The science fiction franchise Doctor Who has been referenced in various popular culture media. Some of these references have ranged from cameos, pastiches and by name or word. The series has also been parodied on many occasions.
When Holly Shiftwell and Finn McMissile are captured and tied up inside Big Ben, Holley determines that she must change the direction of the clock to escape, stating "if I can just reverse the polarity".
While David visits Driss' home, he is given a toy Dalek, which he decides to keep as a "souvenir". This Easter egg was placed deliberately as the film also starred former Eleventh Doctor actor Matt Smith as Richard.
A sonic screwdriver can be briefly seen when Lula is rifling through the contents of the spaceship. Later on, a sheep dresses up as a Dalek to get past the farmer, which scares the Fourth Doctor, who can be seen exiting a blue portaloo resembling the TARDIS.
In Veggies in Space: The Fennel Frontier, the TARDIS appears when asked, "Who called us in? Who? Who?" Archibald Asparagus comes out and replies, "That's Doctor Who to you! Now if you excuse me, I’m needed in the 19th century. Ta-ta!"
Dalek toys are seen in a department store in the episode "Death at Bargain Prices". The series, like Doctor Who, was created by Sydney Newman, although broadcast on the rival ITV network.
Tennant starred opposite Catherine Tate’s Lauren Cooper in a 2007 special as her teacher Mr. Logan. Cooper teases Mr. Logan for his resemblance to "Doctor Who"; eventually, he reveals himself as the Doctor, and uses his sonic screwdriver to shrink Cooper into a 5" Rose Tyleraction figure.
In the first episode, "Arrivederci Roma", the TARDIS and a scarf-wearing, silhouetted figure appear briefly in the background as Aulus Paulinus travels through Britain.
In the season 3 episode "Biology 101", Britta introduces Abed to the long-running British sci-fi show "Inspector Spacetime", a spoof on Doctor Who, after he suffers a nervous breakdown from running out of episodes of the real life series Cougar Town. Since then, Inspector Spacetime is often referenced throughout the duration of the series, namely in the episode "Conventions of Space and Time", where Abed and the study group attend an Inspector Spacetime convention and meet various actors and super-fans of the series, including one played by Matt Lucas, who would later play Nardole in the series.
The series was notable for its references to Doctor Who as Steven Moffat, (who would later write and produce episodes for Doctor Who) was an avid fan of the show. In one notable episode, a Dalek appears, voiced by Nicholas Briggs, who would also later go on to provide Dalek voices for the revived series.
In the season 4 episode, "Time's Up", a dying man confesses to a murder 24 hours before it happens. While detectives investigate, they find a body in what is supposedly a time machine, and one of them comments "Paging Doctor Who".
In Series 2 Episode 5, "The Prom", James drops out of going to the school prom (the show is set in the 1990s, only a few years after the original series ended) in favour of a Doctor Who night (he and his stepfather used to watch the classic series when he was a child), or a "creep convention", as dubbed by his cousin Michelle, who thinks that it is considered a definition for "a load of perverts getting together to wank over some fella who fights hoovers and rides aliens in a telephone box". Later, when Erin is stood up by her original date, James decides to go with her, wearing a tuxedo and the same multicoloured scarf as the Fourth Doctor.
Sylvester McCoy made a guest appearance in an episode of the ninth series, as a retired actor, Graham Capelli, who played a time traveller in a television show called The Lollipop Man, where he could travel through time with his traffic lollipop stick.
In the series premiere, "The Rules of the Beast", after Jonathan Harker goes to Transylvania to pursue Dracula, he receives a letter from his fiancée Mina, which mentions an “adorable barmaid” working at The Rose and Crown. This is likely a reference to "The Snowmen", in which the character Clara Oswin Oswald was a barmaid at The Rose and Crown. The series was created by former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat and writer Mark Gatiss.
In the episode “420”, Brian states that ratings for Doctor Who have gone up since he legalized marijuana.
In the episode, “Welcome Back, Carter”, Peter mentions he has an Owl named Doctor Who.
David Tennant reprised his role as the Tenth Doctor in the episode “Inside Family Guy”, which shows the Griffins watching Doctor Who Farted, a fictional episode where the Tenth Doctor tries to fan out a fart he did in the TARDIS.
In the episode "Meg Stinks" (2014), Peter loses his hand and says he can regenerate, regrowing his hand similar to The Tenth Doctor in "The Christmas Invasion". Then, the disarmed hand regrows into Retep, another version of Peter, a la "Journey's End".
The Fourth Doctor makes cameos throughout the series, such as the episode “Möbius Dick”, where he emerges from the stomach of a space whale; he is also briefly seen in “All the Presidents' Heads”, returning to his TARDIS in an alternate timeline where the American Revolution had only been a Colonial Dust-Up.
