Usually during the summer months, it's been an Inner Toob tradition to induct a character or historical figure from the old West into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame (Dr. Loveless, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Lone Ranger & Tonto, etc.). This year there's a mini-theme around 'Doctor Who' and we could have brought in Doc Holliday into the fold since he has had a rich TV resume. The Doctor believed he met Doc in 1881, as seen in the episodes for "The Gunfighters".Thing is, he didn't and he's never realized it.
I think the 'Doctor Who' audience has come to look upon the Doctor as some kind of perfect being. If he makes a mistake or is defeated, it's only temporary; the Doctor soon gains the upper hand in every situation and saves the day with the help of his Companions and his sonic screwdriver. (I think this image of the Doctor as some kind of god-like presence will only increase because of this season's finale (soon to be seen in America).
But he has made mistakes, and his belief that he got involved with the shootout at the OK Corral is proof of that.
Most of the blame can be attributed to his dependence on the TARDIS. But the TARDIS is a living creature and not infallible. It can also make mistakes. As an example, it brought the Doctor and his Companions Dodo and Stephen to the year 2268, rather than to October 26, 1881.......
Stardate 4385.3The Federation of Planets wanted to establish first contact with the Melkot of Theta Kiokis II, a telepathic race who refused to interact with "outside", i.e., anybody who was not Melkotian. The Enterprise was sent on this mission and Captain Kirk was not going to take no for an answer, even though the Melkots were known to use their telepathic powers to punish the trespassers. (Anybody else see a correlation with how the Western world bullied its way into Japan back in the 1800s?)
From Kirk's mind they drew an appropriate punishment - he and his landing party would be forced to portray the doomed Clantons in a recreation of the gunfight at the OK Corral. When the Starfleet officers refused to kill their attackers - even if it meant sacrificing their own lives - the Melkots decided to relent and establish contact with the Federation.
Meanwhile, at around the same point in Time and Space, the Doctor was suffering from a terrible toothache and was in need of a dentist. The TARDIS locked in on the presence of Dr. McCoy on Theta Kiokis II, as his sickbay services on board the Enterprise would be perfect for treating the Time Lord. But they must have literally arrived on the heels of the departing starship and were now among the Melkots without their permission.
This must have thrown the Melkotian people into panic mode. With their telepathic prowess, they knew there was a Gallifreyan on board the TARDIS. And although they were a xenophobic race withdrawn in seclusion on their homeworld, the Melkots must have known about Gallifrey and probably feared the power of the Time Lords.
Sensing the human presence of Stephen and Dodo, the Melkots reconstructed their previous mirage of the OK Corral. But because these two humans were from England, their knowledge of that long-past American history skewed the appearance of the historical participants - which is why characters like Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday appeared differently from the way they did for the landing party.
The Melkots as they appeared to the Enterprise landing party:
And as they appeared to the Doctor and his Companions:
The Melkots had to expand much of their telepathic power to make the illusion more elaborate. Instead of just the flimsy facade, there had to be actual buildings. For the safety of their entire planet, the Doctor had to be convinced that he was on Earth in 1881 so that the sooner he got the treatment he was seeking, the sooner he would leave.
Those must have been actual Melkots hidden by telepathic glamours to appear as the various gunfighters and townsfolk. Whoever passed for a doctor/scientist among their people must have taken the form of Doc Holliday to perform the dental surgery on the Doctor. (Perhaps the guise had too strong an effect on the Melkoti and he came to think of himself as Holliday.)
At any rate, the illusion worked despite the conflict that ensued between the Melkots and the Doctor and his companions. The TARDIS eventually departed Theta Kiokis II in 2268 with everyone on board convinced that they had just visited Earth in 1881.
I can't prove this splainin, but it's a logical theory since there is no way that really was Doc Holliday in Tombstone of 1881. Of all the incarnations of the Doctor, the First held the strongest conviction in the immutability of History. And there were too many deviations from the facts of October 26, 1881 to maintain the original timeline. And had they made a closer examination of their surroundings - and what lay just outside of "Tombstone" - Dodo, Stephen, and the Doctor would have realized it was all a facade.
And that incessant ballad playing in the background didn't help the realism much, either!
And as they appeared to the Doctor and his Companions:The Melkots had to expand much of their telepathic power to make the illusion more elaborate. Instead of just the flimsy facade, there had to be actual buildings. For the safety of their entire planet, the Doctor had to be convinced that he was on Earth in 1881 so that the sooner he got the treatment he was seeking, the sooner he would leave.
Those must have been actual Melkots hidden by telepathic glamours to appear as the various gunfighters and townsfolk. Whoever passed for a doctor/scientist among their people must have taken the form of Doc Holliday to perform the dental surgery on the Doctor. (Perhaps the guise had too strong an effect on the Melkoti and he came to think of himself as Holliday.)At any rate, the illusion worked despite the conflict that ensued between the Melkots and the Doctor and his companions. The TARDIS eventually departed Theta Kiokis II in 2268 with everyone on board convinced that they had just visited Earth in 1881.
I can't prove this splainin, but it's a logical theory since there is no way that really was Doc Holliday in Tombstone of 1881. Of all the incarnations of the Doctor, the First held the strongest conviction in the immutability of History. And there were too many deviations from the facts of October 26, 1881 to maintain the original timeline. And had they made a closer examination of their surroundings - and what lay just outside of "Tombstone" - Dodo, Stephen, and the Doctor would have realized it was all a facade.
And that incessant ballad playing in the background didn't help the realism much, either!
SHOWS CITED:
'Star Trek' - "Spectre Of The Gun"
'Doctor Who' - "The Gunfighters"
BCnU!
Toby OB
"It goes to show that you have to be very careful what you pretend to be,
Because one day you may wake up to find that's what you are."
Bokonon
"Between Time And Timbuktu"
Because one day you may wake up to find that's what you are."
Bokonon
"Between Time And Timbuktu"
2 comments:
Excellent...
I still don't think that there's any way for Star Trek and Doctor Who to be connected, try as I have to make it work, just like B5 and Star Trek... Seaquest maybe, but what about the Daleks? The Invasion of Earth in 2150...
It boggles the mind!!
I love your connection between Star Trek's "Spectre Of The Gun" and Doctor Who's "The Gunfighters." I thought I was the only one that pondered the potential crossover between programs. I suppose the possiblities are endless of connections when you consider the many stories that attempt to explain history (or speculate the future). I mean "Q" took Joh Luc Picard back to the beginning of life on Earth just before an explosion from an spacial anomaly sparked life into the primordial "goo." But then it was the Doctor and Romanna that stopped Scaroth from preventing the detonation of his ship which was what sparked life on Earth. Right? :) I also recall that the universe was created when the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan, and Turlough discover the ship from Terminus had time warped into the past and exploded. Well you get the idea. Its nice to know you have thought these things out too!
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