Ncuti Gatwa is back as the Doctor for a second season of time travelling adventures – and so is our list of Doctor Who Easter Eggs.
On this page you'll find every deep cut reference and call back that we spot this season. Doctor Who has an incredible 60+ year history to pull from, and we'll be noting the tiny details that call back to the past, as well as hints about the show's ongoing story arc right here.
We'll also be tracking each appearance of the enigmatic Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson), who may yet end up as one of the best Doctor Who characters. She's set to appear in every episode this season, so we'll be keeping a close eye on her movements.
Now, let's get to the Easter Eggs – though be warned, there are major spoilers for the first four episodes ahead...
Episode 4 - Lucky Day
The London Eye: We see London's iconic big wheel erupting in New Year's fireworks. Not the first time it has featured in Doctor Who – it was a prominent part of 'Rose,' the very first episode of the revived show, with the Nestene Consciousness setting up its base beneath it.
The Shreek: The adult Conrad spots the TARDIS in London and, investigating, stumbles into the Doctor and Ruby defeating the Shreek. These are a new species for Doctor Who, but this is not the first time they've been mentioned… In last year's novel Caged, by Una McCormack, Ruby describes some of her past adventures, saying "I've visited other worlds besides yours. I've sung to kings. Held space babies. Shouted at ambulances. Outrun a Shreek."
Howells: The Doctor and Ruby chase the Shreek into an abandoned shopping center filled with manikins. This scene was filmed at Howells department store in Cardiff, which also featured in 'Rose' as Rose Tyler's workplace, Henrik's. Thanks to Arthur Allen for pointing this one out to me.
Chez Alison: The shut down wedding shop inside the department store is named Chez Alison. This is where Donna Noble bought her wedding dress in 'The Runaway Bride.'
Meet the Beatles: "I mean, half an hour ago we were hanging out with The Beatles." That positions the Doctor and Belinda's adventure with the Shreek directly after season 1, episode 2 'The Devil's Chord.' John Lennon owes Ruby a piano lesson, apparently.
Louise: Ruby mentions her biological mum and "new dad."
"Aliens are real, we all know that.": How much humanity at large knows about or believes in aliens has always been a bit flexible in the Whoniverse. This makes it sound like the majority of people have accepted that they exist, but some people still refuse to believe it.
UNIT: Likewise UNIT's status as a top secret organisation has changed over the years. Given they have an enormous tower in central London, however, it's safe to say that the cat is more out of the bag than it was in Jon Pertwee's time as UNIT's scientific advisor.
"She just watched The Wicker Man": Shout out to my favourite film of all time, though it clearly freaked Cherry out. For the avoidance of all doubt we're talking about 1973's original folk horror classic – the film that Midsommar wishes it was – and not the irredeemably poor 2006 remake with Nicolas Cage.
"Mel's on her way to Sidney, there's something strange happening in the harbour." Kate explains why Mel isn't at UNIT HQ, but she's not alone – Colonel Christofer Ibrahim is with her, and it seems like their romance is blossoming
Ruby's PTSD: Ruby finally starts to acknowledge that she had quite a strange and traumatic time with the Doctor, saying, "I've fought gods – like actual gods. And I was eaten by a double bass, kidnapped by goblins. I dangled on a rope ladder above London, and I watched the world turn to dust."
Welcome back Shirley: Ruth Madeley's Shirley Anne Bingham returns to Doctor Who for the first time since 'The Giggle.'
Think Tank: This one's a bit of a head scratcher. Conrad's organisation is called ("exposing the lies perpetuated by UNIT"). A think tank is a generic nickname for a research institute. Oddly, though, there's already been a group that dub themselves that in Doctor Who – the villains in the Fourth Doctor's first adventure, 1975's 'Robot,' were part of the National Institute for Advanced Scientific Research – largely referred to in the story as Think Tank.
"There are no Shreek. No Cybermen, no Sycorax, no yetis in the underground.": Conrad does a roll call of famous alien invasions of Earth. With the Cybermen he could be calling out 1968's The Invasion, but is more likely talking about 2006's Army of Ghosts/Doomsday which saw the silver giants invade every home in London. The Sycorax were the villains of David Tennant's first adventure, 2025's 'The Christmas Invasion.' And robot yetis invaded the London Underground in 1968's 'The Web of Fear.'
