40k references in Dr Who episode?

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**migs6357**

This weeks episode of Dr Who - 'The nightmare in silver' featured a futuristic amusement park which is being used as a military outpost after a long war with the cyber-men. I had noticed throughout the episode a number of references relating to Warhammer 40k.

-The human military was called the Imperium
-The leader of humanity was called The Emperor (played by Warrick Davis)
-A faction of the Imperium was called The Imperial guard
-The human troops looked quite similar to Cadian Guardsmen

Anyone else notice these or any others I may have missed?

**Avatar 720**

-The human military was called the Imperium
-The leader of humanity was called The Emperor (played by Warrick Davis)
-A faction of the Imperium was called The Imperial guard
-The human troops looked quite similar to Cadian Guardsmen

- That's not out of the ordinary; Imperium is Latin and has been used in those contexts for years.
- Humanity at that point must have been an Empire, and so the leader will be called the Emperor. Again, that's not out of the ordinary.
- The Imperial Guard is terminology that has been used militarily for hundreds of years.
- They had body armour on. If anything, they looked like Cadians who looked like Starship Troopers who pretty much birthed the look of advanced military units (see Halo's marines for further comparisons).

**Valkyrie**

Yeah, they're quite generic and common terms that have been used long before the arrival of 40K. Anything more similar and they'd have the GW lawyer-parasite beings breathing down their necks.

**Grey Templar**

If there had also been an elite faction of the military called Space Marines wearing power armor who are also genetically altered then you might have a reference. but as it is those are just generic terms.

Even Space Marine is a generic term(despite GW trying to say otherwise)

**Lurker Z**

Other references:
- The Emperor is the 41st Emperor
- It's one of the first/few times where blowing up a planet is an option. In any other Doctor Who episode, this would be considered abominable to say the least. Also obvious reference to Exterminatus.
- "Too much blue" may be a reference to Ultramarines (the Imperium's flag was blue and yellow)
- The army sent there is the soft version of a penal legion - instead of them being sent to die in droves somewhere, they've just been sent as punishment in some backwater of the universe..
One of each of these would be indeed considered just coincidence, but all of them make it very unlikely that it doesn't reference the game.

**Ratbarf**

It could also be a reference to a certain part of lore from Star Wars. The Imperial Garrison on Mandalore was situated in an abandoned amusement park. It was apparently a crappy detail, on account of various officers and troopers being killed due to disagreements with the natives.

**Grey Templar**

That doesn't add up. Since when did Mandaloreans build amusement parks?

**LordofHats**

Grey Templar wrote:
That doesn't add up. Since when did Mandaloreans build amusement parks?

It was a joke. The Empire liked building their garrisons on sites of political or religious significance, but the Mandelorians have no such things. So when the Empire came, they just pointed them to some random dump and treated the whole thing as a big joke.

**Jihadin**

This thread is now building some serious potential.....

**Ratbarf**

Grey Templar wrote:
That doesn't add up. Since when did Mandaloreans build amusement parks?

Some random entrepeneur built one on Mandalore based off of some really large tusked animal whose name I cannot currently remember. In any case it failed spectacularly, hence the abandoned part. Also, it was built inside of a replica of the beasts skeleton and when the Imperial Garrison showed up they were told it was a holy place due to the gigantic "bones."

**Avatar 720**

Lurker Z wrote:
Other references:

Spoiler:

- The Emperor is the 41st Emperor
- It's one of the first/few times where blowing up a planet is an option. In any other Doctor Who episode, this would be considered abominable to say the least. Also obvious reference to Exterminatus.
- "Too much blue" may be a reference to Ultramarines (the Imperium's flag was blue and yellow)
- The army sent there is the soft version of a penal legion - instead of them being sent to die in droves somewhere, they've just been sent as punishment in some backwater of the universe..
One of each of these would be indeed considered just coincidence, but all of them make it very unlikely that it doesn't reference the game.

Spoiler:

**Kilkrazy**

Given that the Space Emporer was hiding away from his conscience of having blown up a whole galaxy to eradicate the Cybermen, exterminatus of an abandoned amusement park planet was a minor detail.

**Jubal**

I thought it was very 40k. Here's more references I saw that haven't been mentioned:

- Sign in the background near the start said "The Great Enemy"
- Squat in a mechanical box, looked like he was wearing old-fashioned motorcycle gear to me, but could've just been wearing goggles for the hell of it.
- Squat-Emperor (!) mentioned warp-jumping.
- The writer was Neil Gaiman, who uses a lot of literary allusion. Quoted as saying he "got completely side-tracked by a mad, strange romp".
- Guardsmen squad got upgraded with a lasrifle.
- Clara was dressed like a comissar, I thought.
- EMP pulse glove like a literal power fist?

Edited for grammar.

**Kilkrazy**

You are assuming that because you are familiar with these ideas from reading 40K, that there is where they came from.

All these ideas in general have been around in SF well before 40K, though.

**Compel**

I'd be more inclined to believe any Star Wars references over 40k. I don't think Neil Gaiman would go near anything 40k related with a barge pole.

Star Wars on the other hand. Hey! It's Warwick! At least that's an obvious link.

Edit: After the Space Marine debacle, it really would not surprise me for Games Workshop to be seen as a parasite amongst the science fiction writers community.

**Necroagogo**

Don't forget the planet was a tomb world full of awakening Necrons! Kinda.

**thehod**

Though those upgraded Cybermen definitely were killers.

**rubiksnoob**

Wait, Doctor who?

**Blazesnake**

The term Valkyrie was mentioned earlier as a method for moving cyber parts/men around.

**BlapBlapBlap**

Blazesnake wrote:
The term Valkyrie was mentioned earlier as a method for moving cyber parts/men around.

Now you're just grabbing stuff out of thin air. Valkyries have been around for longer than a millenium.

**Blazesnake**

Wishful thinking