific' to mesh more with the Star Trek style - and thus would not be as controversial as the scenes in OTL's Terror of the Autons in terms of being deemed unsuitable for children.

Agreed. Star Trek is not one to drive its young audience into hiding behind the sofa.

This part needs work or expansion, Brainbin - this would work for a one off character, but as I mentioned, the Doctor isn't traipsing around in the TARDIS at this time in his story due to his exile. You need to have her somehow:
1) Get invited by the Doctor to be his new assistant (have Liz Shaw pulled but no replacement being proffered at the beginning of these episodes, with the Doctor vowing, "Fine, Brigadier, I shall find my own assistant, then!" And he decides on Johnson after seeing her resolution, courage, curiosity, cuteness, whatever. Or...
2) The Enterprise graciously offers to beam back to UNIT HQ, which he accepts, and at the last second Linda jumps onto him and is beamed with him to UNIT - much hilarity ensues in the next episode of Doctor Who getting her visa status squared away.. Or...
3) The mysterious Time Lord from Terror of the Autons of OTL appears to the Doctor to not only warn him that an old nemesis of his is on Earth (and mucking around with spaceships from the future at that!), but stating that the Time Lords will allow him limited use of his TARDIS only to transport from one site to another on earth, not to break his exile and allow him to fully travel through time and space (this would almost inevitably fall into some exposition explaining that the Doctor was trapped on Earth by the Time Lords for the American viewers).

Your choice, but I think it has to be one of these three.

All right. One and three, then. (I don't see how they're mutually exclusive.) Three will be shown in flashback, as part of the big expository scene in which the Doctor reveals his true nature to the crew of the Enterprise, which is where the TARDIS will come up for the first time. We'll eventually see it (easy enough for the prop department to mock up a TARDIS, or even bring the original along), and Spock and Scotty will investigate (to the confusion of the others, who doubt that three people could even fit inside a craft so tiny). It explains why the Doctor is in the United States, along with the absence of the Brigadier; and it also allows the TARDIS to globe-trot, which the larger budget (larger even than IOTL, courtesy of NBC) will facilitate. As for Linda, yes, she'll be invited along to join the Doctor on his journeys; her whole arc is basically Roberta Lincoln's, with better writing and acting. So there you are. Hope that helps

I would elaborate this in having Kirk shoot who he believes to be the Master, only to find that it is a dupe of the Master's in a mask ala his escape in Terror of the Autons - also still have the Doctor nab his dematerialization circuit in the course of the story!

I like that a lot. Consider it done.

I can just imagine her being used as an English to American translator.

"He stuffed the poor man into the boot of this car."

"What, Doctor, you mean he was trapped in the trunk?"

"Precisely, Linda."

That's your best idea of all. And in light of your excellent contributions, I hereby award you the No-Prize for Creative Writing!

So really it takes a bit of time to get used to the shift in perspective, but then they are swept away by the pure coolness factor!

You've captured their reaction perfectly. For this reason, the crossover definitely goes over better in Britain than it does in the United States. It's a massive event over there, and goes on to become a pop culture touchstone. (A popular sketch on variety shows of the era is a "straight" parody of a popular British program suddenly being interrupted by the crew of the Enterprise randomly appearing.)

And this all is very, very good, very cool!

Thank you again. Glad you (mostly) liked it. Although, ironically enough, the whole Doctor Who crossover event was intended as a carrot to British readers, and yet it's an American who has the strongest reaction to it

So....while they evade the issues the way you've portrayed it, there is a pretty heavy implication that the Star Trek and Doctor Who universes are one and the same in this crossover.

Technically, yes, so you can expect fan fiction (and later, "expanded universe"-type) writers to take advantage of that.

However, it is likely that we will see the odd tiny reference from time to time to Star Trek materials in the Doctor Who series, I believe.

I think I can guarantee that.

Which all now means that we will have to see how her career develops - however, she's married to Cleese so she still probably will end up in TTL's Fawlty Towers.

Perhaps - assuming that Cleese and his fellow Pythons still find themselves staying at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, c. 1971.

Fun! Someone should do a photoshop of that for you!

I would love that - do you know any good candidates for the job?

