Star Wars

Star Wars was the overall title of a series of six popular motion pictures produced on Earth between the mid-1970s and the mid-2000s. The very first of these films, titled simply Star Wars but later retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, upon its release in 1977, revolutionized the science fiction film genre and set new standards for special effects in film. In 1977, the Doctor and Frobisher attended the premiere of Star Wars on the big screen at Mann's Chinese Theatre. The Doctor claimed to prefer the Special Editions (a mid-1990s project by Star Wars creator George Lucas to upgrade the first three films' special effects and make additional revisions), and noted that Grand Moff Tarkin looked familiar to him. (PDA: Mission: Impractical; the Tarkin reference relates to the fact the actor who played the character, Peter Cushing, played the human "Dr. Who" in the two feature films of the mid-1960s.)

Minor references

• Returned to her old haunts in Perivale, Ace learned from Ange that their mutual friend Flo married a "brain-dead plumber" they had nicknamed Darth Vader. (DW: Survival)
• Sam Jones had Star Wars toys as a child. (EDA: Alien Bodies)
• The Doctor told Martha Jones that Jar Jar Binks' clan were "...good people...very hospitable." (TDA: Forever Autumn)
• Both Mr Grantham and Clyde Langer made reference to the series, the latter comparing himself to Luke Smith's mentor, like Obi-Wan Kenobi. (SJA: Warriors of Kudlak)

Clyde possibly meant this as a humorous reference to Luke's first name.

• At the end of a holographic communication left to Jack Harkness, fellow Time Agent John Hart mockingly re-created the "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope" line from A New Hope. (TW: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang)
• Donna Noble described the UNIT soldiers as "Stormtroopers". (DW: The Sontaran Stratagem) This may or may not be a reference to Star Wars, as stormtroopers were the invasion forces used by Germany in WWII

Behind the Scenes

• The duel on the Sycorax asteroid in The Christmas Invasion may take some cues the duel between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back. In both scenes, the hero (the Doctor in this case) loses a hand and the weapon holding it. Later, the destruction of the Sycorax asteroid by the Jathaa weaponry is similar to the Death Star's destruction of Alderaan in A New Hope.
• As with Star Trek, much speculative effort has been made by fans to try and link the Doctor Who and Star Wars universes.

External links

• Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki