A recent episode of Doctor Who made a reference to a conversation that took place during the original series’ debut. The newest season, which features Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa as the latest actor to play Doctor Who, is very different in terms of format and content from the original 1963 series, which was a low-budget affair intended to teach British schoolchildren about science and history through the Doctor’s time-traveling adventures with his human companions. However, modern Doctor Who is intended to be a continuation of the classic series and sometimes makes references to the show’s long history.

During the second episode of the newest season, The Doctor and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) traveled to 1963 London, which is where the pilot to the original series, which is one of the best Doctor Who episodes, took place. The Doctor made an overt reference to this connection when he told Ruby that he used to keep the TARDIS in a nearby junkyard and lived there with his granddaughter, Susan. The episode also made a less well-known reference to a conversation that took place during the pilot, which was sure to please those fans who loved the dialogue in question.

Doctor Who’s “The Devil’s Chord” Pays Off An Ian Chesterton Line From 1963

“An Unearthly Child” Featured a Throwaway Line About an Obscure Band

When the Doctor, then played by William Hartnell and Susan (Carole Ann Ford) lived in London, Susan tried to act like a typical British teenager. Her uneven grasp of subjects like history and science fascinated two of her teachers, who became her traveling companions after following her home. Prior to this event, Ian caught Susan listening to a transistor radio in school and asked what music she was listening to, leading to the conversation that “The Devil’s Chord” used to create an Easter egg in the final moments of the episode.

During the conversation, Susan said the band was called John Smith and the Common Man and was impressed that Ian knew the singer in this band started his career in a band called Chris Waithe and the Carollers. At the end of “Devil’s Chord” the Doctor and Ruby walk out to discover 1963 London is full of music again, and the camera focuses momentarily on a nearby billboard that advertises Chris Waithe and the Carrollers. This reference to the 1963 dialogue was something that only those fans who were familiar with the original episode would know.

Is Chris Waites & The Carrollers A Real Band?

The In-Joke Probably Would Have Failed If It Were

Chris Waites & The Carrollers is a fictional band that was made up for “An Unearthly Child” (via Radio Times). This is unsurprising considering that it was used as an Easter egg in “The Devil’s Chord.” If the band were real, the Doctor Who in-joke would have fallen flat, as the billboard would have been advertising a band that a larger segment of the audience would have been familiar with.

Instead, Doctor Who chose a reference to a fictional band that only that segment of the audience that is unusually familiar with the series would pick up on. The series took a throwaway line from the 1963 pilot and used it to create a billboard as an in-joke. The billboard was part of the scenery depicting the Doctor and Ruby’s triumph over the Maestro’s attempt to steal the world’s music, so its presence entertained those fans who got the joke without confusing those who did not.

Source: Radio Times