Trinity Wells: Long term US Doctor Who news anchor Trinity Wells is back! Her appearance is followed by cameos from BBC presenter Reeta Chakrabarti; The Masked Singer host Joel Dommett; broadcaster Jonathan Ross; and Alex Jones, host of the BBC's ever-bewildering The One Show.
Time Windows and Transduction Drives: Kate really makes a good case for UNIT not existing this episode. Time Windows featured in last year's season finale, 'The Legend of Ruby Sunday' and 'Empire of Death.' Interestingly, the only other use of "transduction" technology in Doctor Who is on Gallifrey – a Transduction Barrier is mentioned in 1976's 'The Invasion of Time.' Has UNIT got hold of some Time Lord tech?
Albion TV: UNIT traitor Jordan Lang subscribes to Albion TV – presumably an outlet dedicated to the far right politician Roger ap Gwilliam and his Albion Party, as seen in last year's '73 Yards.'
Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart: Conrad break a cardinal rule of Doctor Who and disses Kate's dad, Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart. Definitely a wrong 'un.
"Have you met Belinda Chandra yet?" In 'The Robot Revolution' the Doctor mentioned that a man had told him about Belinda. It would appear that man was none other than Conrad Clark. R.I.P. my Face of Boe theory.
Flood Watch: Mrs Flood appears to Conrad in jail, stating "I'm the guvnor," and freeing him to cause future chaos. Interestingly, she also implies that she's seen the inside of TARDIS…
Episode 3 - The Well
Bong! The TARDIS makes a familiar electronic bong! sound as it lands on the troopers' spaceship. This is from the classic era of the show.
Vindicator: The device the Doctor introduced last week to help get them back to Earth 2025 makes another appearance here.
"The TARDIS translates": Belinda's first trip to an alien world is also a chance for her to discover the TARDIS's translation circuit as she prepares to step out onto Planet 6-7-6-7.
Another clothes change: The Doctor and Belinda change into space suits in what's become the show's signature costume change style, with the TARDIS changing colours and a musical number – maybe playing on that jukebox? Nitpick alert: How did the Doctor know to change into suits that are identical to the soldiers, rather than, say, the orange space suit the Doctor has previously worn?
"With a taste of your lips, I'm on a ride": The outfit change scene is accompanied by Britney Spears' immortal pop classic 'Toxic' – the second time it has appeared in Doctor Who. Its first inclusion was in 'The End of the World,' the second episode of the Christopher Eccleston series. It's an apt call back here, as that episode was Rose Tyler's first trip to the future, though Belinda has already had some experience of this in 'The Robot Revolution.'
Psychic paper: It's been a while since we've seen the Doctor deploy his psychic paper, but it's enough to convince Shaya and the soldiers – at least at first – to trust him and Belinda.
Galvanic radiation: Shaya (Caoilfhionn Dunne) says that the planet's atmosphere is charged with Galvanic radiation. This is the first hint about the true identity of the alien world. Galvanic radiation was first mentioned in Doctor Who as a characteristic of the planet Midnight…
"Nuke this site from orbit": In case you weren't already picking up on the Aliens vibe from the episode, Christopher Chung's trooper Cassio's suggestion to blow up the station is an almost word-for-word reading of one of Ripley's lines in James Cameron's sci-fi classic.
The Wildlands: Shaya says that she was brought up in the Wildlands. This could be a generic name, but that term has been used before, back in the David Tennant episode 'Utopia' (written by Russell T. Davies, who co-wrote 'The Well') when Professor Yana (AKA the Master) says that the planet Utopia is "far beyond the Condensate Wilderness, out towards the Wildlands and the Dark Matter reefs."
Planet Earth is missing: Both the Doctor and Belinda discover that no one here has heard of Earth or humanity – a clear tie in to the season's big arc.
