The Lord of the Rings (franchise)

The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise which began with the book The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, followed by The Lord of the Rings, among other works. Various parts of the franchise were later adapted into series of films, as well as gaining appearances in video games, including some LEGO games.

Characters originating from the series include Gandalf, Legolas, and Gollum.

Crossovers
The franchise has had several crossovers with the Doctor Who universe.

The main crossover between the two franchises, which many of its other crossovers are promotion for, is the video game. The game allows the player to scan in various characters from different franchises to play as, including characters such as both the Twelfth Doctor and Gandalf. Gandalf, in particular, is actually one of the three main protagonists in the game, with the character having several interactions with the Doctor, and various other elements from the Doctor Who series, such as the Dalek Emperor.

Through this game, naturally, it is possible for Doctor Who characters to use vehicle and objects from The Lord of the Rings franchise, and explore its adventure worlds, and vice versa. Shortly before the game's release, a promotional video was released entitled. This video featured characters such as the Twelfth Doctor appearing alongside the likes of Gandalf and (through gameplay footage) Legolas.

Later, after the game's release, various other promo videos were also released, containing original animations depicting both franchises as coexisting. First, the webcast primarily featured three doctors facing off: the Twelfth Doctor, Peter Venkman (Ghostbusters), and Doc Brown (Back to the Future). In addition to these characters, Gandalf can also be seen walking past. Next and finally, the video, mainly promoting the upcoming additions to the game such as Adventure Time and Sonic the Hedgehog, featured as its main characters the same trio from : Batman (DC Multiverse), Gandalf, and Wyldstyle (The LEGO Movie), as well as featuring the Twelfth Doctor and the TARDIS. It notably featured a scene where Gandalf ran up a hill in the Land of Ooo, at the top of which the Twelfth Doctor materialises his TARDIS. The story ended with a scene where Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog) swipes a ring away from Gollum in a cave.

The theatrical film The LEGO Batman Movie features the licensed use of the Daleks among the various villains from the Phantom Zone, including the Eye of Sauron.

References to The Lord of the Rings in the Doctor Who universe
To be added

Other connections
Ian McKellen, the voice of the Great Intelligence in the Doctor Who TV story The Snowmen, played Gandalf in both the 2001-03 The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the 2012-14 The Hobbit trilogy.

Seventh Doctor actor Sylvester McCoy appeared as Radagast the Brown in the 2012-14 The Hobbit trilogy.

Some actors associated with Big Finish Productions appeared in The Hobbit trilogy such as Benedict Cumberbatch, who portrayed Smaug and the Necromancer, and Richard Armitage, who played Thorin Oakenshield.

Stephen Fry, who voiced the Minister of Chance in the webcast Death Comes to Time and C in the Doctor Who TV story Spyfall, played the Master of Laketown in the second and third Hobbit films, The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of Five Armies.

Some actors from the Thirteenth Doctor's era of Doctor Who appeared in the 2022 Prime Video streaming series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, such as Maxim Baldry, who played Isildur, and Lenny Henry, who played Sadoc Burrows.