List of cultural references

A list of references to real world culture. It could be movies, comics, or cultural beliefs/groups. See Non-Original Music for its uses and references.

Series 1

Episode 1.1

• Loch Ness Monster: Nick Cutter mentioned the myth of Nessie and Connor Temple thought that she had died years ago and the government had covered the whole thing up.
• Star Wars: After being attacked by a Gorgonopsid, Ben Trent moves towards his window, armed with a toy Lightsaber.

Episode 1.2

• Star Wars: Connor stated, over his Empire Strikes Back Poster signed by Luke Skywalker, that he had seen prehistoric creatures, to Tom and Duncan.
• Indiana Jones: Tom told Connor that betting his poster is like betting a sacred relic. Connor claimed he knew what a sacred relic was because he had seen Raiders of the Lost Ark.
• The Matrix: Tom stated that Connor believing in prehistoric creatures, in the present, was as sad as Matrix Revolutions.
• Duke of Edinburgh Award: Connor mentioned to Abby Maitland that he once won this award... before he sprained his ankle.
• Connor told Abby that his Star Trek: The Next Generation Top Trumps cards were hers if he died, before he quickly changed his mind and asked instead for the cards to just be buried with him.

Episode 1.3

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Connor stated that he once had a crush on Buffy until she started hanging around with a badly animated dog.
• Jerry Anderson: Tom mentioned that Connor missed his marathon of movies/tv show made by Gerry Anderson.
• Celebrity Love Island: When Connor learned that Helen Cutter had been living in the past, he commented on the impossibility of explaining the show to Helen, after her eight year absence.

Episode 1.4

• When Duncan was trying to watch television and a Dodo was changing the channel;
  • He mentioned that he was trying to watch Countdown.
  • An Allosaurus from the movie The Lost World (1925) was seen.
• Stephen Hart expressed his dislike for movies where the killer appears to be dead but jumps up. Captain Tom Ryan also admitted his dislike for them.
• Duncan mentioned several conspiracy groups when being interrogated by the Home Office; CIA, Freemasons and the Illuminati.

Episode 1.5

• The Elder Scrolls: Connor mentioned that he was going to be playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion on his gaming system, and was later seen playing the game when he found Tom's old account on the system.
• ER: Nick inspected Claudia Brown's eyes after she was concussed. When asked what he was doing, he joked that he did not know but had seen doctors do it on ER.

Episode 1.6

• Marvel: Connor asks Abby: "Who would win in a fight between Wolverine and Spider-man?" Commenting that the question was "entry level" comic book talk, but Abby told him that "girls don't talk comic books."
• Star Wars: After being attacked, Cutter suggested that Connor goes home. Connor replied that he would stay on the job until it was finished like Han Solo. Cutter replied that he thought he was more like R2-D2 but took his point anyway.

Series 2

Episode 2.2

• Connor and Abby went to a video shop where there were a lot of movies, they also named several movies: Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Holiday and Hostel.
• James Bond: While searching for leaf-blowers in the Anomaly Research Centre's armoury, Oliver Leek told Abby and Connor that there was high tech weaponry that would make James Bond cry with envy but no leaf-blowers.

Episode 2.3

• After the ARC team realised that Mr West was not hiding the rogue Smilodon, Stephen quoted a line usually said in crime shows; "If [West] was acting; he deserves an Oscar...".

Episode 2.4

• Jenny mentioned she goes to London Fashion Week every year.
• Charlotte Church: James Lester mentioned the singer when he summed up Nick Cutter's description of the Mer Creatures as "a deadly skin-shedding aquatic predator with a neat lineage in Charlotte Church impressions.".
• 101 Dalmatians: After Caroline locked Rex in a freezer; Abby called her "Cruella de Vil" who famously stole 99 Dalmatian puppies to skin for their fur.
• Glastonbury Festival: Connor mentioned that he had once been to a Glastonbury Festival but Abby expressed her doubts.

