Age of Steel - Outside References

Outside References

• Pete derisively calls the Preachers "Scooby-Doo and his gang" and compares their van to the Mystery Machine.
• The marching of thousands of mind-controlled Londoners to Battersea (referred to by the Doctor as "sheep") echoes the Pink Floyd song "Sheep" from their album Animals, where the sheep are led into the "valley of steel" to be slaughtered. The album also features a shot of Battersea Power Station on its cover, with a pig floating above it just like Lumic's own airship. Pink Floyd is known for incorporating the Doctor Who theme music into live performances of the song "One of These Days".
• As noted by Noel Clarke on the commentary, Mickey phones Rose and says "I'm coming to get you!", which echoes the Ninth Doctor's words to her at the climax of "Bad Wolf". The words also constitute a catchphrase used by Davina McCall on the UK television programme Big Brother, the latest series of which started two days prior to the episode's broadcast and which also featured in "Bad Wolf".
• The climax of the episode echoes that of Casablanca, with Mickey in the role of Rick Blaine and Rose as Ilsa Lund. Indeed, Mickey adopts the name "Ricky" and talks about freeing Paris.
• The Australian TV series Outland featured a lengthy speech about the relationship between Ricky and Jake and the way the show underplays Jake's reaction to this.