Roots: Greensleeves plays from the ice cream van, as well as on Kim's gun, Led Zeppelin IV, The Truman Show, Tom reads Tender is the Night. The Blue Danube plays in the Pollard house. The Wizard of Oz ("Click your heels together and say There's No Place Like Home") Robert Louis Stevenson ('It's better to travel hopefully than to arrive')

Intertextuality: The Sky Ray ice lollies the Doctor attempts to order from the ice cream van are a nod to the 1967 Dr Who-based adventure cards given away as a promotion with this product.

Double Entendres: "You're pressing too hard — stroke your finger across it"

Dialogue Triumphs: "Revenge is a dish best left to go cold and then thrown in the kitchen bin. Trust a Doctor - prevention is better than cure"

"I shall find out using my special Time Lord powers of looking out the window"

"Charley, this isn't your mother - it's an illusion!" "Well, obviously. It always is."

Lady Pollard and Charley: "I don't want you playing with boys. There'll be plenty of time for that when you're older" "-But they have better games" "-That's what they'll tell you when you're older."

Continuity: The Lucentrans are a technologically advanced race who have no concept of visual memory. They can learn systems and technology, but are poor at remembering specific events. Their primary technology, nano-forms, are programmed to relay an image of an event 'live', but have no ability to store such images for future use. Like most nano-forms these are made in their makers' image, thus making them identifiable to the Doctor, who is familiar with the species. The Lucentran prisons used here are somewhat controversial, regressing their ignorant inmates to a safe, somewhat docile stage of their life mentally — usually at the cost of their self-awareness.

Marmadons are foul creatures that live in deep space. No-one on Earth during this time has ever heard of them at this time.

The Led Zeppelin 4's escape pods resemble coffins, being brown and roughly hexagonal boxes. Kim served on the Led Zep II, the Phobos mission. After being stranded with her fellow crewmen she made it back to Earth, some 227 years after she left, and therefore becoming something of a celebrity, doing talk shows, game shows, and a pop career. Eager to return to her stricken colleagues however, she used the greatly advanced propulsion of Earth's newer ship to reach Lucentra.

The TARDIS has a lounge with comfortable armchairs, although Charley hasn't seen it.

Charley's father's name is Richard. Her Uncle Jacques was a lieutenant stationed in Ypres.

The Doctor can think of some instances where a refusal of tea incited war (but perhaps not up to fourteen). He intended to bring the TARDIS to Lucentra.

Untelevised Adventures: Mawvik was the evil dictator of Refutu who was defeated (along with his clay minions) by the Doctor, C'rizz and Charley when he discovered Mawvik's own consciousness was used to animate his minions. By causing Mawvik to animate his entire army his psychic defences were sufficiently weakened for him to be overcome (to the point of death, it seems). The Doctor implies that he knew Attila the Hun.

Future History: Ion-jet rockets come into use around the middle of the 21st century (around 35 years after the events of this story). The Commonwealth Space Programme was funded in pounds and launched its ships from the Outback. Technology is warp jump and includes cryosleep. Spaceship names were opened to public vote, resulting in a series of ships named after Led Zeppelin albums (Led Zeppelin 2 was the 'Phobos' mission.) Notable female astronauts include Eileen Collins and Pamela Ann Mellroy.

Links: The Chimes of Midnight (Edith the Cook is mentioned), Phobos (also by Eddie Robson). Remembrance of the Daleks (Kim's handcuffs are made from bonded polycarbide). Mention is again made of the younger Charley befriending gypsies (Other Lives) and C'rizz says "What is it with prisons and the TARDIS lately?" (Something Inside)

The Bottom Line: "You should never turn down tea if it's offered. It's impolite and that's how wars start"

Inventive, funny and mad, with some lovely moments (the innocence of the Doctor ordering an ice cream stands out), but by episode four it all gets alternatively complicated and silly, with comedy aliens and a bizarre problem at the story's heart (no visual recording — what, nobody thought to even sketch an event? How do they get around without maps? Etc.) Don't let that put you off though, as this is the funniest Eighth Doctor story this side of the Divergent Universe for a while. They're not out of the woods yet...