Doctor Who: 15 Cool Details Peter Harness Just Revealed About The Zygon Invasion
11. The Doctor Sat On A Swing Is Another Nod To Invasion Of The Body Snatchers
After the opening titles, the episode cuts to Brockwell Park, London, where the Doctor is sitting on a swing. Somehow, he has the willpower to not ride it. Mad skills.
Another nod to 1978's Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this one is in reference to the creepy image of Robert Duvall's priest character silently sitting on a swing in the opening moments of the film.
According to the movie's director, Philip Kaufman, Duvall is the first "pod person" (an alien in a snatched human body) we see in the film.
With this swing parallel, maybe Harness was trying to say something similar about the Doctor: the fact that he looks like a human and often tries to act like one... but he's actually an alien. He's pretty much a "pod person" himself.