Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink, and you'll miss one of the best Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Easter eggs of all time.

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After years of in-jokes and little references, Doctor Who and Star Trek have finally crossed over in live action, with the TARDIS appearing in the latest episode of Strange New Worlds.

Season 3 episode 6, The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail, follows James T Kirk (Paul Wesley) as he takes command for the first time after his ship, The Farragut, is grievously injured by a mysterious foe, incapacitating Captain V'Rel.

Meanwhile, the Enterprise is captured by that very foe - which turns out to be a gigantic scavenger ship, hell-bent on consuming and mining any ship in its path.

But, as the scavenger ship winds its tendrils around the Enterprise, we can see a tiny flash of blue off to the ship's right-hand side. Yep, incredibly, that's the TARDIS.

The Enterprise and the TARDIS (circled) in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
The Enterprise and the TARDIS (circled) in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Paramount+

Doctor Who and Star Trek have often referenced each other - the most obvious being in Doctor Who episode Space Babies, Ncuti Gatwa's first full episode, which saw the Fifteenth Doctor declare to companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) that they should visit the Enterprise sometime.

However, this is the first time we've seen an actual crossover (no matter how small!) in live action.

Perhaps the Doctor decided to make that visit happen - just at the worst possible time. Or maybe the TARDIS just got caught up in the tendrils of the scavenger ship too and coincidentally crossed paths with the Enterprise.

Either way, it's likely this won't be the last crossover we see.

After all, last year, Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies and Star Trek scribe Alex Kurtzman spoke on a panel together, with both expressing their desires to make a crossover happen.

Davies said at the time: "We would love to announce a crossover between Star Trek and Doctor Who [but we aren’t doing that today].

"If anyone can make that happen… it’s fans that can make that happen! Two great big broadcasters, two great big empires — and their lawyers! — would have to come together, but we can do that, can’t we?

"Quite seriously, I’d love it. That [montage] video, that shows you what it would feel like, what it would look like… the joy of it. It must happen!"

You heard the man!

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is available to stream on Paramount+. Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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Authors

Louise Griffin is the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Editor for Radio Times, covering everything from Doctor Who, Star Wars and Marvel to House of the Dragon and Good Omens. She previously worked at Metro as a Senior Entertainment Reporter and has a degree in English Literature.

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