Episode 2.5

• Big Brother: Taylor Craig felt that if a reality TV show consisting of her, Cutter and Stephen being eaten by giant scorpions, it would be better than Big Brother.
• Scooby-Doo: After Nick and Stephen are temporarily marooned in the Silurian, Lester says "Daphne and Scrappy will have to take charge of the Anomaly operation." jokingly comparing Abby and Connor respectively, to the characters from Scooby-Doo.

Episode 2.6

• Dumbo: Connor called the Mammoth on the M25; Dumbo, after the 1941 Disney movie about an flying elephant of the same name.
• When Cutter asked Connor which wire to cut on Leek's Bomb, he replied with "The red one. Always the red one." because it is a common occurence in movies/tv shows.

Series 3

Episode 3.1

• Action Man: Connor called new head of security: Becker; "Action Man".

Episode 3.2

• Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen: Nick refers to Connor and Abby as "Sid and Nancy" respectively, comparing them to the punk rock star Sid Vicious and and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. (This is also most likely the source of the names for the two Diictodon of the same name they would later adopt.)
• Nelson Mandela: After being teased about going stir-crazy from being locked in jail for only a few hours, Connor countered by saying he was no Nelson Mandela.

Episode 3.3

• Roswell Incident: When Mick Harper confronts Jenny Lewis about the ARC operation but she refuses questioning, he states "This is the biggest cover-up since Roswell..." referring to an incident in Corona, New Mexico in 1947 where supposedly the remains of a weather balloon had crash-landed, but a popular conspiracy theory that arose was that it was really a crashed flying saucer, but was covered up by the government.
• Doctor Dolittle: Upon witnessing Connor attempt to communicate with a Diictodon, Becker mockingly states "...now he's Doctor Dolittle."

Episode 3.5

• Chuckle Brothers: When Christine Johnson arrives at the ARC unannounced, Lester says "Tell the Chuckle Brothers to stay out of trouble." mockingly referring to her two associates: Captain Wilder and Mark Baker, comparing them to the comedy duo.

Episode 3.7

• When Danny suggested splitting up to locate Sir William de Mornay, Connor replied saying, "I'm not splitting up. Have you not seen horror films?".

Episode 3.8

• James Bond: Abby referenced James Bond's classic line, "If I told you that, I'd have to kill you". When her brother, Jack Maitland, asked about the ARC operation, she said that if she told him, Becker would have to kill him, and he was already looking for a reason to.

Series 4

Episode 4.1

• Fantastic Four: When Connor first meets Philip Burton, (one of his idols) he states if all of the fictional superhero group, the Fantastic Four, were rolled into one, that would be Burton, but not a superhero, a science nerd.

Episode 4.2

• Lester stated that he had never cleared out Connor's old locker because he had no intention of seeing his collection of vintage girly magazines and superhero action figures.
• Indiana Jones: When Connor and Duncan return to Duncan's flat, Duncan expresses that he believes he wasn't exactly Indiana Jones, because he ran away from the Kaprosuchus. Connor argued otherwise, saying that Duncan was a hero.

Episode 4.4

• X-Factor: Beth explained to her teacher that she did not need exams; as she was going to become famous on X-Factor. Beth also had a taped audition on her mobile phone, presumably for X-Factor.

Episode 4.5

• Texas Chainsaw Massacre: When Connor and Abby investigate an old farmland for a creature incursion, the scenery reminds Connor of the classic horror film.

Series 5

Episode 5.2

• As Connor gets on the submarine, he lists off a couple of movies that he had seen about submarines: Das Boot and K-19 the Widowmaker
• Dr. Strangelove: Lester mentioned to Admiral Marston that he had Dr. Strangelove on Blu-Ray.

Novels

The Lost Island

• Star Wars: Nick compares his first impression of the Polar Star to Luke Skywalker's first impression of the Millenium Falcon before admitting to himself that he has been spending too much time with Connor.
• Sean Connery: Jenny describes Harney as "Something like a thin Sean Connery."

Fire and Water

• Mario Kart: Connor likens dodging obstacles in the Speedboat in Maidenhead to the Mario Kart games, stating "It's really just Mario Kart, isn't it?" with the book then mentioning that Connor owned a Wii and had taken it with him when he was temporarily evicted from Abby's flat.