Some are more obvious, others more obscure, but on top of being a gripping, emotional and satisfying 45 minutes, Boom is, without question, also a celebration of the Moffat era, with nods to both the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors.<\/p>\n
Did you catch all the Easter eggs and references? Read on to find out\u2026<\/p>\n
The Moon and the President\u2019s Wife<\/strong><\/h2>\nWe\u2019ll kick things off with one of the more obscure references that Moffat planted in his latest script\u2026<\/p>\n
Unable to move and facing near-certain death, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) tries a number of different methods to prevent his adrenaline from spiking, including singing The Skye Boat Song.<\/a><\/p>\nMore than once, he also recites a short poem:<\/p>\n
I went down to the beach and there she stood, dark and tall at the edge of the wood.<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2018The sky\u2019s too big, I\u2019m scared!\u2019 I cried.<\/b><\/p>\n
She replied, \u2018Young man, don\u2019t you know there\u2019s more to life than a moon and a president\u2019s wife.\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
Though the poem itself hasn\u2019t appeared in Doctor Who before, its subject matter is familiar.<\/p>\n
In 2015 episode The Magician\u2019s Apprentice<\/a>, Clara (Jenna Coleman) challenges Missy (Michelle Gomez) with regards her feelings for the Doctor (then played by Peter Capaldi).<\/p>\n ![\"Michelle]( "\\"missy-clara-vortex-manipulator\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div> Doctor Who.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n\u201cSince when do you care about the Doctor?\u201d asks Clara. \u201cSince always,\u201d Missy replies. \u201cSince the Cloister Wars. Since the night he stole the moon and the President\u2019s wife. Since he was a little girl. One of those was a lie. Can you guess which one?\u201d<\/p>\n
In the same year\u2019s Hell Bent<\/a>, the Doctor insists that the story of him stealing the moon and the President\u2019s wife was \u201ca lie put about by the Shabogans\u201d, the original indigenous people of Gallifrey.<\/p>\n\u201cIt was the President\u2019s daughter\u2026\u201d he says. \u201c\u2026[and] I didn\u2019t steal the moon, I lost it.\u201d<\/p>\n
If that\u2019s true, though, where does the poem about the President\u2019s wife<\/em> originate? Is the Doctor the \u201cyoung man\u201d it refers to? And is the \u201cdark and tall\u201d woman the President\u2019s wife, his daughter, or somebody else?<\/p>\nCuriouser and curiouser.<\/p>\n
Villengard<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe landmine that the Doctor steps on in Boom was produced by the Villengard corporation, who he explains are \u201cthe biggest weapons manufacturer in recorded history, [having] supplied all sides in all conflicts for the past two centuries in this sector\u201d.<\/p>\n
They also designed the\u00a0automated ambulance unit personified by Susan Twist<\/a> that executes both John Francis Vater (Joe Anderson) and Canterbury James Olliphant (Bhav Joshi) and almost finishes off the Doctor, too.<\/p>\nVillengard are responsible for the endless, pointless war being waged on Kastarion 3, with the Anglican Marines having \u201cdeclared war on an empty planet\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cVillengard battle products are fitted with AI,\u201d the Doctor explains. \u201cThe algorithm maintains a fighting force at just above the acceptable number of casualties \u2013 keeps you fighting, keeps you dying, keeps you buying. Medical services optimise the casualty rate for continued conflict. War is conflict\u2026 and business is booming.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are fighting your own hardware and it\u2019s killing you to keep you buying more.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Billie]( "\\"doctor-dances\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div> Doctor Who.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\nVillengard was first mentioned in Steven Moffat\u2019s first ever televised Doctor Who story (not counting The Curse of Fatal Death<\/a>), The Empty Child\/The Doctor Dances<\/a> as the source of Captain Jack\u2019s 51st century sonic blaster, with the Doctor heavily implying he was responsible for vaporising the weapon factories of Villengard.<\/p>\nThe planet served as something of a bookend for Moffat, appearing in his final televised Doctor Who story \u2013 well, until Boom \u2013 Twice Upon a Time<\/a>, with the First\u00a0and\u00a0Twelfth Doctors visiting Villengard\u2019s partially destroyed moon.<\/p>\nShould we expect another reference in Joy to the World<\/a>?<\/p>\nAnglican marines<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"Joe]( "\\"Joe")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div> Doctor Who.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC Studios\/Bad Wolf, James Pardon<\/i><\/span><\/div>\nBoom does not mark the first appearance in Doctor Who of the Anglican marines \u2013 Mundy (Varada Sethu) and company are of the same ilk as the soldiers we meet in 2011 episode A Good Man Goes to War<\/a>, led by Colonel Manton (Danny Sapani).<\/p>\nThey are members of the Church of the Papal Mainframe, which was led by Tasha Lem (Orla Brady) \u2013 as established in 2013\u2019s The Time of the Doctor<\/a> \u2013 and counted among its members Madame\u00a0Kovarian (Frances Barber) as well as Father Octavian (Iain Glen) and his clerics whom we meet in 2010 two-parter The Time of Angels\/Flesh and Stone<\/a>.<\/p>\nFish fingers and custard<\/strong><\/h2>\n