An x-tonic star: The sun orbiting Planet 6-7-6-7 was an x-tonic star that collapsed 400,000 years prior to the events of the episode. This is another big clue – the only previous mention of an x-tonic star in Doctor Who came in 'Midnight.' And to add to that, Shaya reveals that the entire surface of the planet was once made out of diamonds…
"I've been here before": The Doctor finally realises that Planet 6-7-6-7 is the world formerly known as Midnight – cue a shot of David Tennant's 10th Doctor and Lesley Sharp as Sky Silvestri, the woman possessed by the Midnight entity.
"It knows my name:" The Doctor's true name is, of course, so big a secret that it became a major plot point in season six's Silence arc. The creature (listed in the credits as It Has No Name) seemingly knows it, which could point to it being psychic, or perhaps even of Gallifreyan origin – though we suspect it's simply the former.
Belinda is shot: As the meme goes, if I had a nickel for every time a companion is shot in the third episode of a Ncuti Gatwa season of Doctor Who, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. Here Belinda is shot by Shaya to free her from the monster. In last year's third episode, 'Boom,' Ruby was also shot – albeit for very different reasons.
Sacrifice: Shaya shoots Belinda and becomes possessed by the creature. She then runs and throws herself into the well, sacrificing herself to save everyone else. In an episode that pays such liberal homage to Aliens, this feels and looks like a visual nod to another film in that series, David Fincher's Alien 3, which ends with Ripley (who has been impregnated with a Xenomorph embryo) throws herself into a furnace in order to prevent the alien threat from being spread any further.
Flood Watch: Mrs. Flood shows up right at the end as the surviving soldiers report in. She seems particularly interested in the Doctor's Vindicator, but interestingly doesn’t break his cover story.
Episode 2 - Lux
A silver spoon: It's interesting that it's a humble silver spoon that activates Mr Ring-A-Ding, given the role a spoon also played in last season's 'Empire of Death.'
Mr Ring-A-Ding: The episode's cartoon nemesis is inspired by a very specific era of cartoons – the late '20s through to the mid '40s and the toons produced by Fleischer Studios, notably Popeye and Betty Boop. The medium had already moved on by the early '50s when the episode is set, but that doesn't mean older animations would have been out of circulation.
As for his name… Well, an early scene shows Mr Ring-A-Ding climb out of a screen in a manner that is not dissimilar to one of the scariest scenes in all of cinema: the moment that the ghost Sadaku crawls out of a TV in Hideo Nakata's terrifying 1998 classic, Ringu/The Ring. Is the name perhaps a nod to that movie?
"The name is Gallifrey": Alas, the Doctor's home planet is not named Time-Lordia.
The wardrobe: The scene where the Doctor and Belinda have an impromptu costume change is very similar to the start of 'The Devil's Chord.'
"Honey, I'm Velma": Not just a funny response to Belinda's "You're Scooby-Doo!" As anyone who has watched the Scooby-Doo cartoons will know, it's Velma who does most of the actual investigating.
"There is literally an old caretaker in a haunted cinema!": A smart, funny nod to the fact that the "ghosts" in Scooby-Doo would inevitably be revealed to have a more mundane explanation, often turning out to be an old caretaker in disguise.
Harbinger: Welcome back to the three note laugh that seems to herald all of the members of the Pantheon. It was introduced in David Tennant special 'The Giggle' and recurred in 'The Devil's Chord.' Just don't ask how the Doctor knows about The Harvest Bringer signage (not a real film, incidentally) transforming into the word harbinger when he's still in the cinema!
Lux Imperator: Very roughly translated Lux's name means "light emperor" or "emperor of light."
"Let me in by the hair of my chinny chin chin. Or is that a different cartoon?": Lux references Walt Disney's classic 1939 toon The Three Little Pigs.
The Doctor has been noticed: Lux calls the Doctor "the enemy of the Toymaker, de-composer of Maestro, the killer of the god of Death." He takes down another member of the Pantheon here, which suggests he should add the title "Godkiller" to his list of epithets.
The film posters: Like The Harvest Bringer, some of the film posters we see throughout are fictional. There is a film called Remember the Night, but it doesn't feature an octopus or an actor called Felix Moon! The eagle-eyed may spot, however, that a retro sci-fi poster was also spotted in Alan's bedroom in last week's 'The Robot Revolution.'
