Cultural references to the Doctor Who universe/2000s

Occasionally, elements of the Doctor Who universe are referenced in the broader popular culture. This page exists to throw a spotlight on some of these casual references made in television, comics, films and other media which happened during the 2000s.

The Tomorrow People

 * In episode 2 of Big Finish's The Tomorrow People, The Deadliest Species, Stephen says to Tim, "You've redecorated. I like it." This is a reversal of the famous line from The Three Doctors, which would later recur multiple times in revived Doctor Who.

Prose

 * In 's novel,, a reference is made to a 'lonely god' 'adrift on the seas of time.' Paolini later admitted in the acknowledgements that he is a massive Doctor Who fan and that he believes the Doctor might have visited his world of Alagaësia at some point. In the sequel to this novel, Inheritance, the herbalist Angela begins to tell another character what she has inscribed on her blue hat- "Raxacori- Oh, never mind. It wouldn't mean anything to you anyway." Also, someone mentions having seen rooms that are bigger on the inside.

Disney Comics

 * The 2000 Donald Duck serial  saw Donald and his cousin Fethry meet a time traveller from the 27th century, whose time machine was bigger on the inside and travelled through a Time Vortex.

DC Comics/Wildstorm

 * JLA Classified #1 reveals that Batman keeps a Dalek in his "Sci-Fi" closet.

Team Fortress 2

 * A cosmetic item in the game called "Dr. Whoa" closely resembles the Eleventh Doctor's signature bow tie, and also the name is similar to Dr. Who.
 * Another cosmetic item called "The Cronoscarf " resembles the Fourth Doctor's scarf.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

 * In  during the "Turnabout Serenade" case, if you examine the top hat in the Wright Anything Agency on the 2nd day, Trucy Wright states that her hat is "like a little universe! Bigger on the inside than on the outside!" At this, Apollo muses that this reminds him of a sci-fi show he used to watch.

Wizard101

 * A quest called "The Five B.O.X.E.S. Event" featured a character called "The Professor" from outside the normal flow of time and his assistant "Rose Piper" as well as five "B.O.X.E.S.", that resemble a TARDIS in shape but is red in colour, and bigger on the inside and resembling the Ninth/Tenth Doctor's interior.

Out-of-universe references

 * In the Christmas special in which the title character of got married, her bridesmaids were dressed as the Tenth Doctor and two Daleks.
 * In an episode of the British TV series The Story of Tracy Beaker (which featured Ciaran Joyce, Sonny Muslim, Clive Rowe, Nisha Nayar, Morgan Hopkins, Roderick Smith, Richard Elfyn, Julian Lewis Jones, Madeleine Rakic-Platt, Simon Ludders, Phylip Harries, Gareth Wyn Griffiths, Amy Starling, Victoria Pugh, Brendan Charleson and Claire Cage), Elaine (who was played by Nayar and was one of the main characters) had tried driving the kids at the care home away from the TV by using a puppet theatre. After showing it to the kids and asking them what they thought it was, Rio (one of the kids) asked "Is it a TARDIS?".
 * In the 2009 Christmas special of, as a meta reference, a future version of Susan Harper (played by Zoë Wanamaker) makes several references to "moisturising", winking to the viewer as she does, a nod to Wanamaker's Doctor Who character.
 * A 2009 episode of, "", includes the character of McGee comparing the unexpectedly spacious interior of a cargo container to the TARDIS. McGee briefly explains the meaning to his co-worker, DiNozzo, who replies with "Doctor Who - who watches that?"
 * A reference to Doctor Who also occurs in the episode "". Flack says "Paging Doctor Who." Later in the episode, the time travel machine makes a noise very much like the noise the TARDIS makes.
 * In the episode "Karma,"  believes he could put himself up for the part of the Doctor.