Doctor Who references first ever episode in epic Easter egg
Did you spot it?
*Warning: This article contains spoilers for Doctor Who: The Devil's Chord*
The second of two episodes released as part of Doctor Who's explosive return to our screens featured a nod to the show's very first episode from 1963.
The Devil's Chord saw the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby (Millie Gibson) take their first jaunt together back into Earth's history, visiting the early 1960s to see The Beatles record their first album.
However, the 1963 that they discover is quite unlike the one they were expecting, with the powerful being Maestro (Jinkx Monsoon) – an offspring of the Doctor's old foe, the Toymaker – having seemingly robbed the human race of any melody or passion for music.
Taking to the roof of what will one day be Abbey Road Studios, the Doctor tells Ruby that on the date they've landed – 11th February, 1963 – an earlier incarnation of his is living in Shoreditch, London, having parked the TARDIS inside a junkyard on Totter's Lane.
Doctor Who fans will recognise this as a reference to the show's beginnings, with audiences first meeting the First Doctor (William Hartnell) within the walls of that very junkyard.
But the episode also contains another Easter egg that's a little more obscure...
Later, having defeated Maestro with the help of a certain John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the Doctor and Ruby return to the rooftop to celebrate as music returns to London.
It's then that we spy a billboard on the roof, advertising the “sensational new record” from Chris Waites and the Carollers.
It's here that you really need to know your Who – Chris Waites and the Carollers are a fictional band, referenced in the show's first ever episode, An Unearthly Child, transmitted on 23rd November 1963.
In that episode, we meet Susan – played by Carole Ann Ford – a student at Coal Hill School, who is revealed to be the Doctor's granddaughter (Susan also gets a shout-out in The Devil's Chord).
Susan is caught listening to music on her transistor radio by two of her teachers (and later fellow TARDIS travellers), Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), and explains that the song in question is by the "fabulous" John Smith and the Common Men.
Though Barbara isn't up on the latest chart hits, Ian stuns her and Susan both by revealing his secret pop knowledge. "John Smith is the stage name of the honourable Aubrey Waites," he explains. "He started his career as Chris Waites and the Carollers, didn't he, Susan?"
"You are surprising, Mister Chesterton," she replies. "I wouldn't expect you to know things like that."
"I have an enquiring mind," he replies. "And a very sensitive ear!" – prompting Susan to switch off her radio.
Given the 1963 setting, it was perhaps inevitable that The Devil's Chord would feature some acknowledgement of Doctor Who's first episode, though we bet Russell T Davies had fun inserting this particular deep cut...
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Doctor Who continues next Saturday (18th May) – the first two episodes of the new season are available now on BBC iPlayer and will air on BBC One from 6:20pm. 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.
