{
  "id": 15286910,
  "title": "Russell T. Davies says corporate pissing contests killed a Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/russell-t-davies-says-corporate-pissing-contests-killed-a-doctor-who",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-17T17:49:26.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The A.V. Club",
    "slug": "the-a-v-club",
    "url": "https://www.avclub.com/doctor-who-star-trek-crossover-killed-corporate-pissing-contest"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Long-time Doctor Who executive Russell T. Davies has revealed that a crossover between his beloved franchise and Paramount’s Star Trek came tantalizingly close before corporate egos collided. Speaking on Empire’s Pilot TV podcast, Davies stated that he and fellow Doctor Who creator Steven Moffat were booked on flights to Los Angeles to discuss the plans and logistics with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ showrunners. The showrunners had previously hinted at the crossover by giving Carol Kane’s character a line referencing time-traveling doctors. Davies confirmed their eagerness, saying \"We really tried\" and that the Star Trek folks were \"dying to do it.\" However, the project was derailed when corporate politics intervened. Both Disney and Paramount were involved in the negotiations, and the nightmare scenario Davies painted was a situation where the two corporate giants would try to air the crossover episodes close together to avoid causing issues. Despite numerous co-productions in the history of television, Davies highlighted that \"every co-production is bloody, life and death.\" Ultimately, the corporate overlords couldn’t agree on a suitable airtime, and the tickets for the trip to Los Angeles were cancelled. While Davies remains hopeful that a crossover between Star Trek and Doctor Who might happen someday, fans must make do with a 2012 comic book crossover and the countless search results for \"star trek AND doctor who\" for now.",
  "summary": "Russell T. Davies says corporate pissing contests killed an in-the-works Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}