This would seem to imply that Star Trek isn't as ubiquitous in reruns as in OTL? Or are you just saying for the period between Doctor Who reruns being distributed by Desilu and the end of the original run of Star Trek?

These are the stations that, IOTL, aired Star Trek in the very early 1970s - back when fans would have to get up at 3:00 AM and tune their antennae to channel 29 or the like, and even their reception was just right, it would still come in terrible. ITTL, Star Trek won't be sold into syndication until the summer of 1971 - obviously into very plum slots on VHF channels with great reception.

Actually, given the talents working on this crossover, I believe it will be a damned sight better than Assignment: Earth, though perhaps a bit more uneven than Terror of the Autons. Also, this is going to be the highest production value Doctor Who made up until that time, which I also think will wow British audiences. I actually think this episode will be a lot better than you suggest, both in writing and in appearance. I agree it will not be the 'best' episode of either program, but I actually think it might be well regarded, not just 'important'.

Fair enough. My description would be more apt of the American audience. British audiences would respond more along the lines you're describing. Obviously, this is the exact opposite reaction to what everyone involved in the crossover actually wanted, but it's still good enough to get Doctor Who on NBC, so in the end it's just a minor quibble.

Projecting into the future - as American audiences start watching the Third Doctor and UNIT, I can see in several years a joint UK-US spin off series for UNIT, especially after the Doctor gets his exile revoked - that way the Doctor can gallavant about and be the Doctor, but we still get our UNIT fix, with a crossover between the two shows every year or so.

Hold your horses! We'll have to see how American audiences respond to Doctor Who as a continuing weekly series first!

Well done. *blows out attendant torches*

Thank you, Professor. I'm glad you liked it

And I agree with Glen on all points here.

Really? On all points? He had an awful lot to say... Are you sure the two of you don't share a brain?

Looking at it from Kirk's perspective only, though, there could be - he's possibly interfering with the time stream, he's very evasive, and if they learn somehow that his Tardis is grounded, they may suspect some degree of...well, I personally would not call it malevolence but extreme annoyance

Excellent analysis. You've nailed Kirk's perspective down exactly.

It would be difficult for it to be worse.

Of all the episodes of Star Trek, plot-wise it most strongly resembles "Assignment: Earth", for obvious reasons. (Of all the episodes of Doctor Who, it most strongly resembles "Terror of the Autons"). That's the comparison I was trying to make there. But yes, in terms of quality, it's obviously much better than that wretched abomination. It's no wonder that Teri Garr refuses to talk about it to this day!

I imagine difficulties in meshing the very different stylistic approaches of the two shows.

Again, true. I did my best to emphasize this in the update itself.

Brainbin

Welcome back, Steve

Hell, its now 5:45 in the morning and finally got up to date on this thread. [Still got one more of my subscribed ones to read]

That's what you get for going away for two weeks (I hope you had a nice time.) Although, to be fair, I certainly didn't expect my timeline to double eek in size while you were gone... Feel free to comment on updates past, if and when you remember anything.

One danger is that if 'Linda' is popular or possibly continued US sells become important we could have a more persistent US companion presence and hence butterfly Sarah Jane!

I was wondering when someone would get to the possible non-existence of the most popular Doctor Who companion. I'm afraid I couldn't possibly spoil the surprise on that one, so you'll have to keep reading to find out!

Also if the Tardis is allowed simple movement around Earth how does it interact with Enterprise several centuries in the future and probably several light years away?

I'm not sure what you mean by this, Steve - the Enterprise followed the Master back to Earth in the 1970s, and is looking for him. The Doctor used the TARDIS (now able to move through space, if not time) to meet the crew of the Enterprise, and saw them off again as they prepared to slingshot Back to the Future. After that, they never encountered each other again.

Doesn't necessarily mean that the doctor and ST are in the same universe as there have been references to multiple universes in both series.

I'm sure that will become a very popular fan theory ITTL

Thank you to everyone for your comments! Coming up next, of course, is the science-fiction update. However, it may take a little longer than usual to arrive; once again, that voracious entity known as RL is threatening to encroach on my progress with this timeline. But that will soon pass, and when it does, we'll be back in the thick of it! I hope to see all of you there. And thank you all for 20,000 views!

 

[e of pi]

(A popular sketch on variety shows of the era is a "straight" parody of a popular British program suddenly being interrupted by the crew of the Enterprise randomly appearing.)

