10 Doctor Who Secrets That Were Hiding In Plain Sight
1. That Low-Hanging Plane Is REAL (The Magician's Apprentice)
Missy's plan in The Magician's Apprentice actually had some real-life inspiration that was implemented in the finished edit.
In the episode, Missy freezes a number of passenger jets, in order to get UNIT's attention to negotiate a face-to-face meeting with Clara Oswald.
One particular plane in the montage seen at the 11:50 mark depicts a blue and white jet hovering dangerously close to the ground, which you probably assumed was a complete fabrication – but it wasn't.
This is in fact a real-life clip, shot at Maho Beach in the Caribbean, where planes fly scarily low above the heads of beachgoers before landing on the airport's runway. Steven Moffat specifically requested footage of Maho Beach in the script, saying that it was "terrifying".
Another unbelievable real-life clip Moffat requested was footage of Hong Kong's Kai Tak airport, where planes had to navigate right on top of buildings when they came in to land.
Of course, these airports were both perfectly safe, and they were great choices to visually communicate the terrifying reality of Missy's showboating.
Still, I'd much rather take the TARDIS if that option was available.