In "Assie Come Home", a deactivated Dalek is seen among many robot parts.
In the episode, "How Drew You Do", John Barrowman and Jo Martin share a scene as their characters Drew Nicholson-Heath and Max McGerry, with the former giving a salute to McGerry and sarcastically saying "Doctor," referencing Martin's performance as The Doctor and Barrowman's role as Jack Harkness (both of them appeared in "Fugitive of the Judoon" but did not share a scene).
In a 2002 episode, Alan recalls how his purchase of the rights to K9 contributed to a mental breakdown, with him driving to Dundee barefoot while gorging on Toblerone.
The Daleks appear in scenes where series lead Ritchie Tozer (Olly Alexander) is cast in a fictional Doctor Who story called Regression of the Daleks. The series was written by Russell T Davies, who served as the showrunner for the first 4 series and series 14 onward.
In a 2010 episode, a Dalek was a “guest” on the show sitting off to the side and keeping a watchful eye on Ferguson. It never spoke, but occasionally moved around. This was a lead-up to having Matt Smith as a real guest on the show.
In the episode, "Necromancing the Stone", while referencing their need to locate "a spaceship floating through a temporal stream" Constantine states that "[his] business card says, Master of the Dark Arts, not Doctor Ruddy Whats-His-Face." To which both of the people he is addressing say, "Who?" and he replies, "Exactly."
In the episode, "Power Down", McGee compares the unexpectedly spacious interior of a cargo container to the TARDIS, after he explains the meaning to DiNozzo, he asks, “Doctor Who – who watches that?"
The character of Mark Brennan is known to be a massive Doctor Who fan and makes many references to it over the years. When Mark went into witness protection, he used the name Matt Smith after the actor that played The Eleventh Doctor. The actor who plays Mark admitted to have no interest in the show. A miniature TARDIS model was seen in the house of Sheila Canning for years after Zeke Kinski had given it as a gift to Mark. The character of Ed Lee was also once spotted with Dalek clothing. The references were included because the fact that writer and producer, and also Doctor Who fan Pete McTighe, was involved with a lot of Neighbours episodes during that time, and he later went on to write a few episodes of Doctor Who.
In the episode "New Dimensions", while stuck in a two-dimensional space, LaMarr proposes they create a "quantum bubble" allowing the Orville to preserve its three-dimensional space, to which Ed Mercer compares to the TARDIS.
The show made several references to Doctor Who, one example being in “Mission Marvel”, which featured a dimensionally transcendental room which, according to Ferb, was made possible by "a little British sci-fi technology".
In the episode, “Green Courage“, an on-screen note claimed that a meteoroid field just collided with a planet located at "ten zero eleven zero zero, by zero two from galactic zero," in the constellation of Kasterborous. In Pyramids of Mars, these coordinates are given as the location of Gallifrey.
In the episode "There's a New Queen in Town", when Catherine Tate's character Queen Georgiana is told by her P.A. about the time difference in Australia, moving her speech to tonight instead of the next day, she asks if he's a "fucking Time Lord now" who "just got back from the planet of the tiny doll hands". In the episode "Royal Tinder", Daniel Lapaine's character says, "Well, isn't this wizard?", a nod to a phrase first said by Tate's character Donna Noble and then later repeated by the Meta-Crisis Doctor in the fourth series of Doctor Who.
Created by Russell T. Davies, Queer as Folk has the character Vince Tyler, a fan of Doctor Who, who makes numerous references to the show, such as:
In episode 1, Vince has a Dalek toy in his fish tank. He watches the cliffhanger to episode one of Pyramids of Mars.
In episode 2, Vince is at a pub with coworkers. One makes references to Star Trek while Rosaline says she did watch Coronation Street instead of Doctor Who.
In episode 7, Vince receives a replica of K9 for his birthday. (When asked where he got K9, Davies confirmed, "It was the original K9 from the BBC!")
In episode 8, Vince ends up breaking up with Cameron when he can't list "all the Doctor Whos". Stuart, Vince's long-time friend, can list all 7 actors in order, even remembering that, according to Vince, "Paul McGann doesn't count."
One short skit in Season 2, entitled "Do You Get It?" (2006), featured the Fourth Doctor standing on first base in the middle of a baseball field, asking the audience "Do you get it?" The joke being (Doctor) Who's on first (base).
In the season 2 episode "Toy Palace", pink Dalek toys can be seen on the store shelves. The show's animator, Gábor Csupó, featured the reference as he is a fan of Doctor Who.
In the 2014 episode "Numeric Con", one of the characters is dressed up as the Fourth Doctor with the TARDIS appearing, two Cybermen and two Dalek-like Aliens saying "Enumerate".
In the episode “Party Animals”, one of the sheep is dressed as a crude version of a Dalek trying to get up some stairs but failing because of the suit.
