Every episode of Doctor Who has much more than meets the eye so I like to put together a little post exploring links to the past and other things you might not have known about!
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
The episode sees the return of the Paternoster Row Gang, Vastra, Jenny and Strax. They previously appeared in A Good Man Goes to War, The Snowmen, The Crimson Horror, and The Name of the Doctor, as well as several mini-episodes.
Madame Vastra says “Well then, here we go again” when she meets the new Doctor. This echoes the Brigadier’s line “Well, here we go again” at the end of Planet of the Spiders when the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) regenerated into the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker).
The new titles were actually designed by a fan. Youtube user billydakiduk posted
this video on the site which was seen by Steven Moffat, who liked its originality. The titles vary only slightly from the original video.
The new Doctor says he needs a “long scarf”. This is of course a reference back to the Fourth Doctor.
When Clara enters the TARDIS at the end of the episode she says “You’ve redecorated, I don’t like it”. This line has been used lots of times in Doctor Who including- the Second Doctor in The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors, the Eleventh Doctor in Closing Time and the Tenth Doctor in The Day of the Doctor.
Brian Miller plays the homeless man the Doctor has a strange conversation with. He also Dugdale in Fifth Doctor story Snakedance, voiced daleks in Resurrection of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks and appeared in the Sarah Jane Adventures story The Mad Woman in the Attic. He was married to Elisabeth Sladen, who played Sarah-Jane Smith.
Paul Hickey returns as Inspector Gregson after playing the character in the prequel to The Snowman, Vastra Investigates. Gregson was a character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle in adventures including The Greek Interpreter, Wisteria Lodge and the Red Circle.
There are several more Sherlock Holmes references in the episode too. Vastra mentions the “Paternoster Irregulars” a play on Holmes band of helpful youths the Baker Street Irregulars. Jenny says Vastra is investigating the “Conk-Singleton forgery Case”, a case Sherlock Holmes mentions in The Adventure of the Six Napoleons.
The episode is heavily related to Series 2 episode The Girl in the Fireplace. In that episode Clockwork droids from the spaceship SS. Madame de Pompadour seek rebuild their ship with human parts. In Deep Breath the droids are from the sister ship the SS. Marie Antoinette and rebuild themselves as well as the ship with human parts. In both episodes the Doctor comments on how stupid they are.
The new Doctor says he has seen his face before. That is because Peter Capaldi played Caecilius in Series 4 episode The Fires of Pompeii. He also appeared in Torchwood: Children of Earth, which is set in the same universe, as civil servant John Frobisher.
At the end of Deep Breath we find out why the TARDIS phone was off the hook at the end The Time of the Doctor- the Eleventh Doctor rang Clara before regenerating. Matt Smith filmed the scene on the last day of shooting of The Time of the Doctor.
There is strange scene at the end of Deep Breath apparently set in heaven. The woman who appears is actress Michelle Gomez, who plays the character the Keeper of the Nethersphere. Very little is known about the character but she has a big role to play in the series finale, the second part being titled Death in Heaven.
