MovieChat Forums > Paddington (2015) Discussion > Doctor Who and other references

Doctor Who and other references

posted 10 years ago by kingdaviduk
10 replies | jump to latest

A few subtle references I spotted to Doctor Who -- Mr Curry is played by Peter Capaldi (the current Doctor in Doctor Who) who twice needs to use a telephone box (ref to the Tardis), and the inside of his house is like a 1960s house I thought (the decade Doctor Who started) while the Browns' house looks more modern.
Also a reference to Indiana Jones with Paddington sliding under the closing door, losing his hat, and then retrieving it from under the closing door.
And then the Mission Impossible ref as he climbs up the metal chimney using hand-held vacuum cleaners. As well as Millicent coming down from a window in the roof on wires. And she was involved with Tom Cruise for a while who starred in Mission Impossible.
There are probably other references to films/TV that I missed.

[–] volaree 10 years ago

There is a poster of Virginia Woolf in Judy's classroom. Kidman played Woolf in The Hours.

[–] film_ophile 10 years ago

wow, good CALL, volaree.I missed the poster.
Mission Impossible rcvd numerous references/in-jokes:
--all of Nicole Kidman's gear/clothes/action sequence during the break-in and attempt to kidnap paddington
--the MI theme playing in one scene
-- Paddington escaping through the air vent area above the ceiling
and likely many more.

My question about that is - did nicole have any part in thinking up these
bits? or did the writer/director present them to her as a joke (" Now you too can be an action star")?
Such a treat!

The way to have what we want
Is to share what we have.

[–] danigar_84 10 years ago

I was going to open a new thread to ask about a reference that I saw but which I'm not sure if it's an actual reference or just a coincidence. There's a moment in the movie, I think when they go to see the antiques expert, that the band that plays through the movie is shown playing and then the camera moves to a signpost that says Underground. I was left wondering if this is a reference to the movie Underground, in which a band plays all throughout the movie. If this is the case, I'm not sure why would they reference an obscure Serbian film unless the director is a fan, or if Underground was the movie that made bands playing at key points in the movie famous. Did any Underground fans spotted this?

[–] Suzume-san 8 years ago

The Underground is London's urban railway system - what other cities call the subway. Duh!

[–] Spielburger 8 years ago

The Underground is London's urban railway system - what other cities call the subway. Duh!

"Now let me correct you on a couple of things, OK? Aristotle was not Belgian. The central message of Buddhism is not "Every man for himself." And the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked them up."
- Jamie Lee Curtis, "A Fish Called Wanda"

Sorry, but I couldn't resist...

--
"So I've got bullets, but no gun. That's quite Zen."

[–] diannunzio 9 years ago

I was reminded of the movie "Brazil" with all the vacuum tubes and that the research is done using South America as a search term.

[–] Wombstar 8 years ago

So when an actor who played the doctor uses a phone box (in anything) it's always a TARDIS reference? despite the fact that the TARDIS is a Police box not a phone box.

I think you're just trying to make connections with where not really there.

[–] sat-elite 8 years ago

Modern fans will happily change facts and timelines to tart up their 'style over substance' universe, it's all part of the assimilation of the series, removing all evidence of finite regeneration limits being the first.

[–] culturedeluxe 8 years ago

If Mr Curry's house is a subtle reference to Doctor Who, then it's also a subtle reference to Mini-skirts, Bobby Moore, The Rag Trade and Merseybeat as they're all associated with the 60s too.

It's probably more likely that his house says more about Mr Curry - that he inherited a nice house but has never worked and had any money to modernise it. Or, even more likely, he refuses to modernise it because he lives in the past and likes things the way they've always been. No bears next door for instance.

Mr Curry would have voted for Brexit.

[–] marktayloruk (2502) 3 years ago

Mental vision - Paddington Bear as Doctor Who's companion. Problem- all that marmalade over the controls!