In the Series 4 episode, "The Lying Detective", a postcard with the Torchwood logo can be seen on the mantelpiece where Sherlock keeps the “things he can’t figure out”.
In "Mayored to the Mob", the Fourth Doctor is one of several guests seen attending a local sci-fi convention.
In "Treehouse of Horror X", the Fourth Doctor is one of several pop culture figures seen stored in aluminized PET film bags within the Collector's lair.
In "Springfield Up", Homer calls Declan Desmond "Dr. Who", stating "Check with me in 8 years, Doctor Who, I'll be kicking your ass with a golden boot!".
In "The Day the Earth Stood Cool," an outline of a Dalek can be seen on the bottom drawer of T-Rex's dresser when Bart discovers his action figures.
The episode entitled "Funnybot" featured a new character, "Funnybot". Funnybot was designed by the Germans to prove that they were a funny people, after what the students of South Park Elementary had to say about them. Funnybot was obviously based on the Daleks, albeit with Gatling guns in lieu of a death ray, even shouting "Exterminate!" at one point.
In the episode, "Nightshifter", a character is convinced that a "mandroid" is responsible for several crimes and holds up a magazine with a Cyberman on its cover to illustrate his point.
In the episode "The Girl Next Door", Sam confronts a Kitsune using the alias "Amy Pond".
A Dalek, the Sixth Doctor, and a Cyberman appeared alongside Darth Vader, Ming the Merciless, and a Klingon, in a 2003 episode, to see who was "Master of the Universe" with a lap around their test track in a racing modified Honda Civic. The Dalek could not get into the car, so it exterminated the other drivers (with the exception of the Klingon and the Doctor; who had apparently fled beforehand as they were not present); the Cyberman was eventually declared the winner by the hosts.
During the "Turnabout Serenade" case, if you examine the top hat in the Wright Anything Agency on the 2nd day, Trucy Wright states that her hat is "like a little universe! Bigger on the inside than on the outside!" Apollo muses that this reminds him of a sci-fi show he used to watch.
After blowing up the dam in the side mission "Hell Hath No Fury", Handsome Jack will read a list of names of the week's construction casualties which are Hartnell, W. Troughton, P. Pertwee, J. Baker, T. These are references to the actors William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker; respectively, who had played the role of the Doctor.
The player can travel to a version of London called Albion, where the appearance of the extraterrestrial main character, Crypto, causes its citizens to scream phrases like, “Someone call The Doctor!” or “Where the hell’s the bleedin’ TARDIS?".
A non-player character named Tavid Dennant, a reference to actor David Tennant who played the Tenth Doctor, can be found in the Guild Hall, who was previously named Flavin Deepockets until the release of the expansion EverQuest: Seeds of Destruction. When talking to him, he will ask the player to find his long colorful scarf, a reference to the Fourth Doctor's scarf, and also claims to have a watch which he cannot recall where he got it but believes it is a part of him, a possible reference to the chameleon arch fob from the episode "Human Nature".
The Navarro base has a damaged robot dog known as K9, with speech patterns similar to the Doctor Who character. When repaired, K9 is willing to join the character's party as a companion.
Two Weeping Angels can be found in the game. The first can be found outside the Hall of Doom, and the second can be found in a cave during the level, "Jailhouse Nok". Every time the camera moves away from them, its hands move away from its face and back again.
When on the Moon, a double decker bus can be seen in a crater, a reference to the episode, Planet of the Dead.
In the level, "Space Suits You, Sir", there is a shadowy area, that when Illuminated, reveals 3 small planets, which once destroyed, can be rebuilt into a red London police box that quickly disappears, referencing the TARDIS.
There are several references to Doctor Who. Amelia Pond is the name of a server on a receipt for the dry cleaners. Max sees an owl and calls it Doctor Hoo. They mention it in conversation about time-travel as well and the TARDIS appears as a email account icon. Doctor Who appears in a list of pirated media that Warren has on his USB stick. River S and Rory W are also shown on a card. Warrens signs off emails and texts as 'The Doctor'.
The character Looker is a reference to the Tenth Doctor. He features almost the same attire as the Tenth and refuses to reveal his true name similar to the Doctor. In the game, his goal is stop Team Galactic from taking over the universe.
In the town of Burgh de Rott, two characters named Rory and Amelia can be found, references to Rory Williams and Amy Pond; respectively. If the player claims to be the hero in their stories, they will accuse the player of lying and state that the player character is not wearing a "cool bow tie" like their hero.
During the Ratcatchers Quest the player's cat screams "Exterminate! Exterminate!" referencing the Daleks.
In "The City Before Us" mission involving time travel, Saïd, an ancient mommy speaking in a very old unknown language refers to the name "Tardis" when inviting the character to enter the stone room that will transport the character in Ancient Egypt.
