Having been on holiday for the shooting of Shaun of the Dead, Adam Buxton wasnt going to miss his opportunity to cameo in his friends work, and was duly given the fairly chunky part of journalist Tim Messenger by Wright. Of course, what we all remember about Messenger and what Buxton loves is that he died in a supremely gory manner, namely having his head stoved into his body by a falling church steeple. The whole thing is a somewhat more bloody homage to The Omen, with Messengers death resembling that of Patrick Troughtons lightning rod-impaled priest insofar as they were both killed by objects falling off a church roof.
The retro horror, Omen-esque soundtrack that accompanies both the build-up to the death as well as Messengers floundering corpse afterward are also part of the reference.