While Doctor Who season 11 has been pretty keen so far to break free from past traditions and forge its own, unique path, it still makes sure to offer callbacks to previous Doctors every now and again. And tonight’s episode, the fun and enjoyable “Kerblam!”, had a few nods that surely made fans smile. For those who caught them, that is.
The first was actually revealed in a clip released earlier this week, which featured the outing’s opening minutes. If you’ll recall, we see the Doctor receive a package with a Fez hat inside. “I don’t remember ordering anything – must have been a while back,” she says. Clearly, this is referencing Matt Smith’s Time Lord, who took a particular liking to the accessory and wore them on several occasions during his run.
“What do you think – still me?” she asks as she tries it on. Frankly, we can’t say that the hat suits her very well, but it was still a brilliant nod to Number Eleven all the same.
But that’s not all, as David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor also got a shoutout. It comes when we see Yaz and the Doctor talk about wasps, with the latter asking her companion: “Did I ever tell you about me and Agatha Christie?” Of course, this is in reference to 2008’s “The Unicorn and the Wasp,” an episode which had Number Ten meet the iconic novelist and come across a gigantic alien wasp.
Beyond that, we also got a nod towards the mechanical dog K-9 when the Doctor says that “some of my best friends are robots.” Though unfortunately, we don’t see the character show up at any point during the episode.
Still, like we said above, “Kerblam!” was another terrific hour of Doctor Who and these nods to Matt Smith and David Tennant’s Doctors only made it that much more enjoyable. With any luck, Chris Chibnall and the team will give us at least a few more callbacks to past Doctors before season 11 comes to a close.