More than once, he also recites a short poem:<\/p>\n
I went down to the beach and there she stood, dark and tall at the edge of the wood.<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2018The sky\u2019s too big, I\u2019m scared!\u2019 I cried.<\/b><\/p>\n
She replied, \u2018Young man, don\u2019t you know there\u2019s more to life than a moon and a president\u2019s wife.\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
Though the poem itself hasn\u2019t appeared in Doctor Who before, its subject matter is familiar.<\/p>\n
In 2015 episode The Magician\u2019s Apprentice<\/a>, Clara (Jenna Coleman) challenges Missy (Michelle Gomez) with regards her feelings for the Doctor (then played by Peter Capaldi).<\/p>\n \u201cSince when do you care about the Doctor?\u201d asks Clara. \u201cSince always,\u201d Missy replies. \u201cSince the Cloister Wars. Since the night he stole the moon and the President\u2019s wife. Since he was a little girl. One of those was a lie. Can you guess which one?\u201d<\/p>\n In the same year\u2019s Hell Bent<\/a>, the Doctor insists that the story of him stealing the moon and the President\u2019s wife was \u201ca lie put about by the Shabogans\u201d, the original indigenous people of Gallifrey.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the President\u2019s daughter\u2026\u201d he says. \u201c\u2026[and] I didn\u2019t steal the moon, I lost it.\u201d<\/p>\n If that\u2019s true, though, where does the poem about the President\u2019s wife<\/em> originate? Is the Doctor the \u201cyoung man\u201d it refers to? And is the \u201cdark and tall\u201d woman the President\u2019s wife, his daughter, or somebody else?<\/p>\n Curiouser and curiouser.<\/p>\n The landmine that the Doctor steps on in Boom was produced by the Villengard corporation, who he explains are \u201cthe biggest weapons manufacturer in recorded history, [having] supplied all sides in all conflicts for the past two centuries in this sector\u201d.<\/p>\n They also designed the\u00a0automated ambulance unit personified by Susan Twist<\/a> that executes both John Francis Vater (Joe Anderson) and Canterbury James Olliphant (Bhav Joshi) and almost finishes off the Doctor, too.<\/p>\n Villengard are responsible for the endless, pointless war being waged on Kastarion 3, with the Anglican Marines having \u201cdeclared war on an empty planet\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cVillengard battle products are fitted with AI,\u201d the Doctor explains. \u201cThe algorithm maintains a fighting force at just above the acceptable number of casualties \u2013 keeps you fighting, keeps you dying, keeps you buying. Medical services optimise the casualty rate for continued conflict. War is conflict\u2026 and business is booming.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are fighting your own hardware and it\u2019s killing you to keep you buying more.\u201d<\/p>\n Villengard was first mentioned in Steven Moffat\u2019s first ever televised Doctor Who story (not counting The Curse of Fatal Death<\/a>), The Empty Child\/The Doctor Dances<\/a> as the source of Captain Jack\u2019s 51st century sonic blaster, with the Doctor heavily implying he was responsible for vaporising the weapon factories of Villengard.<\/p>\n The planet served as something of a bookend for Moffat, appearing in his final televised Doctor Who story \u2013 well, until Boom \u2013 Twice Upon a Time<\/a>, with the First\u00a0and\u00a0Twelfth Doctors visiting Villengard\u2019s partially destroyed moon.<\/p>\n Should we expect another reference in Joy to the World<\/a>?<\/p>\n Boom does not mark the first appearance in Doctor Who of the Anglican marines \u2013 Mundy (Varada Sethu) and company are of the same ilk as the soldiers we meet in 2011 episode A Good Man Goes to War<\/a>, led by Colonel Manton (Danny Sapani).<\/p>\n They are members of the Church of the Papal Mainframe, which was led by Tasha Lem (Orla Brady) \u2013 as established in 2013\u2019s The Time of the Doctor<\/a> \u2013 and counted among its members Madame\u00a0Kovarian (Frances Barber) as well as Father Octavian (Iain Glen) and his clerics whom we meet in 2010 two-parter The Time of Angels\/Flesh and Stone<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Michelle](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/05\/missy-clara-vortex-manipulator-b4336f9.jpeg?quality=90&crop=184px%2C0px%2C1729px%2C1152px&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"missy-clara-vortex-manipulator\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>Villengard<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Billie](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/05\/doctor-dances-387f4ba.jpeg?quality=90&crop=69px%2C0px%2C1013px%2C675px&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"doctor-dances\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>Anglican marines<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/05\/477201-468f950-e1715524651548.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Joe")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>Fish fingers and custard<\/strong><\/h2>\n