The Indestructible Man (Doctor Who) - Other Notes/References

Other Notes/References

• Major Maxwell was possibly named after either actress Lois Maxwell, most famous as Miss Moneypenny but also the voice actress for Atlanta Shore from Stingray and appeared in two episodes of UFO as Straker's temporary secretary, Maxwell Shore who played SHADO medic Doctor Schroeder, or Skydiver's Lieutenant Gordon Maxwell.

• Several quotes are taken from Captain Scarlet, namely "But first they must destroy." (Bishop) and "One man fate has made indestructible." (Neville & various). Both of these are taken from the title sequence of Captain Scarlet, which was read by Ed Bishop, who played both Captain Blue on Captain Scarlet and Ed Straker on UFO.

• There are startling contrasts between Messingham's universe and Anderson's. For example, whilst Alec Freeman often acted as a "strongman" to help with Straker's intentions, he was never physically violent to anyone unless attacked first. (See: Court Martial). Alex Storm, on the other hand, is portrayed as having a violent temper. Also, Lieutenant Gabrielle is written as spiteful and vain, whereas Lieutenant Ellis was cold and efficient, but not deliberately cruel. Bishop drinks alcohol - whiskey, a drink Straker is always fixing for Alec Freeman - whereas Straker is teetotal.

• Zoe is referenced as to wearing the SKYHOME uniform, which is a short silver skirt, lycra top and purple wig. This is the uniform of the Moonbase personnel in UFO. Similarly, much of SKYHOME's architecture is written as identical to a crossover of Moonbase and Cloudbase. Also, the hats the natives wear in chapter XXI are modeled after Thunderbird Two, and the crashed craft the Doctor and Storm find is Lightning Two, Thunderbird Two's counterpart. John Sharon's brothers are described in their portraits as wearing "a purple uniform with a diagonal blue sash".

• Hal Bishop's car is identical in descriptions to Ed Straker's car. Colonel Paul Foster also drove a car of the same model, although his was in lilac.

• The events of Captain Taylor being captured/duplicated by the Myloki and the circumstances leading to PRISM discovering that Captain Grant Matthews was a clone are directly taken from the first episode of Captain Scarlet. Also, Koslovski claims that the first encounter with Captain Taylor was in a French graveyard - at the beginning of every Captain Scarlet episode Captain Black was introduced standing in said graveyard.

• "Spoken like a true television detective," remarks the Doctor to Alex Storm. George Sewell, the actor who played Alec Freeman, left UFO to become a cynical television detective.

• The phrase "MIC" - Message is Clear, also the title of Neville's book - is a play-off of the multiple phrases coined by various Gerry Anderson productions. Stingray had "PWOR" (Proceeding With Orders Received), Thunderbirds had the infamous "FAB" (no actual definition of this has been given, although some spin-off media have settled on "For All Brothers", considering that the main operatives of International Rescue were siblings; the Andersons have said many times that FAB is not an acronym but an abbreviated form of "fabulous" that was in common use at the time the series was made), and Captain Scarlet "SIG" and "SIR" (Spectrum Is Green/Red). These signature phrases died off with the subsequent live-action shows of UFO and Space: 1999.

• Whilst the date is correct for Captain Scarlet - the book placing the "war" between the Mysterons and humans in 2068 - it is incorrect for UFO, which took place in the 1980s.

• Captain Grant Matthews - (Captain Scarlet (Paul Metcalfe))- is a reference to voice artists Francis Matthews, who was Scarlet, and Cy Grant, who was Lt. Green.

• During the Myloki attack, it is stated that Lunar Base has been replaced by a crater, "as if that part of the moon has drifted off into space" -- presumably a reference to Space: 1999.