Doctor Who: Boom contains Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi era Easter eggs
Did you catch them all?
He might only be back for one episode – well, until Christmas at least – but former Doctor Who boss Steven Moffat has certainly made the most of the opportunity, peppering his much-anticipated comeback adventure Boom with plenty of references to his time as showrunner.
Some are more obvious, others more obscure, but on top of being a gripping, emotional and satisfying 45 minutes, Boom is, without question, also a celebration of the Moffat era, with nods to both the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors.
Did you catch all the Easter eggs and references? Read on to find out...
The Moon and the President's Wife
We'll kick things off with one of the more obscure references that Moffat planted in his latest script...
Unable to move and facing near-certain death, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) tries a number of different methods to prevent his adrenaline from spiking, including singing The Skye Boat Song.
More than once, he also recites a short poem:
I went down to the beach and there she stood, dark and tall at the edge of the wood.
'The sky’s too big, I’m scared!' I cried.
She replied, 'Young man, don’t you know there’s more to life than a moon and a president’s wife.'
Though the poem itself hasn't appeared in Doctor Who before, its subject matter is familiar.
In 2015 episode The Magician's Apprentice, Clara (Jenna Coleman) challenges Missy (Michelle Gomez) with regards her feelings for the Doctor (then played by Peter Capaldi).
"Since when do you care about the Doctor?" asks Clara. "Since always," Missy replies. "Since the Cloister Wars. Since the night he stole the moon and the President's wife. Since he was a little girl. One of those was a lie. Can you guess which one?"
In the same year's Hell Bent, the Doctor insists that the story of him stealing the moon and the President's wife was "a lie put about by the Shabogans", the original indigenous people of Gallifrey.
"It was the President's daughter..." he says. "...[and] I didn't steal the moon, I lost it."
If that's true, though, where does the poem about the President's wife originate? Is the Doctor the "young man" it refers to? And is the "dark and tall" woman the President's wife, his daughter, or somebody else?
Curiouser and curiouser.
Villengard
The landmine that the Doctor steps on in Boom was produced by the Villengard corporation, who he explains are "the biggest weapons manufacturer in recorded history, [having] supplied all sides in all conflicts for the past two centuries in this sector".
They also designed the automated ambulance unit personified by Susan Twist that executes both John Francis Vater (Joe Anderson) and Canterbury James Olliphant (Bhav Joshi) and almost finishes off the Doctor, too.
Villengard are responsible for the endless, pointless war being waged on Kastarion 3, with the Anglican Marines having "declared war on an empty planet".
"Villengard battle products are fitted with AI," the Doctor explains. "The algorithm maintains a fighting force at just above the acceptable number of casualties – keeps you fighting, keeps you dying, keeps you buying. Medical services optimise the casualty rate for continued conflict. War is conflict… and business is booming.
"You are fighting your own hardware and it’s killing you to keep you buying more."
Villengard was first mentioned in Steven Moffat's first ever televised Doctor Who story (not counting The Curse of Fatal Death), The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances as the source of Captain Jack's 51st century sonic blaster, with the Doctor heavily implying he was responsible for vaporising the weapon factories of Villengard.
The planet served as something of a bookend for Moffat, appearing in his final televised Doctor Who story – well, until Boom – Twice Upon a Time, with the First and Twelfth Doctors visiting Villengard's partially destroyed moon.
Should we expect another reference in Joy to the World?
Anglican marines
Boom does not mark the first appearance in Doctor Who of the Anglican marines – Mundy (Varada Sethu) and company are of the same ilk as the soldiers we meet in 2011 episode A Good Man Goes to War, led by Colonel Manton (Danny Sapani).
They are members of the Church of the Papal Mainframe, which was led by Tasha Lem (Orla Brady) – as established in 2013's The Time of the Doctor – and counted among its members Madame Kovarian (Frances Barber) as well as Father Octavian (Iain Glen) and his clerics whom we meet in 2010 two-parter The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone.
Fish fingers and custard
Surely you caught this one? As he and Ruby prepare to depart Kastarion 3, the Doctor suggests that he will be back to pay Mundy (Varada Sethu) and her new ward Splice (Caoilinn Springall) a visit: "I will be popping in every now and then. Fish fingers and custard is my favourite."
This is, of course, a reference to Steven Moffat's first Doctor Who script as showrunner, The Eleventh Hour, which saw a newly-regenerated Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) try a variety of foodstuffs in an attempt to find something that would please his new palate, before finally settling on a most unlikely combination.
Iconic.
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Doctor Who continues on Saturday 25th May on BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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Authors
Morgan Jeffery is the Digital Editor for Radio Times, overseeing all editorial output across the brand's digital platforms. He was previously TV Editor at Digital Spy and has featured as a TV expert on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Atlantic.