"Gallifrey is a ruin": While the Doctor and Belinda are animated, the Doctor reveals to his new companion that his world is ruined and the Time Lords are all dead.
The living room: In the episode's boldest scene, the Doctor and Belinda seemingly break out into the real world (it is, of course, a fake out) and meet some fans of the show. These are Lizzie (as played by Bronté Barbé), Hassan (Samir Arrian), and Robyn (Steph Lacey). And from here the episode is an absolute minefield for Easter Egg hunters…
Galaxy Quest: Dean Parisot's 1999 sci-fi comedy classic (in which a group of actors from an old Star Trek-like TV show are recruited by real aliens to save the galaxy) gets a well-deserved shout out.
"It was leaked online": Oh Russell, you cheeky thing. This is a reference to the fact that the world of Doctor Who has long been a leaky ship. And indeed the fact that the Doctor might break out into something approximating our real world was leaked in advance of the episode airing. Stay off Gallifrey Base if you wanna stay spoiler-free, kids.
"Hashtag RIPDoctorWho": And this is a cheeky jab at some of the show's noisier online "fans."
Blink: The trio of fans unanimously vote David Tennant-era classic 'Blink' – AKA the first episode with the Weeping Angels – as their favourite episode of Doctor Who. The Doctor is a bit put out that it isn't "the one with the goblins," meeting The Beatles, or “the one where I was standing on a landmine.” The latter is, of course, referring to 'Boom,' which was also penned by 'Blink' writer and former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat.
Doctor Who merch: This scene is absolutely littered with real bits of Doctor Who fan merch. We've tried to identify as many as possible, but there are certainly some that we've missed (it's OK, we’ll live without knowing every title). Anyway, the things were did spot:
- Several individual DVDs of the first season, starring Christopher Eccleston. (Long term fans will know why they opted for these rather than the bulky TARDIS box set – it was famously flimsy with most copies probably having disintegrated by now.)
- Seasons 2, 3, and 4 DVD box sets – AKA the David Tennant years.
- A DVD of the Tennant era animation, 'The Infinite Quest.'
- Classic era DVD box sets including The Key to Time, Beneath the Surface, The Trial of a Time Lord, the Black Guardian trilogy, and more that we couldn't quite make out.
- Robyn is wearing a Meep shirt. She also has the Third Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver.
- Hassan is wearing a scarf and a UNIT sweatshirt.
- Lizzie is wearing a fez and a Telos t-shirt with the Cyberman logo.
- Doctor Who: The Collection blu-ray sets, including seasons 2, 9, and 20 in the deluxe packaging, and – I think – seasons 8 and 23 in the slimline reissue format. Why aren't they in chronological order though?!
- A whole bunch of the roundel-spined classic series DVDs.
- A few action figures: I spotted a scarecrow and – maybe – the Moxx of Balhoon.
- A promotional photo of Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson
- Some CDs: hard to tell what they are, but let's face it these are probably Big Finish audio plays or BBC Radio Collection discs.
- A Finetime poster with one of the monsters from 'Dot and Bubble.'
- A Ncuti Gatwa poster
- Doctor Who books
- Dr Who mugs: K9, "Robyn will be exterminated", and "Lizzie don’t blink."
- Some copies of Doctor Who Magazine.
- And the iconic Doctor Who diamond logo on the TV screen
Flood watch: Mrs Flood barges in right at the end of the episode to tell some of the onlookers to watch as the TARDIS dematerializes. She also warns: "Show ends May 24!"
"Technically it's puppets that want to be boys, not cartoons": In the mid-credits sequence Hassan hangs a lantern on the fact that this story has a few similarities to the story of Pinocchio.
Last names: It's intriguing that the fans make a point of saying that they are characters without surnames... but in the credits they are listed as Lizzie Abel, Hassan Chowdry, and Robyn Gossage.
Episode 1 - The Robot Revolution
"Transmat initiated": Star Trek has transporters, but Doctor Who has Transmats, or "Particle Matter Transmitters" in full. They're basically the same thing, but with a cooler name. Transmats first appeared in 1975's 'The Ark in Space' and have popped up many times ever since.
