The Empty Child - Outside References

Outside References

Frequently in this episode, Rose makes references to the Star Trek character Mr. Spock. This is the first televised Doctor Who story to make a direct reference to Star Trek, although there had been previous references in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip and original novels. Writer Steven Moffat says in the DVD commentary for this episode that the Doctor's reply to Rose asking him what she should call him ("Doctor who?") was originally going to be, "I'd rather have Doctor Who than Star Trek," a metafictional dig at the latter programme. The Chula ships are named after Chula, an Indian/Bangladeshi fusion restaurant in Hammersmith, London where the writers celebrated and discussed their briefs on the scripts they were to write for the season after being commissioned by Russell T Davies. This meeting was videotaped, and is available on the DVD release of Doctor Who — The Complete First Series.

When the Doctor explains the way Nancy operates to feed the children of London he says "I don't know if it's Marxism in action or a west end musical." this is a reference about the musical Oliver! in which Nancy is the name of a character who is the 'big sister' figure to Fagin's gang. The Doctor's praise for Great Britain's wartime resilience concludes with a line similar to a quote attributed to the Duke of Wellington: "I don't know what effect these men will have on the enemy, but by God, they terrify me".