Cultural references to the Doctor Who universe: Difference between revisions

* Several episodes of the 2008 series {{wi|The Middleman (TV series)|The Middleman}} include references to ''Doctor Who''. In one episode a character is identified as "[[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Lethbridge-Stewart]]". Only twelve episodes were produced, with the decision made not to produce a thirteenth. That episode, ''The Doomsday Armageddon Apocalpyse'', also contained several references to ''Doctor Who'', most notably having the Middleman recite the [[First Doctor]]'s farewell speech to [[Susan Foreman]] in ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'' ("There must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties..."). The script for this unmade episode was performed by the cast in a "read through" at the 2009 San Diego ComicCon, and adapted into a graphic novel by Viper Comics, both with the Doctor's speech intact. Given the series' acknowledged debt to ''Doctor Who'', the fact that the lead character is never referred to by name, only as "the Middleman", is probably a reference to the fact that the Doctor's real name is never revealed. (The final episode, however, does reveal the Middleman's real name.)

* In the fifth episode of the second season of the ABC television series {{wi|Better Off Ted}}, the scientists Phil and Lem name the small robot designed to clean up spills in their laboratory [[Chumbley]]. This is the name that [[Vicki]] gives the robots that [[Steven Taylor|Steven]], the [[First Doctor]] and she encounter in ''[[Galaxy 4 (TV story)|Galaxy 4]]''. Later in the same episode, Phil and Lem enter a room full of used robot parts. A [[Dalek]] can be seen clearly in the corner nearest the door.

* In one episode of ''The Sarah Silverman Program'', one character (Brian Spukowski, played by Brian Posehn) buys a DVD boxset of a science-fiction show called ''Dr. Lazer Rage''. He later feels regret at buying the expensive boxset. [[Ninth Doctor]] actor [[Christopher Eccleston]] makes a cameo as "Dr. Lazer Rage" coming to life on the cover of the box. In the same episode, one character calls another from a blue telephone box. Interestingly, this is the only example of Eccleston participating in a guest appearance that directly references and parodies his involvement in ''Doctor Who'', as his fear of being typecast means he tends to avoids this.

* The pilot for the 2000 series ''The Invisible Man'' contains at least four references: A [[Patrick Troughton|doctor named Troughton]], a business card reading [[I.M. Foreman]] and a magazine cover with the headlines [[TARDIS|"Time and Relative Dimensions in Space!"]] and [[The Five Doctors (TV story)|"Playing the game of Rassilon!"]]