Flood Watch: Welcome to a regular segment where we keep track of what Mrs Flood is up to. Here she appears fleetingly as Belinda's neighbor – just as she was with Ruby last season. Which begs the question, is she doing this with all of the Doctor's companions, or just the Fifteenth's? "You ain't seen me," she confides, once again breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the audience.
Cyberwoman: The scene where Belinda is confronted with the prospect of becoming a robot bride strongly recalls a famously terrifying moment from the end of 1983's Superman 3. In that (not especially good) film, an evil supercomputer transforms Annie Ross's Vera Webster into a silver-skinned cyborg, visibly bolting metal plates to her face. That doesn't happen to Belinda, thankfully, but the animated graphic showing the procedure is so similar it feels like a nod to the scene.
X-ray death rays: The choice to give the robot weapons an x-ray effect as they kill people sure is a choice. It looks cool, but it's also very specifically an effect that is associated with Dalek weaponry. There's no clear connection to the sons of Skaro this episode, but we can't help but feel this may turn out to be relevant later on.
Sasha 55's death: It became a bit of a cliche last season to notice that Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor seemingly tears up at the drop of a hat. He does so again this episode, but it's a full 17 minutes and 20 seconds before the first tears start to flow.
"Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey": Belinda has a bracing response when the Doctor wheels out his most irksome catchphrase again. "Timey-wimey? Am I six?!"
Mundy Flynn: As the Doctor and Belinda get acquainted she mentions starting a new shift on Monday. That triggers a memory in the Doctor, of Mundy Flynn – the "ordained Anglican marine" who he met in last season's 'Boom.' That character was, of course, also played by Varada Sethu. The Doctor says later in the episode that Mundy will be one of Belinda's descendants – but could there be something more bringing the two together?
"Padam Padam!" The Doctor references Kylie Minogue's 2023 pop hit when he reveals to Belinda that he has two hearts. There's an added layer of metatextual fun here, of course, given that Kylie has previously appeared in Doctor Who – she played one-time companion Astrid Peth in the 2007 Christmas special, 'Voyage of the Damned.' It's also known that either Kylie, or someone on her team, is a pretty big Who fan – she was inexplicably photographed napping next to a Doctor Who novel (2002's Eighth Doctor adventure Camera Obscura by Lloyd Rose – it's a good 'un!) and some of her backing dancers on her 2006 tour were styled as Cybermen.
Two hearts: The Doctor's hearts beat with the rhythm of the show's theme tune.
Who tipped the Doctor off about Belinda? The Doctor says that someone – specifically a he – told the Doctor Belinda's name and that she would be important. So who could this mysterious person be? Now, it could be that I'm accidentally wearing a tinfoil hat, but listen to Murray Gold's score as the Doctor is saying this and... isn't that a hint of the Face of Boe's theme from the David Tennant episode 'Gridlock'? He's helped the Doctor out before, so might we be about to get another glimpse at that big old face?
"I thought you moved to Margate?" "Stargate!" This isn't an Easter Egg, it just makes me laugh with how nonsensical it is.
"It's bigger on the inside." A new companion seeing the TARDIS interior for the first time is always a special moment. This time around it's the Doctor who says the classic line.
The Cloister Bell: As the Doctor discovers that he can't get back to Earth in May 2025, you can hear the TARDIS's Cloister Bell. This is a warning that the ship is facing a catastrophic situation, and has recurred throughout the show since the Fourth Doctor's final story, 1981's 'Logopolis.'
The end of the world: In the episode's closing moments we start to see the pieces of the season's big arc fall into place. The TARDIS dematerialises, and we cut to a starfield, only to see the ruins of the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, a taxi cab, Belinda's certificate and – most ominously – a calendar showing the month of May with the days crossed out, leaving eight days (for eight episodes, perhaps) all pointing towards May 31...
Doctor Who streams new episodes every Saturday on Disney Plus and BBC iPlayer, so check back in weekly for the rundown on the latest instalments. Here are our spoiler-free reviews of 'The Robot Revolution', 'Lux', and 'The Well.' For more TV, why not check out our lists of the best new shows headed your way, and the best Disney Plus shows to find out what else is on the streamer.