I love this. Such a funny image.

 

[phx1138]

Everybody knows that the speed of light is just a helpful guideline

It is a limit on the writer's ability to find ways around it.

You know the old stereotype: if there are no American characters present, then the American audience can't identify with anyone (I doubt the veracity of that, myself, but I don't think that the executives would.)

That must explain why I found "The Sweeney" & "The Professionals" so enjoyable. I do think you're right about the suits.

A lot of the others seem to have the general idea down; Kirk views the Doctor as a cross between Trelane (to avoid an anachronistic and, ITTL, non-existent reference ) and Arne Darvin. He would find him just a touch malevolent.

I never got the sense Kirk thought Darvin was malevolent. Stupid, incompetent, meddling, extremely irritating, but not malevolent.

Excellent analysis. You've nailed Kirk's perspective down exactly.

Suspicion, given his encounters with powerful aliens masquerading as helpful, would not surprise me at all.

Of all the episodes of Star Trek, plot-wise it most strongly resembles "Assignment: Earth", for obvious reasons. (Of all the episodes of Doctor Who, it most strongly resembles "Terror of the Autons"). That's the comparison I was trying to make there. But yes, in terms of quality, it's obviously much better than that wretched abomination. It's no wonder that Teri Garr refuses to talk about it to this day!

Fair enough. I only wonder if you don't get the same problem as for "A:E": making the stars of one show effectively guest stars in their own show.

Again, true. I did my best to emphasize this in the update itself.

I'll leave it to those who actually have a clue what they're talking about to answer how well you did.

 

[stevep]

Agreed. Star Trek is not one to drive its young audience into hiding behind the sofa.

But, but, but... That was half the attraction to the younger fan-base of the Doctor. Don't forget in the 70's & 80's it was basically a children's programme. I started watching when I was about 6 and lost interest by my mid teens despite the long fascination with the series. The post 2000 series is far more directed at an adult audience.

There could be a problem here as an older American audience may not be as acceptive of at least some of the Doctor's opponents. Most especially the condiments on steroids.

All right. One and three, then. (I don't see how they're mutually exclusive.) Three will be shown in flashback, as part of the big expository scene in which the Doctor reveals his true nature to the crew of the Enterprise, which is where the TARDIS will come up for the first time. We'll eventually see it (easy enough for the prop department to mock up a TARDIS, or even bring the original along), and Spock and Scotty will investigate (to the confusion of the others, who doubt that three people could even fit inside a craft so tiny). It explains why the Doctor is in the United States, along with the absence of the Brigadier; and it also allows the TARDIS to globe-trot, which the larger budget (larger even than IOTL, courtesy of NBC) will facilitate. As for Linda, yes, she'll be invited along to join the Doctor on his journeys; her whole arc is basically Roberta Lincoln's, with better writing and acting. So there you are. Hope that helps

I'm looking forward to seeing Spock's reaction to the Tardis.

If Roberta could provide some useful talents that would also make for a good reason to keep her connected with the Doctor. [The last companion before the exile to Earth had been a mathematical genius for instance]. And preferably also a strong independent character.

One other possibility. Don't think its happened since the 2nd Doctor to any degree but occasionally companions have been male. Generally when there are two side-kicks, one male and one female.

You've captured their reaction perfectly. For this reason, the crossover definitely goes over better in Britain than it does in the United States. It's a massive event over there, and goes on to become a pop culture touchstone. (A popular sketch on variety shows of the era is a "straight" parody of a popular British program suddenly being interrupted by the crew of the Enterprise randomly appearing.)

You make them sound like the Spanish Inquisition.

Thank you again. Glad you (mostly) liked it. Although, ironically enough, the whole Doctor Who crossover event was intended as a carrot to British readers, and yet it's an American who has the strongest reaction to it

Well its fascinating and in some ways attractive to link the two but I have my doubts at the long term viability. Also by the time I got to the end of thread I wasn't in a state for a long reply.

Perhaps - assuming that Cleese and his fellow Pythons still find themselves staying at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, c. 1971.

You do realise the Time Lords would intervene in force to ensure such a crucial point in the space time continuum.