When all sandwiches are collected in a level, a blue phone box with a flashing blue light will arrive to take Taz to a bonus challenge. Inside the box also have the classic TARDIS interior.
A wearable vanity set exists made up of The Doctor's Shirt and The Doctor's Pants, styled after the Eleventh Doctor. The Fez item also contains the tooltip 'Fezzes are cool', a reference to the Eleventh Doctor's description of fezzes in The Big Bang. The Wizard NPC will sometimes say 'I once tried to bring an Angel Statue to life. It didn't do anything.', a reference to Weeping Angels.
Outside the church near Lindenvale, there are two angel statues that when you turn away will have moved from where they were standing, a reference to the Weeping Angels.
Samples of Dalek voices uttering the phrases "the prisoners have escaped" and "exterminate them" appear in this song by the Australian band Spiderbait on their 1993 debut LP "ShaShaVaGlava".
Doctor Who was revived in 2063 for its 100th anniversary, running for another ten years. Several episodes involved The Doctor encountering Rippers, a group of time travellers who conduct historical research in the past.
The Fifth Doctor makes an unnamed cameo as a stranger in a bar who helps the protagonist out of a sticky situation. A decade later, Duane confirmed the stranger's intended identity to a fan. Duane later ended up writing Goths and Robbers, an official Fifth Doctor short story for the Short Trips anthology The Quality of Leadership.
In issue #38, a Melmacian named Doctor Whozonfirst appears dressed like the Fourth Doctor. He claims to be a "Slimelord" from "Gallifree" and travels in a "TARDIS Gras"
Excalibur Vol. 1 6 (1989) introduces Professor Alistaire Stuart and Brigadier Alysande Stuart of the Weird Happenings Organisation (W.H.O., a nod to UNIT and Doctor Who).
In Vol. 3 9 (1998), Johnny Storm knows that Reed Richards got a second-hand phone booth that is bigger on the inside from his "weird 'doctor' friend”. The Seventh Doctor had previously appeared in crossovers with the Fantastic Four back when Marvel Comics had the comic license for Doctor Who.
In issue #79, Iron Fist and Power Man encounter J. A. Gamble and the Dredlox, who are pastiches of the Doctor and the Daleks. Writer for the comic Jo Duffy was a fan of the show and described the story as her "love letter to Doctor Who".
The Tenth Doctor was featured in the 185th episode of Death Battle, where he fought against Rick Sanchez From Rick and Morty, in which the Doctor ultimately won.
^Smith, David K. (11 July 2008). "Death at Bargain Prices". The Avengers Forever. Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
^"Monkey goes to Edinburgh"(Requires free registration). The Guardian. London. 31 August 2004. Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
^Director Brian Klein, Producer Peter McCann, Executive Producer Gary Hunter (6 July 2003). "Series 2, episode 8". Top Gear. Series 2. Episode 8. Dunsfold, Surrey, UK. 30:00 minutes in. BBC. BBC Two. "Top Gear—Episode Archive—Series 2". official Top Gear website. BBC. Archived from the original on 22 February 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
^KnowledgeBase. "Beneath a Steel Sky". VGFacts. Retrieved 9 July 2017. If you talk to Joey after placing the welder robot shell on him, he'll say during conversation "EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!!", mimicking the Daleks from the science-fiction series Doctor Who.
^KnowledgeBase. "Borderlands 2". Did You Know Gaming?#VGFacts. Retrieved 23 July 2017. In the side mission "Hell Hath No Fury", after blowing up the dam, Handsome Jack will read out a list of the week's construction casualties which are: Hartnell, W. Troughton, P. Pertwee, J. Baker, T. This is a reference to the actors William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, all of who played in respective order the character 'the Doctor' in the science fiction series Doctor Who.
^KnowledgeBase. "LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham". VGFacts. Retrieved 9 July 2017. In the Hall of Doom, a Weeping Angel from Doctor Who can be found. Every time you move the camera away from it, its hands will move from its face and then cover it back.
^"Ratcatchers". Old School RuneScape Wiki. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
^KnowledgeBase. "Taz: Wanted". VGFacts. Retrieved 9 July 2017. After collecting all the sandwiches in a level, a blue phone box with a flashing blue light will appear which will take Taz to a bonus challenge. This is a reference to the TARDIS from Doctor Who, as the box features the classic TARDIS ship interior.
^KnowledgeBase. "Team Fortress 2". VGFacts. Retrieved 9 July 2017. The bow tie "Dr. Whoa" is a reference to the science fiction series "Doctor Who" and is often associated with the main character 'the Doctor', particularly the 11th incarnation. The bow tie can be worn by either the Medic or Spy and was created through the Steam Workshop by the user "TauVee".
