Sherlock Season 4: 18 Easter Eggs & References From 'The Lying Detective'
16. Doctor Who Connections
Elements of this episode recall ideas from a couple of Steven Moffat's Doctor Who episodes. This isn't surprising, considering that Moffat wrote this episode too.
Firstly, John speaking to the ghost of his dead wife that no one else can see, used as a means to help him get over his grief for her loss, heavily recalls 2013's The Name of the Doctor. In that, Matt Smith's Time Lord sees his wife River Song's data ghost, after she previously died in Forest of the Dead.
Culverton Smith also tells his closest friends and family a terrible secret before giving them the option to forget it. This brings to mind 2010's The Beast Below. In that episode, the inhabitants of Starship UK get to find out that their ship is powered by an imprisoned Star Whale. They can then elect to either forget what they have learnt or release the Whale and doom the ship.
Speaking of Doctor Who, at one point we see Smith being interviewed by a journalist called Harold Chorley. This is also the name of a journalist in 1968 Who story The Web of Fear.