Depending on how you define them, Easter Eggs have been around for a long time. George Lucas was getting in on the act as early as 1977 with references to his film THX-1138 slipped into Star Wars, and once video games with executable code turned up, the developers were filling them with hidden surprises for the players to find. They finally hit mainstream popularity with the rise of DVD as a format, and the distributors being able to slip hidden bonus features into new releases. But in terms of film and television, they seem to have increased in popularity in recent years; thanks largely to genres with a significant history such as superhero films gaining a more widespread audience, and the proliferation of viral marketing and social media. In the modern age, an Easter Egg is far more likely to be noticed. And the bigger an entertainment franchise is, there will usually be more Easter Eggs to look for. And since Doctor Who now has fifty-one years and 800 episodes to draw in-jokes, obscure continuity references, and visual homages from (and the popularity to do it without restriction); New Who has a lot of easily missable little oddities floating around. So weve dug out some well-worn DVDs and started hunting down those little odds and ends that are largely surplus to the plot, and subtle or obscure enough to go unnoticed. These are 22 Doctor Who Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed...
22. The Doctor's Message Series 3 Boxset
Well it wouldnt be a list of Easter Eggs without at least a passing reference to Blink. While its nowhere close to an Easter Egg within the episode, its presence on the Series 3 DVD boxset is another matter. To find the uncut version of the message, simply follow these instructions and youll be treated to the Doctors side of the conversation as it would have been viewed by Sally and Larry. Strangely, even when youve watched the episode multiple times, the message certainly has a different and almost unnerving quality when watched in full without the other lines to keep it flowing as a dialogue piece.
21. Dalek Tommy Guns Torchwood Series 2
The Torchwood Hub is filled with alien technology; some new and some reused from other episodes. Two particular items that are both interesting and hard to spot in equal measure are a pair of Dalek Tommy Guns from Series 3 of Doctor Who. Their most prominent appearance is in a specially shot scene of Series 2 Episode 5 that is only used in the title sequence where, in a false memory, the team gear up to go into battle with them. But if you look closely, you can also see them on the wall of the Hub in Episode 8 A Day In The Death. Which begs the question of: if Torchwood had Dalek weaponry on hand, then why did Gwen and Ianto try to fight the Daleks with machine guns?
JG Moore is a writer and filmmaker from the south of England. He also works as an editor and VFX artist, and has a BA in Media Production from the University Of Winchester.
