Spaced
Spaced was a British sit-com written by, and starring, Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes (credited at the time as Jessica Stevenson).
The series contained references to many pop-culture and cult series' which included Doctor Who. Perhaps the most obvious is a door that is decorated to resemble the The Doctor's TARDIS. This is given more significance by the fact that the stockroom on the other side of the door is noticeably bigger than the shop floor from which it opens.
Connections with Invaders from Mars
Released just one year after the final series of Spaced was broadcast, the Eighth Doctor Big Finish audio drama Invaders from Mars has several connections with the series. Not only did it star both Pegg and Hynes, but it was also written and directed by Spaced guest star, Mark Gatiss. Another guest star, Paul Putner, also appeared.
The two also share a thematic connection as they both deal with audience reactions to popular culture. While Spaced looks at the wider way that people assimilate pop-culture into their everyday lives, Invaders from Mars focuses on a singular real world event, in which audiences believed Orson Welles' radio adaptation of War of the Worlds was an actual alien invasion.
Other connections to the DWU
Both Pegg and Hynes have also appeared in televised Doctor Who; Pegg played The Editor in The Long Game, and Hynes played both Joan Redfern in Human Nature/The Family of Blood as well as her great-granddaughter Verity Newman in The End of Time. Pegg also narrated the first season of Doctor Who Confidential, and Gatiss has numerous credits across various media.
Recurring actors Bill Bailey and Michael Smiley, as well as guest stars Claire Rushbrook, John Simm, David Walliams, and Tony Way have also appeared in various episodes of Doctor Who. Gatiss, Walliams, and Putner also appeared in a number of Doctor Who Night comedy sketches.
In addition to these, series regular Julia Deakin and guest stars Richenda Carey, Rowena Cooper, Lee Ingleby, and Alex Lowe have also appeared in audio adventures. Cooper also appeared on-screen in The Sarah Jane Adventures
Other guest star connections include Kevin Eldon's appearance in the webcast Death Comes to Time, and Reece Shearsmith made several appearances in BBV films, as well as portraying Patrick Troughton in An Adventure in Space and Time.
Stunt performer Rod Woodruff also worked as a Stunt Co-ordinator on Rose and World War Three, and costume designer Anne Hardinge (credited as Annie Hardinge in Spaced) also worked in the costume department on Vengeance on Varos.
