Strange New Worlds Season 3 May Have Just Made Doctor Who Canon In Star Trek

Whovians and Trekkies have long dreamed of the day when their franchises would cross paths. That day has finally come thanks to a TARDIS (which stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space) cameo in the "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" Season 3 episode "The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail." The iconic blue police phone booth popped up in a don't-blink moment, floating in the distance behind the Enterprise amid a vast ocean of space detritus inside the belly of a massive scavenger ship. Most of the vessels within the scavenger ship appear to have been stripped down to junk, but "Doctor Who" fans know the TARDIS to be impenetrable. After all, even the assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door.

The TARDIS Easter egg is a great moment for fans of both franchises, but it's actually just the cherry on the cake of a "Strange New Worlds" episode that has some real "Doctor Who" vibes. From the mysterious, monstrous foes behind the scavenger ship, which is known across the galaxy thanks to a legendary tale, to the episode's twist ending, there's a lot for "Doctor Who" fans to love in "The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail." Even Pelia's (Carol Kane) thrift store-chic bedroom, a sprawling cabinet of curiosities marvelously overflowing with wonderful treasures from across the centuries, has a distinct Whovian vibe to it. The only thing missing from this episode is the Doctor himself.

The presence of the TARDIS in "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" doesn't necessarily mean the Doctor and Captain Kirk (Paul Wesley) will cross paths anytime soon or even that Gallifrey — the homeworld of the Time Lords — is discoverable on a Starfleet map. After all, it's not the first time that the franchises have crossed over with little nods and Easter eggs. Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) famously referred to the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) as "Spock" in "The Empty Child," and "Star Trek" pops up again and again as a well-known TV series in "Doctor Who," from the American woman in a bathroom who mistakes a lurking Silent for someone wearing a "Star Trek" mask in "The Impossible Astronaut" to the girls in Howie's fear room in "The God Complex" teasing him by asking "What's 'loser' in K-K-Klingon?"

It's all a bit tongue-in-cheek, but the Easter eggs have become so intertwined over the decades that a case could be made for Starfleet and the Doctor coexisting in at least one shared reality. He could have been joking, but the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) claims to know the real Starship Enterprise in "Space Babies" while speaking with companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson). There's also the Argolis Cluster, which was visited by the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) in "The Leisure Hive" and was later referenced in both "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." Perhaps real and fictional versions of the two beloved shows exist in their counterpart's multiverse.