Hold your horses! We'll have to see how American audiences respond to Doctor Who as a continuing weekly series first!

That could be interesting given what seems to be the difference in the fan base. Possibly I'm getting it wrong as I was about 10-11 at the time but you may need to direct the Doctor towards an older audience.

That's what you get for going away for two weeks (I hope you had a nice time.) Although, to be fair, I certainly didn't expect my timeline to double eek in size while you were gone... Feel free to comment on updates past, if and when you remember anything.

I don't think even the combined might of the Doctor and Enterprise could persuade my mum to get a net connect.

I was wondering when someone would get to the possible non-existence of the most popular Doctor Who companion. I'm afraid I couldn't possibly spoil the surprise on that one, so you'll have to keep reading to find out!

Well I would definitely miss Sarah Jane but as someone else suggested, by the time she's due to appear it would probably be the time for a new companion anyway. Also either the Doctor will be established or the link up with the US will have failed so returning to a British companion should be OK. Possibly could have say Sarah and a male US companion?

I'm not sure what you mean by this, Steve - the Enterprise followed the Master back to Earth in the 1970s, and is looking for him. The Doctor used the TARDIS (now able to move through space, if not time) to meet the crew of the Enterprise, and saw them off again as they prepared to slingshot Back to the Future. After that, they never encountered each other again.

As I said it was pretty late when I read the chapter last night. Was assuming that the Tardis the Enterprise was following was the Doctor's rather than the Master's.

I also rather like the idea of a possible Unit based spin off. Only hope that it doesn't become totally focused on the US through.

Steve

 

[DTF955Baseballfan]

But, but, but... That was half the attraction to the younger fan-base of the Doctor. Don't forget in the 70's & 80's it was basically a children's programme. I started watching when I was about 6 and lost interest by my mid teens despite the long fascination with the series. The post 2000 series is far more directed at an adult audience.

There could be a problem here as an older American audience may not be as acceptive of at least some of the Doctor's opponents. Most especially the condiments on steroids.

Steve

i'll preface this by saying that I only remember seeing Dr. Who once, in a story arc shown as part of a marathon of Doctor Who in college over 25 years ago. (I believe it was "The Three Doctors" I watched.") So, while I recall liking it once I got into it, my memory may be very faulty.

However, the serialization reminds me of the old action shorts that would appear in movies , where the original cliffhangers began. Perhaps this would be one way to sell it to the adult audiences. In a time when they weren't demanding all the gore and lust and other things they would later, perhaps it could be sold as a return to the happy days of old. A bit of nostalgia which will show itself later int he making of Happy days set int he '50s.

As to the Doctor's enemies, I'm not sure what "condiments on steroids" refers to, but if it's what I think it sounds like, hokey looking aliens, that might cause some to feel that Doctor Who belongs in the "campy" category a la the latter part of Lost In Space witht heir weird alients. (I have this image, one of few of the seres, of thsi alien that looked like a guy ina tux but his head looked like an orange!)

On the other hand, sometimes its all int he advertising. Look at some of Dick Tracy's bad guys. What if The Doctor is sold as an outer space Dick Tracy, again, harkening back to the nostalgia of the older Americans' youth, with aliens akin to Flat Top and some of the others, I'm not recalling any others right now. (Too young to recall the comics, but I recall vividly how much fun my grandpa had when I took him to the movie, though I'd forgotten it was 1990 till I looked, I'd thought it earlier.)

So, there are ways to sell it while keeping it the same way it was in Britain; it's just going to be tricky.

 

[Falkenburg]

Cracking set of Updates, Brainbin.

The image of The Doctor interacting with the crew of Enterprise will doubtless tickle generations of Sci Fi fans.
And yet I can't shake the thought that the Crossover could cause unforseen difficulties for the Beeb.

(ITTL) Star Trek plays in an entirely different league from Doctor Who (Production values, SFX, Cast, etc).
This will be glaringly obvious when the two series interact.

While there may be some earnings from the US how much of that would the Producers of DW be able to claw back from Aunty?

If the powers that be, at the BBC, refuse to spread the wealth of any windfall earnings might there not be a flight of talent to the greener pastures across the Pond?

OTOH, it's always possible that The Doctor won't be a (commercial) success in the US, rendering the point moot.

Falkenburg